Areas of Educational Expertise
I am a certified math teacher and have taught math for over 25 years. Most of my math teaching has been at the high school and middle school level, but I have taught all grades. I am also a certified Educational Therapist. I completed additional training to work with students who struggle to learn. I have been working with students who have ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, poor memory, slow processing, and other learning difficulties since 2015. I taught in Christian schools for eight years before homeschooling my six children.
Quote
"Our amazing brains are designed by God to grow and learn!"
About Me
My husband, Robert, and I married when I was in college where I was studying to be a high school math teacher. When I graduated, the Lord changed our plans, and I began teaching a variety of Middle School subjects at a Christian school. While teaching there, I met homeschooled students who came at the end of the year to complete testing. I was impressed by those homeschooled students and thought that maybe I might try homeschooling.
After 26 years of marriage our path had taken many twists and turns: Robert had finished college, we moved to Washington, our children had changed from Christian school to homeschool, and our family decided to become foster parents. In less than five years we would adopt four of our foster children. I was now homeschooling 6 children! My children had unique needs, and I learned how to find resources to help them learn in ways that suited each child. My favorite part of the day was our family Bible time – what a joy to learn about the Lord together!
My children are now adults and I enjoy reading and learning with my six grandchildren. I teach high school math classes at Hill Creek Christian Learning Center in Mount Vernon. Although my math classes are challenging, I also work hard to help struggling students find success. I provide consultation, tutoring, and cognitive improvement services at Hill Creek and at my home office. My services are highly individualized for each family and each student. I especially enjoy helping struggling students improve while supporting and encouraging their parents.
About My Learning Center
Hill Creek Christian meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays with classes for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Each class meets one day per week except for upper-level math classes. At Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, our 13 teachers work with over 100 different students. This is Amorah Nelson’s Learning Center; I am one of the teachers.
At Hill Creek, I teach Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus. Students in my classes will learn between 2 and 4 new skills each class session. They will complete notes and do practice problems. My classes generally have 10-15 students, so I can walk around the classroom, observe student work, and give input as needed. The emphasis in my class is to understand the concepts and procedures, not just complete problems. Expectations are high in my classes and my students end the year with a solid understanding of the topic.
Parents are an important part of learning for every class at Hill Creek. Students will have homework after each class session. For my classes, I expect students to work each problem, check answers when possible, and make corrections as needed. This struggle to find and correct mistakes is very important for student learning. In the younger grades, parents may need to help students with corrections at home. Because of the sequential nature of mathematics, Hill Creek has a mastery approach in math classes. Students need to master each concept to progress to the next level. We strive to keep parents informed about their student’s skill level so that parents can give additional support at home as needed.
Hill Creek maintains a high standard of educational excellence, but also seeks to include students with special needs. All our teachers learn to be flexible when students have specific learning struggles. To give more assistance to struggling students, Hill Creek is now offering special services for those students. The program we use is called NILD Educational Therapy. Students who participate in this program meet one-on-one with an NILD professional for 80 minutes twice a week. We now have two NILD educators at Hill Creek. I also offer one-on-one classes, specialized tutoring in math, reading, and executive function. These services are extremely beneficial and have an additional cost beyond a typical class fee.
I also offer NILD and specialized tutoring at my home office which is in east Mount Vernon. My business is called Educational Services. My home students generally get referred to me by parents of previous students and come from a variety of backgrounds. I do offer one-on-one tutoring/classes at my home with students earning Academy Northwest credit, but no group classes. I also offer consultation and testing services to homeschooling parents. I work with students during the school year and during the summer. I have been a NILD therapist since 2015. It is immensely rewarding to see students improve their cognitive functioning!
Testimonies
"Two of our children had the privilege of having Christina South for Algebra and Geometry. She made math understandable for them and they have both done well in their college math classes. Christina works hard to make math concepts understandable and even fun! She is a gem of an instructor that goes above and beyond for her students."
Karen Eilers
My Class Offerings
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Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus
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NILD and specialized tutoring
