My job setup — a part-time salaried position in a frum school — is unusual. Most of this sort of work comes from agencies, which offer per diem work without benefits. Some people who work with agencies do manage to fill up their entire schedule, or work with educational publishing companies like Scholastic that offer the option of ongoing professional development to their customers — but then you need to work with those school’s or that district’s hours, whether that’s on a Saturday or at 7:30 a.m. before school.

You’d make a good literacy coach if you

Communicate effectively. You really need to get into the head of a teacher. There are a lot of strong feelings when it comes to people’s teaching; people can take things very personally.

Tread carefully but boldly at the same time; you don’t want to overwhelm but you need to make change. Talk less, listen more, and make sure teachers know that you’re on their side. Come in with compassion: There’s no pressure, just the two of us working together.

Been there, done that

It’s so important to have teaching experience; you have no credibility if you’ve never really taught. You have to be able to say, “I’ve tried this,” or “This worked for my class when I had that issue.”

ACT test tutor, self-employed

Rebecca Masinter

Years’ Experience: 16

Average salary: 100–200+/hour

What a test prep tutor does:

I tutor kids to help them prepare for the ACT, a college entrance test very similar to the SAT. I prepare kids for the science subtest. Kids come to me on a very short-term basis — usually, it’s just four to five hours. I work with all types of students for all types of reasons — some kids do really well and think, wow, if I actually study I’ll do even better and get a scholarship, some kids were invited to be part of a school’s athletic program but can’t get in to the college without improving their scores.

I started teaching online when I moved, to bridge the gap before I’d built up clients in my new location. I’ve taught kids from Texas to Alaska, but now most of my teaching is done in person.

How I got into this:

I was a teacher — it was always very important to me to be involved in education. But what became more important was being available for my family. When I was expecting my first, I knew I needed to find something else. I wanted to work from home, set my own hours, and take on as many clients as I wanted — or, at times, turn down clients. I had a friend whose sister was doing SAT test prep, and she offered to train me. After several years, I was preparing kids for all math standardized tests — the ACT, SAT, PSAT. I realized that there were a lot of math and English tutors out there, but I didn’t see anyone helping students with the science ACT. I had a background in science and curriculum development, so I knew I could do it.

All in a day’s work:

The reason I got into this was so that my income would be secondary to my family, so my workload changes all the time. A year and a half ago, I decided to work only on Sundays, for six hours a week, so right now I’m turning people away, but some people do this more full time.

Before starting, I talk to parents on the phone — I want to hear if their child has any learning or processing issues, if there’s any anxiety, since that will affect my pacing. That’s maybe a ten-minute phone conversation, maybe there are a couple emails. I’m pretty much paid for every minute that I’m working — once a year, I update my materials, but there’s almost no preparation the rest of the year.

Because of the nature of the test, I realized it’s better to teach in a strategic way. I’m not trying to catch kids up on the last six years of science, I’m teaching them how to take the test and play the game. I think that’s one of the reasons why I can tutor students with so many different levels of academic performance; I’ve broken it down methodically into the skills a person would need to apply to do well on the test. I tell my students, “Here are the rules, here’s how to play, here are the tricks.”

Why I love my job:

I love connecting to people and teaching them. And I love that my job gives me the ability to prioritize my family.

Memorable moment:

Even though I’m only in someone’s life for a very short time, for a lot of kids — and their mothers! — it’s a very emotionally intense time. They feel that their future is riding on this. I get to be a support in a time that can be very anxiety provoking. Sometimes people call to update me, even years later. I appreciate knowing that I was more to them than a five-hour tutor.

Before you go into test prep, you should know:

You need to be honest: are you really an exceptional educator? I’m in the service business, people are writing me big checks. For that, they expect — and need — to get what they want: their kids should feel prepared and confident taking the test, their test scores should go up. You need to connect with people enough that they want to send their child to you.

You need an entrepreneurial spirit, you need to be willing to build your own business. I didn’t get to a place where phone calls come in automatically; in the beginning, I was hanging up signs in grocery stores and giving seminars.

You’d make a good test-prep tutor if:

You need to be able to break a test down into the skills it takes. Kids are very busy and overscheduled, so you really need to pinpoint exactly what’s needed. Also, you have to be willing to have uneven income and the patience to build up over the years.

It’s always half-full

What I feel in this business, more than anything I’ve ever done, is that when Hashem wants me to be busy, He sends me the business — and when he wants me to spend more time with my family, he sends me less. I’m grateful for both times — it’s great to have extra money and it’s great to have extra time!

Senior editor, Educational publisher

Chani Pomper

Years’ experience: 6

Prerequisites: Undergraduate degree plus work experience, preferably teaching experience

Average salary: $60,000–85,000

What a senior editor does:

I’m a textbook editor, so I work with authors — who are well-known professors who know the best ways to teach specific skills — to create what we call a scope and sequence, or all the skills we want to teach and the order we want to teach them in.

We then create guidelines, a prototype module, hire writers to write up the subsequent modules, and then edit the final content. We work with different departments in the company to figure out the design, coordinate production, and ensure all errors are fixed.

How I got into this:

I’ve always loved reading, so I thought being an editor would be a good fit. After I graduated with a bachelor’s in English Lit, I got an entry-level position at a large educational publisher, working in their reprints department. I was very lucky to have a mentor in the company who helped me work my way up to the more senior-level position where I am now.

All in a day’s work:

My group focuses on intervention programs for kids reading significantly below reading level, creating programs designed to turn these kids around.

When we begin working on a new project (a couple of years before we publish it), we’ll review the standards we need to hit and identify any other skills we think are important. We then develop a scope and sequence. We look for texts to use in our modules, since it’s important for kids to read authentic texts like novel excerpts and articles.

Then, we write one module’s worth of material. Since writers will use this as a prototype for successive chapters, it’s important that we keep the entire program in mind as we work. We like to use routines, so kids know what to expect — for example, we may tell teachers to show kids a word, then read it aloud while pointing to it, then identify the letters they already know in it.

But if the routine we come up with won’t work later on in the program, we need to change that for one that will. We also write up guidelines for our writers to use together with the prototypes.

Our writers write the next module, send it back, and we’ll edit while they write the next module. Each module goes through a few editorial, design, and production rounds. The piece then goes to proofreading, which checks for typos and grammatical errors. We then review their fixes, and finally, it goes to the printer.

Why I love my job:

I’m working on intervention programs, and I really feel like I’m helping struggling children succeed — if you can’t read, you can’t do anything. Our programs help children learn how to speak with academic language and how to write clearly. They’re so needed!

If you want to become a textbook editor, you should know:

Most educational publishers want editors with teaching experience. Because I worked in a different part of the company, I was able to work up to my job, but that’s not so typical. I see that having teaching experience is very important: To do this job, you have to be able to get into the mind of a teacher and understand how children learn.

If you recommend a ten-minute activity, how much time will it really take in a classroom with kids? Is the game you’re suggesting a good idea, or will having the kids jump around be terrible for classroom management?

I think this is a good job for frum girls: many companies are fine with you working from home, and after you’ve built up experience you can freelance or look for part-time work. (And the educational publishing world tends to be primarily female.)

You’d make a good textbook editor if:

You have a good head for instruction and what will and won’t work. As I’m editing, I often think, “Wait a second, this doesn’t actually make sense.” It sounds good as you read it, but when you think about how to implement it in a classroom it doesn’t work or is missing a step. And, of course, you need attention to detail and a strong command of English; you’re doing a lot of writing.

Up to Standard

We write the best programs we can while trying to hit state and Common Core standards, since we sell our programs nationally. People get heated up about these standards, but what they don’t realize is that standards don’t tell us what to do, they address which skills we should teach. A standard may read, “Students should identify main idea and details in text,” so we’ll write a lesson that challenges kids to do just that.

Certified Child Life specialist

Adina Levitan

Years’ experience: One

Schooling: Undergraduate degree + certification exam

Average national salary: 40–50,000

What a child life specialist does:

As members of the healthcare team, our role is to help support children and their families facing medical experiences. Some of our primary responsibilities are reducing stress and anxiety for children during their healthcare experience. We work to make the hospital a more fun and normal experience. We do a lot of play to help kids cope with being in the hospital and prepare them for procedures using developmentally appropriate language.

We work with all ages. Being in the hospital impacts every age differently; we need to identify and address what kids need at each stage of development. For teens, we may answer questions or do diagnostic teaching, explaining what’s going on with their body. We provide opportunities for them to socialize with other kids in the hospital or connect with friends at home to make sure they keep a routine and don’t sleep all day. Sometimes parents don’t know how to tell their children about what’s happening to them; that’s where the child life specialist comes in. We have the words to explain in a way that won’t overwhelm.

We also do a lot of sibling support — explaining to kids with a sibling in the hospital why their sibling is there, preparing them to visit their sibling. If the sibling is very sick we may provide bereavement support or memory making.

How I got into this

I worked in Camp Simcha for a few years, and I loved working to create a better experience for sick children. Becoming a pediatric oncologist would have been too much school; social work and nursing didn’t feel like a good fit, but child life was the perfect blend of being in the healthcare field while supporting kids in their social and emotional needs.

Hitting the books

In order to become certified you need an undergraduate degree with specific courses, then fieldwork, including volunteer hours, a practicum, and internship, then certification exam. (When I started, the Association of Child Life Professionals [ACLP] was on track to make a master’s degree a requirement, so I have a master’s in child life, but they’ve since rescinded that.) I ended up doing three practicums in two different hospitals — each is 120–240 hours, and then I completed a three-month internship, working 40 hours a week for a total of 560 hours.

All in a day’s work

I currently work in a surgery center, so we meet patients before surgery. Every day I get a list — which patients we have, how old they are, what procedures they’re having. We have two child life specialists and we may have anywhere from 30–90 patients on the unit in a day, so we just see as many kids as we can. Some days I might see 5, other days it’ll be 20.

We prioritize as far as age and kind of procedure, or sometimes a nurse will tell us, “Hey, this kid is really nervous.” Pre-surgery is a very busy time — everyone’s trying to see the patient — the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, so we jump in when we can.

For patients who are awake, let’s say for IV placement or a kid getting stitches, we’ll be in the room supporting them, explaining what’s happening, maybe distracting them, so that they’re not focusing on the medical procedure.

We like to think we can hide things from kids or not tell them the truth, but kids can handle a lot more than we give them credit for. If you talk to them and prepare them, they can do tough things. Give kids the tools they need to be resilient.

Why I love my job

I’ve worked with so many kids going through so many different experiences. The most satisfying thing for me is when the kid has the realization: I can do this! It’s also incredibly rewarding to help parents support their child.

If you want to become a child life specialist, you should know:

Child life is a very limited field, in that if you’re certified in child life you’re only qualified for child life. We do a lot of work that’s similar to social work but we don’t have the same licensure, and social work has a lot more options. You can go into child life with different backgrounds — social work, public health, psychology, childhood development — that may give you a broader scope. When a job opportunity lists certain requirements, even if I have the experience and skill set, sometimes it is about that piece of paper.

You should become a child life specialist if you:

Love to work with kids and aren’t squeamish. You need to be a team player, fun, flexible, energetic, and creative.

No secrets

Sometimes I’ll walk in and say, “Do you know why you’re here?” and the kid will say, “not really.” If you’re doing anything to a child’s body — even while they’re asleep! — they’ll know something happened. I don’t necessarily go into the details but I tell them the part of the body that will have the procedure.

Reading Specialist

Bluma Brazil

Years’ experience: 9 years’ experience

Schooling: Master’s plus additional certification

Average salary: Ranges from $30–$75 for a half-hour session when tutoring privately; salaried positions in schools pay at a lower rate

What a reading specialist does

A reading specialist helps children who have a hard time learning reading in a classroom setting. I work in Darchei Torah’s resource room learning center, helping kids in groups of two or 1:1. Most kids getting pulled out of class probably have some sort of reading issue — it affects everything.

How I got into this

I had a master’s in special ed and was working with children with severe special needs. Once I got married, it was too hard to keep that up; I wanted a school schedule and found a job in a resource room. When I saw what a tremendous need there was to help kids with reading, I started taking more courses.

Hitting the books

I have a master’s in special ed then took additional courses in reading: a three-month course from Orton Gillingham and a Lindamood-Bell workshop. I also trained under Lindamood-Bell instructors. We also had a really amazing training at work, that adapted English methods to work for kriah.

All in a day’s work

When a kid comes to me for the first time, I have him read for me — first just alef beis, then just nekudos, then putting more sounds together, to see where they break down.

I see where the issue is based, the type of mistakes they’re making, and then we get to work.

I use a lot of the Lindamood-Bell LiPS program. You have different pictures of a mouth corresponding to each sound. Using a mirror, the kid has to form the mouth placement for each sound. When I learned this, I was doubtful — isn’t this just giving a struggling reader more to think about? But once I started working with kids, it’s like watching a light bulb go off. They look at kamatz, “Oh, I know what that is, it’s the open-mouth nekudah.” It’s amazing how it helps them organize.

Most of our students come to us in Pre1A, when the rebbi notices they aren’t getting it, and we hope that by second grade, they won’t need our services anymore. Sometimes we do get kids were able to use their strong memory to compensate for their reading weakness, and so no one noticed that they weren’t reading or davening well until they were in fourth grade. Those kids are really motivated. I always tell them, “It’s going to be boring and hard but we’ll work together. Reading will get easier for you.”

If kids don’t get those good foundational skills, it really affects them later on. My husband is a beis medrash rebbi; he’s told me, “I wish you could work with some of my boys, they’d be more matzliach if their reading skills were stronger.”

Why I love my job

I love seeing kids suddenly able to read. You know you’re helping them be successful in life, be able to daven, learn, function. That’s a huge thing, it keeps us going. Sometimes you just see the expression on their face the first time they read a page: “Wow, I just did that and it wasn’t so hard!”

Sometimes, if a kid is still weak at the end of the year, I feel bad, but then I remind myself, “Where did they start? Look how far they’ve come!” Some kids will always be weaker readers, and that’s okay as long as they’re functional.

Memorable moment

One kid’s parents told me that their boys made kiddush every Friday night, but this son never wanted to, he felt uncomfortable. But after working with me for a while, he was finally able to make kiddush.

If you want to become a reading specialist, you should know

I find it very helpful to have learn eda few different methods so I can mix and match based on the child’s needs. Some reading course instructors were very adamant that the only way to help kids succeed was using their method, but that’s not always the case; I see a lot of kids helped with different methods. Keep an open mind, you never know what will help.

You’d make a good reading specialist if

You like working with kids. You have to be able to turn boring things into games and make it fun for them.

If not now, when?

When a kid is referred to the resource room, a lot of parents are hesitant. They say, “Let’s try to start without it and see.” But if the child doesn’t catch on, the gap widens, and it will only get harder for the kid to catch up. (Also, as our calendar fills up, it will be much harder to find a time of day when it’s not detrimental to pull him out of class.) It’s always best to start getting help, and if the child catches on quickly, we’ll stop.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 606)