How to Become a Volunteer Tutor
Help someone learn to read, write, do math, or speak English!
Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe conducts free tutoring for adults in Basic Literacy and English as a Second Language. This service is crucial in the Santa Fe community where, according to the U.S. Census, 34% of adults are functionally illiterate and 33% do not speak English. LVSF is the only organization providing this service to adults in Santa Fe. You can help by becoming a volunteer tutor.
How to Become a Tutor
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe! We hope you will be able to join the dedicated group of people who work to improve literacy in the Santa Fe area. We have many students waiting for tutors. Your knowledge of basic literacy skills, our training, and a commitment to tutor two to three hours each week for a period of nine to twelve months are all that are required to get started.
As a volunteer tutor in our program, you have a choice of two specialties: the Basic Literacy (BL) program and the English as a Second Language (ESL) program. All tutors are carefully interviewed, trained, and matched with students. They also receive ongoing support from LVSF staff and opportunities to improve their tutoring skills through workshops and in-service trainings.
Certified Tutor Training Sessions
The following sessions for volunteer tutors are certified by ProLiteracy. Each training takes 8 hours, plus a 2-hour orientation and a 2-hour follow-up session approximately six weeks after the training.
Basic Literacy (BL)
In our Basic Literacy (BL) program, tutors are needed to teach adult students the fundamentals of reading and writing, and some students also need tutoring in numeracy and basic math.
The training helps volunteer tutors work one-to-one with English speaking adults who read at or below the sixth-grade level. It is based on ProLiteracy’s training and uses whole language and phonics approaches to help adults develop their reading and writing skills.
English as a Second Language (ESL)
In our English as a Second Language (ESL) program, tutors are needed to teach English language skills to adult students whose primary language is not English. It is not required for you to have proficiency in any language other than English to teach these students.
Volunteer tutors are trained in many ways to teach English, regardless of their student’s first language or proficiency in English. Tutors learn how to use English to teach English. The focus of the training is on developing students’ listening and speaking skills.
See our tutor job description page for more information.
For more information about this rewarding experience, contact us at lvsf@sfcc.edu or call (505) 428-1353.
To get started as a volunteer tutor, please fill out this application:
Due to the intense nature of the training, attendance is required at all sessions, including the follow-up session. Tutors are carefully interviewed, trained, and matched with students. They receive ongoing support from LVSF staff and opportunities to improve their tutoring skills through workshops and in-service training sessions.
