Hi, I’m Nathan.

Math, reading & writing tutoring for grades K–8, online and in person.

Book a free intro call

15 minutes

Nathan Leslie standing among yellow wildflowers on a sunny day.
Tap or swipe to turn over to learn a little about me

A little about me

Hey! Thanks for clicking! I hope we get a chance to connect, but here’s a little about me in the meantime. I grew up in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento, and moved to Southern California to attend UC Irvine. I graduated with a degree in Business Administration and an emphasis in marketing. While I was there, I met my girlfriend, who grew up in Brooklyn and wanted to move back. It didn’t take much convincing. A year and change later, I couldn’t be happier here.

Lately, my hobbies include Ultimate Frisbee (maybe the greatest sport invented), reading, app development, and biking. All This Could Be Different is my favorite read this year, and recently I’ve been loving the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I’m also working on a platform for discovering books, with the goal of eventually including other forms of writing. And I’ve ridden 1,300 miles on Citi Bikes this year!

I’m a pretty analytical person and I believe I'm a better educator for it. I like having the details and the context behind them, and I find vague explanations frustrating. That carries over into how I try and communicate, explaining my reasoning and giving people enough context to follow it. I love explaining something I know well, especially when we can get specific about what isn’t making sense and work through it together.

How I approach tutoring

The support changes with your child’s understanding. Later sessions reconnect with earlier learning before extending it.

During a lesson

I learn how they think

I’ll use questions and short tasks to understand what your child already knows and where they need help.

I choose the support

Support depends on what your child understands and what’s getting in the way.

A questionA chance to explain a choice.
A hintA starting point to get unstuck.
An exampleA step modelled and explained.
Time to exploreRoom to investigate, with guidance.
If they need support

We practise together

We plan, try and check an approach together, with less help as understanding grows.

Adjust as neededIf they’re ready

They try on their own

Your child works through a similar task on their own, explains their approach and checks their work. If they get stuck, we return to the support they need.

If they get stuck

I note what’s understood

A record of what your child can explain and use helps us decide what to revisit.

A later session

Can they use it on their own?

Your child recalls the idea and tries a fresh example without help.

Not yet

We revisit the tricky step

We focus on the gap, with support as needed, before your child tries a fresh example independently.

Check again
Yes

We build on it

That understanding becomes the starting point for a new idea or challenge.

Building over time

Connect and apply learning

We bring earlier learning into new work and use it in different contexts when your child is ready.

Review progress and choose what’s next

We review what’s remembered, used in different tasks and done with less help. Parent input can help shape what comes next.

Revisit

Work on a gap, then check again.

Deepen

Explore further or try a harder task.

Connect

Link a secure idea to a new one.

Into later lessons

This is a flexible structure. I’ll adjust the order, pace and support as we go. Tell me what’s worked, what hasn’t and anything else that could help me understand how your child learns.

What we can work on

Math

Understand the concepts, work through problems, and make sense of the steps.

How we’ll work on math

We’ll start with questions or a short task to see how your child approaches a problem. Their responses help me choose whether to explore an idea, offer a question or hint, demonstrate a step or practise together. The goal is that, as their understanding grows, they’ll choose an approach, explain their reasoning and check their answers with increasingly less help until they can solve problems independently.

In a lesson

  • We’ll use visual aids to connect mathematical ideas to numbers and symbols.
  • We’ll build accuracy and fluency alongside reasoning. With word problems, your child will identify relationships, choose a strategy, explain why it fits and check whether the answer makes sense.
  • Later sessions will revisit earlier learning with fresh problems. Your child’s responses help us decide what needs another explanation or more practice, and when to move on.

These are examples of how we might work. Your child’s responses will guide the task, pace and support throughout.

The approaches behind this

Explicit, systematic instruction
Lessons follow a connected sequence, with demonstrations, feedback and review of earlier learning. We’ll work on understanding as well as the ability to carry out a calculation.
Guided inquiry and problem solving
Your child will have room to explore, with questions, examples, feedback and explanations to support progress. Research distinguishes this guided discovery from leaving a student to figure out an unfamiliar method unaided.
Mastery and visual models
We’ll connect objects, pictures and mathematical symbols so the symbols have meaning. When your child needs more time with an idea, we’ll revisit it and practise before moving on.

What the research supports

WWC (What Works Clearinghouse) research informs how we teach and support math across K–8: clear explanations, useful visual aids, practice and opportunities for your child to explain and check their work.

Reading

Identify what is getting in the way: reading the words, reading fluently, or understanding the text.

How we’ll work on reading

Listening to your child read and discussing the text helps me understand what needs attention: reading the words, understanding the language or both. We’ll adjust the teaching and practice as we go, helping your child check unfamiliar words and recognise when they need to reread or ask for help. Later sessions will revisit these skills using new words and passages to see what they can use with less help.

In a lesson

  • If word reading is the obstacle, we’ll work systematically on sound and letter patterns, blending, spelling and, where needed, longer words and meaningful word parts. Your child’s attempt shows what needs teaching. Unfamiliar words won’t be treated as a guessing exercise.
  • We’ll build fluency through purposeful reading aloud, feedback and rereading. Demonstrations or reading together can help at first, with less support as your child reads more accurately and comfortably.
  • Vocabulary and background knowledge will develop alongside reading. Your child will explain interpretations, find supporting details and notice when meaning becomes unclear. We’ll practise useful responses, such as rereading or unpacking unfamiliar language.
  • In later sessions, your child will read new words and passages that use skills we’ve already worked on. This helps us see what they remember, what needs more practice and what they’re ready to learn next.

These are examples of how we might work. Your child’s responses will guide the task, pace and support throughout.

What that could look like

If your child understands a paragraph read aloud but struggles to read the words, word reading may need attention. If they read accurately but struggle to explain it, we’ll look more closely at understanding the language. These observations guide teaching. They aren’t a diagnosis.

The approaches behind this

Structured literacy and systematic phonics
We’ll work explicitly and systematically on the language and word reading skills your child needs, with review and adjustments based on their responses. Phonics connects letters and spelling patterns to speech sounds. It is one part of a complete reading approach.
Comprehension, language and knowledge
Understanding starts early, alongside learning to read the words. We’ll build vocabulary, discuss what the text means and connect it to what your child already knows, while also working on accurate, fluent reading.
Whole language, balanced literacy and word guessing
These labels cover different implementations. The key question is whether your child receives systematic instruction in the skills they need. Context helps interpret and check meaning. Guessing from a picture or first letter doesn’t replace reading the printed word.
Choosing a reading program
A program’s name alone doesn’t tell us whether it will help your child. I’ll look at the skills it teaches, the practice it provides and how your child responds.

What the research supports

These findings guide what we spend time on: teaching word reading directly where needed, building fluency through practice, and discussing language and meaning as we read. Your child’s reading and responses help me decide where to focus.

Writing

Learn manageable ways to organise ideas, build clear sentences and paragraphs, and revise.

How we’ll work on writing

We’ll start with what your child wants to communicate and how they currently approach writing. I’ll use their ideas, plans or drafts to identify what would help next, such as a question, a useful model, a demonstration or writing together. As they gain control, they’ll take more responsibility for planning, checking and revising their work.

In a lesson

  • We’ll set a manageable goal based on the reader and task. Your child will consider what they want to communicate, how to organize it and what would help them get started.
  • I’ll teach or model the skill that needs attention within meaningful writing. That might mean forming letters, spelling, building a sentence, organizing a paragraph or explaining evidence. A model or writing together can help your child put it into practice.
  • As the writing develops, we’ll use feedback and reread from the reader’s point of view. Your child will decide what to improve, with fewer prompts as they become ready.
  • In a later piece, your child will have a chance to choose and use the strategy before a reminder. Their attempt helps us decide whether to refresh the skill or extend the task.

These are examples of how we might work. Your child’s responses will guide the task, pace and support throughout.

The approaches behind this

Process writing and writers’ workshop
Planning, drafting, revising and sharing provide a meaningful structure. Explicit teaching can sit within that process, so your child gets both time to write and guidance on how to improve.
Explicit strategy instruction and SRSD
Self-Regulated Strategy Development combines writing strategies with goals and self-checking. Its sequence of modelling, supported practice and independent use can inform how we work. It is a well-studied model, with evidence that varies across students and studies.
Sentence and genre instruction
We’ll look at how sentences work and how different kinds of writing are organized. Models, sentence practice and discussion of purpose will connect those skills to your child’s own writing.

My experience

UC Irvine

–

I entered college not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and left with a career path I was excited to pursue. My B.A. in Business Administration exposed me to a range of fields, and I developed a particular interest in marketing. But my two marketing internships made me question whether I wanted to pursue it as a career.

My time in Prague changed what I considered a realistic path for myself. Teaching became something I could actually see myself doing, and I spent the rest of my degree finding a way into it.

English in Prague

–

Prague was a major turning point for me. I was volunteering at a school, teaching English to Czech elementary-school students, while also completing a marketing internship at a tech company. Having both experiences at the same time made the difference in how I felt about them hard to ignore.

Whenever I thought about what I could see myself doing for years, it was the teaching. That was a cathartic realization, and a moment of certainty during a time when a lot was changing.

Special Needs Teaching Assistant — Strategic Kids

–

Back in California, with about a year left in my degree, I started looking for my first job in education. Through Strategic Kids, I worked as a short-term fill-in special needs teaching assistant across Irvine Unified School District.

Being in a new classroom every few days meant getting to know new students, routines, and support needs quickly. I worked with children of different ages and with a wide range of disabilities. Later, I took longer assignments, spending about a month at a time in individual classrooms and working one-on-one with students, accompanying them through their classes and supporting them throughout the day.

Substitute Teacher — Irvine Unified

–

Moving into substitute teaching felt like the next step toward becoming a teacher. I wanted more responsibility and independence, and I felt ready to manage a classroom of my own. There was a learning curve, but I found my footing quickly and really enjoyed most of my assignments.

In Irvine, I was given real content to teach and had the chance to work across grade levels. I felt that my preparation and effort had a direct impact on the students I was teaching, and I found that fulfilling. I wanted to keep pursuing teaching after moving to New York.

Substitute Teacher — NYC DOE

– Present

Substitute teaching in New York has been formative, but often frustrating. Much of my work has involved assisting in classrooms or rotating between several classes to cover teachers’ prep periods. I’ve often arrived knowing little more than the school’s location, with no lesson plan or information about the students I’d be working with.

Those experiences have helped me get better at managing a classroom, but they’ve also clarified what I want to spend my time doing. My favorite teaching moments have been the ones where I had enough information to understand the students’ needs and could focus on helping them learn.

That’s why I’m moving toward tutoring. I want more of my time to go toward helping a student understand a concept and solve a problem independently. Having the time and context to work closely with a student is what appeals to me about it.

Pricing

60, 90, 120-minute sessions available. Totals below show a 60-minute lesson, rounded to the nearest dollar.

First 5 lessons

50% off$60/hour

$30/hour

$30 per lesson

$150 total (5 lessons)

Afterward

$60/hour

$60 total

1 session: $60/hour · 4 sessions: $57/hour · 8 sessions: $54/hour · 16 sessions: $50/hour

Bundles apply after your first 5 one-on-one lessons.

Lesson details

The introductory rate applies to each student’s first 5 one-on-one lessons. Sessions are charged at the hourly rate, prorated for your chosen duration and rounded to the nearest dollar.

Bundle rates don’t combine with introductory discounts. Bundle totals cover the selected number of lessons at the selected length.

Why the introductory rate

Over the past three years, I’ve taught and supported children in classrooms. One-on-one tutoring is newer to me, and I want to be honest about that. That’s why the first five lessons are half price.

Book one at a time, with no obligation to take all five or continue. A good fit for your child, for you as their parent or guardian, and for me helps us work better together.

Per student

StudentsFirst 5 · 40% offAfterward
2

$27/hr

$27 per lesson

$135 total (5 lessons)

$45/hr

$45 total

3

$24/hr

$24 per lesson

$120 total (5 lessons)

$40/hr

$40 total

4

$21/hr

$21 per lesson

$105 total (5 lessons)

$35/hr

$35 total

5–8

$18/hr

$18 per lesson

$90 total (5 lessons)

$30/hr

$30 total

How groups work

Groups depend on availability and students working at similar subject levels.

For now, you and the other families would need to put the group together. I’m not matching students into groups yet.

Group introductory rates apply to each student’s first 5 group lessons. They don’t combine with one-on-one discounts or bundles.

Let’s talk about your child.

Tell me the grade, subject, and what’s been difficult. We can talk about next steps and whether online or in-person tutoring works for you.

Book a free intro call

Free · 15-minute intro call · Google Meet

Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Eastern