Hello! I am "The Writing Tutor" and my name is Holly Van Houten. I have taught writing and tutored students for over 25 years (at all levels) and am eager to design an individualized curriculum that works for you. I work ONLINE with students from all over the world and have had great success helping them to strengthen all areas of their writing, from organization to analysis.
I hold a Masters Degree in English and American Literature from USC, am A.B.D. (all but dissertation) for my Ph.D. I earned my B.A. from UCLA in English Literature.
In addition to extensive experience in one-on-one writing tutoring with a wide variety of abilities, I have taught many classes for K-12 level students, including "Powerful Paragraphs," "Effective Essays," "Advanced Argument," "Creative Writing," "Short Story Workshops," "Writing a la Mode," "Novels to Knowledge," "Read to Write," "Writing Adventures," and many others. The students I work with go on to receive very high grades in their English 101 classes when they enroll in college.
I have also taught multiple college classes in Writing and Literature:
I have spent the last 6 years teaching a wide variety of Literature and Writing courses to K-12 students at the Huckleberry Center for Creative Learning.
I hold a Masters Degree in English and American Literature from USC, am A.B.D. (all but dissertation) for my Ph.D. I earned my B.A. from UCLA in English Literature.
In addition to extensive experience in one-on-one writing tutoring with a wide variety of abilities, I have taught many classes for K-12 level students, including "Powerful Paragraphs," "Effective Essays," "Advanced Argument," "Creative Writing," "Short Story Workshops," "Writing a la Mode," "Novels to Knowledge," "Read to Write," "Writing Adventures," and many others. The students I work with go on to receive very high grades in their English 101 classes when they enroll in college.
I have also taught multiple college classes in Writing and Literature:
- Freshman Writing (at all levels, including non-native speakers) at USC for 10 years;
- Freshman Writing & Intro to Literature at Pepperdine University;
- Developmental & Freshman Writing at CSULB;
- Developmental Writing and Reading, Cerritos College;
- Developmental & Freshman Writing at Golden West College;
- English 290 (British Literature to 1800) at Golden West College;
- Developmental & Freshman Writing at Cal. State Univ., Northridge;
- Writing Center, University of Southern California;
- Graduate Teaching Practicum at the USC Writing Program;
- English 501X, a year-long Teaching Practicum for incoming Assistant Lecturers (included a two-week intensive Summer Orientation) at USC.
I have spent the last 6 years teaching a wide variety of Literature and Writing courses to K-12 students at the Huckleberry Center for Creative Learning.