Risa has been working with both of my kids for years and I can't say enough about how she has helped and guided them with their writing... in all subjects. Her passion for seeing the kids succeed is second to none. Thank you. read more

We've worked with Risa since my daughter was in 4th grade, and now at 16 she's a confident, thoughtful writer. Risa is patient, reliable, and truly gifted at explaining structure, style, and critical thinking. Essays, research papers, and timed writing all improved, and so did her confidence. Highly recommend. read more

In just a matter of weeks, Risa has completely enchanted my children with the art of writing. Her genuine passion for the craft is contagious, inspiring her studetns to dive in wholeheartedly. She treats them with such respect and kindness that a natual rappot forms, making it easy for them to stay engaged and grow. Her classroom feels cozy and inviting, and the candy jar that students are free to enjoy certainly doesn't hurt! Most importantly, I've seen my children grow more confident in expressing themselves and writing with greater ease. Risa encourages openness and creativity, which transforms writing into a stress-free and even joyful experience. read more

Risa has been nothing but a great, positive, and encouraging writing teacher for my daughter. She is very patient and explains everything to my daughter. Risa is very supportive and really teaches every little step of writing. What I also love about Risa is, that she doesn't tell the student what to write. She allows the student to be creative and make their own story. With the student's idea, she helps the student make the story better. I am so happy my daughter has Risa to guide her through writing. read more

Risa has been helping our 6th grader with English tutoring. Especially helping him keep up with homework assignments, which he was struggling a bit with. Most importantly, he enjoys himself when he is tutored by her, and that makes it really easy for us parents to have him motivated to go. :} read more

Risa is absolutely amazing as a teacher and mentor for my son. I found Risa when my 3rd grader's mid-year report card highlighted that he needed additional writing support. I wanted him to receive additional tutoring and this is when I found Risa. She is worth it. My son (who does not like writing) LOVES going to her tutoring sessions. Risa gives him the tools he needs to be successful, but most importantly, his confidence has really improved because of Risa. In just a few weeks, he has shown noticeable improvement and we plan to continue using Risa to support his writing development. read more

If I could write on here endlessly there couldn't possibly be enough good things to say about KidWritersLA!!! My 11 yr old has never been this enthusiastic about a class... EVER! When I pick her up she says "I love Risa sooo much." "I love this class sooo much!!!" An hour later... or less..."I love Risa sooooo much!!!" Her teaching style is intimate and unique all her own. And we both like that. She has the extraordinary ability to see and feel what each child needs and teach them accordingly. I can't recommend her enough! Kathy W read more

I can't say enough great things about Risa. Recently she helped my girls to strategize and put their best foot forward on their college essays. She was patient, understanding and gave valuable feedback. The results were nothing short of fantastic. I would definitely recommend Risa! read more

WOW! If I could give Risa the owner/tutor/educator/writer extraordinaire 500 stars I would. She is engaging, supportive and kind. Most importantly Risa is inspiring because she herself is a talented creative writer. Risa is everything I wanted in a mentor and tutor for my imaginative, uber creative, and somewhat slow to warm up daughter. My daughter likes to take her time joining in with others and she can also be a bit obstinate and reluctant when it comes to learning and constructive criticism. My daughter needed nurturing and guidance with everything from her writing, spelling, grammar, creative fiction assembly/writing and mastering of sentence structure. (ha ha, kind of like her Mom right now.... with all these long sentences!) Maybe I need to take the class too! Risa guided my daughter from start to finish. We were very pleased with the results at the end of the workshop. And most importantly, my daughter not only enjoyed the sessions but walked away with a sense of pride and acknowledgement of her efforts. My daughter was excited to go every week and felt nurtured, heard and included during class. Risa gave my daughter a creative voice and allowed her to sing. At the end of the workshop my daughter was so proud to display a creative fiction book that she had written, revised and edited over many weeks. She learned all about crafting a story from inception/introduction, the hero's journey, conflict, resolution etc. etc. and Risa made it fun. I highly recommend KidWritersLA for your talented child. Risa is the best. Not only is she a great one on one tutor but her classes and workshops are superb. read more

My daughter has really benefited from the extra instruction. She was diagnosed with a special learning disorder and working with Risa has increased her confidence. She is now near the top of her class. She doesn't stress out about writing and reading anymore. Now I have to tell her to put the books away and go to sleep. Lol. read more

Risa is passionate about teaching and does amazing job with kids. In two years time, she turned my son from a reluctant to a confident writer. She teaches him how to think, organize and structure the content. The skills he learned from Risa would benefit him for a lifetime. I feel very fortunate to have found her educational services. read more

In elementary school, my daughter missed the lessons on sentence structures, outlines. In middle school, Risa started working with her on the basics of writing in a fun and creative way. Risa's knowledge of the different writing forms and techniques combined with her enthusiastic nature helped my daughter improve and learn to enjoy writing. Risa is unselfish with her time; always making sure my daughter is getting the most out of each class. She has boosted my daughter's confidence and now as a freshman in high school, she enjoys writing and has become a solid A student in English! read more

We've been with Risa for a little over a month and I'm extremely happy with her teaching style, both my children are not very big on writing but she comes in with such great enthusiasm, always giving them wonderful ideas as well as respecting their learning styles and needs. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a writing teacher for their child (for any style). read more

Risa has been a godsend during the pandemic, giving my son support and guidance in writing throughout his middle school years. She's patient and flexible, and developed a customized program that addressed his specific needs, giving him the tools he needed to be a more successful and confident writer. read more

Risa is really amazing. She knows how to speak to kids in a way that makes them enjoy their time with her. My son doesn't love learning, but he does like working with Risa. He wants to do well for her. So he tries hard on his assignments. He's shown real improvement in reading comprehension and in writing ability in the 4-5 months we've been working with her. We plan to keep working with her for years to come. read more

My son raves about how fun it was to write on the drive home after leaving Risa. I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Risa for not only working on all these different writing strategies with him but also showing him that writing can be fun! read more

Risa has been a tremendous help with my college essays and she is happy to help me out anytime of any day. Her help allowed me to write an essay that got me into New York University! I definitely could not have done it without all of her help and guidance. Not only is she an excellent teacher, but she makes writing fun with her great sense of humor and enthusiastic personality. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for writing help!! read more

Writing effectively is such an important skill but I felt my daughters (ages 8 and 11) needed a writing coach/mentor to guide them through the process of brainstorming, outlining, finding the right words, actual writing, and editing. Yes, schools go over writing but usually it's a quick essay here and there. I wanted someone who could actually break down the writing process and show my daughters that writing is fun, creative, and enjoyable. NOT tedious. We're lucky we found RISA! My girls created a "writing folder" with Risa with tabs for transition words, stronger descriptive words (for example, what's a better word to use than "good" or "pretty"), and different types of essays like descriptive, narrative, persuasive. I highly recommend Risa! I wish every school and student could have access to and learn from Risa :) read more

Risa is an amazing teacher and gifted artist. She has been teaching my son in a small and curated group how to develop his writing in a creative way. My son now really enjoys his writing and is compelled to create for his classes and beyond. read more

I highly recommend Risa! She was recommended by another parent and I'm so glad we gave her a try. My 12 year old son is really into Math and didn't care too much about writing. When I told him about a writing tutor, he grudgingly agreed. After the first session, he said it was a lot better than he thought. It's been a few months now and he's really enjoying it. He's working on a story and he works on it a lot without me asking him to do it. He meets with her once a week and he works on it 4 or 5 times throughout the week. What's amazing is that it doesn't feel like an assignment to him. She has been able to draw out the creative side of him and for that, I'm grateful to her. It's been a fantastic experience watching him learn about that side of himself! read more

Love, love, love Risa! She gave my daughter so much encouragement and support. Emma is now a much more confident writer and she enjoys expressing her creativity with words. Thank you Risa! read more

A+ for KidWritersLA! Risa Okin far exceeded my expectations! When we first went to KidWritersLA, I hoped that Risa might help my son improve his writing and gain some organizational skills. As it turns out, Risa has been an absolute gift for both my son and me. Not only has she helped my son become a better writer and learn how to approach his homework, but she has given me priceless insights about my son, his brain, how he learns and how to help him. Risa has taught me to appreciate the way my son thinks and how to both encourage and challenge him. Her enthusiasm is contagious. My son actually loves going which is certainly some kind of a miracle. I love listening in on their sessions. Aside from significantly improving my son's writing skills and his grades, the real bonus is that going to see Risa has significantly improved our relationship by giving me powerful strategies to encourage him without badgering him to do his homework. I am so thankful to Risa for the myriad of ways that she has helped us. KidWritersLA is an absolute gem. I'm even planning to get Risa to help me with some of my own writing! read more

My 13 year old daughter who has auditory processing has been seeing Risa since late this summer and I am extremely happy with her teaching style . She is so positive, enthusiastic, patient and understanding. My daughter comes home happier everytime we have a tutoring session with Risa. I am starting to see more confidence in my daughter. read more

My son is a math/science thinker and struggled to understand the subjective nature of essay analysis and writing in his AP High School English class. Risa helped him find his voice and confidence, helped him to navigate style and structure, and ultimately his grade went from a C to an A. He would initiate meetings with her when he felt there were concepts he struggled to grasp. She helped him process many different types of writing, from political speeches to chapters of fiction. He has a lot of thoughts, and Risa helped him curate those into good writing. He is so grateful, and I am too! read more

Risa's writing class really helped my daughter. She learned the foundation of writing a well written paragraph. The confidence my daughter now has in her writing skills has skyrocketed. I can't wait for her to get a writing assignment at school and put her tools to use. read more

Risa offers a dynamic way of teaching kids to write no matter what their level. She helps raise their interest and confidence and teases out their own ideas so they can transform them into the written word. Her guidance is spot on and she helped my daughter in a fun, creative way to think about her essays and autobiography. read more

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing. KidWritersLA has a creative approach that allows kids to WANT to be the very best writers. Thanks to KidWritersLA, my nephew loves to write and he is absolutely great at it! read more

Risa is a gifted writing coach who balances having high expectations with cultivating excitement and creativity in young writers. My 8 and 13 year-old children have learned much from her in just a few sessions and I wish that we had found her earlier! read more

My kids were never into writing. When the workload in school became more and more, one essay came after the other, working on projects, endlessly over the weekend, I felt like I had it and booked our daughter into one of Risa's classes. Boy did that class turn our child's writing experience around! After only 2 sessions, my daughter couldn't wait to start writing. She came up with exciting ideas as to how to improve her essays, she looked up additional vocab, used metaphors and, for the first time really enjoyed working on writing projects. That was it, Risa is walking us ever since through middle and, now high school and our second child through middle school. I'm looking at those classes as an investment, really. Building our kid's writing foundation, I'm convinced will help them throughout their lives. read more

I was homeschooling my girls, and I needed extra support in teaching writing skills. Risa's creativity and energy brought my quiet gals out of their shells. She was clear on her expectations, gentle in her feedback, and provided a safe environment for sharing ideas. I also loved that Risa modeled writing by doing work right along side them (and expecting me to do the same!). read more

Risa is an expert! We've only been to a few sessions with her, but already my son's whole attitude towards his writing assignments has started to change. Like some middle schoolers, my son was in the "just get it done" mode, until Risa showed him how fun writing can be. Most importantly, she was able to encourage him to let his creativity flow, while still emphasizing the importance of organizing his writing for others to read. We are BOTH looking forward to more time with Risa... read more

Risa makes writing fun. All three of my kids have taken her story-writing classes. Each came away glowing with the creative spark that she helped them ignite -- and with fully formed stories they read before an audience of parents and fellow students. Lots of pride of accomplishment! read more