New Students

Whether you’re brand new to court reporting, captioning, and CART Providing or whether you’ve had prior training, Court Reporting and Captioning at Home has a program for you. Our website is designed to provide the prospective student with as much information as possible about our Court Reporting, Captioning, and CART Providing programs, i.e.: theory, academics, support, speed building, student CAT software, internship, and job placement for each career. After reading about our realtime training programs, please call or e-mail, and one of our professional staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
This self-paced, online training program enables you to train more quickly than in a traditional school or online court reporting school. These cutting edge training methods developed by CRAH allow the student to make progress every study session. The significant difference in the CRAH Program and other Court Reporting schools, colleges of Court Reporting, and Court Reporting online programs is that the CRAH student has at his disposal superior tools and unparalleled professional support from credentialed Court Reporters, or Captioners, or CART Providers to ensure our students are trained to the highest standard in the shortest period of time.

The Court Reporting and Captioning at Home Program

“The two most important components of your training in any school or program are the theory you learn and the support you receive throughout your training.”

– Linda Bland, RMR, RPR, CSR, CPE

The Realtime Reporting and Captioning Theory

The “Realtime Reporting and Captioning Theory” is the only theory developed specifically for online, home study students, and although the NCRA no longer offers an approval process for theories, it was approved by the NCRA in 2003 and may be found on their website clearinghouse for theories. Theory is how we learn to write on the steno machine. The unique concept of this theory provides the student with a realtime writing foundation for Court Reporting, Broadcast (closed) Captioning, and CART Providing.

The COLOR CODED theory manual was developed over a four-year period, and it is written to allow students to easily understand the terminology and make progress each day. It is the only theory correlated with a VIDEO TUTORIAL to illustrate everything the student needs to see, i.e.: How to attach the tripod to the steno machine, proper height of the steno machine, proper posture, where to place each finger on each key, and how to write each of the 20 theory lessons! It’s like having your instructor sitting next to you. This theory contains Options! Options allow students to choose the method that works best for them, ensuring all students can complete theory. Students with prior training do not have to devote time to anything in which they are already proficient or that they have taken previously.

There are 20 Studio-Produced, Animated Graphic, VIDEO tutorials, which are viewed on the Student Platform, each correlated with a hard copy lesson found in your Theory Manual, supplemented with an audio file on the Platform for students to practice. When the lesson is accomplished, there is a short written test at the end of each lesson.

Support

Thank you for creating this wonderful program by the way. Your Online Support people are amazing! I could NOT get through this without them! They are always helpful, responsive and endlessly patient with me through my endless questions…and at times whining.

Thank you again for giving me a chance at a new career!

🙂 Vio C.

Not only does Court Reporting and Captioning at Home provide the best realtime writing theory, but our Support Department is second to none, composed of credentialed Court Reporters, Broadcast Captioners, or CART Providers who have passed state or national certification examinations and who have been successful in these realtime writing careers. If an instructor has never accomplished the career himself and passed certification examinations to prove his proficiency, it is REALLY difficult, if not impossible, to teach someone else a profession in which he has never trained or performed himself. Currently, most of our support staff has over 15 years’ experience in one of these careers. So if you have watched the video tutorial and still have a question, contact the Support Department, and they will work with you until you understand the answer! CRAH receives accolades regarding our Support Department weekly! The support you receive can be responsible for your success … or your failure. So be certain the individuals training you are of the highest caliber possible. Simply having the CRI (Certified Reporting Instructor) designation means the individual has sat in on teaching seminars at the NCRA’s National Convention and has been conferred those credentials. It does NOT mean that the person has necessarily ever trained for these careers, passed a certification examination, or reported or captioned even one assignment. Be certain YOUR support staff has RPR, CSR, RMR, RDR, CRR or CRC credentials.

The owner and developer of the Court Reporting and Captioning at Home program served on the NCRA Test Advisory Committee (that develops the national RPR, RMR and RDR certification examinations), and the test she developed was chosen to be administered at the May, 2007 RPR exam. So Court Reporting and Captioning at Home students may feel comfortable the materials in the CRAH program are of the caliber necessary to prepare them to pass any State CSR exam, the National RPR certification exam, and the CRR Certification Examination.

Speed Building and Practice Regimen

The CRAH unique speed building technique is incorporated with the Realtime Reporting and Captioning Theory and allows the student to complete speed building much faster and more prepared to enter these careers than old-fashioned, traditional methods. Mrs. Bland served on the NCRA’s Test Advisory Committee in 2007 that developed the RPR exam, and her test was chosen to be administered at the May, 2007 RPR certification exam. The quality and clarity of the dictation materials are unsurpassed.

There are speed building practice materials located on the Student Platform. Each student has a Speed Building Practice Regimen developed specifically for the student based upon the number of hours they have available to practice each day. It is delineated by the first hour, the second hour, etc. It may even be broken down into half hour or 15-minute increments depending upon how much time the student has available to practice. It is not necessary to take 4-7 years in a traditional school setting or its online program or to spend $20,000 to $50,000 for the training.

Academics

While Court Reporting and Captioning at Home furnishes all the academics that are found on state and national court reporting certification examinations, if you are already proficient in some of them, you may simply review our materials, and if you choose to do so, take a test on the lesson and grade it using the answer sheets provided. You can save months and months in training with the CRAH program. While academics ARE important, there is a better way to approach them than the method utilized in traditional Court Reporting schools and their online court reporting programs that require you to waste months and months (many semesters) on academics, many of which do not even relate to Court Reporting, Broadcast Captioning, or CART Providing such as: sociology, culture in society, human relations, algebra, word processing, creative writing, etc. Most traditional schools and their online Court Reporting programs still require students who already have Associate’s Degrees, or Bachelor’s Degrees, or higher to waste time on academics they have already taken and in which they are already proficient. With the Court Reporting and Captioning at Home program, you have available the necessary training materials to prepare for national and state certification.

Academics – Court Reporting

English: Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, Vocabulary

Medical Terminology and Anatomy

Court Reporting Procedures, Ethics, and Technology

Legal Terminology

Transcript Production

Academics are necessary, because they are a component of Court Reporting certification examinations. These academics were developed by CRAH specifically for online students and include lessons, tests, and answer sheets. If you require ANY assistance, your Support Department, comprised of credentialed Court Reporters, is there to assist you. If you are training for Captioning or CART Providing, it is not necessary to devote time to Court Reporting academics and visa versa.

Academics – Captioning and CART Providing

Students choosing Captioning and/or CART Providing do not waste time on Court Reporting Academics. Below are the components in the Captioning and CART Providing programs.

Introduction to Captioning and CART Providing Training – Textbook for each career

Format and Style – Specific to each career

Optional Realtime Writing Concepts

Glossaries – 35 Glossaries of Terms to input in the student dictionary

Grading – How to Grade tests for the CRC Exam

Frequently Asked Questions – Most commonly asked questions regarding the careers and how to train for them

Equipment necessary for captioning and CART – equipment, cables, software, etc.

Software and Dictionary Building – Building your dictionary using CAT software

Practice materials specific to each career. 20 Television Video programs are available for Captioning and 20 audio files from actual CART assignments are available for CART Providing.

Certification Preparation

Court Reporting

Certification Preparation – CRAH includes Mock RPR Examinations to prepare students to pass state and national certification examinations for Court Reporting.

Having served on the NCRA Committee that develops the RPR examination which includes a Written Knowledge Test covering these academics, and having the test Linda Bland developed chosen to be administered at the May, 2007 RPR examination, you may feel comfortable these academics will prepare you to work professionally and/or to pass any state or the national RPR examination.

There are 23 Academic Lessons followed by a test for each lesson on the Student Platform. They are automatically graded. If the student fails a test, the questions may be scrambled to allow the student to test again.

In addition to the 23 Academic Lesson Tests, CRAH provides 10 Mock Written Knowledge Tests (WKTs) that simulate the NCRA’s official WKT examination, each containing 100 multiple choice questions. These tests are automatically graded and may be scrambled to be taken again.

Captioning and CART Providing

Certification Preparation – CRAH provides a Mock certification examination for the new captioning and CART providing credential CRC (Certified Realtime Captioner) developed for CRAH by a gentleman who holds the FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, CRI and CSR credentials!

Internship

Internship - Court Reporting When the student completes his training, the CRAH Support Department helps them establish an internship in their area at hours that are convenient for them.

A Court Reporting internship is usually completed within two weeks. 40 hours of writing time on the steno machine is recommended. This allows students to experience in action what they have learned in training. However, students may have the length of the internship increased or decreased depending upon how quickly they acclimate to the training.

Internship - Captioning and CART Providing

A Captioning internship consists of CRAH scheduling an assessment with a prospective Captioning employer to allow the student to submit a sample of their realtime writing for evaluation. Valuable feedback is provided by the prospective employer. If a student requires further practice in a certain area(s), they work on that area for however long it requires them to improve, and then another assessment is provided by the prospective employer. Assessments may be had with several different prospective employers. When a student is deemed proficient enough to caption, they may be offered employment by the prospective employer, but if not, CRAH begins the job placement process.

A CART providing internship consists of “shadowing” a CART Provider who will work with them to prepare them for employment, including assessment of their writing. CRAH schedules students to work remotely from their homes to provide “remote CART” to hearing impaired students and individuals. When the professional CART Provider deems the student proficient enough to provide CART either onsite or remotely, CRAH begins the job placement process.

Job Placement Assistance

CRAH provides job placement assistance to every student who completes his training. CRAH has always enjoyed 100% placement for those who complete training.

Did you know that ...

It is NOT necessary to have an Associate’s Degree or any college education to enter one of these careers?
It is NOT necessary to attend an accredited, traditional, NCRA-approved school?
Simply having a diploma or certificate of completion from a traditional school or its online program does not make you more employable or allow you to earn a greater income?
It is NOT necessary to spend $20,000-$50,000 to train for one of these careers?
It is NOT necessary to pass a certification examination to work as a Captioner or CART Provider for most employers? (Some states administer their own CART exam, and every Captioning employer will evaluate a sample of your realtime writing.)
A certification examination to work as a Court Reporter is required in only about half the states in the United States?

Court Reporting and Captioning at Home has had some students who completed the theory training in 5-6 weeks, but 2 to 3 months is not unusual for most students. The CRAH program allows students to maintain their present employment and/or take care of their children at home while completing their training from the comfort of their homes at hours that are convenient for them. This program is customized for each student. If you are proficient in some of the academics, you do not have to devote time to them.