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How to Tutor your child

1. Posted by admin in children |
2. March 15th, 2010 |
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Many children struggle in school; and since there have been so many cutbacks in education, teachers are often overloaded with students and can’t spend much time helping each individual child. Since we all want our children to succeed, we need to ensure that they are doing their best and getting the best encouragement from us.

Since teachers are short on time they can spend on the individual student at school, you could go to the school and volunteer your time there at regular intervals. But this will not really help YOUR child since you have to help all the others as well. Most parents also don’t have the time to spend at school regularly and some schools might even discourage this kind of solution. Since there have to be regular one-on-one sessions to ensure thorough absorption of the materials taught, this option is not a good one.

A better option would be to hire a high school or college student to tutor your child if you don’t have time to do the job yourself. Before hiring a student, make sure you see an official transcript to ensure that the student has the skills required to teach your child. Also try to hire a student of the same sex as your child since then there will be no inter-sex tension, which can be a real issue with kids/teenagers. Set up a few probation tutor sessions where you can watch and check if you agree with the teaching methods and the materials being taught. If you don’t like the tutor or don’t feel confident about their abilities get a different one, even if you don’t feel happy to disappoint them. You and your child have to be able to trust your tutor or else the learning environment is not a good one.

If you want to tutor your own child, this is a suggested schedule. As soon as the child gets home, tell them to try their homework on their own for as long as they can. Tell your child to do all the things that they understand and only then they should come and ask for help. After the child has solved all the problems it could, they should come to you with any questions that they may have. Offer to check over their homework, and if they get something wrong ask them questions about that particular problem to see whether the child catches the mistake. If your child doesn’t point the mistake out help them to solve the problem. Make sure your child understands the basics before moving to more complex issues. If you find out they don’t understand a concept teach it to them. It is good to use visual aids such as a chalk board or even just paper and a pencil. Make sure you repeat the essential points again at the end and ask questions to ensure your child understands. Also ensure that your child copies the concepts down so they can refer to it for help. Let them keep these aids in their binders since they will be useful for studying for a test. Then give the child time again to solve the problem on their own. Don’t just give up on them and give them the answers…remember we want to teach them how to solve the problem themselves. Once this schedule is implemented, you will see that the child needs less help as time passes. This is because the regular homework time is often enough to keep up with what the class is doing. Often children don’t do their homework and that is why they fall behind. And in the beginning when you help your child with their homework, you ensure that they know the basic concepts. If those are thoroughly understood, the rest is built on a solid foundation, and their scholarly success is assured.

So be patient, persistent and don’t spare praise. Give out special surprises when your child improves and don’t give up if you don’t see results right away. Praise your child every time they understand and apply a new concept. Also talk with the teacher to see what areas your child could improve in and help your child in those areas. Good luck and happy tutoring!

Elementary school teacher tips

1. Posted by admin in School Tips |
2. March 6th, 2010 |
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As you start your first year as an elementary school teacher, on the top of your list of things to do should be, “Get to know the support staff.” That is anyone you will call on for help during the year. Of course the principals are important, but who are you going to call when the toilet overflows or a student gets sick in the middle of class? Who is going to prepare the lunch you will buy or make sure you have enough tables and chairs for all of your children? Who is going to get you a sub when you have to call in sick? Those people can make or break your year. You don’t have to bake them cookies, although they would enjoy them; just introduce yourself and say hello during the day. It is amazing how helpful someone can be when they feel appreciated.

Always have the names and contact numbers of your students’ parents at your fingertips. This can be easily accomplished with an index box and note cards. Place each of the students’ names, addresses, birthdays, contact numbers, bus numbers and allergies or medicines on their respective cards. When you need any of this information, all you have to do is grab your box and not a huge file.

Make your own classroom files. The ones in the office are filled with all of the important and official records. The ones that you keep in your classroom can be less formal. Keep examples of work and test grades. Always keep copies of notes you have sent home. Then keep the response. Keep a copy of formal and informal yearly assessments. All of this stuff can be used during parent-teacher conferences.

Label all of your personal belongings. You don’t want to get your things mixed up with things that belong to the school. Plus, if you let someone borrow your materials, they will know to whom they should return them.

Keep a box or desk drawer with emergency supplies; flashlight, hairbrush, lotion, screwdriver, hammer, etc. You want to be able to take care of the simple things without having to wait.

Devise a filing system. When you make or find something that is good, file it away for next year. If you teach the same grade each year, your system could be based on weeks. Number your files week 1, 2, etc., and put what you do week by week in them. You can also file according to months or seasons. It does not matter how you do it. What matters is that it gets done and that you can understand it.

Do the same thing with your books. Shelve them so you can find what you need easily. Alphabetical order by author or title always works. You can also shelve by topics or reading levels. Using tubs is a good way to keep books in order. Label each tub with the type of book that you or a student will find inside. Make a running list of all of the books you have and the way you are shelving them. This will help you keep track of them and know where to look when you need one.

Collect copy paper boxes, and use them to store monthly materials. Label each box with the month, and only put things for that month inside. For January’s box, you might put that month’s bulletin board boarder, winter decorations, pictures, wall hangings, and paper snowflakes.

Have a set of mailboxes for student work. Instead of trying to send home papers every day, do it once a week. Designate a day when all work will be sent home. Make sure you use the same day each week. Give each student a folder, and have them check their mailbox on the assigned day. Send only important papers or notes home on a daily basis. Inside the folder, label the pockets, “Keep at Home, Return to School.”

The more organized you are in your classroom, the easier your year will be. Save what you know you will use again and get rid of the rest.