Elementary school years involve a lot of learning and a large schoolwork load. Students learn how to read, write, and understand complex content learning material. Besides regular class subjects, they learn other important lessons such as collaboration, motivation, hard work, and accomplishment. Elementary school students are also taught how to handle life challenges such as struggle, failure, and disappointment. Due to exposure to large chunks of information, they may experience many learning gaps hence the need for a tutor’s intervention. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to find a suitable tutor to meet the needs of your elementary-level student.
Here are some qualities you should look for when finding suitable tutors for your elementary level children:
Determine the Tutor’s Experience
Math and English lessons in elementary schools build on each other and should be delivered in manageable chunks. Content mastery also changes each year as children transit from one level to another. One way to determine if a tutor is suitable for your child is to examine their experience in tutoring or teaching concepts within your child’s age range and grade level. When looking for a tutor, ask them if they have knowledge and expertise over specific concepts your child needs. Let them provide past scenarios where they successfully helped a student struggling with a particular idea in reading, math, or any other subject.
Determine how the Tutor Breaks Down Concepts
By the time you are looking for a tutor, you are most likely aware of the areas of study your child is struggling in. The class teacher can be resourceful to the tutor by telling him where your child needs reinforcement and needs more practice. A good tutor re-teaches or accelerates classroom learning and advocates for your child’s education both in school and at home. The tutor and the class teacher should work together to discuss classroom goals, teaching practices and styles, existing learning gaps, and the curriculum in use. Our Tutors at Kids on the Yard work closely with teachers to make more effective tutoring sessions. We understand that elementary-age students require more practice with basic concepts before handling advanced concepts in advanced grade levels.
Determine the Tutor’s Level of Patience
Successfully handling a student’s frustration, fatigue, or lack of understanding requires a special kind of patience. A tutor should know that the student requiring tutoring intervention is tired and frustrated by some tasks. By the end of the regular classroom sessions, they all want to play, socialize, rest and spend time with family members. Besides breaking down learning concepts, a good tutor should deal with all these challenges. In the long run, successful tutoring involves regular breaks, working in shorter bursts, and integrating fun with learning. To determine the patience level, ask them how they handle a student who could be behind others in learning or struggling with a concept. Also, ask them about their teaching style to determine their flexibility and ability to personalize learning to fit an individual student’s needs.
Determine how the Tutor Engages Students and Makes Learning Fun
Elementary students get more engaged when the learning process is fun. A good tutor should incorporate songs, physical objects, games, and art in their tutoring sessions to make them fun and interesting. It will help if you look for tutors who apply project-based learning, technology, learning games, or use art projects; over those focusing only on practice or drilling. Good tutors know to create a balance between concept mastery and playfulness.
Determine How the Tutor Encourages Struggling Students.
We all require encouragement at some point in life, and our children are not exceptional. Elementary students struggling with learning require motivation, especially when they need extra learning time. Find a tutor who understands the needs of students as they begin to master concepts that are willing to improve their performance and help them catch up with their classmates. The right tutor should be insensitive and more inclined to positive reinforcement. You should ask tutors how they handle struggling students and the type of reinforcement they use to improve their performances.
PARTING SHOT:
At Kids on the Yard, we adopt the Whole Child tutoring approach both in-person and online to inspire personal growth. We believe that successful tutors formulate confidence-building rapport with students and families. Our tutors are outstanding educators who are hand-picked by our educational team and provide your child support throughout their elementary school and beyond. Don’t hesitate to contact us to get in touch with our well-able and experienced tutors.
