5 Reasons to Hire a Private Tutor
What is the best benefit when you hire a private tutor? Tired of the lack of harmony at home when it comes to homework time? Hire a private tutor! Not seeing joy in your child’s educational experience? Hire a private tutor. Private tutors do more than just help a child who is failing a course. Tutors help students improve grades, manage workload, strengthen academic and critical thinking skills, reduce stress, and cultivate a healthy attitude about education. All of these help a student to gain confidence at school and at home, ensuring they are prepared for the next grade and beyond. One-on-one personalized educational attention is the primary reason to hire a private tutor. There are big companies like Huntington Learning Centers that provide tutoring or private tutors running small businesses like mine. Some of us are retired certified teachers who love what we do and want to keep on helping students! Sometimes a child needs tutoring for a semester and sometimes for their whole academic career. Those who see the value in tutoring become adept at telling me what they need help with. I love hearing stories about how they later use free campus tutoring in college or go…
Benefits of Sustained Silent Reading
When was the last time you read silently for enjoyment? Whether your child has a love of reading or not, there are many benefits of sustained silent reading including developing a love for books and an increased ability to maintain silent reading for the length of time needed for end-of-year testing. Plus, reading takes the reader on adventures and increases knowledge. It’s never too late for someone to become a reader. In my experience, reluctant readers spend more time practicing test-taking skills but not enough time practicing sustained reading for the length of the end-of-year tests. They lose stamina part way through the test and things go downhill from there. Our culture is quick and on the go and when a reading passage is more than a page long, students groan. If it’s several pages long, they tune out after the first one or just skip to the questions and then spend time hunting for answers in a passage they never read, missing the nuances of the test and the complexities of comprehension. Does this sound like a child you know? Whether it is called DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), Quiet Time, or DIRT (Daily…
10 Analogy Types to Improve Thinking
How would you finish this analogy – roots are to trees as _______ is to learning? Analogies provide a good way to practice critical thinking, but knowing the common types of analogies will help you avoid just guessing the answer. Analogies focus on word relationships to explain two things by showing how they are alike. Analogies can help map familiar relationships with new information. There are numerous types of relationships, but the most common 10 analogy types are antonyms, synonyms, part/whole, cause/effect, tool/action, category/example, intensity, characteristics, pairs, and object/user. The benefits of understanding analogies are developing flexible thinking skills, enjoying the powerful nuances of literature, and excelling at job interviews and homework help. Below are 10 common analogy types and examples. Analogy Types and Examples Antonym – hot : cold :: wet : dry Synonym – nice : kind :: mean : bully Part/Whole – leaf : tree :: petal : flower Cause/Effect – stove : burn :: rain : flood Tool/Action – keyboard : type :: phone : call Category/Example – clothes : shirt :: silverware : spoon Intensity – freezing : cool :: boiling : warm Characteristic – fish : water :: bird : air Pairs – …
10 reading questions to ask your child
How can parents ask good questions without reading the book? Every parent wants to ask good reading questions to help their child stretch their reading comprehension but who has time to pre read all the books and come up with good questions? This list of 10 reading questions will help you support your child’s literacy development and start critical thinking discussions. Whenever I ask critical thinking reading comprehension questions of students, I always expect them to tell why they think that. Teach your child to answer the question and tell why. I reassure students that there may be more than one right answer and telling why or giving proof from the text will help their answer to be understood better. Here are 10 reading questions you can personalize and use to ask your child about what they are reading regardless of the book or their school grade level. Ask one or two of these at a time and give plenty of thinking time if needed. What made you select this book? What character are you most/least like? Would you be friends with the main character if they lived next door? What is the crisis in the story and how…
Strategies to Master Multiplication
How old were you when you learned your multiplication facts? Knowing basic math facts and skills is the foundation of strong math progress, yet multiplication seems daunting to many children and parents. I often tell students that if they do not know their math facts they can still get the right answer, but their classmates who know their math facts will get the answer faster. In elementary school the time gap is not as apparent as it is in middle school and beyond. Start with conceptualizing the facts, add some counting and reasoning strategies, and then work on fact mastery. Mastering multiplication facts does not have to be a painful experience. Most schools try to have students be fluent in the one by one digit multiplication facts by memory by the end of grade 3 as they conceptualize multiplication and division. Fluency is as important in math as in reading no matter the access to calculators and audio books. However, straight memorization of math facts without a concept of multiplication is like memorizing the alphabet without understanding that the letters represent sounds that blend together to make words. How can parents and tutors help children learn to master the multiplication…
The Importance of Learning Vocabulary
Did you know that having a good vocabulary improves your communication skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking? Vocabulary helps you think and learn about the world around you. Expanding your knowledge of words broadens your ability to process new information. Learning the subject vocabulary is of great importance for any school or business course, but also just growing your vocabulary will enrich your communication abilities. Building your knowledge of subject area vocabulary increases testing confidence and reduces your stress no matter what course you are taking. It allows you to focus on the critical thinking aspects of the course or test instead of focusing on your stress. Understanding the test question will help you respond with confidence and that is why it is crucial to learn unit vocabulary for each subject area in school. No one wants to be buffaloed when the teacher asks a question. Understanding WHAT the question is asking will eliminate mistakes as long as you know the content. Memorizing words and definitions can be a very helpful first step in learning vocabulary, but studying vocabulary words in context is the BEST way to learn vocabulary. Sometimes you may start studying vocabulary as the introduction to a…
Setting up School Year Expectations
How does setting a homework schedule build life skills that impact the workplace? Just as a classroom teacher sets expectations, parents can also use the start of a new school year to set school year expectations for homework and chores. As children grow, so should their responsibilities as these life skills may impact their future workplace performance. During the younger years, they can be expected to put their backpack in the designated location and put any “parent homework” in a certain spot everyday. Homeschoolers can be expected to return their daily supplies to a designated location. As they get to the middle years, these school year expectations can grow. To avoid the morning rush or get a few more minutes of sleep, bookbags can be packed the night before, lunches can be made, and clothes laid out. All of this can be done by the children, with some initial supervision by the parents or caretakers. By the launching years, these school year expectations should be firm and there should be little need for reminders or follow ups. The start of a new school year is a great opportunity to revisit the expectations. “Each night after you clean up the dinner…
Sensory Strategies for Learning
How can you squeeze a little learning into playtime? As a teacher and tutor, I have had to think creatively and quickly to come up with out-of-the-box sensory strategies for learning to help students learn in a way that makes sense to them. This happens usually when their frustration becomes evident. The student begins to act out or shut down. For some reason, they are unwilling or unable to focus on the learning. That brings out my creative side! I WANT every kid to find joy in learning! And if they are not, I want to know why and what I can do to make it better. Getting creative with sensory learning is a good starting spot. It’s not the only way to teach and learn, but there can be fun activities connected to our senses and our study time. Learning styles are basically just how your child learns best – by hearing, by watching, or by doing. These are not the only way your child learns, so do not discount all the other ways we can learn, but understand that sometimes it helps your child to focus on the content when we present it in a way they enjoy. …
Tips for Homework Time
Are you looking for a few useful tips for homework time or is it time to hire a tutor? Homework Tips Set a regular schedule and routine for homework time. (Read Homework Help for more homework tips, too.) Be available but do not hover. Set a work timer if needed. Some students work best on homework right after school, some after dinner, and some at breakfast. Ask your student’s opinion of this and maybe try something new. Be consistent and kind. Encourage the student to help come up with solutions rather than just doing it yourself (most students CAN ask their teachers a question in person or via messaging and take responsibility to follow through). Listen more than you talk. Use an agenda system to record work and break projects into chunks. Use a paper or project management system even if school is online. Write reminders to talk to teachers or turn in work. Have your student write down tasks like “read slide show” or “do attendance” if your student struggles to remember daily tasks other than rushing to complete the “due” work. Mark off completed work with a highlighter or check box. Using an agenda will help both student…