A growing numbers of parents are now hiring private tutors to help their children through school and exams despite the recession, according to a recent survey; but as a parent it is very possible to tutor your own child and avoid the traditional tutoring fee’s.
As you may be aware, conventional tutors are fantastic and hold great value, but for some households’ money is tight and you may not have the financial means to send your child to a professional tutor. This information is to help you, as a parent, step in and provide the necessary tutoring for your child who is in need of academic assistance.
You do not need to have a teaching qualification, just access to the resources and the time. Spending as little as one hour per day will go towards supporting your child in their studies and help boost their grades. Below are some tips, brought to you by Key Stage Two.com, a National Curriculum approved online learning environment for children aged 7-11.
Providing Homework Help
Many tutors work with their students on homework, and this is the easiest tutoring you can do with your child. It is easier for you, as a parent because there is the option of working with the child each day instead of only a couple of times a week.Things to keep in mind when helping your child with their homework:
- Focus on your child and their homework. Do not let dinner preparations, siblings or the telephone interrupt a homework session. Focusing on your child will help maximise the help your child receives with homework.
- Never repeat the same phrase. When helping your child understand homework that is confusing, it is important to not keep repeating the same example, phrase or definition. Reword each explanation differently until your child understands.
Tutoring to Improve Reading or Math Skills
When a tutor is not hired specifically for homework, it is usually to improve reading or math skills in some fashion. This specific academic assistance can be intimidating to parents, but with a little bit of preparation, even if you don’t have a teaching background you can effectively help your own child improve their grades.
How to Improve Reading Skills:
- Ensure that your young children know phonics. This means that your child should be able to match up a sound to a letter or group of letters. Ask your child to try before telling the word, and for difficult or longer words, use two fingers to bracket and split the word into smaller pieces.
- To improve fluency, ask your child to use an index card to keep their place in the text instead of using their finger. Also consider using an index card to cover up words as they read to prevent their eyes from re-reading the same words several times. This forces the eyes to continue to read ahead, often speeding up the reading.
- To improve comprehension, ask your child to review questions from each page of the text, as well as at the end of a book.
Improve Math Skills:- Work on basic facts – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Turn drill and practice into a game, providing incentives and encouraging your child to beat their last score.
- Ask your child’s teacher what specific skills and subjects your child could benefit from tuition in, then find creative ways to re-teach the skill or subject using games and real-life examples.
- Ask your child’s teacher for extra worksheets to assist your child in catching up on any missing skills, or areas requiring improvement.
Providing academic assistance during the summer break.
Although the school summer break has just finished here in the U.K, it is often the busiest season for tutors as parents attempt to brush up on their children’s learning from the previous year or to prepare them for the next school year. In reality; every parent should provide academic tutoring for their child over the summer break. The summer slide is when students lose academic ground as a result of no schooling for a long period and the less ground a child loses; the easier the next school year will be for them.
Many teachers should be more than willing to suggest a course of study for your child over the summer break, providing suggestions, topics and sometimes even worksheets for you to complete with your child. If nothing else, your child should read each day and complete a few maths sums on a regular basis. As we are already into September 2011, remember this for summer 2012!
Working with your child to improve their grades, whilst avoiding the cost of a private tutor is within reach for you, as a parent.
All it requires is a little planning and time for you to devote to your child in whatever area requiring academic assistance.
Finally, if your child is aged between 7 and 11 why not join http://www.keystagetwo.com It is a virtual learning environment that successfully manages to combine fun games with education, whilst concentrating on the subjects your child is learning in school to help boost their grades in a fun and engaging way. KeyStageTwo.com is National Curriculum compliant and is now being used in schools and homes throughout Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. Now taking sign-ups for September 2011 at http://www.keystagetwo.com or try the Demo at http://www.keystagetwo.com/demo 
Good Luck for the new term folks!
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