What Does “More than Just Homework Help” Mean?
It means simply this: if you’re going to pay for a tutor, you deserve a tutor who’s going to address your child’s individual needs with a specific, measurable plan for success. This is necessary for both children in need of remediation and those seeking new challenges. Tutors should do more than just help their students complete their homework.
For example, children who are behind in school need significantly more than just help with their homework. Children fall behind, not because they are slow, but because there are a few crucial skills or concepts that they haven’t mastered. This lack is certainly not their fault; many times it is simply because the concept has never been explained and practiced in a way that fits that child’s learning style. Thus, if these children are not only going to succeed—but flourish—it is imperative that they receive not only help with their homework, but also direct instruction in the skills or concepts they are lacking. I believe in using the homework a child is already assigned as a way to teach them the skills that they need. When necessary, I also bring in my own materials to supplement that child’s learning.
On the other hand, children who are lucky enough to have parents who want them to accelerate beyond their grade level also need much more than homework help. They need to be challenged with new ideas, higher-level concepts, and critical thinking skills which, for a variety of reasons, may not be available to them at school. They need to learn the skills that will allow them to be successful on their own, without a tutor to help them. These skills include test-taking strategies, research skills, and how they can clarify things they don’t understand by themselves. They need to learn how to synthesize information and skills they have acquired to form a thoughtful picture of the world. I use the homework a child has already been assigned, and/or my own materials, to help children advance their critical thinking skills, learn higher-level concepts, and make connections between school subjects and to the world around them.
Why I Use Diagnostic Tests:
I use diagnostic tests for two reasons. First of all, just like you, I want to make sure that the instruction I’m providing is actually helping your child. Diagnostics allow us to see the progress your child is making and what skills still need improvement. More importantly, however, diagnostics are key to investing children in their education. If children see that they are making progress towards their goals, they begin to take ownership for their own learning. They see that the hard work they are doing is connected to success. Soon, children are looking forward to the next time that they can show off how much they’ve learned!
The Diagnostics I Use:
For reading, I use diagnostics like the San Diego Quick Assessment, the Fry Oral Reading Test, and the McLeod Assessment, which provide me with a basic understanding of the student's current reading level. These reading level results are useful and meaningful because there are so many resources for reading that are provided for different grade levels. Subjects like math, social studies and science, however are based more on specific concepts that a child has mastered. For these subjects it is less meaningful to measure children’s progress by grade level. Instead, it is more useful to measure their mastery of individual skills and concepts. For this reason, I prefer to measure my students’ success in these subjects by looking at their scores on chapter tests. Each child is different; however, I usually judge mastery as a score of 80% or better for each concept. I work with my students to re-teach and explain each concept until they have reached the mastery goals we have set together.
A Note About Success:
CELEBRATE SUCCESS!
I put a big emphasis on setting and reaching goals—ambitious goals, that may sometimes seem intimidating to students. For this reason, it is very important that when children reach their goals, or make gains on their way to their goals, that those achievements are celebrated. This helps students to become invested in their education and to see a concrete example of how their hard work has paid off. After all, learning should be fun, and something that students want to do!