"My child needs a writing tutor. He (or she) doesn’t like to write and needs support and encouragement.” We often hear this from parents of kids who have participated in structured, or drill based tutoring programs. One of the first things I learned in my undergraduate child development courses is that it is important to provide children freedom within limits. Instead of insisting that children fit into standardized approaches to learning, why not customize the learning activities to meet a standardized set of learning objectives?
There are a variety of theories about cognitive development. Piaget believes genetics and biology play an influential role; whereas Vygotsky believes development is heavily influenced by social interaction with individuals. At CStarsky Lifelong Learning we take an approach more in line with Vygotsky’s thinking. Regardless of the subject matter (e.g., reading, writing, math), we find it is much more effective to meet students “where they are” rather than expecting the students to align with specific standards and expectations based on age or grade level. For example, we allow writing students the freedom to define the topics of the writing activities; however, the tutors define the learning objectives. With this approach, students tend to be very engaged in their tutoring activities.
How does this work in practice?
Tutoring starts by getting to know the student, including his or her interests and capabilities. Interests and experiences may influence the content of activities required to engage students. For example, we may be working with kindergarten aged boys interested in dinosaurs or middle school girls interested in space exploration or competitive sports. Young students may have international travel experience. They may have lived in other countries. Each of these interests and experiences may provide subject matter for young writers. Learning styles and previous experience with tutoring are also important to consider when developing tutoring activities.
·We build the lessons based on student interests and experiences. A kindergarten boy interested in dinosaurs may be better at, and more interested in, pronouncing and spelling Triceratops than tricycle. For that child, a phonics lesson focused on dinosaurs is likely to be very engaging. By encouraging students to come up with their own writing ideas they become more engaged in the writing. A writing session for girls interested in fencing or other competitive sports can easily include practice writing sentences related to those topics. Examples may include a description of fencing equipment and strategies or the broadcast announcements at a baseball game. Students with international travel experience can draw on their personal knowledge to develop interesting characters or unique settings for stories.
Past experience with tutoring influences the types of exercises and activities we include in our sessions. When we learn that students were unhappy with drill-based sessions we get creative and find fun and interesting ways to accomplish our objectives. For example, while working on writing activities, specifically sentence structure, our tutor will play a game to “co-author” an impromptu story with the student using specific “rules.” Those rules can be something as simple as the tutor and the student take turns writing sentences. When it is your turn, you must include at least one word used by the other person or each sentence must have at least 10 words. The students can get competitive and have fun in this type of activity as they try to outsmart the tutor.
By starting with the experience of the students we communicate that their knowledge has value.It gives the students freedom to select the content of the lesson while the tutor controls the lesson’s learning objectives. We work to enhance their skills and capabilities within the context of their existing knowledge and interests. Students become more engaged in the lessons and have fun learning. Try this approach at home before hiring a tutor. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much your child enjoys writing.
Please share your experiences in the Comments Section.
If you are searching for a tutor, see our recommendations regarding what to look for when searching for an effective virtual tutor.
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