This is a common question I get when being interviewed by parents. Some parents expect that I turn their child from a failing or c minus student to a straight A student. Others just want to see their child enjoy learning at school more. Of course I can't promise that your child will become a straight A student but I can promise that OG tutoring will help them cope with their learning differences. We all learn at different speeds. One student may need only 2 tutor sessions to learn place value, the other student may take 5 sessions before he can understand the concept. Being realistic, I can't promise results within the first month....usually it will take up to 2 months before a parent can see any results from OG tutoring. The parents has told me the first thing they usually see change in their child is their attitude. They may be more willing to read aloud or even pick up a book or no more fighting with them to do their math homework. OG tutoring helps build their confidence in tackling things that may be unknown or things that may have frustrated them in the past. I create successful opportunities for them.......which builds their confidence in reading, writing & math.
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When reading to your child (o-5 yrs) try pointing to the words at the same time. This will help your child build their phonemic awareness or sound/symbol association. Phonemic awareness allows children to sound out words. It helps in reading fluency and by modeling reading strategies it promotes their interest in literacy. After a few times reading using this method, have the child point to the words while you read. Use pointers with familiar characters on it- makes it fun. Children who have reading difficulties in the primary grades often had limited early literacy learning experiences. (Sara Gable, Ph.D., state specialist & associate professor, Human Development and Family Studies, College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri) It is important to set aside 5-10 mins a day for reading with your child. You know how you should have a schedule before you put your child to sleep, why not include story-time and use this method? Start now if you haven't, it is never too late. You will be amazed of how much they pick up: all the cues and skills you are teaching them by just reading to them. Parents provide practice in the foundational skills that young children need when they begin formal reading instruction in school Skip counting is very important to help build a solid foundation for multiplication. Skip counting is very similar to the concept of multiplication - fast adding or counting in multiples. If they already now how to skip count by 3s, then it is easier to read 3 X 4 as 3 counted 4 times 12. Skip counting is also important when making equivalent fractions and finding common denominators.
It is important to tell students why it is important to skip count and relate it to their daily lives. Some practical examples for counting by twos are eyes, ears, hands, feet, shoes & socks. Ask the student to count all the eyes or shoes in the classroom. I'm always trying to find fun ways for students to study for tests. Instead of having them read and review materials...why not make this part fun! Buy a pack of blank cue-cards and cut them in half. Each cue card should have enough room to write a 8-10 word question on one side. Bring out the topic that you need to study for. For the first few cards, write a vocabulary word on one side ( choose those that are highlighted or bolded or is a word that you do not know the meaning of) and the other side of the cue card should be the definition. Create at least 10 questions (use what, why, how, when, where) and write each question on a card and the other side the answer. If you know the test will be a multiple choice then write multiple choice questions on the cue cards. Find out the format of the test! Take your cards and build an obstacle course around a room or your whole house if you wish. If you have a timer,try to beat your time after each obstacle course run. This is a fun way to study. Great for math tests!! or just reviewing materials. Every kid loves to play...why not just incorporate playing with studying???!!!! You should have a keyword for each sound you teach the students. This would help students see/hear it used in a word - helping them master the sound. I usually have a visual for each sound that I use for various exercises during the teaching of the new sound. For 'oa' /long vowel o/, I will have them mirror me folding an origami boat. Then, I have them do their spelling of 'oa' words right onto this boat and then use the boat for blending exercises. Later, I have them glue it onto their record page and this can be used as a 3D record of the 'oa' sound. The question "Why do we learn math for?" is one of the first question I ask the child when doing the diagnostic math lesson. Their answers fascinates me sometimes and really put into perspective how they actually feel about math, and at times shows me why they have such a hard time with math concepts.
One of the most common answer that I get is " we learn math to be smarter." In schools, we are teaching them the concepts and asking them to memorize them more than understand why we need to learn these processes. When do we use division by 2? Give them scenarios that they can relate to: When you went to EB games to buy a wii game...u ever see the deal for 2 games for $20? Normally the wii game is $20/ea but if you see that deal how much is one game for? How much you saved? Giving them scenarios also helps them with tackling word problems. The second most common answer I get is " I don't know why we learn math for." When teaching them any math concept, it is important to relate it to a real life situation. They will have an easier time to understand it and actually find it useful for certain situations. When you make anything more meaningful, it all makes more sense. Play games like candy store with real candies and pennies. One plays the buyer and the other plays the seller. Ask them questions like - how many minutes did you take to get ready this morning? How many cups of milk did you drink this morning? Did you watch tv today? For how long? - let them discover how and why learning math is important. They use it everyday....and most don't even know that they do. To teach the suffix 'less' (means- without) I introduce them to Less the bear. I try to build excitement by hiding him in a box and having the student unbox him. We will take turns to take a piece of accessory or clothing off of him and we will say ' He is without a ______. He is _______less.' So for an example: I take off his shirt. I will say "he is without a shirt. He is shirtless." Some examples you can use are hat, pants, sock, belt, tie, ring, jacket, sweater, shoe, boot. Some 'less' words will sound like non-sense words - no worries, just remember that the main goal is to reinforce the meaning of less and the placement of the suffix (at the end of the word). |
AuthorDora Cheung - Certified OG Tutor, Masters of Educ. Admin., Early Childhood Education, +20 yrs of teaching experience. Married with 3 boys - 13 yrs, 11 yrs and 8 yrs old. Archives
December 2019
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