Summer is a time for vacations, fun, play, and exploration. But for many kids, summer is also a time for their brains to get “rusty.” Summer tutoring can help keep your child’s brain working without burning them out.
Young kids may benefit from going back and filling in the gaps in reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and math. Tutoring centers can provide fun, academic enrichment activities with a quality tutor.
Older kids may need to make up some credits, study up on next year’s math or foreign language class, or really learn how to write an essay. Many older kids also need to do assigned summer reading.
Some kids need upwards of 36 hours of summer instruction, while others may only need 9-12 hours. Decide what works best for your child, your family budget, and go for it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Transitioning from grade to grade
Moving up to the next grade can be a challenge for kids. It is so exciting to get a new teacher and new classmates, but the curriculum can take a jump up; summer tutoring can help your child enter school in the fall with confidence.
As parents, we all think we will have time to help our kids in the summer. The trouble is, without scheduled tutoring visits, the summer whizzes by and nothing has been done!
Let summer tutoring help your child practice reading, spelling, grammar, writing, math, and anything else you and your tutor can dream up! Custom learning plans can provide that. Young kids love learning while getting instant rewards such as earning a candy bar, earning money, or playing a game of Uno.
A bit of homework doesn’t hurt either. Kids want to see the big smile on their tutor’s face and feel the satisfaction in their heart that they completed a task.
Catching Up/Keeping Up
Maybe your older student failed a class last year (heaven forbid!) or they want to take some original credit over the summer to avoid a nasty chemistry class in the fall. Tutoring can help your student with either option. BYU Independent Study, Northridge Learning Center, or online programs are all available for credit.
Working with a tutor can help your student set deadlines for completion of packets for credit. A tutor can help a student be accountable to those deadlines. In many instances, your student can even take the tests at the local tutoring center you are using!
Your student will be able to complete their summer reading (an assignment given by many high schools private schools, or honors teachers) because of the structure provided through tutoring. The tutor can help your student pace and finish the book on time! A tutor can also teach the student how to actively read, annotate, and take notes on the book so that the student is ready for the test in the fall.
Your child may need assistance getting ready for calculus or reviewing concepts they may not have mastered in their math class last year. Summer tutoring in Spanish or French is also valuable if your student has another year of foreign language in the fall. These are all great reasons to sign your child up for summer tutoring! Most tutoring centers have programs that are flexible and work around your vacations, too!
Mastering Your Skills
Filling in the gaps or enrichment with reading, writing, grammar, math, and spelling are great reasons to have your child attend summer tutoring. It only takes an hour or two per week to see great gains in the fall.
Summer Reading
Does your student make lots of mistakes while reading? Does he/she struggle with phonics, blending, or fluency? Reading comprehension can also be difficult for kids. A good summer tutoring program can give your child practice in any of these skills. Make sure to work with a tutor to create a program that you feel great about! Reading practice between tutoring sessions is a must for success.
Schools don’t always have time to teach grammar as much anymore. Summer is a great time to review the parts of speech, how to use possessive nouns correctly, and how to use verb tenses which make sense.
Summer Spelling & Writing
Practice with spelling in the summer can help your child learn common spelling patterns and phonemes. This is also a time to practice those tough “commonly misspelled” sight words that trip your child up when they are writing. Memorizing lists should not be the point in the summer; learning and understanding phonetic rules is the best way to go!
So many kids hurry through writing assignments at school. There isn’t always the time to really spend time on an essay due to extracurricular activities and loads of homework in other classes. Summer is a great time to teach little tykes how to write a sentence, medium sized tykes how to write paragraphs and short essays, and kids in Jr. High and High School how to write essays their teachers will love! The writing process does not come naturally to many, so a relaxed summer with a bit of writing instruction is just the ticket! Individual writing tutoring or writing workshops with a group will give your child more confidence in writing.
Summer Math Tutoring
And of course, math is very important to review over the summer. Your child may not have mastered certain concepts necessary to be successful at the next level. Find a tutor who will not only fill in the gaps, but who will also challenge your child and move forward. Fraction/decimal rules, story problems, and equations are just a few of the many math topics which can be reviewed over the summer months.
Summer tutoring will give you peace of mind and your child will keep their mind going! Still vacation, relax, and enjoy the free time you have with your kids. Just consider tutoring as part of the mix. At a bare minimum, start tutoring 2 weeks before school starts. This will make sure your child is confident, ready, and excited about heading to the next grade in the fall!
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