Helping Children Succeed ( Tips For Parents)

I have tutored my own children for the 11 plus and in 2012 I started tutoring children on Tutor Hunt. I offer my thoughts on tutoring children as a parent and teacher with 20 years experience in schools in the hope they may be of use to others.

My tips

• Incidental learning - you can help your children learn new vocabulary by using it yourself in conversation with them eg on the way to swimming or at dinnertime. Try to use ambitious vocabulary in general conversation eg using words such as endeavour, beneficial, courteous rather than try, good, polite. These are words children already know. They are more likely to then remember the words and use them correctly in their written work.
• Children will make mistakes on very simple questions eg writing 2x3 =5 when they are in year 6. It`s easy to find this frustrating. When children make simple mistakes I usually tell them about a mistake I made recently so they realise that we all make errors. I often suggest to children they should look back through their work to see if they can find `the` mistake rather than asking children to check work for `a` mistake. If children start with the assumption that there is a mistake to find, they will be more likely to find it.
• In supermarkets ask children to read the prices on the shelves or work out the total cost of two or three items which is another good way of building on numeracy skills.
• Time and months of the year might not be as embedded as you might think. When you are cooking dinner or flying out of the house, innocently ask children to tell you the time. Children seem to quickly lose the skill of telling the time as they don`t need to be as aware of it as adults. Similarly, children in KS2 might be good at reciting the first few months of the year but then struggle to get the order right when they reach September.
• Ask your children what they did at school on a regular basis and if you have any knowledge yourself, try to stretch them with a few more questions. Children will then go back to school feeling more confident and confident children thrive at school.
• It is quite a challenge to tutor your own children because they see home as a place to relax not work. If your plan is to tutor your own child for an entrance exam you could try the following ideas. Always ask your child to work in the same area of the house when they are doing homework so that they associate that area with working at home. If you have time, sit with them while they work so that they feel the benefits of your extra attention and see it as a special time with you. Ask your child when they would like to work and come to a mutual agreement about this so that your child feels involved in decisions.
• Finally if children are taking an entrance exam, make it clear to them that no matter what happens they will still be going to secondary school whatever the outcome. Whichever school they go to they will have benefited from the journey.