“Spot” Tutoring and Other Ineffective Solutions

Spot Tutoring

You can get “spot tutoring” almost anywhere. By “spot tutoring,” I mean the kind that’s aimed at getting the student through that one class (or one semester) without failing. But, whether you’re getting help from a college student, a teacher, or a franchise, it can be like tossing money down a bottomless pit.

A child who is below level in reading will continue to need this type of help throughout school, and for many, the seemingly endless struggle becomes too much. At some point, children will throw in the towel and start hanging out with the kind of kids they relate to as an underachiever. Learning becomes the enemy, and they don’t want to fraternize with it.

However, most children who get a good foundation in reading have no need for continuous spot tutoring. Good reading tutoring should come to an end within a few months and result in a child who is at or above grade level and can sound out and/or figure out new words he encounters in his reading.

Waiting until the next report card…

and the next, and the next…

I’ve had parents call me at the end of their child’s first grade year, but not make the decision to bring her in until third grade, when her self-confidence is already taking a beating. Loss of self-confidence is even more dangerous than shaky reading skills because it kills the will to try.

The honest truth is that it is rarely a “maturity problem” that causes children to struggle in school. I’ve seen parents allow their children to be held back a year and then be completely bewildered that the student isn’t breezing through the second time around. These troubles do not typically “work themselves out” or magically go away, regardless of how much we want them to.

ADD Medication Based on Educator Opinions

Keep in mind that I am not anti-educator, since I come from a family of them. However, my parents would have been the first to explain the limitations on a teacher, who has 15-30 students in a class. Educators don’t have time to sit with your child day after day until they figure out what the root of the problem is. This is why I work with 1-3 children at a time. In this setting, each child can work at her own pace and I can make alterations in her program immediately, when necessary. In a large group, it’s often hard to tell the difference between a child who’s ADHD and one who is frustrated by work he can’t do and is compensating by being the class clown.

Although it sounds scary, a pediatric neurologist is probably the best person to go to if you suspect your child has ADHD. I’m not a doctor, but I understand that there are other conditions that can masquerade as ADD. For my purposes, if the child can go to school all day, then come and work for me relatively well for an hour, I don’t consider him ADD or ADHD.

Tough Love, Groundings, etc.

Before you start punishing your children for shortcomings in school, please be sure that you have set them up for success. If you feel unsure of the situation, I will assist you in trying to determine the best route, whether it’s a reading program or a referral to another appropriate professional. Out of the hundreds of children I’ve worked with, there were only a couple who truly didn’t care how well they did in school. Most who seemed disinterested or defiant had complete attitude changes once they were given the tools to be successful.