How does math tutoring work?

[Hilltopmom]

This seems like a really dumb question. But, what do tutors actually do with your child?

 

We are looking for a tutor/ teacher to work on math with our young teen. Preferably someone either with special Ed experience or a math teacher who has worked with remedial & lower IQ students before.

 

Do you have them work through your curriculum, or just on basic math skills, or what? I wouldn't want them to work on "homework" with her, like I'd guess maybe tutoring for public school works. Do they lesson plan? I need to know what to ask for when I find a few people to interview.

 

I'd kind of like someone to do Ronit Bird & math games stuff with her, but not sure anyone would feel comfy with that, maybe it'd be better to find someone to do basic instruction, textbook style.

 

I used to be a sped teacher, but have zero experience with tutoring.

Thanks.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[Arcadia]

levelma had a long post on how she does math tutoring tailored to each child. I forgot the thread title though.

[Julie of KY]

I would talk to the tutor and tell her what your "ideal" would be and then go from there. If you hand the tutor a textbook, then they think that is what you WANT. Ultimately, your and the tutor's goal should be the same - to teach math understanding, but how to get there might look different to each of you.

 

Work, converse, talk about what's working and not. I don't like it when mom tells me what to do as it is often not what I think is best. I try to do it mom's way and then end up backtracking and reteaching it my way.

 

By the way Ronit bird and math games sounds great to me.

[Lecka]

I have a list of skills. We pick skills from the list and they do activities for them.

 

They have touch math and would usually be doing touch math, but we are not doing touch math right now bc at school he is not doing touch math.

 

It is supplemental to what he is doing in school, but he has IEP goals so it is not just "let's get you though your homework."

 

He is a more-delayed child so his IEP goals are from something called Essentials or something.

 

There is also an attempt to review and find things he may forget without review.

 

At school I have him in the classroom bc there are a lot of social opportunities for math at his age with kids playing games or doing centers together, that are possible for my son right now.

 

I don't know, we are doing our best lol.

[Lecka]

If you are doing anything like money, temperature, telling time, etc, I would definitely try to include fun activities or outings, especially if the child would have a better attitude if there was a point to mix in some fun stuff or outings.

[Lecka]

If you are doing anything like money, temperature, telling time, etc, I would definitely try to include fun activities or outings, especially if the child would have a better attitude if there was a point to mix in some fun stuff or outings.

[Lecka]

I am just adding -- touch math used a lot in special Ed here, so there are a lot of people who know about it from working in schools. And, I don't have to pay for it!

 

I don't know that it is better or worse than other programs, but it is what people know how to use.

 

But my son is younger and it may not go as high as your daughter needs, anyway.

[PeterPan]

Well if you know what he needs and you just want the separation of someone else doing it, even a college intern can pick it up and teach Ronit Bird.  That's what our tutor will be, and I'm having her do RB with ds.  I debated lots of things, and it was sort of a decision on the fly.  Well I say that, but it's going to be short sessions of math in the midst of larger sessions focused on a variety of things.  An hour of RB would be a lot.  Oh, for teen?  Honestly, I think you could get through a lot with a teen in an hour even with RB.  

 

I think math SLDs are just plain hard, and I'm not sure being a math teacher or having a math degree makes you more qualified.  It's more like can you connect the gaps.  And ds' gaps aren't fixed just because someone is willing to take longer to do same old same old.  So I'm not sure paying $50 for a math professional gets you more than the $15 an hour college intern who is willing to use RB.  That is if RB fits.  It might.  

 

So that's all I'm speaking to, that you could have that college intern for 3 hours for the price of one hour with some swankier tutors.  Might even out.

[school17777]

levelma had a long post on how she does math tutoring tailored to each child. I forgot the thread title though.

Arcadia, I can't find a member with this name. Do you think someone else posted, or what happened to this member?

 

I have tried searching in google for her post, but no luck.

[Heathermomster]

Arcadia, I can't find a member with this name. Do you think someone else posted, or what happened to this member?

 

I have tried searching in google for her post, but no luck.

Search for the user name Lewelma.

[lewelma]

A good tutor will adapt a program to your kid. The key thing that I do is build a child's confidence up by finding *something* the student is good at.  It can be her focus, or handwriting, or insight, or accuracy, or drive, or algorithmic skills, or organization whatever. I don't care how low level a student is, there is always something they do well.  And I talk about how I can use that strength to shore up her weaknesses.  I acknowledge struggle, and talk about my own struggles to learn even to this day.  I teach the student that the goal is to find a way around and through difficulties by using strengths.  I have one student whose organization is her skill.  She notes her struggles in red pen, and keeps all her papers together in a certain way, and thinks hard about what it is that she does not understand.  I focus on this skill every class. It is what allows her to track her struggles and to learn from them. We discuss how not everyone has the skill and how she can improve her math by using it.  Another student has incredibly tidy writing.  I focus on how this is so helpful in math.  How it makes errors so much less likely.  How not all students are tidy and it can be a real problem.  Now the tidy kid can't organize his way out of box and the organized kid is not tidy.  But each has a skill that we can use.  Kids need to know that they *can*, only then is there a *will*.  

 

The other thing I do is run a separate program for school students to shore up their weaknesses.  They have separate workbooks they do for me and have them do separate homework.  And I praise them for being making the choice to do the extra work, because not all kids will.  And the only way to get better is to do more hours.  If the standard hours are not good enough, you can either give up or do more.  And these kids have *chosen* to do more.  This is worth noting again and again. 

 

As for lesson planning, I usually have to do about 2 hours in the first month to design a program given what I have seen.  And then I usually just fly by the seat of my pants and adapt to what the day gives me.  

 

I am not trained in special needs, but people don't hire a private tutor typically unless things are really wrong.  So I have worked with ADD, slow processing speed, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalcula, depression, anxiety, OCD, migraines, ASD, and cancer.  By far the hardest to work with is ADD.

 

Basically, so much of what I do is psychological.  Kids have to *want* do do the work and know that they *can* do it.  This is all in the mind.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited July 13, 2017 by lewelma

[school17777]

A good tutor will adapt a program to your kid. The key thing that I do is build a child's confidence up by finding *something* the student is good at. It can be her focus, or handwriting, or insight, or accuracy, or drive, or algorithmic skills, or organization whatever. I don't care how low level a student is, there is always something they do well. And I talk about how I can use that strength to shore up her weaknesses. I acknowledge struggle, and talk about my own struggles to learn even to this day. I teach the student that the goal is to find a way around and through difficulties by using strengths. I have one student whose organization is her skill. She notes her struggles in red pen, and keeps all her papers together in a certain way, and thinks hard about what it is that she does not understand. I focus on this skill every class. It is what allows her to track her struggles and to learn from them. We discuss how not everyone has the skill and how she can improve her math by using it. Another student has incredibly tidy writing. I focus on how this is so helpful in math. How it makes errors so much less likely. How not all students are tidy and it can be a real problem. Now the tidy kid can't organize his way out of box and the organized kid is not tidy. But each has a skill that we can use. Kids need to know that they *can*, only then is there a *will*.

 

The other thing I do is run a separate program for school students to shore up their weaknesses. They have separate workbooks they do for me and have them do separate homework. And I praise them for being making the choice to do the extra work, because not all kids will. And the only way to get better is to do more hours. If the standard hours are not good enough, you can either give up or do more. And these kids have *chosen* to do more. This is worth noting again and again.

 

As for lesson planning, I usually have to do about 2 hours in the first month to design a program given what I have seen. And then I usually just fly by the seat of my pants and adapt to what the day gives me.

 

I am not trained in special needs, but people don't hire a private tutor typically unless things are really wrong. So I have worked with ADD, slow processing speed, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalcula, depression, anxiety, OCD, migraines, ASD, and cancer. By far the hardest to work with is ADD.

 

Basically, so much of what I do is psychological. Kids have to *want* do do the work and know that they *can* do it. This is all in the mind.

 

Ruth in NZ

Thanks so much! I might be the one doing the tutoring with a child who has ADD and has not made much, if any, progress in math no matter what type of schooling he's had. Edited July 13, 2017 by school17777

[lewelma]

I have found that many student who think they have a problem with math, actually have a problem with learning.  So no amount of math tutoring or teaching is going to fix the achievement until the learning problem is remediated. This takes time because a kid needs to trial numerous different approaches, and as she finds one thing that works, she can layer on new bits to the learning system.  

 

With a kid with ADD, you need to acknowledge the focus problem.  Explain that everyone has learning issues of some sort that need to be worked around.  Yes, you pulled the short straw, but we can deal with it.  So if this student can only focus for 3 minutes, well you need to be clear that during those 3 minutes he has to get a problem done. Then there will be a little distraction, and he needs to expect it and not be afraid of it.  Find something he can do well, maybe it is global insightful thinking (he will have a gut instinct as to how to approach a problem and be right), maybe it is algorithmic (he can manipulate a problem by copying an approach), maybe it is tidy handwriting. But you focus on that strength, discuss how it is so helpful in math, and how you can use it to shore up the weaknesses.  Stress that what he is experiencing is *normal*.  Teens are so afraid of having a problem, and being different.  Explain your own learning difficulties.  I really struggle to read word problems (I did not read until I was 12, so I must have had some sort of dyslexia, which I tell the kids.).  I talk about how I always have a small panic when I first read it because it just goes in and the straight out of my head.  And I have to overcome this emotion, take a breath and start again.  I have to code each word into symbols as I go.  I have to look for certain words like 'is' to mean =. I discuss how some kids can just know what to do and see it right away, but that is not me.  But I can still do word problems because I have a system to overcome this difficulty of mine.

 

The key is to identify why and how a kid is getting something right and give them words for these techniques so they know that they have skills that can be used to learn.  They won't have every skill, but they don't need every skill to succeed.  They need a subset, their own personal subset of skills, and you as the tutor need to help them develop it.  

 

I have taught many students who were 4 years behind in math, and I have been able to get them up to grade level.  All of them had some sort of problem - just look at the list I made above. But so very often it was a learning problem not a math problem.  Even the one kid who scored in the bottom 1% of 1% for computation (so clearly dyscalculia) I was still able to get her through 12th grade statistics.  There are always ways for a motivated student.  Make sure to acknowledge that they are making the effort to do more, to overcome, because not everyone does.  People quit. If you have a kid who wants a tutor, this kid has not yet quit.  This is a thing to celebrate. 

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited July 13, 2017 by lewelma

[kbutton]

Don't be afraid to try more than one. If you know the problem isn't ADHD, and they say it is, find another one. If they don't have specific skills they can figure out that the kid can and can't do, you need someone else.

 

My son has had tutoring for composition for three years. He's not easy to figure out. He does have ADHD (and ASD, is gifted, etc.), and none of my tutors had worked with a kid like him. The latest tutor was a big help in numerous ways, but even then it took months to pinpoint some of the issues. He still didn't know how to fix them. He is a certified intervention specialist. It's just that this isn't his wheelhouse (math background--I don't get to choose who is sent to us, etc.). Anyway...it turns out my son has a language issue due to his autism. It shouldn't have taken 3 or 4 people three years to see that a language issues does not equal ADHD. But he's a weird case by any standard (gifted scores across the board, including language). 

 

Anyway, I am finished farting around with intervention specialists. We're getting an SLP. If you don't have the math equivalent of that, be careful how much time you give a tutor--they need to make hay, or you need to find someone that can. If they don't have more in their bag of tricks or can't figure out what is actually wrong, find someone that does. You probably don't need someone with a particular qualification if they are willing to do the things lewelma described, but you don't want to pay someone to also spin their wheels. If you go through some kind of agency or service that offers broad intervention, it can be harder to find the "right" person--you don't want someone to lose their job because they aren't helpful in your situation when they are hired specifically because they are broadly qualified. So, you might want to consider hiring someone independent that advertises as doing math specifically.