Case Study #6 - Private Tutoring for a 2nd grader

Rebecca Morris is an energetic 2nd grader, who is always eager to learn. But like so many students, especially those who are younger, she has struggled with the switch to online learning. At so young an age, much of her learning is foundational. And the last thing her parents wanted was for her to fall behind in these introductory topics and struggle to catch up.

Plan of Action:

When she started tutoring, Rebecca had indeed fallen a bit behind in end-of-first-grade topics. She struggled with math especially. It was difficult for her to do addition, and she struggled to retain information. She would sometimes get frustrated with herself as well. When she felt like she wasn’t understanding a concept, she would shut down and stop talking. Her tutor soon realized that in those moments, switching to a different topic helped Rebecca perk back up. They would divert attention to a numbers game, or other separate activity that her tutor knew Rebecca enjoyed. And when they eventually came back around to the more difficult topics, Rebecca was no longer so unhappy.

Results:

Rebecca has been tutoring for four months now, and in that time, her tutor has noticed a marked improvement in Rebecca's retention of information. Her number sense and knowledge of general math facts have greatly developed. Where she used to have great difficulty retaining what she learned, she has shown an increased ability to recall and use the new information she’s picked up.

Outlook:

Rebecca is still very early in her education. She will still sometimes count on her fingers, and have trouble focusing. But with her tutor’s guidance and patience, Rebecca has made up much of the ground she had lost in her education since earlier this year. With every lesson, her foundational knowledge is developed more and more. And she will only continue to improve!