So, I am really nervous. I just recently accepted a small tutoring gig. Yes, that is ME, tutoring an actual PERSON, well, a small person --an 8 year-old in Reading/Language Arts. This worries me a bit, can't imagine how much this worries the parents, who seem to think I got this down pad.
Well I've always been great in English, (at this point, better even than my own native German language), I worked for a publisher and helped project-manage and edit school books that are now used in most American schools across the country. Technically I shouldn't fret about this too much. But unfortunately I do, I worry, probably for the same reason I don't have my own kids. What if I screw this up? If I do, then there is a little screwed up person running around and it will be my fault. On the other hand I am very much known to be a worry-er and also very much known for the fact that 99.9 % of the time this worry is unfounded. So given my worry's track record, I should totally be fine.
I worried so much that I felt compelled to pretty much go to every website of every accredited Palm Beach County School and did research on what they are reading, what they are reading for extra credit, what a second grader should read, what books are mandatory or recommended reading for second graders, heck I even contacted one of my friends, who works at a children's learning publisher right now, to find out from her what they offer for second graders. After having, for my feeling, sufficiently obsessed about the subject, I went to the library to pick up several books from the list that I compiled, which by now has some 40 titles on it.
I came home with waaay too many books for one lesson, but figured I'll go ahead and scrutinize these some more so I can then come up with maybe 2 out of the 6 that I grabbed that may pass my "OCD-obsession-with task-at-hand"-Test, before I can continue formulating a lesson plan.
I went ahead and read all the books I brought home, and must admit, the stuff a second-grader has to understand and deal with, is really quite impressive. I found a new appreciation for the fact, that these kids really have to know a lot at their age of 7 or 8. I finally concluded, that my story of choice will be The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Scholastic. I like it because it combines reading with everyday and science knowledge, which felt like a double-whammy to me. Learning about different subject matter, while learning to read. Great idea. So I went ahead and wrote out questions about the story, checked and double checked myself wondering if I'm making this too easy or too hard, did some vocabulary side work that will be useful for the story and figured I would observe her when she reads to identify rough spots and difficulties. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book about How Living Things Grow (Google Affiliate Ad)
I wondered what I was going to do to hold a child's attention for a whole hour, but luckily the Internet, besides containing lots of useless information, is indeed useful for some learning too. I actually found some nice websites, here too, again, Scholastic stood out with their magic school bus website, with word games and activities. I figured, if the kiddo's mind starts to fry from too much reading and comprehending, to give it a break and let it wander...to memory games and word puzzles, that are while related to the subject, I find, a great distraction and means to re-focus the reading-battered second-grader.Scholastic Daily Word Ladders Grades 1-2 (Google Affiliate Ad)
After about a half a day of smoke coming out of the top of my head, (yeah, this stuff is hard!!!), I came up with a story to read, ten questions related to the story to test comprehension, attention and memory, and two or three opinion related questions, all to be answered in full sentences, two word games and another backup story in case i have not prepared enough material, here I am, ready to go for my first tutoring lesson.
Let's hope this goes well. Wish me luck. With as much as I worried, I don't think there's anything to worry about.
Well I've always been great in English, (at this point, better even than my own native German language), I worked for a publisher and helped project-manage and edit school books that are now used in most American schools across the country. Technically I shouldn't fret about this too much. But unfortunately I do, I worry, probably for the same reason I don't have my own kids. What if I screw this up? If I do, then there is a little screwed up person running around and it will be my fault. On the other hand I am very much known to be a worry-er and also very much known for the fact that 99.9 % of the time this worry is unfounded. So given my worry's track record, I should totally be fine.
I worried so much that I felt compelled to pretty much go to every website of every accredited Palm Beach County School and did research on what they are reading, what they are reading for extra credit, what a second grader should read, what books are mandatory or recommended reading for second graders, heck I even contacted one of my friends, who works at a children's learning publisher right now, to find out from her what they offer for second graders. After having, for my feeling, sufficiently obsessed about the subject, I went to the library to pick up several books from the list that I compiled, which by now has some 40 titles on it.
I came home with waaay too many books for one lesson, but figured I'll go ahead and scrutinize these some more so I can then come up with maybe 2 out of the 6 that I grabbed that may pass my "OCD-obsession-with task-at-hand"-Test, before I can continue formulating a lesson plan.
I went ahead and read all the books I brought home, and must admit, the stuff a second-grader has to understand and deal with, is really quite impressive. I found a new appreciation for the fact, that these kids really have to know a lot at their age of 7 or 8. I finally concluded, that my story of choice will be The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Scholastic. I like it because it combines reading with everyday and science knowledge, which felt like a double-whammy to me. Learning about different subject matter, while learning to read. Great idea. So I went ahead and wrote out questions about the story, checked and double checked myself wondering if I'm making this too easy or too hard, did some vocabulary side work that will be useful for the story and figured I would observe her when she reads to identify rough spots and difficulties. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book about How Living Things Grow (Google Affiliate Ad)
I wondered what I was going to do to hold a child's attention for a whole hour, but luckily the Internet, besides containing lots of useless information, is indeed useful for some learning too. I actually found some nice websites, here too, again, Scholastic stood out with their magic school bus website, with word games and activities. I figured, if the kiddo's mind starts to fry from too much reading and comprehending, to give it a break and let it wander...to memory games and word puzzles, that are while related to the subject, I find, a great distraction and means to re-focus the reading-battered second-grader.Scholastic Daily Word Ladders Grades 1-2 (Google Affiliate Ad)
After about a half a day of smoke coming out of the top of my head, (yeah, this stuff is hard!!!), I came up with a story to read, ten questions related to the story to test comprehension, attention and memory, and two or three opinion related questions, all to be answered in full sentences, two word games and another backup story in case i have not prepared enough material, here I am, ready to go for my first tutoring lesson.
Let's hope this goes well. Wish me luck. With as much as I worried, I don't think there's anything to worry about.
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