A World of Learning

 I love watching the Olympics! So I thought I'd encorporate it into my tutoring sessions this week. I took all of the learning games that each child has been using, and, after having them read their word list (list of words they're learning), we played the games together. The games help with word or letter recognition, and sometimes spelling as well. We kept points whenever someone won a game (I tried to rig some of them so the student would win). My mom, ever the crafty one, helped me make gold medals out of soup can lids spray painted gold, sparkly gold stars, and gold buttons. Then we just added a big loop of blue ribbon to put in over the kids' heads when their session was over and they won! I also gave them a little bag of Skittles instead of just one piece of candy like I usually do. They had fun with it, especially when they got the medals. They had to go and show their moms!

 Doesn't it seem like you go somewhere and always forget something you needed? Well, I do that too, when I'm tutoring. I usually have all of the papers and books and games that I need for the specific lesson, but there are little things that I need no matter who I'm tutoring. So, I put them in a zippered pouch that I could just grab and throw in my tutoring bag. (I have a different bag for each student.) The items that I keep in my pouch are: pens, pencils, a large eraser, a pencil sharpener, scissors, dice, and a sharpie. Not pictured, and what I bring that doesn't fit in the bag is Scotch tape. I use the dice for math games - there are so many math activities that kids can play and learn from at the same time that involve dice. Most of the games I've tried with my math students have been a hit!  What do you think is something essential for teaching? I welcome any suggestions!

 First of all, I'd like to say Happy July! I hope you get a chance to enjoy the 4th.  Now, on with the story. I am now tutoring two six-year-old girls. One I've been tutoring for at least 6 months, and the other one I just started today. I'm doing the same program for the new girl that I did for my other student. We always start with identifying the letters of the alphabet and what sounds they make. Then we read the Bob Book "What can I see?" When I read this with the first girl, she caught on to "see" and "bee" right away. The word "see" is repeated many times in this little book. The word that took her FOREVER to learn by heart was "can." This new girl I'm working with caught on the the word "can" even faster than she did "see" and "bee!" What a change! I think this new girl is going to catch on to things quickly. Both girls are great learners, and very well-behaved even having to do readi...

 Wow! Now that it's summer, I have three new students! One girl, six years old, another girl, ten years old, and a boy, nine years old, in math. So now I have five students in reading, one in reading and math, and another in math. Now, math is not one of my strengths, but these kids are young enough that I can work with them. I'm filling up my schedule, not only with tutoring, but also with pet sitting. So much pet sitting! I need to remind myself that I am still a college student and need to keep up with my own assignments!  I do love my jobs, helping students learn one-on-one, and I love watching people's dogs and cats. It sort of fills the void of having to put down my dog three years ago. Anyway, I've got my first session with my new math student in an hour, so I've got to get going on plans! Have a happy day! 

 Hello again! I have been enjoying this spring, now summer, weather! Time to break out the capris! But that's totally off today's topic. Kids tend to get bored when all you're doing in teaching, teaching, teaching.... especially the younger kids. For the six-year-olds, I have them read a little Bob Book, then draw a picture inspired by the story. This gives them time to do something fun and express themselves. I give them usually about five minutes to draw, but I'm flexible to a degree. Then I go back to a little bit more instruction, then we play a learning game like "Say and Spell," a board game I created on a piece of cardboard from a calendar. The kids play against me and we roll the dice and see if we land on a "say" or "spell" space. If the child gets a "spell" card, they have to spell the word that's one of the ones they've been learning. If they get to the finish line first (which they usually do) they earn a piece...

 Yes, I do often reward the kids I tutor with candy. They need to win a learning game like Say & Spell, word and definition matching, or the Popsicle stick challenge. (I will describe this in just a minute.) When the kids win, as they almost always do (I try to make it easy for them to win even though the content is still the same), I let them choose a piece of candy from the Zip-Lock bag I bring with me. The bravest of the kids like to go for the "Sour Warhead challenge." They can't just lick it, they have to put the whole thing in their mouths and keep it there until it gets sweet. Most of the time, they win. But one girl in particular licked it a couple times, then put it in her mouth and instantly spit it out again! Then she ran it under water in the sink until the sour part washed off and she could suck on the sweet part. The Warheads are almost as high in demand as the Zots, so I try to always make sure I have some. 

 Hey! It's been a few days since I posted anything, so I thought I'd share some easy math games for 2nd graders. I'm always trying to find something interesting for when I tutor my 2nd grader, because it's hard to keep his attention on math. He likes reading and writing much better. So I looked online and found a website that has a lot of math games! I was like, WOW! You can find them at https://www.math-salamanders.com/subtraction-games.html  Here are two of them and how to play them.