If your child is in second grade, the age range falls between 7-8 depending on where you live and where their birthday falls. By the end of 2nd grade a student should be able to focus on tasks for about 30 minutes. Which, is pretty long at that age and sometimes not attainable because at this age, students face challenges not only academically but socially as well.
To understand your child and where they feel comfortable vs. uncomfortable is one of the first steps in helping. One way to figure this out is by using The Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD was introduced by psychologist Lev Vygotsky and is defined as the space in which a student can do things by themselves and the space where they can complete things with assistance from an adult or working with more advanced peers. Understanding your student’s ZPD makes it easier to map out how they learn best and what they specifically need to work on to advance in their academic career.
Why Tutor a 2nd Grader?
Tutoring for 2nd graders can aid with growing the independent side of the ZPD by providing the students with the opportunity to work with a skilled adult in a one-to-one setting. Students in this age range are eager to learn and usually enjoy a challenge but they are also still working on their social and emotional skills. A tutor provides the ability to not only challenge them academically but provide them with a space to express themselves and their frustrations freely. This way, they can learn the skills to work through difficult situations academically and strive for higher goals.
These sessions can be scheduled online or in person to ensure that your student is learning in the correct setting and are tailored specifically to your student. The goals with tutoring are big, but always achievable and with summer fast approaching (or already here for some) now is the perfect time to start with sessions. 2nd graders can be quite forgetful, as their brains are mighty, but they are still growing and storing information. If information is taught, but the student goes on summer break and doesn’t keep up with the skills taught that previous year, odds are they are going to start the new year with gaps. This phenomenon is known as summer learning loss.
The Importance of Tutoring for 2nd Graders
Every grade has a set of standards that the teacher must follow. These standards create the framework for the year and set attainable goals for the students of each grade. The Massachusetts ELA Standards for 2nd grade include but are not limited to reading grade-level text with purpose and recognizing and understanding a text as well as rereading text when necessary. In addition, The Massachusetts Math Standards for 2nd grade include but are not limited to fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies and by the end of 2nd grade, know from memory all sums of two single digit numbers and related differences.
But what do these standards mean? In layman’s terms, it means that a 2nd grade student should be able to read a text or passage that is 2nd grade level, understand why they are reading it (the importance), and able to reread and fix mistakes when necessary. For math, it means that 2nd graders should be able to add and subtract numbers ranging from 0-20 using mental math and know the sum of two single digit numbers (0-9).
Those may not seem like big concepts, but they are milestones for a 2nd grader because they are progressing in their reading and math. Reading and math are crucial to a successful life. These are both everyday tools used even when you don’t realize you’re doing it. Think about how many things you must reading and do mental math during the day – I mean you’re reading this right now. You are only able to do that because your educators, parents, and other adults in your life – successfully – taught you how to read.
Why Does This Matter?
Tutoring for 2nd graders is providing students with another way to understand the concepts needed to strive and build a bridge between them and their goals. It provides the space for students’ Zone of Proximal Development to change with their growing confidence as they start completing tasks on their own. Each student deserves the chance and opportunity to excel in their educational career, tutoring can provide that while also creating a low stress environment.
Author: Chelsea DiNeno