Tutor Tips

Summer is Here

Before we know it, summer will be here! Children dream all year long about taking a break from school, but this doesn’t have to mean a break from learning! Now is the perfect time to begin planning enjoyable summer activities that will help children continue to develop their academic skills while having fun. Here are some tips for summer learning:

  • Summer is a great time to practice writing. Children can write cards and letters to friends and family about any topic that interests them such as a favorite book, movie or game, or what they are doing over the summer.
  • Trips to the library are great opportunities for children to read and explore. Develop a summer reading list for yourself and your child. If your library sponsors a summer reading program, sign your child up.
  • Make a list of regular summer responsibilities for your child. Children benefit from having structure. Doing household chores teaches important life skills and responsibility.
  • Visit a museum together. It’s a fun way to learn about art and culture. Many museums have one day a week when admission is free.
  • Do an art project with an important theme, e.g., make a poster of summer safety tips with your child.
  • Get creative in the kitchen. Plan a meal with your child. This should include writing a grocery list, making a trip to the store, and following the recipe together.
  • Plant a garden or, if you don’t have much room, plant a couple of flowers in pots. Children can have fun nurturing plants and watching them grow.
  • Head to the crafts store and find an inexpensive crafts project to do together.
  • Get moving. Regular walks and bike rides help children to be happy, healthy and alert.

Media Literacy

Like it or not, television is part of our lives. However, parents can use television to help get children interested in reading by taking out library books on the topic of the show. TV can also be used to spark conversations with children and encourage them to think critically. Select a program, watch together and then talk about it. Conversation starters include:

  1. Tell me why this is your favorite program.
  2. The people you see are pretending. Can you tell it’s not real? How can you tell?
  3. Who is your favorite character? Why?
  4. How do you think the story will end?
  5. Would you like to have a friend like that? Why?


Other Ideas:

  • Set a good example. Limit your own viewing time, and plan what you will watch in advance. Spend time reading or exercising with your children whenever possible.
  • When a child’s program ends, the television should be turned off. This makes it clear that the child’s television watching is finished.
  • No television viewing should be allowed during homework, study and reading time.
  • Keeping the television in a shared space like the living room makes it much easier to monitor.
  • Parents can talk to children about the programs they most want to watch, and help children understand that they will have to decide how they want to spend their television time allowance.
 

Reading & Eating

Help children build literacy skills and develop good eating habits at the same time! Here are some activities you and your children can do together:

  1. Design a cookbook that contains nutritious meals and snacks. Cut out recipes from newspapers and magazines and explain how the ingredients contribute to good health.
  2. Record the number of servings you consume from each of the food groups and then display this information on a bar or pie graph. Visit the USDA for kids website and see how your scores compare with the daily requirements. Write out a plan that describes how you can improve your eating habits.
  3. Go through your kitchen cupboards and refrigerator and label foods according to which vitamins and nutrients they offer. Then do research in an encyclopedia or on the Internet to learn how each one affects the human body.
  4. Conduct your own research. Write 10 questions that you can ask your friends and family members to learn which foods and beverages they consume during a typical week. Estimate how many grams of protein, carbohydrate, fiber, fat and sugar they usually consume and record the results in a journal. Then think of 2 ways that they could improve their diet to get the right amount of each nutrient.
  5. Using the circular from your local grocery store, make 3 menus -- one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner -- that offer at least 3 different nutritious choices for each meal. Calculate how much each one would cost and then write out the recipes and the budget you will need to eat your favorite selections.
 

The Tween Years

As young adolescents move on from elementary school, they are concerned about peer relationships and social acceptance. They have a desire for independence and self-discovery and need to be involved in physical activities. Here are some general tips for volunteers/parents about interacting with young adolescents:

  1. Spend time listening to music with your child; compare music from 10-20 years ago to today's music.
  2. Form a "chat" group with other parents to talk about issues concerning raising young adolescents.
  3. Plan and cook a meal with your son or daughter.
  4. Be aware of your child's developmental needs; provide healthy snacks and encourage a lot of sleep. Do outside activities with your child; ride a bike, play sports, go to the park, jog, or take a walk.
  5. Watch the news with your child and discuss current events.
  6. Share and talk about family photographs.
  7. Place a surprise note in your middle schooler's lunch bag or under a pillow, thanking him or her for something special.
  8. Take your son or daughter to lunch and spend some quality time together.
  9. Keep the lines of communication open; try not to overreact and always take time to listen.
  10. Break down big chores into small parts.
  11. Help your child by setting up smaller goals, e.g., clean up your bed, do two assignments per night, etc.
  12. Keep daily lists together and cross tasks off, once they are completed.
 

Math Everyday

  1. Together with the student, draw circles, squares, triangles and rectangles in different sizes. Label each shape. Ask: How is a square different from a rectangle? A triangle? Looking around the room, can (s)he find shapes that look like the ones on the paper? (For instance, the clock is a circle; the chalkboard is a rectangle; the desktop may be a square; etc.) Cut out the shapes on the paper. Ask the student to combine the shapes to make new shapes or designs.
  2. Make a calendar of important events with your student, such as birthdays, field trips, sporting events, holidays, etc. The calendar can span as many weeks or months as you wish. Which dates are important to the student? Is a field trip/ vacation/ music lesson/ recital approaching? Count the number of days/weeks/months until the special date. Ask: How many days are left? Can you think of other ways to use addition, subtraction or even multiplication with the calendar?
  3. Using a map and a ruler, find out approximately how many miles there are between New York City and different destinations of interest to the student. * For instance, how many miles are there between NYC and his/her grandparents' house in Puerto Rico or a friend's house in Buffalo, NY? Which place is the closest or farthest away? Ask the student to explain how (s)he can tell. Subtract the shortest distance from the longest. What is the difference? If the student is able, have him/her create a word problem about getting from one place to another. Example word problem: Tony and Melissa are in the same class in New York City and are going to visit their cousins for the summer. Tony's cousins live in Miami, Florida. Melissa's cousins live in Atlanta, Georgia. Who has the farthest distance to travel? How do you know? * Remind the student to look at the map's legend to calculate how many miles are represented by an inch. For instance: one inch equals 300 miles. Two inches would equal 600 miles. How many miles would three inches represent?
 

Moving Forward, Looking Back

Activities You Can Do with Your Students and with Children at Home

By Joanne Lee, Director of Program Development

Here are a few ideas for end-of-the-year projects to do with your students or children at home. Remember to try and incorporate as many subjects as possible (reading, writing, math, science, physical education and social studies) into your projects!

  1. Create a collage of topics you have studied together or of events that took place over the past school year. Use magazines, newspapers, markers and construction paper to help you get started.
  2. Make a Before-and-After book to help the students see their growth over the past year. Take samples of the students' work from the beginning, middle and end of the year to show their progress. Have students make a book cover and write a summary of how they feel about their work over the past year.
  3. Have students put together a collection of their favorite writings over the past year and compile them into one book. Ask students to illustrate and write an introduction to their book. Together, you can bind and/or laminate the book. If possible, hold a read aloud with other students so they can share their work.
  4. Set goals for the summer and the next school year. Have students think about what they would like to accomplish over the summer or next year. Students may write a letter to themselves with their goals, which you can mail to them at the end of the summer.
 

Making English Fun

Tips for Working with ESL Students

By Natalie Gonzalez, Director of Program Operations

Learning a new language at any age is a very demanding and sometimes frustrating process. When working with a child, natural motivation and interests are the best way to go. Here are a few tips to help make the road to English proficiency a bit more fun.

  1. Comic books and magazines are great tools for any level of proficiency. A child can hunt for words, letters, numbers and pictures and sound out or write the words that correspond to each picture. You can even create your own flash cards.
  2. Everyone loves food! Have a child talk about, describe and, if possible, write out recipes for his favorite dishes. Using the pictures on food labels, ask him to talk about the ingredients and figure out what those ingredients are called in English.
  3. Collect restaurant menus to help children learn the names of what they like to eat. It's also fun to teach them how to order.
  4. Have a child bring in a family photo and discuss it. You can also help him write about what is going on in the picture. It helps if you bring in your own family picture and model what you would like him to do.
  5. Have a child pick out a place she would like to visit, then help her find it on a map. She can write or talk about why she wants to go there, what form of transportation she needs to get there, what the weather will be like, etc.
  6. If you find yourself running out of ideas and have access to a computer, you can look online for help. Here are a few good sites:
    www.eslcafe.com
    a4esl.org
    www.manythings.org

Remember: Don't try to teach everything at once, and use visual clues whenever possible. Keep it simple, keep it clear and, most important, keep it fun!  

So Much Depends on the Weather

Activities You Can Do with Your Students and with Children at Home

By Stacey Simon, Volunteer Coordinator, D 21 Brooklyn

Think Globally

While these months feel freezing here in New York City, these same months may have completely different climates in other parts of the world. Look at a world map and find a city in a country very far away that you are curious about. Go to the library, newspaper, encyclopedia or Internet to compare the weather in NYC and weather in the new city. For instance, Cairns, in northeastern Australia, is incredibly hot at this time of year (which is summer down there)! Together you and your student can:

  1. Read about different activities that people do during these months.
  2. Write a story about a day in the life of a NYC student who trades places for the day with a student in another city. What activities are different? What stays the same? Where would you rather be?
  3. Illustrate on a bar or line graph how many hours of sunlight each city receives for these months, average rainfall and temperature. Who receives more precipitation? By how much? What is the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures?
  4. For younger students, talk about what a different city would be like if they moved there at this time of the year. Discuss temperature differences and activities, and write down a story that your student makes up and both of you read back together.
 

Fun in the Summertime

Summer Learning Activities

By Jinnie Spiegler, Director of Program Development

Make June through August an exciting time of fun and learning. Here are some reading and writing activities to create a learning environment all summer long.

  1. Combine reading and writing with fun activities. There is a lot to do over the summer, like going to a museum, the beach, a zoo, or just hanging out in the park. Encourage your child to read a book related to each activity and to write about the activity afterwards.
  2. Write to a summer pen pal. Students often miss friends from school, teachers, and sometimes family members who they don't get to see over the summer. Help your child write letters to friends and family who live in other parts of the city or who are travelling to other parts of the world. Illustrate beautiful postcards using construction paper, and ask your child to write on the postcards what they've done during the summer.
  3. Visit the library. Summer is a great time to get your child a library card if s/he doesn't already have one. Spend one day a week going to the library, looking for new books, learning to do something new on the computer or reading together. Also, many libraries have fun, child-friendly summer reading programs and other activities.
  4. Keep a reading journal. Have your child keep a journal about the books s/he reads over the summer. Have him/her write a page about each book that includes what the cover of the book looks like, what the most exciting part of the story was, the character s/he liked best, etc.

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