I often hear students that attend semestered schools complain that they don’t remember much of what they’ve learned in a previous grade since they’ve been away from a particular subject for close to a year. There are times when a student may have math in the first half of the school year, and then only have math again a year later in second semester. That’s just too long to be away from math. Every teacher knows that future learning depends on prior knowledge and skills. The longer a student has been away from a subject, the harder it is for that student to recall concepts learned previously. And this translates to a more difficult time learning new concepts in the next grade.
Ones success in math greatly depends on continual practice and a strong grasp of the fundamentals. Long breaks from math are not recommended if one wishes to do well in a future math class. The summer is a perfect time to refresh ones knowledge of a subject and prepare for the next school year. Tutoring during the summer is meant to prepare a student for future courses, and give him or her more confidence beginning a new school year. Summer is a time to relax for most students, but engaging in a tutoring session once a week shouldn’t be that big of a commitment.
Many students that I have tutored during the summer have gone on to improve their math grade from a previous year. It was an easy transition for them to a next grade level because they had been practising the material that they were going to learn during the summer. Tutoring is especially beneficial for students taking a course in summer school. Summer courses are highly condensed and cover a lot of material in under a month. Because so much is covered each day in a summer course, it is especially easy to fall behind. A tutor can address any misunderstandings that the student has and reinforce the material that was covered each day of the course. Additionally, a summer course might skip certain important concepts since there is so little time to cover everything, and knowledge of those concepts might be necessary to understand the material of a future course.
An experienced tutor can supplement the material covered during the summer course with what was missed, so that the student doesn’t miss out on any knowledge that he or she may need to know to be prepared for a future course. I would highly recommend most students to partake in tutoring during the summer, if given the opportunity. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks. A small commitment and investment of time during the summer can greatly influence future school outcomes.
