Welcome to our Kid's Health Blog by School is Easy Tutoring

With most school schedules starting early in the morning, or getting to bed at a reasonable time can make or break a student’s ability to function in class. For a night owl student, it can be nearly impossible to be alert during an 8 a.m. math class (which, as we will see, can mean that tutoring sessions later in the day can help a student ‘recover’ from lost time in class which was spent being sleepy). Interestingly enough, new research suggests that a night owl student tends to end up with a higher paying, more successful career than early risers.

Can bedtimes affect success?

You’ve probably heard the saying “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. A recent article from The Independent, an online news source, suggests that this saying isn’t necessarily true. Some students have a habit of staying up late and sleeping in, and in turn struggle to function at school. This doesn’t necessarily mean that their brains are not capable of comprehending the subject material, but they may be more productive later in the day, once they’ve had a chance to fully wake up.

More students have late night tendencies

Studies have found that a lesser percentage of students naturally go to sleep early and rise early, and a greater percentage of students are more prone to habitual late nights and later rising times. Regardless of the nocturnal tendencies of this greater percentage of night owls, school still starts bright and early.

Statistics predict better grades for night owls but in reality early risers get the grades

Early rising students are more likely to get better grades in school, but one study showed that late night students ranked higher on inductive reasoning tests. This implies that they should be getting better grades as well, but the reason they do not is because they are learning at the wrong time of day.

Since schools have set schedules that start early in the morning, how can a night owl student be helped to succeed?

Since we can’t change the hours of day that the public school system operates just yet, parents with children who stay up late should still help their kids get to bed at a reasonable hour so they can get at least 8 hours of sleep. Some teenagers need even more sleep than younger children. On average teens get less than 8 hours of sleep, leaving them tired and unable to function at their full capacity during the school day.

If your late night teenager is struggling in school, consider setting an established study time or tutoring session in the late afternoon or evening for your child to work on schoolwork. It could be that they learn the subject matter just fine during a tutoring session later in the day as opposed to morning classes at school.  If your child is a homeschooler, consider homeschooling tutoring appointments later in the day to see if it helps with comprehension.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle in a large classroom setting.  A variety of factors such as the language used for giving instructions, a noisy atmosphere, being surrounded by people and an ever changing activity schedule can lead to the child becoming confused, frustrated, or over stimulated.

Whether a child has a form of autism or aspergers syndrome, working with a tutor can benefit children with ASD and help them cope with the larger classroom setting.  The ability to learn information is not usually the main obstacle for children with ASD, but rather the social interaction that goes along with the school environment.

Developing social skills with a private tutor

Tutors are trained to use different methods to help children develop acceptable social skills for school. Tutors can review basic skills such as saying please and thank you, learning when and how to share with others and knowing how to respond to questions. By practicing these skills and responses to questions and situations they can then implement these skills at school.

Tutors can teach kids how to recognize emotions

For children who experience difficulty recognizing emotions and expressing empathy towards others, tutors can work with the child to learn what different emotions look like and how to respond to someone who is expressing that certain emotion.  Tutors can use flashcards with pictures of faces portraying various emotions to help the child identify the particular mood of the person in the picture.  The tutor can then teach the child what to say to someone who is sad, such as “what is wrong?” or “are you okay?”.

Kids with ASD benefit from having a set schedule

Creating a detailed schedule for each day at school will help a child with ASD to avoid confusion.  This schedule should be laminated so it can be taken with the child to school.  It may be useful to tape the schedule on the child’s desk so that it is visible at all times.  If they know what to expect they are more likely to go along with the rest of the class.  Tutors can go over the schedule with the child and show them how to keep it with them and refer to it throughout the day.  The schedule can include pictures for younger children and children with language delays.

Overstimulation in the classroom? Solution = in home tutoring sessions

Being able to focus and work on assignments while in the busy environment of the classroom can be difficult.  In home tutoring provides a quiet, less distracting environment that benefits most children, but especially those on the autistic spectrum.  Giving an autistic child a scheduled tutoring session where they can do schoolwork in a quiet, familiar space will help them immensely. Tutors can also give the child tips on how to focus on the paper on the desk rather than looking around the room.  This can help the child when they need to focus in the classroom.  Arranging for the child to be seated in the front of the classroom can also help free them of the distraction of other children.

Children with high-functioning autism and aspergers may have obsessive behaviors like organizing and arranging objects.  If this is a problem in the classroom, the tutor can allow the child to engage in these types of activities after a tutoring session as a type of free-time activity.  This can also be suggested to the classroom teacher as a form of rewarding the child for good behaviors.

Going through the education system for children with ASD is not easy, but with the right help and tools from teachers, parents and tutors who are willing to work together, these children can make it through.  The sooner a child begins special education tutoring, the more likely they are to develop the social skills they need to succeed in life.