Certified Tutors From Olivet College

The student got only 1/10 words correct on this weeks spelling pre-test. After some exploration, I determined that the problem was one of diction and phonetics: somewhere along the way the student learned (possibly from his teacher or family) to pronounce the 'aw' consonant with a soft 'l' at the end. I showed him how to press his tongue against his teeth to make 'l' and to let it rest at the bottom of his mouth to say 'aw'. We then practiced saying each word without the 'l' sound. After this, and our usual drills, he spelled all of the words correctly during sentence dictation.

The student and I worked on his presentation for class (Book 10 of the Odyssey). I helped him organize his outline and brainstorm more ideas to talk about, but he seems to have it pretty well prepared. I recommended he call to schedule the next session when he feels he needs help.

The student did a common phrases activity. She also read a "Little Bear" story from her school book. She is recognizing sounds and blends. This is helping her reading be much more fluent. She also is doing great with comprehension excersises. We made another sound wheel. She also would spell out words with the same endings, so she had to really think about the sounds.

On the final day of preparation before client's PSAT, focused on specific strategies to eclipse remaining barriers. 1) Writing: Approach sentence as if it is error-free; Read sentence through fully -- do not stop to consider each answer choice; Select answer choice that best matches first instinct. 2) Math: Read question fully and carefully; Use space provided to work through equations; Use calculator to your fullest advantage. 3) Reading: For local questions ("In line...") read a few sentences before and after line/word/phrase in question to fully understand context. Proctored timed sessions in which client implemented these strategies. Client's scores improved to 80% - 95% correct in all sections, and he expressed high level of confidence for tomorrow's exam.

Today we covered section 10.4 homework on solving quadratics using perfect square.  I also motivated the student to complete some homework problems from the other night that she didn't understand. She did understand it today.

Student 1 and I worked on homonyms, antonyms, and synonyms. Student 2 and I read a chapter in The Hobbit, and did some reading comprehension. Student 3 and I did some work book pages with language and read some leveled readers.