Tutoring Club shares tips for successful return to school

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The Tutoring Club of St. Johns is offering tips to help St. Johns County students get a strong start as they go back to school.

According to Kimberly Mullins, the learning center’s business owner, after a summer of time off from studies, routines and academic discipline, many students will need specific help getting back into the class routine with a solid beginning during the new school year.

Mullins added that students with attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will need some more help than others.

Tips for a successful back to school experience for students:

  • Establish a back-to-school routine. Set regular bedtimes and get up times, and set up a standard morning routine.
  • Make sure middle school and higher education level students have a physical school planning book with days and subjects on each page with enough room to write down assignments. Planners with just the days included are often too limited to be effective. Use abbreviations for each class to fit more on the calendar. For example: M for math; SC for science, and SO for social studies. Check the planner every night until students are following the book and tracking routines without parental or other guidance.
  • Set up a daily morning, afternoon and evening checklist for students. For afternoons and evenings include items such as: Show parents the planner; choose clothes for school; finish homework; pack a bookbag and place it by the bedroom door and prepare bookbag. For the morning checklist include instructions such as: get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, etc. Instead of telling your student or students what to do each day, ask them if they have reviewed the checklist and be sure they begin a habit of using the checklist each morning and afternoon, and help them complete each item to help reduce confusion.
  • Purchase a magnetic message board for the refrigerator as a place for students to affix papers they’ll need to complete, or that you need to review.

Every Sunday, spend the time with students for at least 10 to 15 minutes and review the upcoming school week. Also, discuss items on the family calendar and review what is planned for the week. Look ahead for a week or two and identify any big projects, then ask how the student is planning to accomplish each project and help them organize projects into smaller tasks to complete over time.

“Preparing students for success in the beginning of the school year helps parents and children recognize the warning signs of when students start to fall behind,” said Mullins. “When you begin to realize your student is off track, it is critical to get help early and provide enough time to address the challenges. Don’t wait for school, study and planning issues to impact their grades and even worse, their self-esteem.”

The Tutoring Club of St. Johns offers academic coaching that guides students through critical study skills to teach planner management, core organization skills and study skills.

The learning center’s proprietary coaching and tutorial methods offer live, teacher-child interactions in each physical center, which allows children to concentrate and get the help they need with academic reinforcement and confidence building.

National Tutoring Association certified tutors work at Mullins’ centers and are trained to work with students in education interventions to avoid any gaps that need to be alleviated. Additionally, many of The Tutoring Club educators are well-trained and experienced in the Orton-Gillingham Approach, a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing and spelling does not come easily to students with dyslexia and a myriad of other learning challenges.

The Tutoring Club has certified tutors in math through calculus, reading, Scholastic Aptitude Testing, ACT, writing, homework help and study skills along with a proven curriculum to provide results.     

The Tutoring Club of St. Johns locations include 605 State Road 13, Suite 109 in Fruit Cove and 2851 County Road 210 W., Suite 112 in St. Johns.

For more information, call the office at (904) 230-2855, email StJohnsFL@Tutoringclub.com. Or go to tutoringclub.com/stjohnsfl.