Jen Wootton Tuition

I have more sessions available for English and Math private tutoring in Narre Warren! 😊

I tutor from age 4 to 14 - send me a message now to have a chat about how I can help your child! 😊

At STEPS we improve student learning in the following primary subjects:

Reading: phonics, comprehension, test preparations, NAPLAN, interest reading and more

Writing: spelling, sentence and paragraph construction, writing genres, handwriting and more.

Mathematics: Numeracy, measurement, fractions decimals and percentages, mental maths and more.

Five tricks to learning the times tables fast!

1. Learn the easy ones first , 2s, 5s, and 10 times tables. Learn to skip count them first.
2. Learn the tables backwards and forwards - 3 X 7 is the same answer as 7 X 3. There are only a total of 36 facts to learn.
3. Look for patterns in the answers. Check out the four times and the six times which both have strong patterns.
4. Carry a new times table you are learning in your pocket. Change it each day.
5. Spend some time understanding 'arrays' for multiplication. You can google this to understand more.

How to Memorize Multiplication Tables - Best Way to Learn Tables This detailed article offers some tricks and the best ways to memorize multiplication tables and suggests strategies that can be used in any grade.

Skills to teach your child with ADHD to learn independently.

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
People think of children with ADHD as running around everywhere. Although this can be true, it can also present in other ways. Many children with ADHD present as talkers. They have a lot to say and their ADHD presents in excessive conversation, with a passion for many things. Other children present as constant fidgeters. There have trouble sitting still. When they are sitting, you might see one leg repetitively moving, or foot shuffling.
Some children with ADHD really struggle to stay focussed, impacting their ability to follow instructions with more than one step.
How can we help or children with ADHD to focus, learn and retain new learning?
1. Teach your child to write things down. Children with ADHD need to learn to write things down to counter working memory deficits.
2. Teach your child that it is ok to have something to do while they sit still. If something is in their hands, students with ADHD participate so much more.
3. Teach your child ways they can move at school while sitting still, that don't cause distraction to the rest of the class. Put full size exercise elastic bands (or a big piece of elastic) around the chair legs for the student to kick away at as the sit 'still'
4. If your child loves talking, teach him/her to write it down in a journal, and make sure you revisit their journal later together.
5. Teach your child to read a analogue clock early on. Analogue clocks are visual and tell children 'how long.' Because sitting and focusing is hard, kids with ADHD need to know how long has passed and how long there is to go.
6. Teach your child to work then play. Explicitly use rewards. Students with ADHD need something other than the lesson itself to be able to fully engage. A reward to work towards can make all the difference!
Engage your child in 'heavy work' before sitting work. This might include jumping on a trampoline or pulling and pushing something with weight in it, such as a trolley of books etc.

ADHD in the Classroom | CDC To meet the needs of children with ADHD, schools may offer ADHD treatments, special education services, or accommodations to lessen the effect of ADHD on their learning.

Does your child have a learning difficulty?

It can be worrying when your child is falling behind in their learning. With one to one tuition with an experienced teacher, children often make surprisingly rapid progress. At steps we commonly see children improving at a rate of one tuition session to a month of schooling in the subject being targeted. The article below discusses learning difficulties.

Common signs of a learning difficulty | Victorian Government Find out more about learning difficulties and how to spot the common signs.

Maths is taught differently now, but no one told the parents!

Have you ever wondered why your child won't listen to you when you try to explain a maths concept? Many parents falsely believe that it is because they are not 'explaining it right' or that their child just won't listen to them.
The problem often is that a new generation of children are learning math concepts very differently to how their parents were taught. As nationwide reports emerge on how children learn, and where the gaps are in children's learning across the country, education tends to take a big sweep and focus on filling in those gaps, often at the cost of other important conceptual learning.
For example, in the 90's it was no longer popular to teach times tables by rote. Everything was taught using hands-on materials to an excess, forgetting that children have short attention spans. Very little was practised, and this did impact how much was retained. In the 2000's a big shift took place towards teaching mental maths strategies. The common algorithms that most adults use were no longer taught until year five. This confused many parents who may never have learnt any mental maths strategies and felt algorithms were the only way to solve two digit math problems. When trying to help their children with maths , who had never seen an algorithm, you can imagine the confusion it would cause.
There continue to be many differences in how schools teach maths compared to how their parents were taught. If you would like to help your child with their maths, I suggest making contact with the classroom teacher and asking what the current mathematical focus is, and how it is being taught. See the link for the range of addition strategies now taught to students.

14 Strategies for Teaching Addition This post covers the top tips and tricks for teaching the strategies 1st & 2nd-grade students learn to use to solve addition equations.

Phonics, the latest buzz word, but can it boost my child's reading?

Yes and no. If your child is new to reading, and is still learning how to read, phonics training absolutely will boost your child's reading skills. If your child knows how to read text, an unbalanced emphasis on phonics training alone can slow a child's reading progress.
It is important to consider when a child is ready to start phonics training. If a child has little phonemic awareness, which is gained through listening to stories, rhymes, songs and language, it may be too soon to be learning alphabet sounds out of context of language development. (please note, phonics and phonemic awareness are two different skills) When a child starts school, it is hoped that they arrive having heard many stories at home and in early learning centre. If this is the case, then children will benefit from phonics training as the next step in their literacy development. It is important that phonics training take place alongside reading books of interest to them, supported by mum and dad.
How then could phonics training slow a child from becoming a true reader? As children become skilled at deciphering words, natural reading behaviours begin to shine. Students are able to use the context of a sentence to read the unfamiliar word. As phonics for reading begins to take a back seat, understanding and thinking about the passage becomes a greater focus. Reading for interest is now possible, and as children read more and widely, they become proficient readers. At this stage children are developing their reading skills through regular and purposeful reading. Phonics however, is still at the forefront of many middle/upper primary school classes in teaching spelling skills, as this Australian report below demonstrates:

Evidence For Learning The Evidence for Learning is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.

Three behaviour signs that your child is struggling with learning:

Behaviour issues occur when children are not happy at school. This is often a result of a child not feeling confident in a subject area. Children will do one, or a range of the following to mask or deflect attention from their learning difficulties:
1. The child that says its boring. Generally, when we are confident at something, its not boring. Even if we don't like the subject, when we feel confident, we usually enjoy being good at the subject. It may actually be boring, but it is also likely that your child is not wanting to practise something they are already struggling with.
2. The child that jokes around. Joking around can be a well intended way of moving the attention away from the subject matter and onto something lighter. It also tends to shorten the lesson. A child feeling stress during a dreaded subject may use joking around to avoid engaging with the lesson.
3. The quiet child. If this is your child, you will need to take action. This child is often overlooked by the teacher. They are not causing any trouble, so their learning difficulties are often put to the side for another day. You may need to make regular contact with the teacher to keep your child front and centre. These children tend to be away from school more often than other children, claiming to be unwell to avoid another day in the classroom. At school, quiet children have specific and canny strategies of their own. One common example is going to the toilet around the time they might be called on in class. Another is positioning themselves near classmates that will help them complete their work.

Know the Warning Signs of a Struggling Student Know the warning signs that your child or teen is struggling in school so you can help them get back to school success quickly.

Parent teacher meetings, what to ask when your child is falling behind.

It's that time of the year again, and parent teacher meetings are taking place all over the country. These suggestions are for parents who are feeling very concerned about their child's progress.
Do not miss your child's meeting. As far as communication between the school and the parent is concerned, this meeting is more valuable than the school report. It is unlikely that a school report will fully reveal the extent of a child's struggles.
This first thing to consider is whether your child will be attending the SSG. These are very sensitive discussions, and you will need to phrase questions carefully if they are present.
Assuming they are not present, and you do not need to monitor how you pose questions, I would recommend the following. Ask for a frank and honest discussion. Let the teacher know that you suspect there are some gaps in your child's learning.
Ask to see assessments from the beginning of the year. Assessments should be regular, and directly related to the material being taught in class. For example, if your child is learning about measurement, the teacher should have available assessments before and after the teaching took place. If they are not readily available, ask to have them emailed.
Ask about remedial programs run by the school. Schools often employ a teacher to run small group lessons for students that are falling behind. Ask if your child would benefit from attending. Consider if the group will conflict with learning times in the class before agreeing.
This is a good time to ask about your child's behaviour during the subject that they struggle with. Behaviour can have a significant impact on their learning.
Consider asking if the school would lend you resources so that you might be able to improve your child's learning at home. Schools have access to many more resources that are highly targeted than parents might have access to.
After the parent teacher meeting, don't be afraid to make regular contact. Do not wait for the teacher to make contact with you. Let them know that you are interested and are monitoring your child's progress. I suggest sending an email, or making contact on communication platforms every two - three weeks. Keep the conversation professional and focused on helping your child.

Ten ways you can sneak more reading into your child's day.

1. Buy games with instructions - online or a board game.
2. Visit a restaurant, but look up the menu online first. Mac Donald's counts!
3. Find books that run in a series. Listen to the first book online, then encourage your child to read the next book in the series
4. Loan graphic novels and comics from the library
6. Create opportunities for your child to read to a younger sibling
7. Compare recipes online and in recipe books
8. Create a scavenger or treasure hunt with clues
9. Watch a foreign movie around your child's interests, with the subtitles on.
10. Introduce your child to books you enjoyed as a child. Read a chapter each together.

Five tips to boost your older child's reading skills.

1. Know your child's reading capabilities: This might mean asking your child's teacher what their reading level is and for some examples of reading material targeted to that level. Some questions you might ask are: Are they reading school readers, and if so, how are they finding them? Could they begin reading chapter books? Are there books the teacher would recommend, and does the school library have a selection to lend. Have an end goal in mind, but always start where your child is currently at right now.
2.Make comprehension easy. Rather than sitting your child down to read a passage independently, read the passage alongside your child. Talk about it as you read it. break it up into small digestible parts.
3. Focus on understanding new vocabulary. One of the highlights of reading is building vocabulary. After your child has finished reading a school novel, flick through the book and identify some words your child might not know. Be interested in the vocab and ask your child to discuss the vocab used in the book. Have a discussion around what the word means and how it adds to the story.
4. Relate the book to your own life. This brings books alive for students. It is one reason that books offer so much more than movies. As we read, we can easily place our selves and our own experiences into the text, visualising the story in a way that is uniquely ours, based on our own experiences.
5. Find ways to expose your child to more books, whether it be the local library, market book stores, or even audio books. Be an example and surround yourself with fiction and non fiction, audio and physical books. If you are time poor like most parents, consider down loading an audiobook that you can enjoy together while in the car.

'Falling behind' may not be your child's fault.

Among OECD countries, in a recent PISA study, Australia is found to be out-performed by more and more countries. We now sit around 15th for all core subjects.
So what is going on? It has been acknowledged that the focus in education is no longer on the student, but rather on filling tick boxes put out by various departments. With such a focus, teachers struggle to deliver quality lessons, and who is missing out? Your child is missing out. Without the time to individualise learning, and make learning FUN and accessible to all students, schools and parents are finding that each year their already struggling students are left behind and core learning gaps are never addressed.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342262109_UNDERSTANDING_WORK_IN_SCHOOLS_The_foundation_for_teaching_and_learning_2018_REPORT_TO_THE_NSW_TEACHERS_FEDERATION