Advice seeking Tutor for 3rd Grader in RCES

[Anonymous]

Our third grader is in need of extra help with his writing assignments. It's the typical young kid not wanting to put in real effort thing. It's been frustrating trying to get him to practice but I think it's more so the instruction is coming from a parent. I'm not sure a high schooler would have the patience to guide a kid this young and a place like Kumon would be that beneficial. Any advices or references on finding a nearby private 1:1 tutor in the RCES zone?

[Anonymous]

You should begin with having him evaluated for things like adhd, dyslexia, etc. When you say "it's the typical young kid not wanting to put in effort thing" I have to disagree. Young kids LOVE putting in effort. Children do well when they are able to. You shod first look into any possible reasons why he is not able to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should begin with having him evaluated for things like adhd, dyslexia, etc. When you say "it's the typical young kid not wanting to put in effort thing" I have to disagree. Young kids LOVE putting in effort. Children do well when they are able to. You shod first look into any possible reasons why he is not able to.

+1

My “lazy” writer turned out to have extremely high verbal and vocabulary skills, along with inattentive ADHD, and the frequently-related poor working memory, slower processing speed, and executive functioning issues. She literally couldn’t corral all of the zillion thoughts zipping around in her head and get them down on paper before her attention drifted. A five-sentence paragraph was excruciating, and could take literally hours at that age.

Not to say you should run out today and schedule testing, but keep it in mind. I’m in no way qualified to diagnose, but the “not wanting to put in effort” thing really jumped out at me, as it seems it did for another PP. Getting an experienced tutor and asking them to pass along any observations they might have is a good first step, and I wish I had a recommendation for you. Maybe ask the school counselor?

Also, be aware that ADHD doesn’t necessarily come along with behavior problems or excessive energy, so classroom teachers may not always spot it easily. Sometimes the “H” part is happening in their brain. And very bright kids can often mask and work around learning disabilities for a long time before increasing academic demands start to reveal them.

[Anonymous]

My son struggled with writing in elementary. Every homework session was a struggle with tears. It turned out he has dysgraphia and fine motor issues, adhd and needed glasses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son struggled with writing in elementary. Every homework session was a struggle with tears. It turned out he has dysgraphia and fine motor issues, adhd and needed glasses.

I want to add to my post that children are not able to tell you what's wrong or why they are having problems. They, themselves, don't know..instead you just see what looks like behavior issues like procrastination, boredom, refusal, eye rolling, anger, etc. Making them sit longer with a tutor solves nothing. Just turns them off from school work even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should begin with having him evaluated for things like adhd, dyslexia, etc. When you say "it's the typical young kid not wanting to put in effort thing" I have to disagree. Young kids LOVE putting in effort. Children do well when they are able to. You shod first look into any possible reasons why he is not able to.

+1

My “lazy” writer turned out to have extremely high verbal and vocabulary skills, along with inattentive ADHD, and the frequently-related poor working memory, slower processing speed, and executive functioning issues. She literally couldn’t corral all of the zillion thoughts zipping around in her head and get them down on paper before her attention drifted. A five-sentence paragraph was excruciating, and could take literally hours at that age.

Not to say you should run out today and schedule testing, but keep it in mind. I’m in no way qualified to diagnose, but the “not wanting to put in effort” thing really jumped out at me, as it seems it did for another PP. Getting an experienced tutor and asking them to pass along any observations they might have is a good first step, and I wish I had a recommendation for you. Maybe ask the school counselor?

Also, be aware that ADHD doesn’t necessarily come along with behavior problems or excessive energy, so classroom teachers may not always spot it easily. Sometimes the “H” part is happening in their brain. And very bright kids can often mask and work around learning disabilities for a long time before increasing academic demands start to reveal them.

Oh I know over half the kids at our school have ADHD and special accommodations. It's very common.

[Anonymous]

Mcps offers free tutoring. Try it first.