I am tutoring a kid going into seventh grade tomorrow. How should I teach him?

Question

He is going into 7th grade and I'm afraid that I won't remember anything from seventh grade! I've come up with a list and I am going to ask him if he has done any of this and if so did he have trouble with it?

Simplifying Expressions

Basic Geometry

Order of Operations

Pythagorean Theorem

Mult./Div. and Add./Sub. Integers (Absolute Value of Integers)

Reducing Radicals

Exponents

Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple

Prime and Composite Numbers

Prime Factorization

Ratio, proportion, percent

These are all a few things that I remember from 6th-7th grade. Do they sound right? I think I remember the basics about them but I'm not sure! I don't want to sound like an idiot and not know what I am saying. Do you have any tips for me on good ways to teach these topics and maybe advice on how to be a good tutor? Or maybe you could even give me a few extra topics to add to my list?

Thank you very much all answers are appreciated! The fullest and most helpful answer will get ten points :) thanks for the help

P.S. Also I am a girl going into high school so I am afraid that it might be awkward. I mean he is only two years younger than me and I never met him, won't it be awkward? ... Please help on that too

I am supposed to see if I can help get him ready for 7th grade because he is going into a more advanced class. I won't be tutoring him during the school year just for one or two weeks before school starts.

Answer 1

Hi Twilight:

I'm an old retired guy who has both taught and tutored.  I may have a bit different perspective on this than you.  IMO teaching and tutoring are two different things.

Teaching starts with 1 goes to 2, then 3, 4, 5 and continues through infinity.  A teacher prepares a lesson plan to insure a smooth and even progress through those steps.  What you have listed is something like a lesson plan.  You are planning to attack on all fronts and it isn't necessary.  A tutor's work is much more tightly focused than a teacher's.  A tutor provides extra help where extra help is needed.  For example:  If your student comes to you and says, "We are counting".  I am doing fine until we get to 764,391.  From there until we reach 987,214 I am completely lost.  Then the student asks if you can provide some extra help in that area.  Since everything is fine up to 764,391 there is no need to start at 1 and progress through all the numbers the student already understands.  

I used numbers in the example only to illustrate my point.  I used them to keep it simple; it is not meant to talk down to you, only to make it short and sweet.  If I came to you and said, "I am really doing fine in English except for adverbs".  I can't seem to identify them reliably and I need extra help.  You would tutor me on adverbs, not nouns because I can already use them, identify them and anything else the teacher is teaching about them.

Now the other problem, your confidence.  Being a girl is a fact; it is anatomically established and has nothing to do with your job so forget it.  Second, so the student is only two years younger.  Actually the students age has nothing to do with this either.  The student, apparently, needs help and someone considers you capable of providing what is needed.  That makes you the expert.

I may be a bit of a snob but if I am presenting material to a class full of students or a room full of Generals (I have a military background) I have always considered myself the expert.  If a student knew more about the material than I did, then why am I teaching it?  If the General knew more then why was he asking questions at the end of the briefing?

I think you will do fine.  I would caution you about over preparing, you really don't need or even want a lesson plan.  Let the student's weaknesses dictate your course of instruction.  Don't waste time teaching something the kid has complete command over unless you are just having a general review before a test.

Good luck, but I don't think you will need much.  You seem to know what is expected of you.  Just don't go to extremes. This reminds me of a joke I heard about 50 years ago.  Little Johnny comes home from school and asks his mother where he came from.  His mother had been dreading and preparing for this day.  She went to the bookcase and drug out all the information she had gathered.  After a whole afternoon of teaching the facts of life Johnny says to his mother.  "Mom, I know that birds and bees stuff, I just wanted to know where I came from".  His mother gave Johnny a most confused look to which Johnny said, "Mom, Freddy is from Denver, I want to know where I am from".

Morale:  Understand the question before you even try to answer it.

Answer 2

Just teach him the way you would like to be taught. Like remember some of your favorite teachers. What made you like them? If he is awkward just try to act normal so maybe he will be less awkward and things might work out! Good luck!!! :)

Answer 3

Your list is more than adequate for a student entering a 7th grade accelerated math program. Since you are not really "teaching" him, I would suggest you "work through " problems together. You can use the release state tests from Texas as your bank of questions.

Best of luck to you.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.asses...

Answer 4

just btry to relax face your students, come to their world and bring them to  your world. enjoy your armostphare with your students...