In a few short weeks school across the country will be released for the summer. I know students, parents and teachers alike are thinking the same thing: "Thank the powers that be!" As a student and a teacher I completely understand. Summer break means that mom and dad no longer have to worry about breaking the law when speeding from the carpool line through morning traffic in a desperate attempt to arrive at work by eight a.m. Teachers no longer have to worry about crafting lesson plans or facing the sadness of giving detentions. Finally, students no longer have to complete homework and study for tests and alternatively, can spend their time going on adventures, attending summer camps, and just relaxing. 

But I have a secret! Just because school is not in session does not mean that the world of education comes to a halt. Teachers are still prepping for the next school year, brainstorming how they can improve their lessons and teaching styles. Meanwhile, parents are deciding what the best course of action is to ensure that their children become college graduates. So, what about the students?I know the go to answer is, “It’s summertime! Kids need a break from school.” Well, that’s true, but summer does not mean that the learning should stop. Learning is an active process. If one stops investing the time and practice into something, skills dwindle. As Malcolm Gladwell says in his book Outliers, it takes ten thousand hours to be good at something.  If you think that’s an urban legend, here’s a personal anecdote. Last semester in college I did not take Spanish because I was certain I would remember the language indefinitely. Well, two days ago, when engaging in a conversation with a native Spanish speaker, I became anxious when trying to respond to, “¿Qué vas a estudiar en la universidad?” Luckily I am proficient in Spanish and responded appropriately, but if I had continued to practice my Spanish speaking both inside and  outside  of the classroom, anxiety would not have arisen. Let’s just say, I’m taking Spanish this fall.

 The moral of my very, very short story is: keep learning over the summer! Students, here is my suggested course of action: get a summer tutor. Summer tutoring means that you are guaranteed to be actively learning during the break and alleviates the need for your parents to hound you about summer review and prevents you from having to do all the work yourself! Here’s how summer tutoring with me, a Frog Tutor, would work. We would look over your tests and report cards from this school year. We would then have a dialogue during which I would ask: What did you struggle with? What subject could you improve in? What subjects are you confident in? I firmly believe that every student should be commended for academic successes! Then, we would write out a list of goals together. As a tutor my goals include making sure that you know all of the necessary information from the year prior and have begun learning next year’s material. Your goals may be different, so this conversation and goals list would help us to be on the same page. I would then go home and write a lesson plan with an aim to ease your transition into the next grade and to detract from your summer fun as little as possible. Having a summer tutor means that  you do not have to study every day, but instead just work with me or another Frog Tutor during sessions, and complete the small, but entertaining assignments we provide. I know this may all sound boring now, but review could be playing vocabulary word jeopardy, having a multiplication tables race, or learning the parts of the cell by creating your own out of yummy treats. Without a doubt, summer tutoring makes a huge difference because the material remains fresh. 

If this at all sounds enticing to you, whether you are a student, a parent of a struggling child, or a parent just looking to make sure their child keeps learning, reach out to me! As a Frog Tutor I’m equipped with the skills to make sure my students are academically up to speed and better yet, I ensure that my students are ahead in all subjects and are prepared for the upcoming school year!