Where one-to-one tutoring succeeds in building confidence in quiet children

Iris was in Year 3 when she came to me for weekly one to one tuition to increase her confidence and understanding of key writing skills. She had been struggling in the school environment as her unassuming nature meant she was often overlooked or missed out on developing her understanding.

My early observations showed that she:

• had a lack of confidence in her ability
• sometimes felt too inhibited to ask questions
• had developed an unduly low opinion of her creative work

After three months of tutoring…Iris’ skills improved significantly and her confidence increased but she was still very hard on herself, doubting her ability to use her descriptive writing skills effectively.

After six months of tutoring…I slowly built her trust and self-belief through asking open questions and encouraging her to embrace challenge.

Iris started asking for more clarification for her understanding which was a huge breakthrough and enabled her to start taking greater ownership in her learning.  

English became her favourite subject at school because she felt empowered in her own abilities. 

 At home, she now asks her mum for the meaning of words in the books she is reading, knowing it is ok not to know everything. She continues to go from strength to strength.  

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