Nyjah and His Online Math Tutor Work Late To Improve Numeracy Skills
By Eric Steckel | March 30, 2022
Flexibility Helps Busy Family Find Time for Online Math Tutoring
Online math tutoring offers families flexibility in scheduling times that fit their life. Your support of online tutoring will help Nyjah get back to grade level.
Nyjah’s* house is full! His mother, Tabetha, is constantly on the go, taking Nyjah and his six brothers and stepbrothers to and from school and after-school care while working full time. It’s the life of a working mother.
Nyjah is an active second-grader who loves football and basketball. Math is one of his favorite subjects. As with many children, Nyjah’s ability to learn foundational math skills has been severely impacted by COVID-19 constraints. He has fallen behind grade-level standards and struggled to catch up.
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Nyjah’s teachers enrolled him in Path2Math for one-on-one online math tutoring this past fall. He was scheduled to meet with his tutor Robert Glickstein at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays. However, it was difficult for Tabetha to make that appointment each week.
“I am inside working all day, and Nyjah doesn’t get out of after-school care until 6:00 pm. With all the kids, I can’t get Nyjah on the Zoom tutoring session until 6:30 pm,” she explained.
Margena Wade-Green, Path2Math Program Director, wanted to find a way for Nyjah to remain in the program and catch up to grade level. She asked Mr. Robert if he would be willing to start his tutoring lesson at 6:30 pm instead.
“I really wanted to be flexible for Nyjah’s family,” Robert shared. “And they have responded. His mom is always there to get him set up, and he’s raring to go.”
“He looks forward to tutoring. To get home from school at the end of the day and want to join a tutoring session, and to be enthused, is amazing.”—Tabetha, Nyjah’s mother.
Nyjah and Mr. Robert have “…established a relationship. There’s comfort. Nyjah feels OK saying, ‘I don’t know that.’”
The modified schedule is working well for both of them. “We’ve gotten through several areas where he’s aced every section and moved up a level,” Robert said. “In particular, he has made great progress in geometry and understanding fractions.”
The one-on-one relationship between Nyjah and Robert is rewarding to both of them. “It is one piece of a larger puzzle to get these kids back to grade level. It’s individual, and that makes a big difference.”
Nyjah’s mother agrees. “He looks forward to tutoring. To get home from school at the end of the day and want to join a tutoring session, and to be enthused, is amazing. He and Mr. Robert established a relationship. There’s comfort. Nyjah feels OK saying, ‘I don’t know that.’”
She also sees progress. “Nyjah’s more focused, getting his work done correctly. He is reading more. In math, he’s applying what he’s learned in tutoring. That’s where the progress is,” she reports.
Nyjah receives the nurturing, caring support he needs to succeed in school despite a full house and hectic schedules.
An hour a week can make all the difference for a child struggling in math. Your support of online math tutoring will help Nyjah get back to grade level.
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* Names changed to protect the identity of the students