Individual tuition given in 'weak subjects’

Press, 17 May 1978, Page 12

Individual tuition given in 'weak subjects’

By

TUI THOMAS

Home & People

Pupils who leave school unable to read or spell adequately or to express themselves reasonably on paper and in speech are not likely to communicate effectively in business or personal life. They enter the work force seriously disadvantaged.

The problem worried Christine Lyons when she was a primary school teacher, particularly as she could see that many bright children only needed more encouragement and under-

standing to get over disabilities that could set them back for life. To meet what she saw as a desperate need for help in basic skills she opened the Canterbury Coaching College a year ago to give “one-to-one” tuition in remedial reading, which includes spelling and written expression, and other subjects for pupils who lag behind the main stream at school. She now has a staff of 18 part-time tutors, each qualified in a particular field of the syllabus, which broadly covers languages, study techniques, mathematics, sciences and psychology. It is the only coaching school in Christchurch that provides individual tuition to school children and adults. In its short life the college has had very satisfying results. Many pupils who were coached in their weak spots last year for School Certificate have returned confidently for extra help to get them through University Entrance this year.

But Christine Lyons is still concerned about the poor quality of reading and spelling among so many of the pupils who enrol, though it has confirmed her belief for the need for more “one-to-one” tuition services.

“It amazes me that students who have reached U.E. standards at school still cannot read fluently and cannot differentiate between ‘there’ and ‘their’ and spell ‘two’ as ‘too.’ I feel that these basic spelling handicaps which are

intertwined with reading, stem largely from a complete lack of encouragement at home,” she said.

Many Christchurch homes, she has found have no books at all. Parents depend largely on television for their information. They do not read bedtime stories to their children, do not encourage them to love books and reading and do not make time to talk to children to arouse a curiosity for general knowledge.

"Parents have as much responsibility as teachers in ensuring that a child reads for enjoyment," she said.

"Too many parents turn a blind eye on a child’s reading disability when it first goes to school, assuming that the teacher will put it right in time.” But, she added, teachers with a class of about 40 children cannot give individual attention to slow readers and poor spellers. “There are, of course, many medical and psycholbgical problems which

can hold back a child’s reading,” she said. "In such cases we advise parents to consult their family doctor. But we find that most reading disabilities can be overcome by giving a child or adult encouragement, understanding and stimulation/’

Students of 17 and older have enrolled at the college with a reading age of eight. When they have progressed with patient, individual help they have gained the confidence and courage to develop other skills. So have young children. All become better equipped to study textbooks, pass examinations and eventually qualify for careers.

The oldest pupil at the school so far was 68, a woman who was frustrated with her inability to understand words and comprehend what she was reading. And she was keen to read. The youngest child sent to Mrs Lyons was six and merely lazy. All she needed was the mental rousing to read and enjoy it. “And we have had businessmen coming to us with spelling problems, suddenly realised when they had to write letters instead of dictating them,” she said.

But reading and spelling disabilities are not the root causes of all individual weaknesses in school subjects. Many pupils, she said, have been enrolled at the college for coaching in mathematics and science because they have been too shy to question points they did not understand in class and, therefore, drifted miserably downhill. Foreign language tuition is not necessarily given individually. If four students are at the same

level they may be put into a coaching ' group, fo which the hourly fet drops from $6 (for individual tuition) to $4. Christine Lyons fully discussed techniques of individual tuition with principals of coaching colleges in Auckland before opening her own establishment in Manchester Street last year. It was a serious setback to her when the premises were gutted by fire, but it was not long before she reopened her college at 661 Colombo Street, where she now has 90 students working during school holidays as well as afternoons and evenings throughout school terms.