School Skills vs. Tutoring – What’s the Difference

Your child may need academic assistance away from the classroom. But do you know the best option to take between enhancing their school skills or enrolling them in a tutoring session? You may have heard of tutoring as the best option, but have you researched study skills that improve your child’s learning strategies? In this article, we highlight the difference between the two so that you can quickly identify the best suited for your child.

More Comparison between the Two:

Basic Approach

 A tutor may focus on building skills to help your child understand what they may need to concentrate and accomplish schoolwork in tutoring. Study coaches work strategically to help your child succeed in all aspects of learning and life in general. They formulate a better approach towards schoolwork and education, and their job involves creating strategies to improve your child’s motivation.

Subjects Covered

Unlike tutoring, which is subject-specific, school skills are not subject-specific but develop student’s executive function skills. School skills are broad and provide a person with better study tips in many areas.  To understand better theories, concepts, ideas and fill in for learning gaps, one will need tutoring services, but one will require some study skills to get out the most from a study session. Tutoring prepares your child for specific tests or improves their knowledge of particular areas of study. In some cases, tutoring is used to help complete student homework.  

Effect on Child

School skills help your child develop a personal approach to learning and study that meets an individual’s needs. As your child develops study skills, they discover what works best for them and what doesn’t. Tutoring helps your child understand and improve their areas of weakness or catch up with others on topics they were initially behind. 

How they Work

School skills are developed, practiced, and perfected with time.  They increase your child’s knowledge of how best to study, boosting their performance and confidence in class.  Mastered study skills help a person throughout life. On the other hand, tutoring occurs through getting support to meet a student’s specific goals, circumstances, and needs. It helps to improve a child’s confidence and performance in particular areas of study.  A tutor has clear areas of support and adapts varying actions to meets your child’s needs.

Typical Session

A student practices and develops own study skills that are applicable throughout their lives.  For example, a student may learn through a coach how to create schedules that will help in tackling long-term projects.  A coach may also teach your child study skills to help them remain focused in class or effectively tackle exam questions. This differs from tutoring, where a student gets help and support only applicable to their specific learning problems.  For example, a math tutor may concentrate on fractions because that is what is troubling your child. 

Takeaway:

Tutoring is a good option for your child if they are struggling with a specific subject. It is also suitable for students who need to reach specific academic goals in particular areas of study such as math, science, writing, and reading.  Nevertheless, there are cases where a parent must seek help from educational therapy due to specific learning difficulties.

School skills will be most helpful to your child if they have some skills but lack organization, strategies, or motivation to accomplish their skills.  It benefits the most a child who needs help to remain focused. Grade schoolers may benefit significantly by learning study skills through an organizational coach due to their poor study habits. Study skills may also be essential to students who find it hard to prioritize studies, stay on a task for long or prepare for a test.

Here at Kids on the Yard, we have a wide range of fantastic Educational Therapies, otherwise known as Learning Specialties, that support the development of a child’s school skills, executive skills, and academics through tutoring.