Need English tutor for NES child

Help - I have an 11 year old boy who is having difficulty with grammar & spelling. I would like to hire someone to help him out. He is a native English speaker and doesn't need to learn to speak English. He only needs help improving his writing. Unfortunately, he's at that age where he doesn't really want any help from his mom. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Hi ~ I'm a qualified English teacher with experience at secondary level and also a NES. Most grammar is taught in context these days. That means you don't take out a rule book and work your way through it. You get the student to produce a piece of writing and then have them analyse it, discussing what worked well and what grammatical errors there are, what would be correct etc.


At age 11 your son will be rather too old for the usual spelling tests. If his spelling errors are numerous I would suggest he needs to read more and perhaps review basic concepts such as using phonics, breaking words down etc. He may also need to be taught new skills (like proofreading) and concepts (like process writing).


The most important thing is to make sure your son is interested in learning. In order to progress, he needs to write lots. Be sure that the topics appeal to him, and also try to find out what type of writing he prefers: creative? school magazine articles? journal? essays?


Whether your son does improve his writing or not depends on his motivation. Does he like English or is his favourite subject something else? It could be that your son's talents lie elsewhere.


If he is resistant to working on his writing (I don't know if this is actually the case), you could always try another angle. If what you're really worried about is his thinking skills, ability to organise ideas etc, try getting him involved in debating. Acting / drama is also great for improving knowledge of literature, vocabulary skills, and general English. In a few years he may recover from his aversion to writing and then he'll have a solid background from debating and drama so that his written work will probably just 'happen'.


I hope the above is helpful to you and I wish you and your son all the best.

Hi -


I'm a former high school English teacher from the US and currently teaching privately a NUMBER of students who are very similar to the description you give of your son. I wholeheartedly agree with all the above that Snow Rose has mentioned.


Grammar is taught in context and classes generally don't do grammar worksheets anymore. (research has shown that the worksheets really don't transfer over into good writing.)

In addition to the suggestions that Snow Rose made, I wonder if your son reads books? More than what schools asign, does he read for pleasure? Research shows that significant gains can be made in both grammar and spelling if students read, read a lot, and read often. Your son may be what is known as a "reluctant" reader, which is not entirely uncommon for students of his age. There is a plethora of "reluctant reader" books now out on the market. You can go to the ALA website and look up different titles of books that he might enjoy. http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/summerreading/recsummerreading/recommendedreading.htm


My students have to read an novel every two weeks on top of their school reading. By reading, discussing what they are reading, and having them respond to reading by writing, I've seen improvement in not only their reading comprehension but their writing as well.


Good luck! Modeling at home is important - I find that in the case of many students actions speak louder than words. If you want your son to read and write more, do the same. He will learn by your example as much as he can learn by your instruction. Perhaps reading an interesting book together (it will surprise you HOW MANY kids still enjoy being read to, even at ages 11, 12, 13, and 14) and then writing responses together is a way to engage in this process together.

Thanks for all or your suggestions. As for reading - my son loves to read and his comprehension is not an issue. His problems seem to lie in writing and especially in spelling.

Okie -


I would continue to encourage your son to read. The best carry over into improving grammar in writing is in reading a lot - as much as possible. Perhaps your son needs to read more challenging books - and if he likes a particular style, perhaps you can suggest that he try and "imitate" that style of writing.


Writing is not "perfect" the first time around. These days schools teach "draft" or "process" writing which basically means that students have multiple opportunities to improve whatever writing piece they are working on. I have found that this often takes the pressure off of students - and they have a chance to feel like it doesn't have to be "perfect" the first time around - including spelling errors and grammar errors. Perhaps encouraging your son to "rewrite" some of his work to make it more polished may provide you some opportunities to help him with his grammar and his spelling.

I have a few more tips for improving the spelling of a native English speaker:


My first English teacher at secondary school always used to say that when we'd finished a piece of written work, we had to check the spelling of at least 10 words in the dictionary. It does help cut out errors.


Another tip is for your son to read aloud the piece to someone ( you, your spouse, the helper, a sibling, a schoolfriend, anyone really). When he's reading aloud the mistakes will "jump off the page" - and reading aloud is 10 times more effective than silent reading for identifying errors.


If the same errors tend to crop up, I do actually believe in a bit of the old-fashioned memorization. He could make himself flash cards to make it a bit more fun. Then a parent or friend could quiz him.


As I mentioned before, do review supposedly 'basic' concepts which are sometimes missed because teachers assume native speakers already know. I'm a great believer in phonics and would suggest a quick (1 or 2 or 3 hours) review of the main principles.


Get your son into the habit of "sounding words out" (e.g. Wed - nes - day and gov - ern - ment).


Typing some essays using Microsoft Word can help because the computer will underline incorrectly spelled words in red. You should encourage your son to try to work out for himself what the "correct answer" is, instead of relying on the computer to do it for him.


If at all possible, you could ask his school teacher to mark his work in the same way. That is they would not write the correct spelling for your son, they'd just underline the mistake and then leave him to work it out for himself. (It promotes thinking skills and initiative.) I always used to do this with my students, I told them I wanted them to have a go and they could always approach me if and when they were stuck.


Lastly, I just want to say again how important it is for your son to learn from his errors and really learn the correct spellings. He should go over his old essays a few times, reviewing the errors he made and remembering what the correct spellings are.


Good luck!