Reducing Stress for Adult Students

Pic courtesy of Abdallah Foteih

Thinking of going back to school but worried that you won’t have the time? We understand that families, jobs and time pressures make adult education a daunting task. That’s why our adult tutors help you to prioritize, organize and manage your time so that you have the opportunity for personal development and career advancement.

Causes of Stress

The job market is tough and more people are seeing the benefits of retooling. Getting a secondary education may mean a better job or a whole new career for you. Of course your life is busy and complicated and going back to school places an enormous amount of stress and pressure on the mature student.

There are a number of factors which contribute to the stress that students experience:

·         Work on a full or part-time basis.

·         Family responsibilities.

·         Lagging behind with technological advancements.

·         Haven’t kept up with advancements in the field.

·         Dated study techniques don’t fit with modern teaching methods.

·         Gaps in knowledge base.

·         Pressure to be the perfect student.

These concerns lead many adult learners to delay the start of their education while others feel pressured and overwhelmed by their new school environment.

The solution

When stress and pressure threaten to derail your academic aspirations, it’s time to get a tutor. Tutors understand that you are busy, that’s why they come to you so that they can teach you in the comfort of your home and fit in with your schedule.

One-on-one tutoring means that the tutor can find the gaps in your knowledge base and help you to fill in your foundation. This will help you to catch up and keep up with the rest of the class.

The tutor will assess your learning style and help you to record information in a way that you can use while helping you to organize and prioritize tasks so that you have enough time for everything. This means you are working smarter, not harder.

Tutors help you set realistic academic goals and formulate a game plan on how to achieve them. Tutors help you to complete your homework assignments and work with your curriculum rather than adding on additional tasks for you to complete.

If you have gaps in your communication and language skills, tutors can help you to effectively communicate your answers. Many students really do understand the course materials, but if they are not able to effectively communicate their understanding or they answer questions in the wrong way, they won’t get the marks they deserve.

Being an adult student and trying to balance life, work, family and studies is a very difficult task – we get that and that is why our adult tutors are trained to help with all aspects of academics from filling in missing gaps in your knowledge base to helping you with study skills, their holistic approach will help you to catch up and get ahead.

Preparing for High School

courtesy of: Library and Archives Canada 

The move to high school is a big one and most students (and parents) may be feeling a little anxious about the change. One way to help alleviate your child’s nervousness and prepare them for their new life as a high school student is to be prepared. Knowing what to expect will help to bolster their confidence and makes for a smooth and easy transition to their new environment.

Doing Research

Start by browsing the school website with your student. You can look at the news sections to read more about events at the school, you can also learn more about the teachers, councillors and other staff members. Read the school newspaper or magazine and the yearbook to help orient yourselves. This will give you and your student an idea of what to expect and how you can get involved.

Orientation

Attend the high school orientation to learn about school rules and to see what facilities the school has. If possible, take this opportunity to meet your child’s teachers and introduce them to your child. Let your child explore the school so that they won’t get lost on their first day.  One good practice is to find all of the classrooms your child will be attending and navigating to them from different parts of the school so that they always feel like they know where they are going.

After school activities

Encourage your student to investigate clubs and sports that they can get involved in. This is a great way to meet new friends and to make your child feel like they are part of the school community. If they are trying something new, they have the summer to practice which will boost their confidence too.

Routines

One of the biggest changes when moving to high school is the amount of work your child has to do in a week. You can help them transition by teaching effective organizational, time-management and task prioritization skills. You can also encourage them to do some of the requisite reading, or provide in-home tutoring over the summer months.

If your child struggles academically, you can really give them a jump start by filling in the missing building blocks in their academic knowledge over the summer. Just one or two sessions a week is all they need to catch up and even move ahead so that they can start the new academic year without adding academic woes to their list of challenges.

Start getting your child up at the right time for school a couple of weeks prior to the start of the school year so that they get accustomed to a morning routine. If they have to get themselves to school, you may need a practice run or two to ensure that they have the route and timing under control.

Ensure that your child has ‘emergency’ fare for a taxi or bus should they lose their transport pass or miss the school bus. Discuss emergency plans for worst case scenarios, put all relevant numbers onto their phones and make sure they have your number memorized in case their phone isn’t working.