How Finding the Right Tutor Transformed Emma’s Writing Skills

When Emma, a 6th grader, started struggling with writing complete sentences and organizing her thoughts, her mom, Sarah, decided to hire a high school senior to help. Jason, an English honors student, seemed like a great fit—friendly, approachable, and fresh from his own success in school.

At first, this decision seemed like the perfect solution.

But as Emma’s assignments became more complex, the challenges of peer tutoring started to emerge.

The Initial Success of Peer Tutoring

Emma enjoyed working with Jason right from the start.
He helped her feel comfortable tackling writing basics like simple sentences and combining ideas into compound sentences.

Jason’s relatable, peer-like approach made Emma feel less intimidated about her struggles. Her confidence grew quickly, and Sarah was pleased to see Emma engaging with her schoolwork in a new way.

When Challenges Began to Surface

As Emma’s assignments moved beyond simple sentences and into constructed responses and more advanced writing, Jason struggled to keep up.

Without a deep understanding of grade-level writing standards, he couldn’t guide Emma through the next steps in developing her skills. Concepts like:

• Writing complex sentences

• Crafting clear and structured constructed responses

• Explaining grammar rules in detail

…were outside of his expertise.

Emma started to plateau. Despite her initial progress, she continued making the same mistakes in her assignments, like run-on sentences and unclear ideas. Both she and Sarah grew frustrated as her progress stalled.

Why Professional Tutoring Made the Difference

That’s when Sarah decided to try something new. She reached out to me—a professional tutor with experience teaching reading, writing, and grammar.

Right away, I conducted an assessment to pinpoint where Emma was excelling and where she was struggling.

From there, I created a customized approach to help Emma fill in the gaps and build stronger writing skills.

Here’s how we tackled her challenges:

• Sentence Types: I showed Emma how to vary her sentence structure with compound and complex sentences.

• Constructed Responses: We worked step by step on crafting clear and detailed answers for reading comprehension assignments, focusing on using text evidence effectively.

• Grammar Mastery: I introduced engaging exercises to solidify her understanding of grammar concepts, like subject-verb agreement and punctuation rules.

In just a few weeks, Emma’s writing improved dramatically. She began turning in well-organized assignments and received positive feedback from her teacher for the first time.

A Parent’s Reflection on the Journey

Looking back, Sarah realized that while Jason was a great starting point, a tutor with professional training made all the difference in Emma’s progress.

“Jason was great for building her confidence, but when it came to actual skill-building, working with someone who knew the standards and teaching methods was what Emma needed,” Sarah shared.

Final Thoughts

Peer tutoring can be an excellent starting point, especially for building confidence in young learners.

But when it comes to long-term growth in writing, finding a tutor with the expertise to address specific learning needs is often the key to success.

If your child is struggling with sentence writing, constructed responses, or grammar, the right support can make all the difference—not just in their skills, but in their confidence, too.