It’s a story we hear all the time. Your brilliant child has always been at the top of their class, cruising through elementary and middle school, even early high school, achieving high 80s and 90s without breaking a sweat. You sign them up for all the math and science classes available, poised to launch a brilliant academic career.
But suddenly Grade 11 comes around, and their first Functions test comes back. It’s a 60. It’s 2 weeks into their Physics class, and all you hear after school is how hard it is. They just don’t “get it”. Then the first Chemistry quiz comes back, and for the very first time in their lives, they receive a failing grade.
Is all hope lost? Not at all! Indeed, it’s one of the most common stories around.
Grade 11 is a pivotal year in Ontario academics. For the first time, courses begin to specialize. There’s no more “Science”, now it’s Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Math has been replaced by Functions and Data Management.
If your child is struggling, could that mean they’re not as smart as you thought they were? Not at all, indeed quite the opposite. Your brilliant child has, for the first time in their lives, had to apply their intellect.
Up until Grade 10, for the most part, courses were very general and foundational. We only really scratch the surface of mathematics, ensuring that the foundations of the discipline are strong. Science has been taught as a broad survey up to this point, learning the very basics of multiple fields to pike the interest of a child to want to learn more. Then in Grade 11, this foundation culminates in the scientific and mathematical tools required for a deeper understanding of individual fields, rather than continuing to broaden the general base of knowledge.
This can be jarring for a student who has until now been able to master the basics with ease. They’re used to reading something once, doing it twice, and understanding it forever. Now they might have to (gasp!) practice! They might even have to read the text a few times! Or worst of all, they may need (heaven forbid!)… help!
Thankfully, our children almost always rise to the occasion, especially a child that has demonstrated such intellect up to this point. The key here is that they need to be encouraged, assisted, and in many cases need their confidence rebuilt under this new regime that requires them to apply their skills to achieve the academic success they seek.
An Online tutor is the perfect way to achieve all three of these goals. A private tutor will not only assist them in understanding the material that they didn’t “get” the first time, but also give them the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to a person who understands them and what they’re going through, and who encourages them. A good private tutor obtains genuine satisfaction from seeing their student rise to the occasion and succeed. For some students, it’s a person who can reframe a complex topic in a way that their unique brain understands it best. For others, it’s simply a person to sit with them and practice, practice, practice!
But no matter the solution, you are not alone, and all hope is not lost. The Grade 11 Bottleneck is real, but it’s a lot less narrow than it looks from the outside. Maybe they just need a little push to get them through.
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True North Tutors offer superb private tutors in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, and across Ontario. Contact us now!
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