Stay Warm during Summer?!

Today, one of my high school students had her first session with me since the end of last school year. With summer break almost over, she still had a math assignment to finish. She is expected to turn it in for the first day of school. All of it was review, but she hadn't looked at these concepts in months.

At the start of our session, she was clumsily forging through the assignment without much confidence in her ability to recall the knowledge required to complete the problems in front of her. She had more questions and requests for help than she had inspiration, or even motivation to keep going. Fortunately, today was not the day before school started, and I did not have another session scheduled right after hers. It was okay that she didn't start out with the same prowess with which she finished last year. That would come. And it did. By the time we finished her assignment, she had begun to lead the way comfortably. I've learned not to underestimate the power of an early start. It's important for students to have time to warm back into topics of study, no matter how familiar they were with them the year before. Some students need more time than others. The important thing is to be sensitive, and assess what is needed for your particular student or students.