In Photo: Meena
In Photo: Gabriel
Born at 7 months, Gabriel was a pre-mature baby who suffered from a host of medical conditions. He joined Club Rainbow when he was less than a year old. Since then, we have been providing support to him and his family in various aspects. About 2 years ago he started attending befriender tuition at our satellite centre located at KKH. Last year he was paired up with a new befriender tutor, Meena. For the past seven months, Meena has been spending 2 hours every week to tutor Gabriel and another child. Jasmine, Gabriel’s mother said: “Gabriel is not able to stay focus for long and he needs help to catch up with his school work. We are lucky to have Teacher Meena. She has been patient with him and within a short period of time, he has shown improvements in his academics. Now, he is able to write a short composition with minimal assistance and he has even started writing his own journal! His foundation in Math is also much stronger.”
The heart to help
All along, Meena enjoys working with children and spending time with them. As a mother herself, she wants to support the parents of special needs children and that motivated her to volunteer her time and skills as a befriender tutor.
“Being a befriender tutor has truly been a fantastic experience and I look forward to my sessions every week.” she shared.
As a Speech Therapist, Meena has a greater understanding of the challenges faced by children with special needs so she can modify her sessions accordingly. Diagnosed with a condition that impeded his speech, Gabriel used to be non-verbal until he went for a correction surgery. Thankfully, with the regular therapy sessions he received at Club Rainbow, he has shown marked improvements in his speech over time. To address Gabriel’s needs, other than working on academics, Meena will also work on improving Gabriel’s communication skills.
Challenges
At times, it can be slightly challenging when the child is not in the mood to do work. When this happens, Meena will be very patient with her student and get the child to cooperate by offering small rewards and lots of praise and encouragement. Also, she will try to let her students learn at their own pace so that they can be more confident and enjoy the sessions.
What does it take to be a good befriender tutor?
“A tutor must be patient, empathetic and have a positive attitude. She must be able to understand the learning style of the student and be able to build his or her confidence. Most importantly the tutor
must enjoy teaching because watching the children you tutor progress is the most fulfilling and rewarding experience.”
“Gabriel is a smart child. His current performance in school has yet to reflect his true potential. He likes to use the laptop so I will be using technology more to engage him” Meena added.