The Importance of Strengthening "basic" Concepts

One thing I've started to appreciate through tutoring is just how important the primary school years are. Before I began tutoring, I though the main goal was helping students complete homework or prepare for tests. Now I've realised that, especially with younger students, it's often more about building the foundations that everything else depends on.

During one session, I was helping a primary school student with a simple maths activities. The questions themselves shouldn't have been particularly challenging however the student kept getting stuck because they weren't fully confident with the basic concepts behind them. It made me realise that when students struggle with new ideas and topics, it isn't always because the work itself is too hard. Sometimes, it is just because of small gaps in their understanding that have built over time, especially when that student hasn't had the opportunity to ask questions and get taught one on one.

For this student, rather than rushing through the worksheet, we slowed things down and revisited some of the earlier concepts. Though it did take longer, by the end of the session the student was solving very similar problems completely independently. Seeing that progress just reminded me that tutoring isn't always about covering as much content as possible. Sometimes the most important learning happens when you take a step back and actually strengthen the basics that some teachers could consider "assumed knowledge".