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Award-Winning 1st Grade Common Core Tutors
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Kate
I have 15+ years of teaching experience with students ages 2-14 years old. I am passionate about early childhood education and building the foundation for life long learning. I believe in engaging and playful learning and will teach my classes with lots of interaction and opportunities for engagem...
Walden University
Master's/Graduate
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Karthikeyan
I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biomedical and Biological Sciences with a 3.96 GPA, and I am currently continuing my academic journey through advanced medical and graduate-level coursework. My education has given me a strong foundation not only in the life sciences but also in interdisciplinary f...
Central Washington University
Bachelor's
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Bilal
As a dedicated tutor with over three years of experience, I am passionate about helping students succeed in their academic journey. Currently pursuing my Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences at Arizona State University, I bring a unique blend of enthusiasm and expertise to my teaching approach. ...
Arizona State University
Bachelor's (in progress)
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Abigail
I'm an enthusiastic educator, who likes to create child based lessons. I have spent over six years dedicated to unlocking potential across all age groups. With eight years of Psychology studies, and a B.S. in Criminal Justice, I bring a structured yet engaging approach to subjects ranging from eleme...
AIU
Bachelor's
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Owasif
Hi! My name is Owasif and I have over 6 years of experience teaching K-5th grade. I'm a dedicated tutor who will put your child's success at the top of my list. I'll ensure every child gets the tutoring they need to succeed in class and beyond.
University of Massachusetts-Boston
Bachelor
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Madison
I'm an educator of 4+ years with experience at all age levels! As I'm currently teaching two 5th-grade classes full-time, my teaching philosophy revolves around every student achieving academic success with practice, encouragement, and learning tailored to their needs. My favorite subjects to work w...
Boston University
Master's/Graduate
University of Central Florida
Bachelor's
Certified Tutor
I am a licensed physician from Florida who is currently changing careers. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 and have extensive tutoring and editing experience. While a student, I became a certified writing tutor through the Critical Writing Department. Since I completed my writ...
Nova Southeastern University
PHD, Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Bachelors, History
University of Pennsylvania
undergraduate
Certified Tutor
9+ years
Jai
I'm a recent Stanford graduate (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), and have been working at a major Management Consulting firm for a few years now. I personally scored a 2360 (out of 2400) on the SAT and 35 on the ACT and was successful in gaining admission to several top universities. I'...
Stanford University
Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Certified Tutor
Kate
I'm available to tutor biology, chemistry, physics, math from Algebra up through AP Calculus, SAT test prep, and French. I've been tutoring students in science and math for 7 years. I also spent 8 months working and studying in France, and have tutored high school and adult students in French. When ...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Masters, Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bachelors
Certified Tutor
6+ years
Jeffrey
I am enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering PhD program at Rice University which will begin Fall 2020, and I am hoping to return to academia as a professor after earning my PhD. In the meantime, I am looking to share my passion for gaining knowledge, specifically in STEM, by educating the up and com...
University of Notre Dame
Bachelor of Science
Rice University
Doctor of Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering
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Rhea
AP Statistics Tutor • +49 Subjects
I am a current student at the University of Chicago. I am working towards a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, and I am on the pre-medical track. I am extremely passionate about tutoring, and I have several years of experience tutoring students in my high school's learning center in various subjects as well as tutoring private clients in Standardized Test preparation. Given that I graduated high school recently, I have taken several Standardized Tests and high school subjects myself, so I have a comprehensive understanding of not only how to tutor these subjects and exams, but also what it is like to take them. While I have a wide range of interests and am able to tutor various subjects, I am most passionate about tutoring in Standardized Test preparation (including ACT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Exams), Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Spanish. I truly believe that students should have the opportunity to learn in the way that works best for them, and I love being able to help them succeed by creating a comfortable tutoring environment in which we can best assess their particular needs and use strategies specific to them. My passion for learning drives everything that I do, and tutoring is the platform that I use to try to spread that passion to others. In my free time, you can find me playing badminton, listening to music, or baking something (hopefully) delicious.
Erika
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +36 Subjects
I am available to tutor middle and high school math, history and test prep. I have tutored math and history in the past and I previously taught a test prep course at a school in Hanoi, Vietnam. I have a lot of experience teaching all the need-to-know tricks to doing great on the SATS/ACTS! When I am not in school myself, I love rowing, equestrian and exploring my new city of Boston! I look forward to meeting and working with you soon!
Quinn
Calculus Tutor • +17 Subjects
I am willing to address any issue with an open mind and I try to develop strategies that play to a student's strengths. I would like to think I am very approachable and personable, and I have had very positive experiences with many students in the past using this philosophy. Outside of academics, I love playing basketball and watching sports, as well as chilling with friends, listening to music, and keeping up with politics and current affairs.
MaryAnn
Calculus Tutor • +21 Subjects
I am a published author who has enjoyed “coaching” our daughter, as she navigated through high school, college and graduate school. I mentor college juniors who are seeking careers in financial services, and I serve as a peer resource to professionals who are transitioning from private industry to the nonprofit sector. Hobbies: reading, cooking, writing, books, music, art, travel
Charles
AP Calculus AB Tutor • +25 Subjects
I am a junior Mechanical Engineering major at Yale, and I hope to become a Naval Aviator after college. I am also a varsity sailor, and enjoy playing music with friends when I can get some free time. I have been tutoring my fellow students throughout my entire academic career, and I would best describe my tutoring style as one that adapts to each students' needs. For example, I have always tried to frame questions in a different way so that the student can better understand the question. Some students need visual representations of numbers and systems to understand them, and others benefit more by understanding the concepts behind each formula. I prefer to tutor in math and physics, and especially with real world application problems. I hope to help students improve their standardized test scores and their understanding of the math and sciences so that they can achieve their academic goals! Hobbies: art, books, running, reading, music, writing
Tony
Calculus Tutor • +28 Subjects
I am a recent graduate of Yale University and incoming first year medical student at Columbia University. Originally from the DC area, I have always had a passion for science and medicine and pursued a degree in Biology while at Yale. During the 2008-2009 academic year, I tutored science, math, English, history, and Mandarin Chinese part-time with a DC-based tutoring company. At Yale, I worked as a freshman counselor to provide academic and career advice to incoming freshmen. I have taken both SAT and MCAT test prep classes and am familiar with both tests as well as the preparation necessary to score well. My personal career goals include attending medical school to pursue either immunology/infectious diseases or psych/neurology, teaching biology at the university level, and working in public/global health with either the CDC or the WHO.
Sami
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +19 Subjects
I am a Duke University graduate in Economics and Computer Science. I am currently pursuing an MBA degree at the Yale School of Management. I have worked in the financial field, both at a management consulting firm and a fortune 500 company. My hobbies include playing and coaching soccer. Hobbies: reading, writing, art, books, music
Earnest
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +26 Subjects
I am comfortable with either setting. I'm confident that I can help you (or your student) achieve to the best of their ability, so please don't hesitate to get in touch!
Samuel
AP Calculus AB Tutor • +29 Subjects
I am a freshman at Caltech majoring in Applied and Computational Mathematics. My favorite subject to tutor is math because I find it very rewarding to simplify complex topics to aid in understanding. I have lots of tutoring experience. In high school, I ran and taught an SAT prep class and was vice president of my school's NHS chapter where I ran our tutoring program, and I, myself, tutored. I also was a teaching assistant in the summer of 2020 for a class in discrete mathematics through a program called PACT (Program in Algorithmic and Combinatorial Thinking). I love learning and hope to make the process enjoyable for you!
Sharon
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +29 Subjects
I am a graduate of the University of Chicago, and I will be starting a graduate program at Columbia in August. I am about to complete a year of service with City Year, an education non-profit that places young adults into under-served schools. As a City Year member, I worked full-time in the classroom with middle-school students who were in approximately the 10th percentile for math (meaning they score lower than 90% of students). One-fourth of those students were able to grow around 15 percentile points by the end of the year! Hobbies: reading, cooking, gardening, music, art, nature, books, writing
Top 20 Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
The biggest challenge areas are typically foundational math concepts like understanding place value and the relationship between tens and ones, which underpins all future arithmetic. In literacy, students often struggle with phonemic awareness and decoding multi-syllabic words, as well as understanding that letters represent sounds in a systematic way. Reading comprehension also becomes harder when students haven't yet automated decoding—they're using so much mental energy on sounding out words that they miss meaning. Personalized tutoring targets these specific gaps by breaking skills into smaller steps and building automaticity through repeated, focused practice.
Common Core emphasizes understanding WHY addition and subtraction work, not just memorizing facts. Students learn multiple strategies—like using number lines, ten-frames, and decomposing numbers—before relying on rote memorization. For example, instead of just learning 7 + 5 = 12, students understand they can break 5 into 3 + 2, add 7 + 3 to make 10, then add the remaining 2. This conceptual foundation is critical because it helps students solve unfamiliar problems and prevents the "I forgot the answer" trap. A tutor can help students who are stuck on traditional methods transition to these flexible strategies by using visual manipulatives and real-world contexts.
1st graders typically move from simple CVC words (cat, dog) to digraphs (ch, sh, th), then blends (bl, st, gr), and finally more complex patterns. Many students plateau at the digraph or blend stage because these require holding multiple sounds in working memory simultaneously. Common Core also emphasizes applying phonics to real reading and writing, not just isolated drills—so students need to blend sounds AND recognize that "ch" makes one sound, not two separate sounds. A tutor can slow down this progression, use multisensory techniques (tracing letters while saying sounds), and provide repeated exposure to the same patterns across different words and texts until automaticity develops.
1st graders transition from mark-making to forming letters correctly, spacing words, and beginning to use simple sentence structures with a capital letter and period. The challenge is coordinating fine motor skills (pencil grip, letter formation) with phonetic spelling and composition—it's cognitively demanding to think of an idea, spell it out, AND write it legibly all at once. Common Core expects students to write for different purposes (labels, lists, simple sentences), which means they need flexibility, not just one "correct" way. Tutors help by breaking writing into components: first sound-spelling practice, then sentence building with support (like sentence frames), then gradually releasing responsibility so students compose independently.
Fluency in 1st grade means reading connected text with accuracy, appropriate pace, and expression—typically 40-60 words correct per minute by end of year, depending on the assessment used. However, Common Core emphasizes that fluency serves comprehension; students should read smoothly enough that they can focus on meaning, not just decode quickly. Many 1st graders can decode individual words but read so slowly or choppily that they lose the thread of a story. Tutors assess fluency through running records (tracking errors and self-corrections) and help build it through repeated readings of engaging texts, modeling expressive reading, and ensuring phonetic foundations are solid so decoding becomes automatic.
An effective 1st Grade Common Core tutor should have deep knowledge of the Common Core standards themselves, understanding not just WHAT students should learn but WHY the standards are sequenced that way. They should also have training in structured literacy (phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) and understand how these components interconnect—a tutor who only focuses on phonics without building comprehension will leave gaps. Experience with formative assessment is critical too; they need to identify exactly where a student's understanding breaks down (Is it letter-sound knowledge? Blending? Automaticity?) so they can target instruction precisely. Finally, patience with developmental variation is essential—1st graders have wide ranges in readiness, and a great tutor adjusts pacing and materials to meet each child where they are.
Number sense—understanding what numbers mean, their relationships, and how to use them flexibly—is foundational to all math success, yet some 1st graders haven't yet internalized that "5" can be represented as five fingers, five dots, or five objects. Without this, they're memorizing facts without understanding, which leads to confusion when problems are presented differently or when they need to solve unfamiliar problems. Common Core emphasizes building number sense through concrete manipulatives (blocks, counters), pictorial representations (drawings, ten-frames), and abstract symbols, in that order. A tutor can slow down this progression, use hands-on materials extensively, and connect numbers to real contexts ("You have 3 cookies and get 2 more—show me with blocks") until abstract number concepts click.
In literacy, you should see progress in phonemic awareness (identifying and manipulating sounds in words), letter-sound fluency (naming letters and their sounds quickly), and decodable text reading (accuracy and speed increasing over weeks). In math, expect to see students move from counting on fingers to using strategies like "make a ten," and from needing manipulatives to visualizing problems mentally. Concrete measures include running records showing fewer decoding errors, sight word fluency assessments showing faster recognition, and math fluency probes showing increased accuracy on addition/subtraction within 10. Most importantly, you'll notice students becoming more confident and willing to tackle unfamiliar problems rather than shutting down—that's a sign the foundations are solidifying and they're developing genuine competence, not just memorized answers.
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