Children need to be listened to
Sometimes it seems that children float too far away in their conversations, but don’t forget that conversations are the main source of information for them. Maintaining a conversation with a child is a special skill. Answering their questions and staying calm is also a challenge for any adult. Even while talking about English and teaching English, you don’t need to focus on the fact that you are sometimes distracted by side conversations. You are primarily a mentor for the child, and not just their teacher of English, mathematics or literature.
Children need to ask questions
Teaching and working with a child is not a one-sided game. Show interest in the child, starting with a question “How was your day?” and finishing with more profound questions about their life, friends and hobbies. Make the child an equal participant in the conversation and ask them questions.
When working with children, you need to be a child yourself
Children live in their own world. Santa Claus exists in their world, animals can talk and mermaids are far from being characters of fairy tales. Your mission is to support the child's fantasies and become a part of these fantasies. For example, when asked whether mermaids really exist, do not answer “These are all fairy tales”, admit that you have never seen them, but believe that they exist, and they simply do not show themselves to people.
Talk to parents
You are not just a mentor and teacher for the child, but also a family psychologist. Children often say more than they should. For the best results, allocate some time for work with parents as well. When a child is given homework and, being offered to ask parents to do it with them, replies that their parents will refuse because they do not have time, take this as a signal and talk to the parents explaining that they should devote more time to their child's hobbies.
Praise but do not overpraise
Even if it is a small achievement, praise the child for progress. Praise is pleasant for anyone, and for a child it is huge motivation. MY MENTOR PRAISED ME!!! Trust me, your parents will definitely hear about it between your classes. Do not overpraise, the child needs an incentive to work and things should not come too easy.
