Are you interested in becoming a member of Fieldston’s premier tutor club? Look no further than the Tutor Tots Club! Upper school students connect with pre-k through fifth graders at both Fieldston Lower and Ethical Culture through this club.
Former Fieldston student Alex Wiener ‘22 started Tutor Tots in 2020, with the goal of making an impact on young students’ reading journeys. After high school students join the club at the club fair, they are paired with a student at one of Fieldston’s lower schools whose parents signed them up to participate. Tutors usually stay with the same student throughout their time in the club, building a strong student-to-student bond. Each week, mentees meet with their mentors on Saturday mornings for a half hour and practice their reading skills. Tutor Tots is fully remote via Google Meet, making the timing easy and simple for tutors and students. Using online books depending on the level and grade of the student, tutors are able to enhance their students’ reading skills and foster improvement.
Rachel Youngwood (Form VI), Caroline Morris (Form VI) and Keira Siskind (Form VI) are the current leaders of the club. They have the responsibility of putting together all of the logistics and scheduling for each week. They have been members since their freshman year and have a profound amount of enthusiasm for mentoring young children.
Youngwood’s favorite part of the club is the real impact made on the kids. “When I met Mathew [my tutee] he said that he loves his dog, his sister annoyed him and hated reading. But, by the end of it his confidence with reading grew immensely and that was great to watch,” said Youngwood. Tutor Tots alters the way young students view learning by creating a supportive environment for them to grow into confident literary enthusiasts.
Tutor Tots connects students in the Lower School and Ethical Culture. Youngwood emphasized that the club “brings together the two lower schools, it is a cool way to have students connect with one another even if they don’t see each other very often.”
This club also gives parents an opportunity to build connections with students in the upper school. Thanks to Tutor Tots, I now babysit my student and am a source for his mom if she has any questions about the upper school.
So, if you’re looking for a fun way to grow your connections within the Fieldston community and spend time with younger students, Tutor Tots is definitely the club for you!
