Tutoring + Mentoring

Volunteers in ISTM SY23-24

Students Supported in SY23-24

Hours of Support SY23-24

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In-Class Support

Tutoring and mentoring is the largest and longest running program at Inspiring Minds. See our program goals here. Our tutors/mentors are primarily volunteers who work as in-class support for Providence students in grades Pre-K through 5 who have been identified by school faculty as in need of additional support or intervention to further their academic success. Volunteers are matched with (consistent) small groups of 1- 4 students to develop a trusting relationship and to engage in structured activities often around classroom or homework-related topics. Volunteers work with students for a minimum of one hour per week during the school year.

In order to make greater gains with students academically, mentoring students is of high importance. Volunteers cultivate caring and trusting relationships to provide students with reassurance and boost their academic achievement.

FOR FAMILIES

If you are a parent with a child in one of our programs, please fill out a Parent Consent Form. If you are completing a hard copy, please scan and email the document to inspire@inspiringmindsri.org or mail it to our office address.

Online Parent Consent Form

FOR VOLUNTEERS

If you would like to become involved in our Tutoring and Mentoring Program, please click the “Volunteer” button.

Volunteer

FOR EDUCATORS / SCHOOLS

If you are a teacher at one of our partner schools, requesting in-class tutoring and mentoring support is easy!

Watch this short Orientation Webinar
Complete a Volunteer Request Form

If you are a Providence Public School interested in partnering with Inspiring Minds, please contact us here!

Program Goals

To foster academic achievement by:

Offer personalized tutoring and mentoring services to align to students needs as recommended by the classroom teacher. Our focus is to engage and maintain or exceed reading and math skills.

Tutoring and Mentoring sessions are scheduled 1:1 or in small groups of 1:4. This helps volunteers personalize each session and build an authentic relationship.

Maintain a consistent year round schedule to help students develop personalized organizational and time management skills.

Use data to support students to self-evaluate their progress and develop confidence.

To increase student engagement in the learning process by encouraging students to think about:

Their own learning and thinking processes and challenge them to articulate the way they have gone about learning.

What their next steps might be and how they are going to proceed with those next steps?

How they are going to know they have achieved success?

Whether or not the method of learning was effective?

What they need more help to understand and how they might better achieve understanding?

We prioritize service to diverse student populations, reducing barriers for student success by responding to their unique learning needs:

Maintain a group size of 1:1 or 1:4 by matching caring adults from their community within a structured relationship.

Enhancing safe and supportive schools through consistency and personalization.

Work alongside classroom teachers to ensure volunteers are working off class lessons, projects, or reading passengers.

Have You Heard…

This experience is SO rewarding. I’m working with “my” 6 kids on memorizing 1st and 2nd grade sight words, spelling them and identifying them in a book that I read to them. We often have younger siblings join us for story time. I couldn’t ask for a better experience. I THINK the children enjoy it, based on their attentiveness and willingness to share things going on in their lives, and am SO hoping I’m right.

In my first year, a student was really behind in reading and other things. We’d help him every week and I got to know him and his personality, and he would respond by writing little notes to me like, ‘Hi Miss Anne, thank you for helping me!’ What’s better than that?

Not only have I seen how important this work is after three years as an Inspiring Minds volunteer myself, but I enjoyed it so much that I became a substitute teacher through RIDE’s affiliation with The Highlander Institute. In both of my classroom roles, I can confirm that Inspiring Minds’ model is necessary and effective.

I attended public elementary school in Providence, including the Asa Messer School, where I have more recently given over 300 tutoring hours of Math and Reading to elementary grade students. I am convinced this time has been very valuable in assisting the students I have helped to overcome many challenges they have in reading and their understanding basic arithmetic. In turn, I have learned a great deal of the challenges teachers face and have been fortunate in working with these children and motivating them to love learning and want to overcome any obstacles in learning they face.

I had a wonderful time on my first day! I am so excited to get back into the classroom and begin working one on one with the students in the class. I know that this will be a great experience for a future educator like myself.

I can’t believe how thoughtful and sweet my group of 5 was today. We read a book about December and the New Year. They all expressed wishes for next year that were in my opinion, profound and beyond their 7-8 years. I’m blessed to see them three times a week.

Today during my time volunteering I was able to work with a small group of two students on proofreading and making corrections on a paragraph, and adding in new concepts from class. I have worked with both of these students a lot this year, so it has been nice to get to know them and see them grow.

Very interesting. Glad to be able to experience this community. The children and the educator are connected and I am walking away with valuable insight each time.

During today’s session, I was able to help the virtual students with their work. I continually asked how their assignments were going and one student in particular was very engaging! The students worked on a reading and writing assignment before moving on to math. They learned about ordering fractions and how one fraction is greater than, less than, or equal to another. I can’t wait for next week!