For the second year, I am a volunteer tutor.  By agreement of all involved, once more I am tutoring Zoey, who has advanced to the sixth grade.  Her new middle school curriculum in our tutoring program still focuses on math, reading, and developing social skills.

However, this year Zoey’s family, especially her father and older brother, want me to help her prepare for a January school placement exam. I understand that Zoey will compete for a coveted seat in one of the City’s select-enrollment schools.

Her dad sent me sample portions of a standardized, multi-choice exam focusing on reading comprehension and writing. I gave the first sample a quick once-over before meeting with Zoey for our usual Tuesday session.

In our session,  we first discussed the short essay I had asked her to prepare about a novel she was reading.  Later, we’d review the sample questions her family provided.

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Now, I’m nothing if not avuncular. Typically, I’ll try to make our sessions both educational and fun.  For example, instead of reading, one week we listened to an old-time radio broadcast of the play Dial M for Murder, which is one of the stories in Zoey’s sixth-grade, short story collection.  (Unfortunately, the story focuses on “ancient” technology involving phone operators manning switchboards, and telephone equipment from the last century. I hadn’t considered I’d also have to describe this technology to Zoey, who was born post-2000.)

But judging from Zoey’s facial expressions, I may have been unusually blunt and critical of her writing.  We only completed reviewing two full paragraphs of Zoey’s essay before time constraints compelled us to switch tasks to an initial review of one of the two standardized test samples her father and brother had sent me. It consisted of forty multiple-choice questions involving recognizing antonyms. For a brief time, Zoey actually seemed relieved.

We started with the first question, however, by the fifth question it was obvious that one is just guessing unless you either already know the target word’s definition or can sense its basic meaning. It was immediately apparent that Zoey’s limited vocabulary reduces her chances to “ace” the exam and said as much to her.

I also suggested she needed to utilize the decent paperback dictionary I gave her at the end of the last school year, but secretly doubted that she had even opened it one time since. I could sense her frustration trying to locate specific words. I assured Zoey her dictionary includes the forty words on the sample test but acknowledged finding them all could prove time-consuming. I told her that if she is willing to put in the time and effort, she will discover that dictionaries are chock full of useful information.

When Zoey started to protest that she couldn’t use this dictionary I was glad our weekly session was nearly done. In parting, I asked her to list any word she does not know or recognize and then find its solution in the dictionary. I plan to go back to this practice exam next week. Eventually, the methodology for using a dictionary I outlined either sticks or won’t. Hopefully, Zoey will get it by the time she takes her examination.

My assessment is she’s a far better student with more potential than many other students in our tutoring program.  However, Zoey must apply herself if she seriously wants to be competitive. The exam is purposefully designed to be challenging, and it is. Today she is not ready.

Nonetheless, I am still impressed that Zoey’s family is encouraging her to excel. I will do my utmost to assist.

I have met and spoken with Zoey’s father multiple times. I know him to be an industrious fellow and an involved dad.  He once told me he has lived in this country for years –Zoey is native, of course—yet I suspect he is not a legal citizen.

Even so, Zoey is far more likely to realize her true potential with the support of her dad than she is without it.