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ESSEX, Iowa — What would possibly make sixth-grade students volunteer to give up their noon recess?
You certainly wouldn’t think it would be helping younger students with reading and math, but that’s exactly what happens in Essex, Iowa, with the Study Buddy program.
Kerry McBride, Essex kindergarten through sixth-grade reading and math teacher, said the students are in their third year of the tutoring program.
“It involves having sixth-grade students volunteer their noon recess time to work with kindergarten, first and second graders on various reading and math activities,” McBride said.
McBride admits the program started on a whim when there were a few students in kindergarten, first and second grade that needed a little extra help.
“It gave both sets of students a boost in confidence,” said McBride. “The next year, kids were asking if their buddy was coming back and when the program would start again.”
The sixth-grade students volunteer to give up their 15-minute noon recess three times a week. Each day is spent in a different class working on a reading or math activity designated by the teacher.
“As soon as school started this year, the kids were asking about the program,” McBride said. “The students that were in fifth grade last year knew this year was their year to be a study buddy.”
The program, McBride said, is not a mentoring program and has grown over the years to include all students, whether they need extra help or not.
“Students that don’t need the extra help are often given more difficult work to do,” she said.
McBride said the program is referred to as cross-age tutoring because it entails two different age levels, with the students getting much more out of the program than additional help with reading and math.
Kids helping other kids have an advantage because they are cognitively closer and research has shown that older students can often pick up on nonverbal clues of the younger students that teachers don’t see, according to McBride.
The sixth graders learn about responsibility, volunteering and self-respect. For example, if a sixth-grade student can’t buddy on a particular day, they have to find a replacement.
“The only concern older kids seem to have is to not be assigned to their sibling,” McBride said with a laugh. “It’s turned out to be a really neat thing.”
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