Tutoring and Mentoring: Starting a Peer Helping Program in Your Elementary School

If you're looking to start a peer tutoring or mentoring program in your school, this book is for you. The author guides you through the steps to starting and customizing your own program. Written from the experience of two educators who developed this program at their own school, this book starts with an introduction to peer helping. It discusses what it is, how tutoring and mentoring are different, why peer helping works, and many examples of success. The main bulk of the book, however, deals with the planning and customizing of the model. The authors note that it is important to find out what each school needs and planning from that point. Goals should be clear and planned so that there aren't any surprises or difficulties later on. Spending time up front is necessary for smooth development.Once you've planned and customized your program so that it fits the needs of your school, the authors discuss how to go about implementing it and following through for success. Communication is important with all people involved in the program (administration, teachers, supervisors, and students). Realizing that things might not go perfectly, because they seldom do, there is a section on troubleshooting, common problem areas that might be encountered.Probably the most valuable part of this book is the appendices at the back of the book. Over 20 forms were included for different aspects of developing the program, such as parent permission forms, peer helper application forms, agendas for training sessions, and many more. These forms are guides, some of which can be copied off as is, others need to be personalized or adjusted depending on the organization of your program.I found this book to be extremely helpful in setting up my own peer mentoring program and would recommend it to anyone who is interested on doing something like it.