Middle school can be a time of turmoil for our students. They are entering adolescence and dealing with physical growth and development that can sometimes make them feel as though they do not even know where their own body is relative to the space around them. It is not unusual for middle school students to trip over their own feet or fall out of their chair in the classroom. Occasionally this is clowning around but often it is quite literally growing pains. They are no longer adorable little children but they are nowhere near maturity. 
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By sixth grade, academic rigor has increased. They have been nudged out of the nest of the self-contained classroom and usually have to navigate their way around a new campus. Their peers' opinion begins to matter more than their parents' or caregivers' expectations. These internal and external forces combine to make learning more challenging even for those students who have previously been high performers.

Often what a middle school student needs is just a guiding hand in a quiet place to help them focus and bring out their best. Many middle schoolers push back against help from their family and do not ask for it at school. This is when a professional tutor might be appropriate. A tutor, who is neither a parent nor teacher to the student, is capable of dissolving the affective filter which blocks student learning. This creates an avenue to success.