Find a Tutor
According to the Education Industry Association, the demand for tutoring has increased 15-18% in the past year, compared to single-digit growth previously. As a result, the number of tutors has also increased dramatically. Before entrusting your child's academic future to someone, it's important to make sure that person is the best qualified to meet your child's needs.
Contents
Steps
- Be an informed consumer. There is no such thing as "licensed tutor". Such "licenses" come from the tutoring companies who hire tutors. Search for a private tutor with experience and references rather than going with a tutoring company. Some tutoring companies hire inexperienced tutors and pay the tutors very little, but then charge you a very large fee. A good tutoring company will always use experienced and certified teachers.
- Look for a tutor with experience teaching children the same age as your child.
- Consider getting an educational assessment done. A thorough assessment test will uncover the root cause of your child's difficulties. An individualized analysis of a student's strengths and weaknesses can determine a child's needs and help set goals. You should ask for progress updates as a child passes through the tutoring program.
- Define your goals. Are you trying to keep your child from failing? Are you looking to challenge a child who is already doing well in school?
- Find a tutor with specific expertise in the subject of your choosing. Just because someone is a math genius, it doesn't mean he is qualified to teach other subjects.
- Make a personality match. Determine what kind of teacher the student has excelled with previously.
- Ask tutors how they will help your child master a specific skill. A good tutor will require that a child learn a specific skill before advancing to the next academic level. Find a tutor who will work with parents and teachers to create an individual program; no two students are alike.
- Ask prospective tutors for references from previous employers and students. A tutor should have many such references.
- Get recommendations for tutors from family and friends or a school counselor.
- Prepare a budget. Depending on where you are, tutors might become really expensive. If so you can consider local tuition centers, tuition pooling (get 2-3 kids together to have the lesson at the same time) or online tuition.
- Search online. You can find tutors on craigslist.org (just click on your city, and then under Services/Lessons, or through a variety of online tutor listing websites. Since the popularity of these sites can vary from location to location, your best bet is to search for such a site through a local search engine, along with your city/country name and specific subject needs.
Tips
- Don't force your child into tutoring! You may think it's a great idea considering the fact that your child may get smarter, but it will be a tricky road if your child isn't determined. If your child isn't determined, it's likely that they're going to 'tune out' and it's also a big waste of your money.
Warnings
- If you have a tutor for a long period of time, you might end up needing them for every time you are faced with that subject and not be able to study independently.
