Tutor Kids
If you've always had the love of learning, then why not pass it on to someone who doesn't? Tutoring can be rewarding in many ways. It can be as simple as reading to a younger child, or as complicated as making worksheets for them to do! Either way, tutoring is fun and this article provides some steps on how you can make it happen!
Contents
Steps
Finding students to tutor
- Talk to your principal about your wish to tutor. Your principal will be able to suggest students within the school and can also contact other schools to see who needs help with what. Make sure to tell your principal what time works best for you, what you want to help kids with, and how you're going to do it. This gives them an idea of what to look for.
- Tell your principal what time availability you have and the subjects you're willing to tutor with.
- Have a plan for tutoring drawn up to show your principal before asking. This will show you've already put thought into the matter. It can also open up the discussion about suggested methods and directions that the principal thinks would work well.
- If you're doing this outside of school, think of some of the younger kids you know and talk to their parents about it. You could even do this among your friends! Tutoring a friend is one of the most helpful things you can do in some cases. Advertise yourself, make it clear what you can help with and how!
Preparing lessons
- Plan first. Tutoring requires a good amount of effort before the lesson. If you skip preparing for the lesson, it will ramble on and the student won't be directed into focusing on the issues that really matter. This is not the time to be "winging it", so prepare well.
- Find out what areas the student is lacking in and needs to improve in. These become the focus around which you build the lesson. While it is okay to introduce some new material, make sure that you spend a lot of time ensuring that the basics of the subject-matter are clear for the pupil before moving on.
- Assemble the materials you'll need. If there is a cost involved, pass this on to the student; inform him or her ahead of the lesson that there is a cost. Alternatively, use your own materials if you already have them, or ask the student to bring some along. Examples include stationery, textbooks, CDs, memory sticks, etc.
- If making worksheets, these must be developed and printed off prior to the lesson. Do not underestimate how long this will take you; with designing them, filling them out and printing/collating them, at least a good hour or more can pass by.
- Make a lesson plan specific to the child you are tutoring. Sit down with them and write three learning goals they have, and even help them with some personal goals. Write down what they need help with, and how they are most comfortable learning it and then apply it. Your work is pretty much useless unless you apply what you have written down. this means actually do what you write. Really become a role model for the child, giving them the help they really need.
- Keep your lesson material in good order. Get an extra binder, and some folders to go with it. Keep track of each child's work, needs, and progress in these folders. You may want to assign each child a folder, or assign each folder a job like "Work" or "Progress Reports".
- Find a suitable location. This might be in a quiet study room in the library, in a classroom or at the student's home. Wherever it is, choose a place that is safe, free of distractions and has access to anything you might need, such as power outlets for a laptop or audio player, etc.
Getting to know your students
- Schedule interviews with the guardian. This is a vital first contact so that the guardian trusts you and has faith in your tutoring. Have references showing both your good grades and your good character and share these with the guardian.
- Discuss the student's needs with the guardian and with the student. You will probably get a different perspective talking to both of them, which can help you to decide what is really needed.
- Get to know the student's interests as well as needs. This will help you to tailor the tutoring to the interests, to make the lessons more engaging.
- Stay in touch with the student's guardian. Let them know how the pupil is doing, if they're improving, if their grades are going down, or what they might need outside of your help. If you have to ask the parents to do something, like set up a homework time or monitor their gaming time so that they can focus on homework, then please do! If the parent or guardian doesn't know what's going on, and it's likely that the student won't follow through with what they need to do without being pushed.
Starting the tutoring
- Make the tutoring enjoyable. If the child loses interest, they won't want to participate anymore and the connection between you and them breaks. Make games that are educational and fun! Some websites that are good for that are listed below.
- Follow through. The more effort you make, the more effort the child will make!
- Know when you're out of your depth. If you're not feeling comfortable with the material or it has become more advanced than you feel capable of, be honest. It might be time to send your tutor on to someone else with the expertise. Or, it could be a sign that the student no longer needs the tutor!
Tips
- Create rewards and incentives for the the student to succeed in certain goals.
- Mix it up by asking a lot of questions and coming up with mnemonic tricks to help them remember things better.
- For older children, try finding other kids willing to learn a little bit more, and hold a Socratic seminar on a subject that they need help on.
- If you get into tutoring in a big way, consider offering discounts and coupons.
Warnings
- Do not tutor at the expense of your own time and grades.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- www.edhelper.com – research source
