School is tough for most children. If your child is having problems with the rules of elementary grammar, cannot figure out Newton's laws in middle school, or has a hard time grasping AP biology, the time to act in his or her best interests in now. Get your kid the help he or she needs before it is too late and the child is way behind the cla s s and has a hard time catching up.
Hiring a private tutor for one to one tuition is one of the ideal approaches to the problem. However, the tutors come in different packages regarding their level of training, teaching skills, and personalities. Moreover, parents tend to be specific about who they would want to tutor and mentor their kids. Pay ample attention to personality, experience, skill, and commitment the tutor has for the profession.
1. Know Your Goals
As a parent, you need to be abreast with everything concerning your child's education. And when it comes to seeking some additional help for the kid, you need to set some goals that ensure your child is getting the a s sistance they need that sets them back on track. For that, you need to figure out the level of help your child needs. It is doing homework or is it intensive remediation? Perhaps it could be something in-between.
You can ask the child's teacher to know more about the areas that your kid needs help. The tutor may need to help with a particular subject like science, chemistry or geometry. Conversely, the tutor may be required to help your child improve on study skills or for motivation and bettering general skills in a subject.
Also, you need to consider a few things regarding how your child learns. Take into account the kid's learning style; does he or she learn best by touching, listening, reading or moving? Does he or she respond best with female or male teachers? What are his or her interests and what things motivate him or her? Moreover, does the child need a firm hand with lots of nurturing when being taught?
Having answers to such things will help you know how much time to devote to tutoring your child and how much this will cost you.
2. Know Your Options
Share your concerns with your kid's teacher or the school counselor. An experienced teacher will have talked with your child, and the counselor will have met with him or her and kept files on the progress of the sessions, while closely monitoring cla s swork and exam results. If there is a need for a tutor with some expertise in related areas, most schools will have a list of tutors on file that they can recommend. The teacher or counselor can post the tutors in the child's book to the parents to look over or ask the parent to visit the school to discuss the available options. Some schools have a bulletin board where they post the list of registered tutors for students and parents to go over.
The local tabloids are also an excellent place worth checking for good tutors for your kid. Some tutors list their credentials on newspapers and magazines. Also, consider getting some references from trustworthy sources such as your relatives, work colleagues, or neighbors. If you know of a retired teacher or home-schooling parent, you can approach them and ask if they know the subjects your child need help in improving on,
Reach out to the local learning center to find out if your kid fits their profile and they have someone that can help your child with the problem areas of their learning be it geometry, literature, or sciences.
3. What Are the Costs?
You will have to spend money to get an excellent tutor for your child. Therefore, the price of such services will be a significant factor worth consideration. But even then, what you should eye is getting value for your money meaning an expensive tutor may not be a guarantee that your child is getting the best teaching.
Other than the price, you need to inquire about the payment policies. Find out the various acceptable forms of payment and when the pay is expected. Some private tutors take cash awaiting the pay at the end of each session. Others work based on a prepaid month basis while there are others that will do the job and bill you for the covered or complete courses.
While at it, ask the tutor about the cancellation policies. Some require a notice of cancellation about a day before. You need to be aware of such details to avoid costly misshaped and extra charged down the line.
4. Put All Options to the Test
Do not be quick to hire the first tutor you find. Take your time, review all the credentials of the different tutors. Remember to ask pertinent questions that touch on your child's needs and the teacher's skills and experience.
Do an educational background check to confirm that the tutor has the know-how and is conversant with the subject troubling your kid. Moreover, the tutor should have worked with students who are of a similar age as your child.
You should have several options and then make plans to meet and consult with all the promising service providers. Have your child present during the meet to help also break the ice and let him or get acquainted with the tutor.
Find out how the tutor evaluates the needs of the student and what evaluation methods will be used to a s sess your kid's strengths and areas that need improving. While at it, find out how long it will take to prep for lessons. Keep in mind that the tough subjects will take a bit longer to prepare and they most likely will cost extra.
Share your expectations with the tutor as you try to know what is expected from you. A great and experienced private tutor will advocate for the family to be involved in ways such as the parents reaching out the child's teachers to request them to help make the tutoring successful. It can be though a syllabus of the cla s s or trouble subject, or any other means that may facilitate the success of the tutoring process.
Enquire about how the tutor motivates and encourages students and what things motivate your child that you wish to share with the tutor. While at it, inquire about the tutor's availability so that you hire one that fits your schedules.
Ask where the tutor teaches, it could be a library, a learning center or at home. Give preference to a tutor that gives you’re a reference of people that he or she is teaching their kid at home. This question will lead you to ask how long the tutoring is expected to last. Any experience tutor will not be quick to give an estimated period because it all depends on the students, confidence, willingness, and commitment to wanting to learn.
What range of results do you expect to see? It should be based on the information you had beforehand about the tutor as well as what you have deduced during the meeting. Also, as for references from the tutor that you can contact to know more about the tutor's experience and skills.
5.Review Expected Results
Once you feel confident about your choice of tutor for your kid, keep a close eye on how they relate. Sit in during one of their lessons, if possible, to watch how your child connects to the tutor. He or she should feel comfortable around the tutor.
Above all, monitor your kid's progress. You can get the information you need by asking your child for feedback as well as from the tutor. You can test your child to see if he or she has any improvements after the first few sessions. Seek another tutor if you see no improvements or sense some negative attitude in your child.
Final Thoughts
From the above, it is apparent that finding and keeping experiences and reputable tutor demands some work on your part. But also, your child should show a willingness to want to be helped.
