As parents we want our children to succeed in all areas of their lives: academically, socially and emotionally. Most (hopefully all) parents want to raise smart, happy, healthy kids. But inevitably during the course of growing up, kids are going to hit some bumps in the road. When one of those bumps is in school, it may be time to call for outside help in the form of a tutor.
How do you decide if your child needs a tutor?
Engage the Brain has identified four occurrences when parents may want to consider hiring a tutor:
- Slipping Grades – One bad test grade does not signal a failing child. Look at your child’s grades over the course of 9 weeks. Is there a pattern of poor grades? Is your child struggling to keep up?
- Change in parents’ schedule – Do you have the time to devote to assisting your child with their academic struggles? If both parents work full time jobs, it may prove too much to balance all the requirements running the household and provide academic support?
- Parents’ lack of content knowledge – As children enter middle and high school, subjects simply become more difficult. Add in all the Common Core teaching principles and even elementary school subjects can be confusing! Assess your own subject knowledge before attempting to help your child tackle honors Algebra.
- Child with a learning disability – If you have a child with a diagnosed learning disability, you are better to hire a professional whom specializes in teaching children with learning differences. Dyslexia, processing issues or even ADHD each requires special techniques and instructional strategies to help a child achieve success in the classroom.
If after careful assessment you decide your child needs a tutor, you want to begin talking with your child’s teacher. Ask for specific areas your child needs help with. Share this information with the tutor. With your permission, a tutor can speak directly with the teacher and perhaps receive even more information to help your child.
Besides addressing a struggling subject, tutoring has many other benefits.
- 1 on 1 instruction – Instruction in classrooms can go fast and with 20 or more students in the room, teachers can struggle to provide 1 on 1 instruction to each student. Tutors work with one a student at a time and devote all their expertise to your child.
- Avoid the parent-child homework battle – Every parent that has ever tried to help their child with their homework has experienced the same volcanic reaction: MRS.JONES DOESN’T TEACH IT THAT WAY!!! screams your innocent angel of a 4th grader. It may be worth the cost of a tutor to not have to experience these meltdowns.
- Immediate feedback – All educators agree that immediate feedback is critical in the learning process. Again, this is not a knock on teachers, they are extremely busy, but a child can take a test and not receive the grade for several days or longer. With a tutor you child receives immediate feedback while working on a concept.
- Opportunity to become a better learner – Great tutors provide a child with tools to use in the classroom to achieve success. Study strategies and techniques can be taught simultaneously while working on specific subject concepts. For example, your child will learn she needs to study for four nights for 30 minutes a night for a test rather than for two hours the night before a test. She can apply this study strategy to all her classes.
- Gives child permission to struggle – Children are painfully aware of how their peers perceive themselves. If a child thinks everyone in the classroom is aware they are having a hard time, it will affect their performance. Tutoring allows your child the opportunity to struggle with a concept in a safe environment. Within the safe environment your child can build his confidence back and become successful.
- Enrichment opportunities – Tutoring does not have to be just for struggling learners. All children benefit from studying topics of interest to them. Schools and teachers are under more pressure than ever to prepare students to pass high stakes tests. Opportunities to study subjects of real interest to students in depth often times is not available. A tutor can work with your child to create an individualized enrichment plan that can integrate all the core subjects – reading, writing, math, history, etc. and provide a rich learning opportunity for your child.
Wrapping it Up
Determining whether your child needs a tutor can be a daunting task. Start by honestly assessing your own schedule and skill set. Next, speak with your child’s teacher to ask for specific suggestions for help with the struggling subject(s). Hiring a tutor has many positive benefits that go beyond just raising a subject grade.
Contact Engage the Brain to learn more about our professional tutors and our independent learning programs that meet individual needs.