ShortCuts in This Guide

• Create a Customized Tutoring Program for My Child

  Before you choose a tutor or tutoring program, make an appointment to sit down with your child, your child’s teacher or teachers, and counselor to map out your child’s  specific needs. To create a program with the highest potential of success in tutoring children, be sure to get answers to the following questions:

  1. What kind of tutoring does my child need? Does my child need basic skills review, student homework help, or more intensive assistance?
  2. In what areas do we want to see improvement: better grades in a subject (English, geometry); improved general skills (math, reading), study skills, goal setting and motivation?
  3. What is my child’s learning style? Does he or she learn best by reading, listening, or moving and touching?
  4. Does my child learn better from men or women?
  5. Does he or she need lots of nurturing or firm discipline?
  6. What motivates and interests him or her?
  7. How much money can we spend on tutoring?
  8. How much time can we devote to tutoring?
  9. When can we expect to notice results?
  10. What kinds of results are reasonable for us to expect?

• Create a Customized Tutoring Program for My Child

  Before you choose a tutor or tutoring program, make an appointment to sit down with your child, your child’s teacher or teachers, and counselor to map out your child’s  specific needs. To create a program with the highest potential of success in tutoring children, be sure to get answers to the following questions:

  1. What kind of tutoring does my child need? Does my child need basic skills review, student homework help, or more intensive assistance?
  2. In what areas do we want to see improvement: better grades in a subject (English, geometry); improved general skills (math, reading), study skills, goal setting and motivation?
  3. What is my child’s learning style? Does he or she learn best by reading, listening, or moving and touching?
  4. Does my child learn better from men or women?
  5. Does he or she need lots of nurturing or firm discipline?
  6. What motivates and interests him or her?
  7. How much money can we spend on tutoring?
  8. How much time can we devote to tutoring?
  9. When can we expect to notice results?
  10. What kinds of results are reasonable for us to expect?
• Interview Your Child's Tutor

  Use the following questions and comments to help you evaluate potential tutors for your child.

  1.  What is your educational background and experience tutoring children?

  Look for a tutor who has taught students the same age as your child. The more experience the tutor has had in the specific subject area (three years minimum) the better.

  2.  How will you develop a tutoring plan and methods for my child?

  Good tutors consult with classroom teachers and use test results to come up with individualized plans and lessons that employ methods suitable for your child’s learning style. Ask to see the plan and sign off on it before tutoring starts. If appropriate—or if you have concerns—show the plan to your child’s teacher or teachers if they have not seen it.

  3. In what way and how often will you evaluate progress?

  The best tutors evaluate formally by testing and informally by observation. They provide feedback to students, parents, and teachers regularly. Feedback can be after each session, weekly, monthly, or less frequently. It can be oral, written, or both. Make sure you are comfortable wit the frequency and form of evaluation.

  4. When can you meet with my child, where will you meet, and how long will the lessons be?

  Make sure a potential tutor can meet with your child at a time and place that are convenient for you and your child. Be sure everyone agrees about the length and frequency of the lessons. Ask for explanations if either the suggested frequency or length don’t seem right to you.

  5. What are your tutoring business policies?

  You need to know all the details up front: how much the lessons will cost, what forms of payment the tutor accepts, when payment is expected, and what the cancellation policy is.

  6. Can you provide some recent references?

  You should expect to get three to five references (including references from students, parents, and teachers). Even with positive references, you may decide that the tutor’s teaching style does not seem to be a good match for your child. Use your intuition. You know your child better than anyone else does.

• Interview Your Child's Tutor

  Use the following questions and comments to help you evaluate potential tutors for your child.

  1.  What is your educational background and experience tutoring children?

  Look for a tutor who has taught students the same age as your child. The more experience the tutor has had in the specific subject area (three years minimum) the better.

  2.  How will you develop a tutoring plan and methods for my child?

  Good tutors consult with classroom teachers and use test results to come up with individualized plans and lessons that employ methods suitable for your child’s learning style. Ask to see the plan and sign off on it before tutoring starts. If appropriate—or if you have concerns—show the plan to your child’s teacher or teachers if they have not seen it.

  3. In what way and how often will you evaluate progress?

  The best tutors evaluate formally by testing and informally by observation. They provide feedback to students, parents, and teachers regularly. Feedback can be after each session, weekly, monthly, or less frequently. It can be oral, written, or both. Make sure you are comfortable wit the frequency and form of evaluation.

  4. When can you meet with my child, where will you meet, and how long will the lessons be?

  Make sure a potential tutor can meet with your child at a time and place that are convenient for you and your child. Be sure everyone agrees about the length and frequency of the lessons. Ask for explanations if either the suggested frequency or length don’t seem right to you.

  5. What are your tutoring business policies?

  You need to know all the details up front: how much the lessons will cost, what forms of payment the tutor accepts, when payment is expected, and what the cancellation policy is.

  6. Can you provide some recent references?

  You should expect to get three to five references (including references from students, parents, and teachers). Even with positive references, you may decide that the tutor’s teaching style does not seem to be a good match for your child. Use your intuition. You know your child better than anyone else does.

• Monitor My Child's Tutoring Program

  Follow the following suggestions to monitor and enhance your child’s tutoring program.

  Be Patient

  • It may take several months before your child’s grades improve, but that does not mean  the tutoring is ineffective. Most tutoring relationships last from several months to a year.

  • Work with your child, his teacher or teachers, and the tutor to establish milestones and set a target end date for the tutoring.

  Monitor Progress

  • Talk with the tutor after each session. Find out what your child accomplished and what areas need additional work. Ask for suggestions on ways you can help your child.

  • Talk to your child. Does he or she enjoy the tutor’s lessons and believe they are helping? Does your child feel more confident about the subject and about schoolwork in general?

  • Talk to your child’s teachers. Find out whether your child’s grades and attitude about school have improved. Are the teachers satisfied with the progress? Being informed about your child’s progress is an effective way to improve relations with his teachers.

  Take Action

  • If you aren’t getting the results you had hoped for, set up a meeting with the tutor, your child, and your child’s teacher or teachers to discuss your concerns.

  • Work together as a team to solve the problem or end the relationship.

• Monitor My Child's Tutoring Program

  Follow the following suggestions to monitor and enhance your child’s tutoring program.

  Be Patient

  • It may take several months before your child’s grades improve, but that does not mean  the tutoring is ineffective. Most tutoring relationships last from several months to a year.

  • Work with your child, his teacher or teachers, and the tutor to establish milestones and set a target end date for the tutoring.

  Monitor Progress

  • Talk with the tutor after each session. Find out what your child accomplished and what areas need additional work. Ask for suggestions on ways you can help your child.

  • Talk to your child. Does he or she enjoy the tutor’s lessons and believe they are helping? Does your child feel more confident about the subject and about schoolwork in general?

  • Talk to your child’s teachers. Find out whether your child’s grades and attitude about school have improved. Are the teachers satisfied with the progress? Being informed about your child’s progress is an effective way to improve relations with his teachers.

  Take Action

  • If you aren’t getting the results you had hoped for, set up a meeting with the tutor, your child, and your child’s teacher or teachers to discuss your concerns.

  • Work together as a team to solve the problem or end the relationship.