As a tutor and the owner of a tutoring company, and a previous teacher, there are several points that I feel could be very helpful for families to know about tutoring. As a parent, when you get to the point that you are ready to get a tutor – you have reached a milestone. The same can be said of an adult who has realized that they are in need of educational support. IF you are wondering if it is time for you to get a tutor please read a previous article I wrote on that specific topic. http://educationshortlist.com/2010/12/top-6-steps-when-is-the-right-time-to-get-a-tutor/ Yet, now that you have this tutor, for most families, you don’t know what to do. So these six points are intended to be guidelines for a better understanding of the tutoring process and a way to utilize the benefits of a tutor.
1. Tutors don’t know your child as well as you do – and that’s a good thing
You know your child (or yourself) better than your tutor ever will. The relationship built between your tutor and your student is a blank slate full of possibilities and potential. We, as tutors, are going to use our best educational practices to help your child learn. We are going to go about the learning process perhaps differently than you. And that’s good. If you are concerned or feel that there is essential information that will make an immediate difference in tutoring, then please let us know right away – if not, please give us time.
2. Be Patient
Real results can’t be achieved in anything fewer than eight sessions. Again, since this is a new relationship it takes time to for a tutor to fully access the situation; and for the student to feel comfortable. Plus, if the tutoring sessions are just an hour long – that means that your tutor and child have only eight hours to get to know each other, feel confident about what’s happening, and tackle the material which is the basis of the learning. It takes people longer than that to pick out a car.
3. Be respectful of your tutor
If you have taken the time to research a great tutoring fit, be confident in the choice you made – and give your tutor the opportunity to show you what they know. They have experience and training in education and tutoring; and hopefully a background in both as well. Sometimes family members can get frustrated, but again, remember this is your tutor’s specialty – they will do the best that they can.
4. Follow-Through
A good tutor will always give detailed follow-ups on each tutoring session to a parent. A great tutor will tell the family how to best support the tutoring sessions at home. It is so so important to follow-through with a tutor’s suggestions. Remember, you took the time to find the right person to be your tutor, now is the time to really listen to them. More than once I have made suggestions to families, and they don’t follow-through with it. It puts a halt on the tutoring. But even more detrimental is that the student starts to think that they don’t need to take the tutoring seriously.
5. Parent+Teacher+Tutor = Great Communication
Creating open lines of communication with all of the important people who help your student learn is key. What a teacher sees as a critical need is so important; and when a parent feels comfortable opening those lines of communication it is always to the benefit of the student. Plus, once a teacher knows that a student is receiving additional outside educational support – it helps them to put that student on their radar, to find extra ways to help them.
6. Consistency
Consistency is similar to the follow-through, but different as well. Perhaps it would be better to say ‘consistently follow-through’. But the sentiment is just the same. Keep your tutoring appointments, don’t take a lot of breaks with tutoring; or tell your learner that it’s okay if they don’t do what their tutor needs. Also, use tutoring techniques and ideas at home – to create more consistency in a child’s learning.
These ideas may sound like a lot of work and high expectations from a tutor, but if you have thoroughly researched the tutor – then it’s going to be in the learner’s best interest to go with these six tips.
Don’t cancel tutoring if your child complains or if you (or they) get frustrated; instead find out why they are upset. Is it because the tutor is pushing them (which is a good thing), or are they just getting to still know and understand each other? A good tutoring will push a student to their fullest potential, and sometimes a student pushes back. This is part of the process. It usually takes at least three months of consistent tutoring to really see results. Please allow for that to happen.
Some of this may sound harsh, but it isn’t meant to be that way. As I was saying in the beginning, I see so much happening since I’ve been a teacher, a tutor, and the owner of a tutoring company. I’m just trying to pass on the things that I’ve seen.
