The decision to bring in a tutor for your child can be a nerve-racking one. You may be worried about getting a good return on your investment. Perhaps you’re unsure your kid will gel well with the tutor you select. These are all valid concerns. I have tutored hundreds of clients over the years and the amount of help each student needs can vary a great deal from person to person. Some students are doing alright in their classes, but aren’t fully getting the material because of a bad teacher. In these cases, I am able to provide some help and they can usually pick up the lesson within minutes. In other cases, I’ve encountered kids who I can instantly tell are years behind in their understanding of the material. These kids need a more intensive tutoring program where they meet with me two or three times a week. If your kid really needs the help, it is better to start in the Summer so they can get caught up without worrying about getting bogged down with school work.
You may be wondering how to tell if your kid is behind. I specialize in math tutoring, and I can give some insight. Usually, the decision on whether your kid needs a tutor will be pretty obvious. The first tell-tell sign your child needs tutoring is if their overall grades in class are below a B. The second sign I see commonly is an inability to perform basic critical math skills. For late elementary and early middle school kids, the most common pitfalls I encounter are an inability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. Struggling to perform basic arithmetic is less common, but I do see that as well. For kids in high school level math (algebra and up), the most common problems I see are an inability to solve basic equations, lack of algebraic intuition, and difficulty graphing equations. If your child struggles with any of these aforementioned problems, I would highly recommend bringing in a tutor. I’ve linked some resources from Khan Academy down below that you can use to gauge if your child needs math help.
Once you have made the decision to find your child a tutor, the next step is to find one that meshes well with your child. In my opinion, personality and charisma matter more than credentials when it comes to this. We learn best when we are enjoying the activity. For example, when I was in college I took some classes on algorithmic theory which I found really boring because it wasn’t practical. For me, it was very hard to learn this subject because of the dread I felt towards it. However, there were other classes such as Operating Systems or Computer Graphics which I thoroughly enjoyed which made the learning process incredibly easy. The same concept can be applied to finding a tutor. If you can find a tutor who is competent and gets along well with your child, they will start enjoying the lessons and look forward to seeing their tutor. This can help spark an interest that previously wasn’t there. You never want tutoring to feel like a chore, because we all know how kids are and they are never going to get anything out of their lessons if it feels like a drag. For me, my students that have learned the best usually shared interests with me such as sports, gaming, etc. I would recommend trying to find a tutor that has shared interests with your child, and has a personality that meshes well with your child so they look forward to seeing their tutor.
While finding a tutor can be stressful, I hope that these tips help make the journey go much smoother. Below I’ve linked some practice material to see if your child needs help. This list is far from comprehensive, but includes some of the most foundational skills that children need help on. If you need help finding a tutor, feel free to reach out to us at MVP Learners.
For Elementary School
For High School