13 Things Your Kid’s Tutor Won’t Tell You

Everyone that knows me will tell you, I don’t believe in re-creating the wheel and I really like “How To” and “Did you know” books.  I’m a servant type of person; I so love researching and quickly resolving issues, the immediate gratification received is also nice.

Hence the following article is a resource for parents with children that may need the assistance of a tutor from Readers Digest May 2013 issue.  Please take note of the following are things you need to know but a tutor won’t tell you.

- Denise Lee-Hinds

13 Things Your Kid’s Tutor Won’t Tell You

• The goal of tutoring is to get the child out of tutoring. If the tutor’s references include students she’s been tutoring for years, that’s not a good sign.

• I was once paid $3,500 a week to basically run a kid’s entire life.  I worked with him on time management, tutored him for standardized tests, and helped him with every single piece of homework.

• Please, call me early.  Sometimes I get hired because a child needs a specific grade in order to graduate.  That’s way too stressful for everyone and doesn’t set up your child for success. 

• When you meet a prospective tutor for the first time, have your child with you.  You want a tutor who engages the child, not someone who talks to only you. 

• If your child already scored in the 90^th percentile on the SAT or got straight A’s with just one B, I’ll take your money, but the kid probably doesn’t need a tutor.

• Don’t hire a tutor who teachers at your child’s school.  The first thing she’ll do is go to your child’s classroom teacher and say, “Tell me about this kid.”  There’s a change the teacher will taint the tutor’s impression.  It’s better to start with a clean slate.

• Most kids aren’t spending as much time on their work as they say.  A lot of the time, I can tell that the hour they’re working with me is the only hour they’re working on that subject.

• Teachers got the kids during the best part of the kid’s day. We get them when they’re fried and exhausted after a full day of classes. Before bringing your kid to tutoring, let him or her have a little time to unwind after school, if you can.

• If you want a homework monitor or someone to tutor your child in one subject, I can help.  But if you want to solve a bigger problem or catch your child up to his peers, you should have him evaluated for learning or language problems before you start tutoring.

• I learn new things from my students all the time.  Even after hundreds of sessions focusing on Great Expectations, I can still gain something valuable from a discussion about it.  Kids I tutor have pointed out literary connections I hadn’t considered. 

• At a tutoring center, ask how much individual attention your child will get.  Some centers put kids in groups, hand out a bunch of worksheets, and then charge an exorbitant fee.

• Please, give us a little space.  If you’re hovering or pretending to do something in the room so you can eavesdrop, it just makes it harder for me to do my job.  I know you have good intensions, but one reason tutoring work is that I’m not the parent.

• Good tutors cut back on talking and let students identify their own errors.  In the best sessions, the student is talking just as much as the tutor – or even more.

Michelle Crouch…Readers Digest May 2013