Getting a tutor for your child? Follow these five steps
The school season is almost beginning, and many parents are turning their attention to getting a tutor for their children. Finding the right tutor for your child is not an easy task. In this blog, we share the five most important steps for every parent to take when getting a tutor for their child.
1.0 Safety first
When it comes to a child's safety, you should make no assumptions and compromises. Whether the tutor will meet your child in your home or a public place, you must ensure that your child is safe with them, physically, mentally, and emotionally. When considering a tutor, do a thorough background check on them. Your background check has to include national and county-level searches for as long as they have been alive. Additionally, you must ensure that a behavioral assessment is done to identify any potential red flags. Lastly, if they are tutoring a younger child, they must be well-versed in child safety protocols, such as what to do if the child is choking or showing any signs of concussion.
2.0 Evaluate the tutor's fluency in the topic
Whether you are trying to find a tutor for language arts or physics, the tutor has to understand the topic at such an innate level that it is considered their second nature. While I am not suggesting that every tutor has to have completed their post-doctorate to be able to help your child with their elementary-level math, they must understand the topic at an intuitive level. When evaluating the tutor, ask them how they learned the topic and be sure to ask them some hard questions. You don't have to know the subject to ask questions; the less you know, the better. That is a very good sign if they can answer your question understandably and intuitively.
Related to the above, the tutor has to be current in the newest teaching methodologies. Remember, in the movie Incredibles 3, Mr. Incredible, the dad, was helping Dash with math. When Dash said to him: "That is not the way they want us to do it.", Mr. Incredible famously lost it and said: "Math is Math." While I agree with Mr. Incredible, it is very important not to confuse the child with another teaching method that their teacher does not favor.
3.0 Make sure the tutor shows interest in your child's learning style
The tutor's job is to help your child learn. To do so, the tutor has to understand how your child learns. The tutor must ask you or have a way of determining your child's learning style: is your child a visual or auditory learner? Does your child prefer to watch first and then follow, or do they like to jump in at the beginning and learn as they go? Your child's learning style is analogous to a language. If your child speaks English, but their tutor only explains in French, no matter how well the tutor knows the subject, they will not be able to help your child.
4.0 Make sure the tutor shows interest in the WHOLE child
Could it be possible that your child would be looking forward to their tutoring session? Yes, it is! How do I know? I have been there (read my backstory about tutoring in a future blog). Your child is a whole person with interests and a sense of curiosity. They need to feel that their tutor "gets" their whole self, not just the piece needing help with the subject. Ultimately, there needs to be a bond based on mutual trust between the two. In my view, the success of a tutoring relationship should be measured not just by how your child's grade improves but by how much your child looks forward to their tutoring session.
5.0 Give yourself and the tutor a trial period
Most tutoring relationships take time to come to fruition. It is not uncommon for tutors and students to have met several times before they find their groove. While it is always a good idea to give the tutoring relationship time to cultivate, you want to be realistic about how much time you will give it. It is best to have a finite period of time in mind and evaluate your child's subject growth during that period. Some parents make the trial period as little as two weeks, some make it as long as two months. Whatever it is, make sure you are realistic about expectations, and you make the right decision for your child as the trial end nears
Closing thoughts on getting a tutor for your child
Having the right tutor can change your child's life as it changed mine. The five steps identified in this blog are the outcome of my personal experience as a child who needed a tutor, later as a tutor for other kids, and now as a mom to a young child. I believe these five steps will help you find the right tutor for your child. And as for Call Emmy, we have many tutors on our platform who are trained and fluent in their fields and they are fully background checked, and qualified. Simply click Book a Service on our home page and you are on your way.
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