The Complete Guide To Hiring A Perfect Tutor For Your Child.
Children face an incredibly competitive academic world, and with the setbacks that many students have faced coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, getting ahead and gaining an edge in their academic performance is crucial. Working with a tutor outside of the classroom is a great opportunity for your child to develop great study skills, practice what they have learned in class, reinforce what they know, and gain confidence in their work. If you want to hire a perfect tutor for your child, you are likely wondering how to find the perfect fit. With so many tutors offering their support, and so many types of tutoring programs available, it can be difficult to make a decision.
Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know to hire the right tutor for your child.
What Qualifies Someone As A Good Tutor?
In the search to hire proper academic support for your child, you need to prioritize four things: experience, expertise, empathy, and availability. Finding the right tutor for your child should come down to the tutor’s history of success as an instructor, their knowledge of the subject matter, and their priorities and values. Their availability and commitment to your child’s success are important as well.
Experience
The number one thing many parents look for when hiring a tutor is tutoring experience. If you are hiring a tutor to help your child improve their grades in a specific class, the tutor should have the valuable experience and the credentials to guide your student to success. Having a history of guiding students to reach their goals is important.
You may be able to find a tutor who has experience as a teacher or professor. Ask them about the classes they have taught and the types of students who do well in their classes. You should also find out what their experience is in the specific type of tutoring you are hiring for.
Someone who has never taught virtually may be less successful than someone who has plenty of experience with remote online tutoring. Someone who has never tutored students one-on-one may not have the same personalized style that a private tutor would prioritize offering. A tutor who has experience in tutoring middle school Math may not have the background needed to tutor a child in high school Math courses. The specific details of their experience and background can make a difference in the quality of their instruction and guidance.
Ask the potential tutor about the students they have worked with, and the experience they have that qualifies them to help your student achieve their goals.
Expertise
Hiring a tutor that specializes in a specific subject is a great way to ensure that your student is working with someone reliable. Talk to the tutor about their academic and professional background. It is important that the person you hire is familiar with the curriculum and has the skills to guide your student.
Having a strong background in the subject matter that your child needs help with is a big deal. If you are hiring someone to cover more than one topic, talk to them about their confidence in covering a range of topics and their history of success tutoring a wide range of skills and concepts.
In the classroom, your student is taught a set curriculum by the teacher. It is a good idea to work with a tutor who is capable of making connections between what the student learns in the classroom and what they are teaching them as a tutor.
Some tutors do not have a specific area of expertise to pull from (be it science, math, literature, language, or history). You can still set standards for a few different areas of expertise that you are looking for. Some tutors specialize in helping students learn how to manage their time. Other tutors work hard to improve your child’s study habits or offer guidance when setting goals. You may find a tutor that is an expert in test preparation, or someone who has great experience improving a child’s confidence and motivation.
Not all tutors focus on a specific subject matter: some offer great guidance helping your student strategize their time to work efficiently. Regardless of the specific standards that you set for the tutor’s level of subject expertise or operational expertise, the focus should be on the child’s needs. Are you hiring a tutor to improve your student’s performance in class through one-on-one instruction that reinforces the curriculum they learn in class? Or are you hiring a tutor to improve your student’s study habits and learning strategies to ensure they are reaching their full potential? Focus on the type of expertise that will benefit your child’s academic goals.
Empathy
Empathetic tutors are able to successfully boost a student’s confidence throughout their learning process by catering to their needs and fostering the student’s development.
Talk to the tutors that you interview about how they connect with students. By working together consistently, the person you select to tutor your student should actively understand their concerns, goals, points of confusion, areas of interest, anxieties, passions, and goals. Empathy is a great attribute for tutors and a good quality to look for, especially when they would be working with students who are under significant pressure to improve their performance. A tutor should not add negative pressure or stress, but work to provide tools and insight that alleviate the stress from your child’s academic life.
Availability
Tutoring is a great investment of your child’s time and can be a great financial investment as well. To be successful, your child needs to be consistent in going to their tutoring sessions. How many times a week does your student need to work with a tutor? If you are looking for someone to support your child through their daily homework, be sure that the expectations for regular availability are set from the beginning.
The best way to support your child is through consistent support, and the tutor you select needs to be available according to your child’s needs. It is important to talk about schedules and make sure that everyone is on the same page before selecting a tutor.
What Kind Of Tutor Is Right For Your Child?
Now that you know the qualifications to look for when hiring the right tutor, you need to find the perfect fit for your child.
What is your child’s learning style?
There is no “right way” to learn, and many students have different learning styles. What matters when looking for a tutor is that you find someone who is able to work with your child’s learning style.
- Some students work best from home and others feel more comfortable working in a classroom.
- Some students thrive in small groups, and others do their best working with a tutor one-on-one.
- Some students are visual learners who need to witness explanations and demonstrations of concepts or processes in order to understand them.
- Some students are auditory learners, who thrive when listening to information.
- Some students are hands-on learners who learn best by participating in activities.
Talk to your child about the learning style they are comfortable with, and find a tutor who can navigate various learning styles comfortably and enthusiastically.
What are your child’s goals?
Some students need support to understand the curriculum they are taught in school, and others need to learn how to study effectively to manage their time better. Some students have goals that require a lot of work ahead of them, and others have smaller gaps to close to get where they want to go in their academic careers. There are large variations in the types of help a student may need. A great tutor will assess your child’s performance and make a personalized plan that caters to their needs. The whole point of working with a tutor outside of the classroom is to ensure that your child has complete support and guidance based on their goals. The tutor that is the right fit for your child will assess their performance and make a custom plan.
What does your child need to improve?
The tutor that is the right fit for your child needs to have a strong understanding of your child’s strengths and weaknesses. To be a successful match, the tutor should be able to highlight your child’s successes and use their natural talents and skills to set them on the path to success. A great tutor can pinpoint the weaknesses your child may have while making the most of their strengths. This is a huge skill to look for when finding a tutor who is focused on bringing out the best in your student while offering them the proper tools, strategies, and experiences to make improvements.
As you consider the type of tutor that is the right fit for you and your child, Tutorly’s tutors are highly trained, experienced, and empathetic professionals with vast varieties in their academic backgrounds and skill sets. No matter the subject matter, there is a Tutorly tutor who can help your child succeed. If you are looking for one-on-one virtual tutoring that prioritizes your child’s confidence and success, then Tutorly is right for you! Sign up with Tutorly to hire the right tutor for your child.