Discovering how to find the best tutor for your child can be one of the most rewarding educational decisions you can make as a parent.
Finding effective and affordable tutoring services to best help your child is one of the greatest learning gifts that will leave lasting results for years to come!
Although there are many indoor activities that will keep kids busy with fun and learning, there are times when you may still want to consider tutoring if you feel your child could use the extra help.
Our son needed help with reading and math.
We chose to use tutoring services by Huntington Learning Center.
Online tutoring and in-home tutoring are extremely popular, but we decided to attend in-person, one-on-one tutoring.
I’ll explain why.
Table of Contents
HOW TO FIND THE BEST TUTOR FOR YOUR CHILD
Let’s start with what would you as a parent like to see accomplished in your child’s current academic year?
Before getting too technical about standards and test scores, scaling back to the absolute basics is what I’m referring to.
Of course, we all want our children to score well on tests.
But before focusing on any specific test, building a solid foundation with critical skills was extremely important.
Personally, I know I want my children to have robust and solid learning concepts in math, reading, reading comprehension, note-taking, and study skills.
My philosophy is that most children can learn almost anything with basic foundational skills!
So that is where the journey of us looking for a professional tutor began.
We wanted our son to have a tutoring experience to build those essential primary skills vs. just memorizing work.
This leads me to one of my most valuable tips to share, as you are looking for the best tutor for your child.
Without feeling ashamed or embarrassed, get as straightforward as possible about the desired end goals you have for your child.
No academic problem is too small or too big to address.
If not now, then when?
Our children’s school-age years are the perfect time to work out the kinks and struggle areas we notice as parents.
After establishing the academic goals I had for my son in his current grade, I realized we would need some help to get him where he needed to be.
It turns out that hiring professional tutoring services was one of the best parenting decisions. I’m so glad I did!
Enjoy this video to learn more about the tutoring service we chose (Huntington Learning Center)
TIPS FOR FINDING A TUTOR:
- 1. You can ask other parents. Searching by word of mouth is a great place to start when you are ready to hire a tutor. This is also a great way to hear parents’ feedback on their child’s tutoring experience, mistakes to avoid, and ways to get the most from your tutoring services.
- 2. Decide which tutoring format best fits your child’s learning style. Nowadays, virtual tutoring experiences are trendy. There is also peer tutoring, group tutoring, and one-on-one tutoring.
- 3. Consider key factors of possible tutoring services. It’s essential to consider cost, scheduling, the tutor’s experience, and the tutor’s capability to cover needed skills. In addition, you want an understanding of the curriculum that will be used to take your child from point A to point B.
- 4. Inquire about the potential tutoring style/philosophy. Will you provide work for the tutor to help your child with? Is there a standard curriculum the tutor will use? Are there digital components to the tutoring program? Etc.
HOW WE DECIDED WHICH TUTOR WAS BEST FOR OUR CHILD
Now that you know your options explain your child’s academic goals and voice your concerns.
Or, maybe after working through the details of your child’s academic needs, you realized the best tutor for your child through the process of elimination.
In our case, it was the latter.
As a homeschooling family, flexible hours were crucial. Traditionally, many tutoring services are in the evenings or weekends only.
Another factor that was critical was knowing the tutor’s (in our case, the tutoring agency’s) proven track record.
We felt extremely confident that Huntington Learning Center was more than capable of handling our son’s needs. Huntington Learning Center also explained all of the testing procedures.
Past results from other students were also shown.
I read plenty of parent reviews.
And, we understood their curriculum and the skills it would cover.
We were given an estimated time frame of the hours needed to make steady progress.
And another bonus, the staff, and tutor were very warm and welcoming!
It’s nice to know you are paying for services to people who are actually sincere and happy to provide them.
TUTORING IN PERSON WAS BEST FOR OUR CHILD
With full-time distance learning and hybrid learning popping up more and more it would almost seem that virtual tutoring would fit just as well, right?
I knew for my son that would not be okay.
Once again, you have to know and understand what is best for your child.
Our son needed as less distractions as possible.
Also, being in a quiet learning environment was helpful in him training his brain to know that I am here to focus and work.
We took the time to explain to our son why he was going to tutoring and the many ways it would help him.
We wanted him to understand the importance of the time spent with his tutor.
And most of all, we wanted him to want to be in his tutoring sessions. Which, thankfully he does.
I have a huge appreciation for the virtual world.
And thankfully because of the many hybrid schools, at-home distance learning is a viable option for many families.
But I still believe connecting in person face to face with his tutor has made one of the biggest impacts on my son’s tutoring experience.
Not only connecting with the tutor but connecting with the curriculum.
Touching the paper, turning the pages, and holding the flashcards may seem small but any method of learning that will help to process the curriculum is a step in the right direction.
HOW TO MONITOR YOUR CHILD’S PROGRESS WITH THEIR TUTOR
As you are trying to figure out how to find the best tutor for your child you as the parent still have a role to play.
I know, our job is never-ending.
The good thing is that monitoring your child’s progress is not as hard as it sounds.
Most of your child’s progression should be monitored by the tutor or tutoring agency.
If you are paying for quality tutoring services you should not have to create or implement your own test assessments for your child.
Those should be provided for you on a regular basis.
But, as parents, we’re still keeping our eyes open for natural clues that tutoring is actually going well.
Here are just a few examples:
- 1. Your child’s self-confidence should be increasing.
- 2. Your child may be more eager to do work
- 3. You can see your child’s academic skills improving.
- 4. Your child should be able to complete skill sets that were difficult at first.
- 5. Your child may begin to complete work faster.
- 6. Apart from tutoring your child may recognize skills worked on in other work.
- 7. Your child may begin to talk about lessons from tutoring.
AFTER YOU HAVE DISCOVERED HOW TO FIND THE BEST TUTOR FOR YOUR CHILD
Partnering with your child’s tutor is the secret ingredient in this entire process.
As a homeschooling mom, I can honestly say that changing our curriculum this year and getting quality, professional tutoring for our son has made a tremendous difference this school year for us.
Following along with your child’s tutor will allow you to reiterate the skills that your child is working on with their tutor.
As your child reaches academic milestones you can highlight those moments with simple yet meaningful celebrations.
Knowing skills that your child has mastered will help you know what your child is capable of and what you can realistically expect from them academically.
Partnering with your child’s tutor should be a joy, not a chore.
The journey of tutoring can be one that leaves an enriching learning experience for the child and the parent.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
How To Create A Fun & Easy Preschool Schedule
How To Improve Your Home Management Sills
PIN IT FOR LATER:
