Academic Tutoring: How to Find the Best Tutoring for Your Child

One thing parents have realized throughout the course of the pandemic is how challenging school has become for children. With an increase in technology use and a decrease of understanding of educational materials, more students need academic tutoring.

As parents, it’s our job to ensure our children have what they need to succeed. This means finding an academic tutoring facility that has the tools to help your child(ren) stay ahead of the learning curve.

Want to know how to go about finding a tutor for your child? Read on now and ensure your child has access to the academic tutoring resources they need to be successful.

Benefits of Academic Tutoring

If you’re still on the fence about academic tutoring for your child it might help to understand some of the benefits, they stand to gain from attending tutoring. The first benefit your child stands to gain is receiving one on one attention from their tutors.

When you’re in the classroom setting a teacher can’t provide each student with their undivided attention. This is because they must help other children at the same time.

Because of this, your child might receive help, but not as much help as they’d like to have. Whereas, in academic tutoring, your child works with one instructor.

They receive the undivided attention they need. This can be especially beneficial if your child needs extra help learning executive functioning skills for ADHD.

And if they have other behavioral complications that might deter their ability to learn effectively in school. One-on-one tutoring is also beneficial because your child will receive a teaching plan that works the best for their needs.

There are several different types of learning styles. In the traditional educational setting, teachers aren’t able to tailor their lessons to the learning styles of each child.

However, before your child meets with their tutor the tutor will take time to learn about the student. From there they will ensure the lesson plans they use during each tutoring session meets their academic needs and personal learning style.

This will make it easier for your child to absorb the information they’re being taught and get the help they need in the areas they need help with.

Benefits Continued…

Children go to school for eight hours a day. These eight hours are spent switching from class to class based on a period or block scheduling system.

The system is meant to give children the same amount of time in each class, receiving instruction for that specific subject. Because of this type of schedule children don’t have a large amount of time in each class.

However, in academic tutoring children get the time they need to work on their educational challenges. Even though the school day seems long it’s not long enough for children to work out every issue they might have with each subject.

In academic tutoring, your child gets to dedicate their time to practicing different subjects and learning at their own pace. Lastly, academic tutoring can help to increase your child’s confidence.

Instead of second-guessing the things that they know they’ll speak up more in class. They’ll find the motivation to participate in discussions that the teacher prompts during each period.

This confidence can translate into other areas of their life. It can motivate them to take things head-on instead of shying away from opportunities to show how intelligent they are.

Another key benefit of academic tutoring is your child can receive it in-person and virtually. With the need to currently social distance finding a place that allows your child to receive the tutoring they need online is essential.

How to Find the Right Academic Tutor?

It’s important you take your time to find a tutor that is compatible with your child. The reason for this is because when you match your child with a tutor that doesn’t meet their needs it can further deter them from wanting to learn.

There are certain qualifications a tutor should have before beginning to instruct students and you need to know what they are. Before we move forward with detailing the things you need to look for in a tutor for your child understand that you have the right to ask as many questions as possible.

You need to have a clear understanding of what the academic coach brings to the table. And how they will ensure your child reaches the goals they’ve set for themselves and increase their academic success.

Here is what you need to look for and make a note of when you’re searching for an academic coach for your child.

Experience

The tutor doesn’t have to have decades of experience, but it’s helpful to select someone that has a background in working with children. The reason you want to choose a tutor that has experience working with children is that they will have studied different specializations.

They’ll have a deeper understanding of techniques to use to help students achieve more educationally. When a tutor doesn’t have the experience they might not have what is needed to deal with the different types of students and situations that arise in the tutoring setting.

This means they won’t know how to respond. This can prove detrimental to your child and cause problems within their learning environment.

Proven Record of Success

If a tutor doesn’t have a track record of students who have improved academically and succeeded would you hire them to tutor your child? Of course, not because you want to ensure your child is going to progress past where they are now.

It’s for this reason that before you hire a tutor you need to take some time to understand and review the record they have with previous students. The tutor you work with should have a way to show you proof of this success and detail how they were able to achieve these things for their students.

Service Variety

While it’s common for children to need help in at least one subject, it’s not uncommon for them to need help in several different subjects. When you’re searching for a tutor for your child review the services they offer for your child and if they cover a variety of subjects.

For example, if your child has issues with math and test anxiety the tutor you select should be able to help your child understand different math concepts. They should also be able to teach your child some different ways to cope with testing anxiety and improve their test scores.

Some tutoring facilities focus on core subject tutoring and others look to help students improve their learning skills. However, it’s important the tutor you select for your kids can help in more than one area because children often struggle in more than one area.

Does your child need help in Spanish? The tutor you choose for them should be able to help them understand the Spanish language.

They can help them begin to do things like conjugate verbs. As they progress, they’ll be able to hold a simple conversation with other people that speak Spanish.

Tutoring Approach

As we mentioned, every student learns in a different way, which means the teaching approach taken should match the learning style of the student. What teaching approach does the academic tutoring facility offer?

What area of teaching do these approaches emphasize? Is this approach compatible with the learning style of your child?

The academic tutoring center you work with should be able to provide you with a directory or detail for you the approach they use to tutor students. It should be explained to you in a way that’s easy to understand and correlate with how it will work best for your child.

If the approach they use doesn’t seem like it will work, you can always ask if that approach is universal to all teachers. Just like the specialization for tutors’ changes, the same can be understood for the approach each tutor uses.

Each tutor may have their own approach that works for them and the students they’re teaching.

Know Your Child & Their Needs

No one knows your child better than you do, which is why it’s one factor that helps you find a tutor that works the best for them. As a parent, you have firsthand knowledge about the areas your child is struggling in.

You’ll also have a deeper understanding of your child’s temperament and the types of personalities that they mesh well with. With this information, you can move forward with finding a tutor to help your child.

Understand Your Child’s Goals

Does your child want to improve their grades for college purposes? Do they want to read at a higher reading level?

What are the academic goals your child wishes to achieve through tutoring? If your child doesn’t have any goals set, you can have the tutor work with them to establish these goals.

Academic goals serve as a motivational tool to help your child continue moving forward. It motivates them to strive to make improvements in their academic life.

Understanding the goals your child wants to achieve can help you distinguish a program that will work for your child versus one that won’t work.

Consider Learning Challenges Your Child Has

As mentioned briefly earlier, if your child has learning challenges or difficulties, it changes the way they receive information.
This also means the way your child is approached by teachers and tutors needs to be different and specialized for them.

Before hiring a tutor make it known the difficulties your child has. If they have ADHD does the tutor specialize in providing short bursts of information?

Do they know how to redirect your child’s attention when they get off track?

Think About Your Daily Schedule

If you’re on the go and taking your students to and from activities, you need to carefully consider how tutoring will fit into that schedule. You’ve got to find a balance between allowing your children to be children and receiving the help they need to be successful.

Remember it’s important for your children to succeed in the classroom because it can open doors for them in the future. This means school should take precedence over other things.

But we understand children need other avenues to express themselves. Speak with the tutoring coordinator to find a time slot for your child to get what they need without feeling as if they’re spread too thin.

If you begin to feel like there’s too much on your child’s plate, it’s time to scale back and prioritize things based on importance.

Do Your Due Diligence

After all, is said and done the easiest thing to do when searching for a tutor is to have a conversation. Taking time to speak with the coordinator of a tutoring facility will provide you with the information you need to decide if your child should seek tutoring from that specific place.

During these conversations, you can gain insight into what they have to offer your child and what a typical tutoring lesson will look like. You can also discuss the different ways they communicate with parents to fill them in on the progress their child is making in tutoring.

Finding the Right Academic Tutoring: Benefits & More

When it comes to academic tutoring there are several things you need to look for before your child sits down for their first session. It’s important the tutor has experience working with children as well as a proven track record of student success and improvement.

Here at Peak Academic Coaching, we have the expertise and skills to help your student improve and achieve their academic goals. Are you still searching for the right place to bring your student?

Contact us and let us know how we can help your child today.