Tutoring: How Your Child Can Get More Out of the Help

If your child is struggling in school, professional tutoring can make a big difference when it comes to getting caught up. While hiring a high schooler to come by in the afternoons may be cheaper, you are probably going to get what you paid for. Tutors working for a professional service are going to come in with a pedigree and an education that is going to potentially have a positive impact on your child's grades and future academic success. Of course, even with the best teacher in the world, the child is only going to get out of it what he (and you) puts into it. Here are some tips on getting more out of academic help.

Identify Problem Areas

It makes no sense to focus your child's limited time with a tutor on subjects he doesn't need help with. If he's passing math with flying colors and failing science, the sessions should clearly not be focused on math. However, this is a mistake tutoring professionals see all the time. The parents bring them in without a clear purpose, the child won't speak up, and so much of the time is wasted when it could have been concentrated on a specific area. Of course, if your child needs help in all areas, that's another matter.

Work On Your Own

Many parents (and nearly all children) feel that the tutoring sessions themselves are enough to fix any academic problems. Additional homework and study would just result in burnout. While that may indeed be true in the long run, there may need to be a period of time where your child focuses exclusively on his school studies. If this means his social life and gaming schedule take a hit for a while, so be it. Once he is caught up and feeling comfortable, you can scale back the studying.

Have Your Class Materials

A tutoring session isn't going to go well if the tutor has no idea what is being taught in class. Seldom is a child dependable when it comes to relaying the information on his own, especially if he is falling behind in the class. If he brings the book, the homework, and perhaps a test he did poorly on, it will give the session a clear direction. This is the key, as anything else is akin to wasting time and may not result in the improvements you want to see. Tutoring sessions can be successful whether they take place at a facility or at your home, but the child needs to be prepared in either case.