According to a report by the Pride Reading Program, a child’s teacher can have a very powerful influence on academic performance. The expectations of the teacher and the ideas that are conveyed during teaching scenarios influence self-belief and how well they do in life. That is why finding the right math tutor can be very critical.
There are several factors that you should consider before you hire a math tutoring service. They will help you find the most suited professional instructor to help your children according to their unique needs.
The following are the factors you need t to consider:
- Identifying goals
- Reasonable expectations
- Allowance for home self-study
- Are there free options?
- Active involvement in child development
Jump Ahead To:
What Do You Want to Achieve?
One of the first things that you should do is identify why you need a math tutor. You have to set specific goals for hiring a personalized instructor for your child.
Some people hire a math tutor to help a student pass a test in class. Some parents hire them as a learning helper for their child, who may be having a general difficulty learning mathematics.
If all you want is to help your child pass a test, you should look for services that provide short-term and accelerated learning paces. Teaching methods involving quick learning and learning reinforcement are key to helping your child understand particular subjects in math well enough to answer problem questions that may pop up during the exam.
Keeping Expectations Reasonable
Does the math tutor understand how to keep expectations? No one should expect a child to master any subject overnight, especially if the child is having problems working with numbers. Math tutoring is more than likely to benefit a student than not having one.
However, you and the private instructor should not expect to see any increased student performance immediately. In fact, it may take some time before you can readily see any improvement.
The first sign that you can identify is when a child makes sense of the subject and becomes more confident in math class. But that doesn’t mean you will immediately see a dramatic improvement in your children’s grades.
Allowance for Self-Study
Ask if the math tutor can provide materials that you can use when you have time to teach your child yourself. Sometimes the confidence and time that a parent gives to a child can be a powerful motivator for a student.
Instructional materials that your tutor can provide may include apps, games, and creative activities that the parent and child can do together. According to one study, when a parent works on math problems with their children, it improves the child’s performance in math class.
Are There Any Freebies?
One of the things that you should inquire about from a tutor in math is free options that they are willing to provide. These freebies will be particularly helpful in case you are facing some budget constraints.
A tutor in math is most probably a math teacher at school as well. It would help if you inquired about free after class teaching options provided by the school. The tutor should be able to identify any of the school’s administration offers it.
Other free options include downloadable instructional materials, free math tutorial videos, math tutorial forums, free professional tutorials sponsored by schools, and weekend tutorial programs sponsored by community centers, city libraries, and other civic organizations.
Active Involvement
Finally, you should check how involved the tutor will be in your child’s development. Good tutoring is more than just teaching lessons. It is also about being in the present moment with the child identifying certain academic and non-academic issues that may need to be resolved.
A good tutor can help you identify them and refer you to specific sources of help for overall child development. Remember that the lessons and a teacher’s actions can help parents influence their children to become better people and not just be good students.
