Hiring a Math Tutor For Your Child - Tips For Choosing Well

I have to get the painful news out of the way right at the start.

Many, maybe most math tutors, are not fully competent in the subject they are teaching.

Is this tutor really knowledgeable?
If you are looking for a math tutor, for example for Precalculus, you need to ascertain for of all that your prospective tutor has the curriculum for the course at his or her fingertips.

I mention this right way because, over the years, I have known many students who are being helped by tutors who are barely one step ahead of them, or actually over their head.

Facilitate good teacher-tutor communication 

Second, you need to facilitate communication with the course teacher. In other words, give the teacher the tutor's name and number and tell the teacher to call the tutor with specific information on the course and what your child should be doing.

I say this because too often the math tutor doesn't know exactly what the course expectation is, or what will be on the coming test, or whatever. Often the student is not a clear communicator of this information.

How is math tutoring time being used?
Third, you need to make sure the time is being used well. You don't want an hour of chatting about TV, sports, clothes, piercing or whatever. You want an hour of math!

You will need to assess that your tutor is pleasant and friendly, but also business-like and on task.

Does your child work well with the tutor?
There needs to be an element of chemistry with the tutor and your child. The whole point of this is that you are seeking some one-on-one reinforcement for your child, and that is not going to happen without good, clear communication. You will need to determine the quality of the tutor carefully.

Finding a tutor
How to find one? The best way is through a recommendation from someone you trust, preferably a math teacher you trust. Could be from another parent, or the school administration.

The more anonymous the source, such as a recommendation from someone who doesn't particularly know anything about math instruction, or a newspaper ad, the more you are relying on luck.

And are you sure your child needs a tutor? I believe a tutor should be much more of a last resort than is often the case. If your child just needs a bit of reinforcement or repeated explanation, maybe the class teacher is available for this. Or an older sibling, or you could do it.

I think this kind of help is part of a teacher's job, and also can be a wholesome family task. If your child simply needs hand holding to do his homework, maybe he needs to be guided to doing his work independently. Maybe in such a case a tutor is enabling a child with lack of independent work habits, rather than helping.

One other consideration
If your child needs regular help in a course, it is possible that he or she is simply in too advanced a course. I would encourage some sort of assessment of the situation, discussion with the teacher or a school official.

If your child is on a track that requires tutoring in fourth grade just to keep up, you need to ask yourself if this is in her interest, to be always running from behind to keep up. If the reason for the tutor is the teacher's incompetence, I would encourage you to let the school administration know about it.

How to pay 

How often and what you should expect to pay? Though often a tutoring arrangement is once a week for 45 minutes or an hour, if your child really needs help, I think twice a week is a minimum. If there is a problem, I don't see what can be done in less time than that besides putting out an immediate fire.

Costs range from $10 or $12/hour for a high school student to over $100/hour for an experienced tutor in a major metropolitan area. In general, you should expect a higher rate for more advanced levels of instruction and a more experienced, educated tutor. However, there is a lot of variance in the marketplace: I personally know people in my area who are very good and charge about $40/hour, and some who are really only OK and charge closer to $70/hour.

I think you should have in mind what you are willing to pay, and ask before you start; if the tutor wants more, just keep looking. The main thing is that you are getting valuable tutoring done. If you find a "bargain" but the tutoring isn't really helping your child, you're just wasting your and your child's time and your money.

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How to Find a Good Math Tutor

In most cases it is found that the key to improving math is that the child needs to have a bent of mind wanting to be a good student. If this minimum ingredient is not achieved then all tutoring efforts may end up as being futile.

The most practical way to decide on a math tutor and finding the best among many is to let him judge by comparison. Let the child go to as many tutors as possible and let him decide which suits him the best. Tutoring centers and private tutors do understand this and offer free initial classes for new students.

The key to a good teacher is not only his capability of teaching well but also his interest in teaching students. It needs to be a mutual and team effort between student and tutor which will ultimately lead to fruitful education. With good chemistry between the two, children understand math much better and are also open to giving feedback for better training practices. A good teacher would go out of his way to do more research to find some innovative ways of teaching that would be more beneficial to his students. The tutor should be able to know methods and algorithms that can really help children get more marks in mathematics.

One mistake that parents make very often is to treat mathematics at grade 1, 2 or 3 as not very important and think that it involves only basic computation. However the very foundation for math is laid in these grades and therefore it is very important for such young children to get a good and strong foundation and build problem solving skills at an initial stage in education.

Lots of students feel afraid of mathematics because of a weak foundation. Such students need tutors who are really patient with them. It is not always fruitful to have long sessions of tutoring rather emphasis should be given on short sessions and then time should be given to watch their reaction. Tutors should emphasize on finding the reason why students struggle to solve certain problems and trace their root causes. Another way could be to go through the students notes to find out the line of thinking used by student.

A good math tutor should be interested in finding out which procedure is good for the student and which is not. As an example, there might be many ways of finding factors for a trinomial but student needs to master only one, with which he/she is comfortable. The tutor should be flexible enough to allow and assist the student in getting good with the means and method the student chooses even if it is a bit slower.

Patience is the foremost quality to look into a math tutor. Tutor should be willing to assume it's his own child and him being the math tutor, what treatment would he then impart. There are a lot of cases wherein tutor do not open heartedly embrace other students as their own children and give them preferred and more in depth tutoring as compared to others. A tutor without open and good heart would not be a very good teacher.

So before you make a final call ensure the math tutor is qualified, has good rapport with children, is equally sensitive to each and every student and creates the process of learning math a whole lot of fun.

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Does Hiring A Math Tutor Really Work?

Math is not always the easiest of subjects. New topics like algebra and calculus are challenging at first, and if students are not able to pick them up from the beginning, they often end up being lost the rest of the school year. One of the best ways to help students get on board right from the beginning and avoid math becoming a problem subject, is to get extra math assistance early on.

Math tutors are qualified individuals who have ample tutoring experience. Students who take help from a tutor find it both helpful and encouraging. Students have the opportunity to build a good relationship with their tutor and openly discuss any problems they have with the subject. This allows tutors to focus specifically on those areas, thus improving the student's knowledge of the topic and helping them solve problems and sums more easily as well.

Benefits Of Math Tutoring

One of the best advantages of hiring a math tutor is the opportunity to practice with an expert, ensuring that you get your steps and solutions correct, as well as tips and shortcuts. Tutors generally have plenty of relevant practice material that students can work on themselves or with the tutor, to improve their problem solving skills. Students can find math games and puzzles on online tutoring sites, much of which is free.

Along with tutoring, students are expected to do their part by attending class regularly, practicing, and trying to solve new problems. The few hours spent on tutoring each week are meant to teach and clarify theory so that students are fully at ease with it. They will have to make time to practice questions on their own which will help them gain confidence in their problem solving skills.

Online Math Tutors for Individual Help

With the launch of the internet, tutoring has gone online and is now accessible to students wherever they might be. You can find hundreds of math tutors on the internet and choose the ones you would like to study with. Online tutoring is appreciated by students and parents for it's flexibility, safety and 24x7 availability which allows students to get help whenever they want.

Tutoring is most effective when students work individually with a tutor. Tutoring centers and after school swot programs teach students in small batches. This is great for students who are reasonably adept at math but students who require more extensive help will benefit more from one on one tutoring.

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What You Should Look For in a Math Tutor!

If your son or daughter is struggling in math class and needs math homework help, a math tutor can prove to be a valuable resource! The math tutor can not only present the material covered in class in a manner conducive to your child's learning style, but can also ensure that he or she stays ahead of the curve by focusing on skills that he or she may not have fully grasped in previous math courses. That is, the math tutor can provide your child with the math homework help he or she needs to obtain math solutions in Algebra, Geometry, Precalculus, and Calculus.

When most students need math homework help, they usually just want to focus on getting solutions to homework problems so that they can quickly finish their homework and not think about math until the next assignment is due. Though your child may finish all of his or her work using this method, it does not prove effective or beneficial in the long run.

The math tutor must be able to review and/or teach all the relevant material your child needs to know while making sure that he or she is able to obtain the necessary math solutions to complete his or her homework. In addition, the math tutor should always strive to challenge your child by making him or her obtain math solutions to the hardest problems possible. Using this method, your child will be prepared to answer any questions that the teacher may ask in class, on a homework assignment, or on a test. Initially your child may feel uneasy about working on the hardest problems within a given topic when receiving math homework help, but this technique has proven highly effective for many students who then feel prepared to tackle a variety of more challenging topics in their math class. In other words, it is always advisable to stay a step (or two!) ahead of the teacher so that the student has time to understand the material he or she has to cover before working on it in class.

When your child is able to cover material before it is covered in class, he or she feels more relaxed and eager to stay alert in class and stay ahead of the curriculum. Appropriate math homework help can ensure that the student maintains his or her enthusiasm in math class and does not feel overwhelmed every time a test is administered. Many students cram all night every time a quiz or test is given and still do not get the desired results! With the right math tutor, your child will be able to simply review topics when a test or final comes up since he or she would have covered them thoroughly with the math tutor, weeks in advance.

It should be noted that the tutor should not become a substitute for hard work and preparation on the part of the student. Remember that your child must challenge him or herself to solve math problems and get math solutions by working diligently and regularly on math even when he or she is not working with the math tutor. The tutor can help to facilitate this process by assigning homework problems that your child should work on as well as helping to keep your child focused on achieving the benchmarks within each topic.

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How To Choose A Math Tutor In New York

Sometimes the regular school classroom, for a variety of reasons, does not sufficiently improve a student's math skills and achievements. In this situation a math tutor can bring a new perspective to the learning experience that can make the difference between a passing and a failing grade.

The decision to include a math tutor into a student's learning experience is a personal one and there are no generalizations that can be made about who should or should not be tutored. Students who are in need of math tutoring generally fall into two categories: there's the student who is able to complete all the school work, studies hard, and yet continues to have a hard time grasping the concepts and applications of math; then there's the student who is unmotivated and disheartened and who is just not doing well with any school work. Both kinds of student can benefit from the expertise of a math tutor.

There are many scenarios that could cause a student to have anxiety about math. One of the symptoms of math anxiety is that a student will memorize formulas without actually understanding how the problems are solved. If this habit of just working mechanically gets too deeply ingrained, students can find that they require extra help to get out of the "math hole" that they find themselves in and only then begin to adopt a true problem-solving approach -- one which can be useful in a variety of different situations.

It is important to stress to the student that needing a tutor is not in any way a reflection of his or her intelligence. Especially with young people, the thought of being "different" or being labeled as "slow" is extremely counterproductive. Grasping the mechanics of mathematics is usually about HOW we think and not about how WELL we think. A student should consider a tutor as more of a personal trainer for an academic subject than as a punishment for doing poorly. Having a tutor can make a dramatic difference for a student who sincerely wants to confront a problem with math.

Getting the Student On Board

The first thing to consider before getting a math tutor is always to ask the student how he or she feels about the idea. Students who are receptive to the thought of working with a tutor, and who realize they need help, are much more likely to benefit from tutoring. Imposing a new teacher in a close one-on-one environment when is student is resistant to the whole idea, can simply create added pressure. Frustration over low performance in the context of the social and academic pressures of school is enough on its own to cause stress, on top of the prospect of working with yet another teacher. So it's important to help the student to understand how useful a personal tutor can be.

The Parent's Homework

After doing your research by searching online, reading your local classifieds or asking your school or people in your community for a referral, you should have a list of several good candidates to interview.

Some questions you should ask yourself in advance include: Where do you prefer that the tutoring to take place? How much of a budget do you have for math tutoring throughout the year? And what does your child and your child's school consider to be the attainable goals for using a tutor.

How To Interview a Tutor

Always ask to meet the tutor in person. This way, you can address all your questions and get your answers right away. You will also be able to get a sense of what the chemistry might be between tutor and student. Here are some questions to consider asking when interviewing a prospective tutor:

* What is your experience in math tutoring?

* What are your qualifications?

* How would you describe your teaching style?

* How do you handle difficult situations especially if the student doesn't pay attention?

* How long is a regular tutoring session?

* Can you extend regular tutoring hours if the need arises?

* What are your preferences as to where the tutoring sessions should be held?

* Do you have experience working with my child's age group?

* Are you open to consulting with my child's classroom teacher?

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