Summer is a time for a child to be with his or her friends, relax, and try new things (i.e. sports, swimming lessons, camping out). It is also the time of year that parents wonder how to help their son or daughter get an extra boost for the next school year, especially if their child is struggling with one or more academic areas. Many children when they have the summer off and then return to school in the fall have lost some of what they have learned the previous school year. If a child is already struggling with an academic area, the summer provides an excellent opportunity for them to maintain and gain new skills to help them for upcoming school year. One way to help out a child in this situation is to hire a tutor for the summer.
How to Find a Tutor
Listed below are several ways to locate a tutor:
- Contact your child's school
- Contact your church
- Contact other parents in your community
- Contact educational agencies in your community
The Dos in Finding the Right Tutor
There are several things that you need to let potential tutors know prior to deciding which person would do the best job for your child. Listed below are these dos:
- Why you want your child to be tutored
- Which content area(s) you would like for child to be tutored
- How often you want your child to be tutored (some parents will request one to three times a week for 30 to 1 hour per tutoring session)
- How much you could pay for tutoring
- Activities and strategies that will be used
- How progress will be documented and shared with you
- Ask for references
Preparing for the Tutor
Unless your child's tutor is family or a friend of the family, you will need to provide him or her with needed information. Listed below are the important facts that tutors need to know or provided to them:
- Whether or not your child has disability
- Whether or not your child has been tutored before and if so, by whom
- Skills that your child needs help with
- Instructional level of your child (i.e. your son has an instructional level of third grade for math)
- Child's hobbies
- Child's interests
- Next school year's textbook
Summer is a time for children to have fun, but also to continue learning new things. Tutoring is a way that can help students learn and/or relearn new skills that can give them an extra boost for the upcoming school year. This little boost can also help improve a child's self-esteem and confidence. It is also important to make sure that your child has an opportunity to be kid as well. Learning can be fun and it can be balanced with free time as well.
