Tutoring Tips

By Larry Martinek

Sometimes it’s hard to know when your child needs tutoring help with school.

The stigma of low grades and bad scores can be very negative on your child’s self esteem and the longer it takes for help to come, the worse it can get for him or her.

So when should you look for a tutor?

“There are a number of signs to look for in your children,” says Larry Martinek, founder of Mathnasium Learning Centers, an after school math program. “Look for things like retention and boredom. If your child is getting her homework done and achieving adequate grades, then she probably isn’t getting everything out of school that she could.”

Signs of trouble

Martinek also advises parents to look for things like difficulty doing homework, poor test grades, unfinished assignments and increased frustration or change in attitude.

“They all mean one thing: a student who needs help learning. But it’s important to show your child that they don’t need to feel ashamed for asking for help.”

Before finding a tutor, you must speak with your child about the issue, Martinek says. “It’s important to let your child know that this is not a punishment. Tutoring will give him a chance to be involved in other things. It will give him time to play outside. He needs to know that he hasn’t done anything wrong and that tutoring can be fun.”

Make learning fun

If a child resists tutoring, how can parents convince him or her that it’s necessary?

“It’s important to help them build their confidence,” Martinek says. “Give incentives like, ‘You can get nice dessert if you get an ‘A’ on a test.’ Give them rewards for good grades.”

Once you and your child agree, seek recommendations on where to find a good tutor in your community. Talk with your friends, your child’s teacher, school principal or guidance counselor , and also check the Yellow Pages or the Web as well as with other parents. Good tutors are hard to find.

Once you selected your candidates, look at their background and not only credentials, but also personality and attitude. Consider the tutor’s style of teaching and whether it meshes well with your child’s ability to learn and personality. All these will go a long way toward your child’s educational growth.

Larry Martinek has been a classroom teacher for more than 30 years and today is chief instructional officer with Mathnasium in addition to serving as a private consultant on education. For tutoring information, Mathnasium is online at www.mathnasium.com.