Does Your Child Need a Tutor?

By Angela Gartner

Classrooms around the country are filled with kids who are struggling with their schoolwork. As a parent, you want to do everything you can to help your child succeed in school and tutoring services are an option for extra help outside the school system.

“Tutors can be a mentor, a coach, a motivator and have positive influence which can have a huge impact on certain kids,” says John Kusik, vice president of Northcoast Tutoring.

Choosing a tutoring service has to fit your child’s specific need. The first step is to find out if your child really needs a tutor.

“The biggest challenge of the parent cycle is figuring out something is wrong,” says Greg Yasutake, executive director of Huntington Learning Center in Broadview Heights. “A comment I get from parents is they wish they brought their children here a lot sooner."

 The first indicator that a student needs a tutor is poor progress reports and grades, experts say.

“Based on feedback from the teachers and what parents are observing at home, this could indicate your child needs help,” Sylvan Learning Centers Director Dawn Gallagher says.

It may seem your child is consistently struggling in certain subjects around grade time or your child says he or she hates school.

“Children may start disliking or don’t want to go school,” Kusik says. “All of a sudden, your child doesn’t like the teacher or is reluctant to communicate about school.”

He or she may consistently give reasons not to attend the school day. You may see your child getting frustrated easily about school and there is a lack of motivation to get the work done.

“If you (the parent) are seeing any signs that your child is falling behind, engage in the tutoring (process) immediately,” Yasutake says.

Most tutoring services provide diagnostic testing that help identify the specific areas in which your child is struggling.

“Subjects like math have foundations that build upon each other. Having a tutor at home may be a short- term fix because your child may have foundation issues that were never addressed,” Yasutake says. “Your child may not know what the issues are but we are able to figure out the specific areas of skills deficiencies (though testing).”

Learning RX in Mayfield Village, and Huntington Learning Centers, use diagnostic testing to customize individualized curriculum and tutoring plans. Cynthia Johnson, director of training at Learning RX, says cognitive skills might be the underlying cause of your child struggling in school. Her tutors, whom she calls “Brain Trainers,” use the tests to diagnosis cognitive skills issues and develop one-on-one training plans.

 In addition, most services evaluate the student by speaking with teachers and by parent’s observations.

“We do offer diagnostic testing if it’s necessary but we never require it,” says Scott Best, owner of Club Z Tutoring. “We also talk to teachers because they know what (subjects) students are struggling with.”

Your child may be struggling for different reasons and most tutoring services provide life-skill training in organization and study habits.

“We learn students have a planner but don’t keep it updated or some will have bad grades because of not turning in homework,” Best says. “Club Z Tutoring teaches study and organization skills, which every student can use.”

Sylvan Learning Centers utilizes a positive reinforcement reward system in its 3:1 ratio tutoring sessions.

“The children can earn tokens after finishing the session to spend in our (reward) store,” Gallagher says. “Our goal is to get them caught up to the current grade level by working on a skill gap.”

 As a parent, you can find a tutor who meets your child’s individual needs. Tutors can be in-home, center-based, specialized in certain subjects, one-on-one or group settings. Tutoring services may have the students work on the center’s curriculum or homework brought home from school.

Your child may spend two to three hours a week or more with a tutor depending on specific needs. In addition, average price ranges of tutoring services are $30-$70 per hour depending on the program and the individual child’s needs.

In-home tutoring provides individual attention with the one-on-one service.

“Having the same tutor one-on-one is the best type of tutoring. The tutor can strictly focus on that individual’s needs and learning style,” Best says.

The child can feel comfortable in their own environment while parents do not have to deal with transportation issues.

“There is a convenience factor of not having to drive (when using in-home tutoring). Students are more comfortable at home and more at ease with the tutor,” Kusik says.

Tutors may be specialized in certain subjects. Most tutoring services have certified teachers who are currently working in schools or retired. Some may have college-degreed individuals who specialized in that subject or college students working toward a degree in that field.

One tutoring service in the area specializes exclusively in Math. Mathnasium, located in Willoughby, holds group sessions during the week in which students can drop in and get tutoring at their convenience.

“Students work on homework first,” says Dan McPadden, owner/director. “The student can take a diagnosis assessment. We create an individualized workbook based on the test to strengthen any underlying foundation concepts. (If kids have) confidence in math, we find that carries into other subjects.”

Tutoring services help kids gain confidence and improves their self-esteem. Due to tutoring, a child may finally feel successful in a subject that he or she may have struggled with for a long time.

“Grades are starting to improve, the student has a smile on his or her face and starts to enjoy going to school,” Best says. “Once the student has the ability to do school work, the parents can (and will) see the positive change in attitudes.”

Angela Gartner is a freelance writer who lives with her family in Northeast Ohio.

More Resources

Visit Learning RX at www.learningrx.com/mayfield-village/ or contact 440-461-8243 to learn more information on cognitive skills testing and training provided.

Visit Club Z Tutoring at www.clubztutoring.com or contact 440-914-0155 for more information on in-home tutoring services.

Visit Huntington Learning Centers at www.huntingtonlearning.com or contact 800-CAN-LEARN. SAT/ACT prep available and tutoring pre-K-12 th grade.

Visit Northcoast Tutoring at www.northcoasted.com or contact 440-914-0200 for in-home tutoring service information.

Visit Mathnasium at www.mathnasium.com/willoughby or contact 440-942-MATH (6284). The service exclusively helps students who are struggling in math pre K-12 th grade. SAT/ACT prep available.

Visit Sylvan Learning Center at www.educate.com or call 1-800-Educate for more information and locations.

Visit Tutoring Club at www.tutoringclub.com/Ohio.asp to find a center location near you.