Do you feel that your child needs tutoring, but can’t afford the hefty fees which national tutoring companies charge? You can find affordable tutoring for your child locally, and you may even find that the less flashy approach of a local service is a better fit.
Find Affordable Tutoring: Determine your child’s needs.
Before you try to find affordable tutoring for your child, you’ll need a clear idea of the kind of help he needs. If you help your child frequently with homework, you probably already know his strong points and the areas which pose obstacles for him. You can also talk to your child’s teachers to get a sense of how your child can benefit from tutoring.
Draw up a list of the subjects with which your child is struggling, and note the specific skills he needs to acquire in order to improve in these subjects. With this “shopping list” in hand, you’ll be better prepared to find affordable tutoring.
Find Affordable Tutoring: Look locally.
Unless you live in a large city like New York, locally owned tutoring services should be significantly less expensive than most of the large national tutoring chains. Most offer flexible payment options for different budget needs. You may find affordable tutoring the old-fashioned way-the good old Yellow Pages. Look under “tutoring” or “educational consultants.”
You can also find affordable tutoring by contacting your local college or university’s education department or job placement center; both may have lists of students who have teaching or tutoring experience. And don’t forget ads in the “services” category of your local paper. While it’s true that anyone can place an ad and call themselves a tutor, you can quickly spot the folks who have experience; and many list their hourly rate upfront.
Find Affordable Tutoring: Ask the right questions.
In trying to find affordable tutoring for your child, you’ll need to know what you’re looking for in a tutor beyond what she charges. Say you’ve located a tutoring service with affordable rates and an excellent reputation. After your initial meeting with the owner or manager of the service, you’ll have the chance to meet potentialtutors. Your initial contact may be by phone, which is probably best for all involved: you can get a sense of the tutor’s experience, expertise, and personal style without the potential awkwardness of a face-to-face “interview.”
There’s no need to emphasize that you want to find affordable tutoring; the price is determined by the service, not the tutor. Now is the time to find out what this particular tutor can do for your child. Describe the subjects and skills which your child needs to work on, and ask the tutor about her experience in teaching these subjects and skills. You may need more than one tutor for different subjects-the math whiz may be lousy at grammar, and the English major may have trouble balancing her checkbook. That’s fine; you’re paying by the hour, so it shouldn’t matter if in terms of price if those hours are split between two tutors.
Keep these points in mind when interviewing tutors who work for themselves. And whether you’re working with a service or an individual, don’t be shy about asking for references when trying to find affordable tutoring. Any company or individual should be able to provide references upon request.
Find Affordable Tutoring: Make sure the tutor is the right fit for your child.
If you want to find affordable tutoring, you don’t want to sacrifice the quality of the experience. When you do have that first face-to-face meeting with a potential tutor, look for signs that your child feels comfortable with the tutor, and that the tutor is making an effort to connect with your child. A tutor may be brilliant in her area of expertise, and she may have helped many children, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be able to teach your child. In your effort to find affordable tutoring, keep in mind that a poor personality match isn’t a good bargain. Keep interviewing tutors until you find that special person who can build a working rapport with your child.
