Should my child have a tutor?

By Angela Rudderham, Director of Turning Tides Community Outreach

Every parent wants their child to succeed in school and have a future full of opportunities and possibilities. We send them to school each day with all their supplies and a balanced lunch and trust that our educators will work to develop our child’s true potential and foster in them a desire to learn. 

Unfortunately, not every child’s true potential is unlocked from simply attending school. 

In fact, 15-year-olds in Nova Scotia scored statistically lower than the Canadian average according to Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey 2006.  Math scores in Nova Scotia were some of the country’s lowest as found in Measuring up: Canadian Results of the OECD PISA Study Ottawa, Statistics Canada, 2007.  Literacy was the lowest in the country and the dropout rate was 8.6% says Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey 2010.  Only 28% of students from Nova Scotia will go on to university and 8% will go on to a college or trade education (Labour force survey 2006). 

All of this evidence tells us our children will most likely need other supports to ensure their success.  The question is, when is additional support necessary?

You may want to consider tutoring if:

Your child still needs help mastering basic skills.  Teachers will move forward whether your child has mastered the skill or not. If basic skills are not mastered than the student will struggle when relying on them to solve more complex problems. These skills need to be re- taught until mastered.

Your child struggles with organization, working independently or lacks study skills. Often the brightest students who learn quickly may lack organizational skills or become overwhelmed when faced with a testing situation. Anyone can benefit from learning how to organize notes, break down large assignments, meet due dates or discover how they best take in information.

Your child has a learning disability.  This will interfere with the learning process in areas such as the intake, storage, processing, retrieval and/or output of information. A tutoring service that has extensive experience and training in helping students with learning disabilities should be able to show the student how they learn best and provide strategies for independent success.

Your child is struggling with big life changes.  A move, divorce, new school, family issues can all contribute to your child being distracted from their school work. Working closely with a tutor will ensure a smoother transition.

Your child struggles with behavioral, social or emotional needs.  Often these needs can contribute to missed instruction time. A tutor with experience working with students who have had similar needs will often have a large tool box of strategies to draw from to keep your child engaged and on track.

Your child has missed a lot of school due to medical or other reasons. A tutor can go back and teach what was missed and help the student gain back the confidence that they may have lost. They can also work around the student’s schedule.

You want to give your child the competitive edge to get ahead.  There is always room for improvement. Striving to do our personal best is an excellent habit to develop at any age.

Your child needs homework support.  Parents, homework and the student can sometimes be an unpleasant combination to say the least. In most homes both parents are working or have other major responsibilities and there just isn’t time to give your child the homework support they need without it taking on a rushed or negative tone. Let someone else be the “bad “guy and save your parent/ child time for the important stuff like hugs and kisses.

The right tutoring service will be able to match your child’s needs with the right program. They should understand the importance of rappot building between the student and the tutor. The tutor should be willing to work with your child’s teacher, provide regular updates and reports and improvements should be noticed after a few months. Be wary of services that will not let you observe or listen in on sessions at least once or have no way to measure the acquisition of new skills.

There is little doubt that anyone can benefit from tutoring.  Do your homework and shop around.  Ask questions and compare services and prices until you find the right fit.

Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed programs for students, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals.  Turning Tides Community Outreach offers tutoring services to meet the academic, social, behavioural and organizatonal needs of any child.  For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).