When your child is struggling at school or you are wanting to enrich your child's learning experience, tutoring may be the right fit for your family. When selecting a tutoring provider here are 6 things to consider:
Tutoring Format: What is the tutor actually going to be doing for the session? And what are you wanting from the tutor? We offer a range of programming but our most popular programs are our responsive teaching-tutoring. We work hard to identify areas of need and provide intensive remediation which is in the form of active teaching and guided practice. Another popular programming option is student-driven tutoring. Students come with questions related to a specific subject and the tutor reteaches practice problems and helps the student make sense of the content knowledge. Some tutoring providers only offer certain types of tutoring - make sure it is the right fit for your child.
Research Aligned Programming: You want your child to be receiving programming that has a track record of success and is backed by evidence-based practices. This is particularly important for early literacy tutoring. Programs that are "Science of Reading" aligned or use "Structured Literacy" are great for early literacy. Be wary of programs that advertise leveled readers, encourage picture cues instead of decoding or advertise as balanced literacy.
Attitude-Vibe: When your child comes to tutoring do they feel safe to ask questions? Do they feel comfortable and engaged with their tutor? Does the tutor explain things in a way that makes sense to your child? If it doesn't make sense to your child, can the tutor explain it again in a way that does make sense? For younger students, what activities or games will be utilized for the child to enjoy learning? For students who come in with negative attitudes to learning, what will your tutor do in order for your child to enjoy tutoring?
Professionalism/Safety: What procedures are in place to protect your child? Does the tutor have any training on professional boundaries (relevant for private tutoring) or procedures that keep your child safe (relevant for tutoring companies)? Finding an OCT teacher as a tutor is a great option because they have a professional designation to uphold. A tutoring organization is also a great option because there are levels of accountability. Practically, ensuring tutors have a vulnerable sectors check and insurance are important steps to keeping your child safe. Most importantly, stay in tune with your child and listen to what they say.
Subject Knowledge: Does the tutor know what they need to know? For intermediate and high school grades (Grade 8-12), this makes sense. If you are seeking math support, are they comfortable with the content knowledge and have experience teaching or tutoring it?
Tutor-Child Ratios: How much support will your child be receiving? Many well known tutoring companies offer tutoring in a small group setting where the child shares a tutor with more then 2 other children. Group sessions are not necessarily cheaper either. At Latch, we offer mostly 1:1 tutoring and have started offering a few small group classes. Our small group classes are unique as we only group students together who have similar learning needs so the learning and tutor support is directed to all students in the group. These are all things that are helpful to consider when finding tutoring to match your child's needs.
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