When Students Need Tutoring Throughout a Course
Tutoring is a good idea when a student has issues with a grade-level concept or course. The earlier the difficulty is addressed, the better the outcome. It gives reassurance about the steps taken and how to apply them. This leads to a more complete understanding of the math.
Daily Tutoring
If a student is taking the course five days a week, tutoring shouldn’t be more than two or three days in that time frame. Sure, the tutor stands to makes more money. That goes without saying. The tutor also already possesses the knowledge that the learner should have.
What’s in it for the student? Finishing a course with a decent grade is one benefit. That would come through help studying for tests and quizzes. Assistance with a concept early on should make succeeding ones easy enough to learn without tutoring. The need for continuous or frequent meetings should be closely examined.
If tutoring is done every day that the student has course, is that for homework help? Some tutors specialize in that. In fact, it’s allowed. It isn’t wrong in any legal or ethical way. However, it is important for the tutor to realize when a student stops being responsible. One example would be the student not doing any work because there will be an upcoming tutoring session anyway.
Why the Goal Is Independence
For the student, tutoring is supposed to develop independence. That is unlikely to happen if there’s tutoring more than a few times weekly. Dependence on a tutor means that the student can’t properly function alone in the subject. That’s contradictory to tutoring. Technically, it becomes teaching, and the student already has a teacher presenting lessons from the beginning. That means the kid has two instructors for the same subject. Give that some thought.
A student who cannot survive a grade-level course without a tutor’s help admittedly isn’t ready for it. Stated another way, the person who can’t pass a course without daily tutoring or for the entire school year doesn’t meet the requirements for the subject. Taking a lower or more fundamental course would apply in that case.
How Appearances Factor into It
Saving face can be a major factor in the choice to allow so much tutoring. Parents make that decision with their money and are accountable for it. The shame of not graduating with peers, the possibility of others knowing that, and the stigma of finishing later all weigh heavily on families. They shouldn’t. “Bragworthiness” is a big deal. A lot of time and effort is behind the announcement, “Johnny’s about to graduate.” Night school, the GED, and community college all exist to help with such less than ideal situations.
Employment Being the Point
All an employer wants to know is if an applicant has finished what they started, namely basic education. Doing it is the important thing, not when it happened. Learning is forever, and school isn’t the only place where it lives.
Solutions
If you need help with your kid’s math, let’s talk. Being behind doesn’t matter. It’s a specialty. Hope is included.
