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How to Find a Tutor
Tips for Hiring A Tutor or Music Teacher
by David Roth
I've lost track of exactly how many years experience I have as a private tutor, but at least 12 years. I've helped more students pass their classes than I can remember and I also help people to find tutors. Three places to look would be...
(1) Try our list of tutors: Find-A-Tutor
(2) Craigslist search under your state and city then under "Services" and "Lessons".
(3) Local.yahoo.com enter your zip code or city and state and then search for tutor.
If you are trying to find a tutor or music teacher, here are some things to consider...
Get References!
Tutoring is a business and any tutor you hire will have had customers. You should get at least three referals and contact them! If you are a parent, it's best that those other references be parents also, so that you can know how well the tutor works with children. Yes, this is for safety, but also just for good business sense -- you want to employee a reliable and effective tutor.
Play it safe!
You should only have the tutor come to your house if at least one adult will be home. As a tutor, I usually meet students at a coffeeshop or library or some other public area. If you followed up on your references, then you should be getting a trustworthy tutor, but as a parent or student, use some common sense and just be careful!
$hop around!
This is the main reason I built this website!
I recommend going with a private individual and NOT a tutoring company. This is because tutoring companies do not always hire knowledgable tutors, or so I've been told by several students who've been to such places. Also tutoring companies are expensive. Usually tutoring is done at their company's location and these companies pay for overhead, management, secretaries, etc. And they make a profit! On the other hand, a private tutor has none of those expenses, and so can pass the savings on to you.
Most private tutors charge $15 to $25 per hour. Most tutoring companies charge at least $50 per hour!
One slightly comical sales pitch of tutoring companies is that they say their tutors are "certified tutors"... These certifications are issued by the tutoring company! Yes, it's silly, but there it is. Also tutoring companies will often give the student a series of evalutation examinations before tutoring even begins. A good tutor can tell the level of learning a student has right off the bat and these evaluations are part of what you pay for. A typical private tutor will get right to work and not waste your time or money.
In larger cities where living expenses are high, tutoring fees might be double that of what you would find in a medium sized town. Also expect to pay more for subects that are extremely difficult or require a tutor with a great deal of knowledge and experince. For most subjects, if you pay much more than $25/hour, you are being taken!
In-person Tutoring vs. Online Tutoring vs. Homework Help Via Email
There are many good online tutors in India who charge quite a lot less than American tutors, but online communication is nowhere near as efficient as face-to-face tutoring. Therefore even though you might be paying less, the tutoring may not be as effective. For just answering a few simple questions this might be an ideal situation. If a student needs quite a lot of help, however, I would have to recommend an in-person (face-to-face) tutor.
Online (email or chat room) tutors are great for homework help. Help through email is often less costly than real-time chat room help.
Our website for homework help through email: www.tutor-homework.com
Also keep in mind that you often get what you pay for. (FYI: online tutoring is NOT effective for learning music, so you music students would be better off buying a video or taped lesson than paying for online music lessons.)
Is Your Tutor or Music Teacher Experienced?
When you search for a tutor or music teacher, keep in mind that the experience of the tutor is important. The tutor's or music teacher's credentials (degree or certification) are also important, but not as much. If the tutor or music teacher does not seem to be helping you, then you should either get another tutor or try something different in your study habbits / practice.
Often for the more basic levels, a tutor or music teacher with a degree is not necessary. For example if a student is studying basic math or introductory algebra, you might consider hiring a high school or college student with no degree, as long as they can explain the material and communicate well. This might save you a great deal of money!
One of the most important things that people often overlook is the communication ability of the tutor -- does the tutor "jive" well with the student? Do they understand each other? If not, get another tutor!
Learning Is Ultimately the Responsibility of the Student!
A tutor or a music teacher is only a tool. True understanding of any school material will only come from work which takes time. This is up to the student. For a tutor to explain everything you need to know would be time-consuming and therefore prohibitively expensive! Once you find a tutor, The best way for you to use a tutor is to try to do as much of the work yourself as possible, then bring questions to the tutor so that he/she can smooth over the rough areas for you.
If you rely on the tutor to explain everything and if you do most of your studying only when the tutor is present, then your grades will probably not be very good. This is especially true with difficult subjects such as math, chemistry, & phsyics.
Active Learning/Problem Solving Is THE BEST Method of Studying.
Parents, if your child is having a hard time studying, talk with them about how they can improve their study habits / study methods.
Studying... The best way to study any topic -- math, chemistry, physics, history, English, biology, foreign language, etc. -- is this:
Read the chapter somewhat quickly, but don't expect full understanding while you are reading; that will come later. Don't dwell too much on a topic if you are not understanding it completely as you're reading.
Take notes as you are reading! This helps you to organize your thoughts as well as to stay actively involved -- and not fall asleep ;-)
If there are sample problems throughout the chapter, work those problems!
THEN... at the end of the chapter (and maybe throughout the chapter) there will be problems for you to solve. THIS is where the true understanding should come for most students. Usually there are odd numbered problems answered in the back of the book. DO THOSE PROBLEMS!!! It is VERY important that students get feedback so that they can know if they are solving the problems correctly. That feedback comes from trying to solve the problem and seeing if you get the correct answer (often shown in the back of the book). Getting the right answer isn't the important part while studying, rather it is the PROCESS used to get the right answer that is important and once you understand that, the right answer is easy to find.
If you come to a problem that you are having difficulty with, save that problem to ask your teacher or tutor about. Do NOT forget that problem or ignore it because it is important that you understand it before moving too much further along in the book.
By solving as many problems as you can, you will be well-prepared for the exams and/or quizzes that the teacher will give you in class. In fact, you might be so well-prepared that it seems too easy.
Yes, this takes a lot of time. Often this can take an hour or two per day (more difficult topics/levels might require more time) for each subject... At least 5 days of the week. Practice is very imporatant!
Do NOT Use a Tutor For Cheating!
If you rely on a tutor to give you answers, you will not do very good on the exams and quizzes. Your homework grades may improve quite a bit if you do this, but your exam scores will suffer and your grade will not improve. Using a tutor for cheating is a bad idea.
Instead what my students have had great success with is this: Do all the homework problems that you can and show them to your tutor and ask him or her to point out any mistakes that you have made. Ask the tutor to explain any problems you could not do. And then try a similar problem yourself. This way you are getting feedback and learning from your mistakes.
Although many nurses, doctors, airplane mechanics, lawyers, and countless other professionals will tell you that they seldom use the math, chemistry, or physics, these subjects ARE required by colleges & universities. And also these subjects are on many standardized exams such as the ACT, SAT, AP exams, GRE, MCAT, Nursing exams, etc. So to have the tutor do the work while you watch will only hurt you -- you need to do as much of the work yourself as you possible can. This is what I try to get my students to do.
At the same time, a good tutor should also try to make sure the student turns in good homework. Is this cheating? That's a matter of opinion and while I discourage giving out answers, I will look over the homework to make sure it looks like it will get a good grade. As a parent, you want your son or daughter to get good grades AND learn the material, and this is what I strive for when I tutor.
I'll repeat this, b/c it's important:
Play it Safe! -- ALWAYS MEET IN A PUBLIC PLACE! -- or at least where there will be another adult present.
That's for the protection of the student AND the tutor.
If the student and tutor need to meet at the student's or tutors home, make sure there will always be more than one person (an adult!) besides the student at home. DO NOT make an exception for this rule.
Parents, don't be afraid to ask to sit in on a couple of tutoring sessions to see how things are going. Take an interest in your kids learning! It doesn't hurt for you to take an interest in learning as well! Kids look to their parents as role modles. If you're interested in learning, it will rub off on your kids!
Hope that helps!
Take care,
David Roth
www.tutor-homework.com