There are basically four main learning styles for children (and adults): Visual, Auditory, Tactile, and Kinesthetic. Most children fall into a combination of styles, but you can usually identify one style that seems to be the most successful.
Four Basic Learning Styles
Visual Learners learn through seeing. Showing works better than explaining.
Auditory Learners learn through listening. Explaining and discussing things is the best way to reach them.
Tactile Learners learn through touch. Being able to use their hands, reading, writing, and even doodling or drawing, helps them learn.
Kinesthetic Learners need to move and do. The kinesthetic learner may have trouble sitting still and needs to be able to be active in order to stay engaged.
No surprise that experts don’t all agree, and many of them break down these four basic learning styles into more specific niches. The important thing is to be able to recognize what works for your child, and use that knowledge to help them succeed.
Practical Application in the Classroom
Now imagine that you have a classroom of twenty students, and they all have slightly different learning styles that work for them. And they are all at different levels of comprehension and mastery of a specific subject or concept. It is clearly a huge challenge to try to meet those individual needs and ensure that everyone in the class is “getting it”.
If you are the parent of a student who may be struggling to keep up, or just needs a little extra one-on-one attention to achieve mastery of a subject, private tutoring is an effective option. Even the most accomplished students benefit from having the teacher’s undivided attention to ask questions and get answers.
Pandemic Learning Loss
This is even more true over the past year where we have seen students who normally don’t have a problem in school who are now falling behind. It may be directly related to the switch to online learning, part-time school, and the inherent inadequacies of these models, or it may also be related to the social isolation, uncertainty, and anxiety they feel.
Whatever the cause, studies are showing impressive gains for students who are trying to combat COVID learning loss by receiving online tutoring. Scientific American has published data from an analysis of 96 different tutoring models, and found that “80 percent of the studies led to markedly improved outcomes, with more than half of the studies reporting large gains as a result of these programs. In education research, such consensus is a rarity, and the consistency and magnitude of the results are both remarkable and encouraging.”
An Italian study has shown that middle school students who received three hours of online tutoring a week saw a 4.7 percent boost in performance in math, English and Italian. With six hours of tutoring support, improvement doubled. They have seen similar results in online tutoring programs in the United States and the results of these different tutoring programs “suggest that tutoring is a key tool in keeping students engaged and combatting the growing COVID-19 learning loss.”
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Trained educators are able to assess a student’s performance and learning style and can adapt lessons to suit. Tutors who are subject matter experts but are not trained teachers may know their subject cold, but it doesn’t mean they are equipped to teach a struggling student.
At TutorUp, all of our tutors are certified, background-checked, experienced teachers, and we match your student’s specific needs with the perfect tutor from our database of over 3,000 professionals. We facilitate the matchup, you schedule sessions at your convenience, and the teacher/tutor provides session recaps for every tutoring session.
We have three different solutions for families looking for personalized online tutoring
Individual Sessions
To see if our online tutoring is the right fit for your student, we offer the opportunity to purchase one hour at a time, or you can take advantage of our introductory offer for new students, where you can purchase 3 hours of tutoring and get a 4th hour for free.
Package Pricing
For students who would benefit from more than a couple of tutoring sessions, we offer package pricing at a discount from the individual session price. You can purchase 8, 16, or 24 hours and they never expire, so you can use them as needed.
Subscription Pricing
Our very best value is our subscription model, where you sign up for 4, 8, 16, or 24 hours of tutoring per month, on a recurring basis. Unused hours roll over to the next month, and you may cancel anytime.
Remember the unique smell of books and paper that greeted you the moment you stepped in the library? And the shelves and shelves of stories both real and fictional, promising hours of distraction from “real” life? How about your favorite book store? So many possibilities to choose from, it was hard to decide. And there’s the feel of a book in your hands, the weight and substance of it. No batteries or electronic cables to contend with. No blue light burning into your retinas, disturbing your sleep and fracturing your ability to concentrate.
If your kids are becoming digital zombies, addicted to the instant gratification offered by their various “plugged in” devices, it may be time to return to the joys of reading an actual physical book.
It Started with Email
Back in the early days of email, it was a special little thrill to hear “You’ve got mail!” and to see that the mailbox flag was up and an envelope was peeking out. Paper mail was boring. Or at least it was common. Cards, letters, announcements, invitations, bills, advertisements… they were ordinary. Gradually all of these communiques stopped arriving in the U.S. mail and were all delivered “paperless” and “digitally”. We’ve come full circle and are now at the point where an actual handwritten note or letter that appears in your physical mailbox (when you remember to check it) is an unexpected delight. When someone takes the time to actually hand write something, fold it up, stuff it in an envelope, buy postage and mail it to you, you treasure it more than a dozen e-cards that took 10 seconds and a few mouseclicks to send.
A similar transformation has happened with books. In the first 10 months of 2020, ebook sales registered nearly a billion dollars. With a “b”. Audiobooks have also increased tremendously and in the same time period reached sales of $56.9 million. Downloaded audio is ten times that amount at $553.6 million.
The good news is that physical paper books, both hardback and paperback, are still outselling their digital counterparts with hardback revenues for the first 10 months of 2020 at $2.6 billion, and paperbacks at $2.1 billion.
The Effect of the Pandemic and Online School
Many families have struggled with balancing computer time and other activities, especially since quarantine and lockdowns are severely restricting options for kids. Adding to that, many children are required to spend hours a day in front of a computer, tablet, or other digital device instead of attending school in person. Parents who have been trying to limit their child’s time online are now finding that they have to force their children to spend more time online.
A study by the National Institutes of Health found that children who spent more than two hours a day using screens scored lower on language and thinking tests. Some children who spent more than seven hours a day of screen time actually experienced physical changes to their brain structure, affecting critical thinking and reasoning.
According to EdSource, children ages 8-12 in the U.S. spend four to six hours a day watching or using screens on average, and teens spend up to nine hours. This is exacerbated with additional requirements for school and homework that has to be completed online, due to school closings.
Offering an Alternative
Children who are oversaturated with screen time need a break. If your local library is open, a weekly visit is a free way to introduce (or reintroduce) the joy of reading a physical book to your children, regardless of age. If that’s not an option where you live, you can always contact your local bookstore and order books that they can ship to you or you can pick up curbside. A quick online search reveals that there are many sources for discount and bargain books you can order. There are even sources for free books for kids. This list from The Penny Hoarder includes free physical books, PDF copies you can download and print, and ebooks.
The Little Free Library is the world’s largest book-sharing movement and now has over 100,000 book-sharing boxes worldwide. Their motto is “Take a Book – Share a Book” and they encourage book-sharing in all types of communities. To see if there is one near you, check their world map. These little library boxes in Albuquerque, New Mexico are made from converted newspaper vending boxes, built by Bob Shipley, with instructions on how to do it yourself. Many communities also informally set up shelves and racks in public areas that encourage the same kind of book-sharing as the Little Free Library, and a phone call to your city or Chamber of Commerce could point you to their locations.
Encouraging a love of reading is a gift you can give to your child that will pay off their whole life, and giving them a break from the digital onslaught will benefit their minds, their eyesight, and their psychological health. For a list of the benefits of reading a printed book as opposed to digital, check out this list from ReviewThis. This gift-giving season, consider adding to or starting a library of physical books for your child. And yourself!
Okay, you can convince me that it’s beneficial for me to be positive, but that’s a real challenge this year! Check out these expert tips on reducing negative influences along with ways you and your family can boost your happiness and tranquility.
If your kids are becoming digital zombies, addicted to the instant gratification offered by their various “plugged in” devices, it may be time to return to the joys of reading an actual physical book.
Children have different learning styles and unique capabilities and needs. Need help finding the best tutorial support for your child? We have recommendations.
We are pleased to let you know that TutorUp has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau. We are always striving to provide the best for our students and our tutors, and we’re proud of the association with the BBB.
There is definitely a strong link between positivity and good health. The Mayo Clinic reports that “researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:
Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Greater resistance to the common cold
Better psychological and physical well-being
Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress”
A study at Johns Hopkins found that “people with a family history of heart disease who also had a positive outlook were one-third less likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular event within five to 25 years than those with a more negative outlook.” (emphasis added)
Great! So how to stay positive?
There’s no question that this year has been stressful to people all over the world. Do a quick search online for “2020 memes” and be prepared for a few chuckles. It’s been quite a year!
Unfortunately, the news has been nonstop with fires, volcanic eruptions, floods, earthquakes, explosions, murder hornets, aliens, and of course – COVID-19, among many, many other distressing events.
While all of these things contribute to anxiety, stress, depression, and uncertainty, how does one remain positive without just escaping civilization and living off the grid on some remote mountaintop or isolated island?
Limit your consumption of news and social media
A steady diet of doom and gloom reporting on the 24-hour cycle of news and social media is bound to affect anyone in a negative way. So check the headlines once a day, block or mute the trolls on social media, and don’t feed yourself negativity.
Increase your consumption of positivity
There are many options for humorous, inspirational, positive content to take in if you just can’t put down your phone or tablet. Follow accounts that are uplifting and that help distract you in a good way. You can’t go wrong following cute animals, like this great account. While it’s easy to slip into spending too much time in front of the TV or computer screens, you can find funny or uplifting content that can actually help your mindset.
Limit idle time
Even if you are staying in and limiting your outside contact to the occasional grocery shopping expedition, it’s really important to keep busy and, however possible, to incorporate some exercise and movement into your daily routine. Idle time can contribute to depression. It’s also a great time to pick up a new hobby!
Stay in touch
Video chats, phone calls, emails, text messages, social media messaging… these are all ways to stay in touch with friends and family even when you can’t get together in person. Don’t let yourself or your children become isolated and cut off. Encourage communication. Help your child find a pen pal who lives in an interesting place and actually, you know, pick up a pen and paper and write a letter! Some schools have pen pal programs, or you can check out the resources here.
Do something for others
It is always uplifting to use some of your energy and resources to help someone in need. Here are some great suggestions from Parents magazine on how to get your child involved in charitable activity. And for some suggestions that are specifically designed for kids during quarantine, check out this information.
Get enough sleep
Sometimes, just when you’re finally able to rest your head on your pillow, all the worries of the day start flooding in and you can feel your blood pressure rising along with your anxiety. This can result in loss of sleep and restless nights which, in turn, affect you well into the next day. This is a cycle that can quickly lead to physical illness as well as depression. So how to turn off those sleep-stealing worries? Cleveland Clinic offers some suggestions. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and find that you can’t get back to sleep, Healthline has these suggestions.
We’re not suggesting that you white-knuckle it, hide your head in the sand and try to block out the rest of the world (also referred to as “toxic positivity”). If you need help cultivating a positive attitude, here are some more tips. Finding healthy alternatives to negativity can help you and your children cope with the unavoidable stresses of life in 2020.
If your answer is “because the Pilgrims ate turkey on Thanksgiving”, you may be mistaken! Wild turkeys were common in the area around Plymouth in 1621, but the most widely accepted description of the first thanksgiving meal, coming from Edward Winslow, who was actually there, doesn’t mention turkey. He does mention wild fowl, though historians think that referred to ducks and geese.
This joint feast between pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians is generally considered the “first” Thanksgiving, although the participants didn’t seem to consider it a special milestone. European harvest festivals were commonplace, and many pilgrims brought that tradition with them to New England.
It wasn’t until 1863, however, that Thanksgiving was first declared a national holiday by then-president Abraham Lincoln*. And by then, turkey had popularly become the main course for Americans celebrating the holiday. Practical reasons include:
It’s a bigger bird than, say, a chicken, so it feeds more people
It doesn’t serve another food purpose (like laying eggs)
It wasn’t so common that it wasn’t suited for a special occasion
It’s plentiful and inexpensive
While many Americans add ham to their Thanksgiving feast, and some even prefer ham over turkey, the debate over which is most popular is ongoing. And for those who just can’t decide, you can always get a “turkey ham”. No joke.
President George Washington set a “Day of Publick Thanksgivin” for November 26, 1789, but the actual date for an annual Thanksgiving celebration moved around a bit until 1941 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a resolution establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.
A quick search online shows that there are many different resources for families and students who are looking for free online tutoring help. It seems that most of these resources offer homework assistance, including 24/7 instant answers to student questions, but many also pair up tutors with students for free sessions.
Many school districts offer free online tutoring in some subjects to students in the district, and individual schools also have programs for their own students. Check your district and school websites for information on any free tutoring programs they may offer.
Public libraries have partnered with various tutoring services to be able to offer online tutoring, homework help, test preparation, and career support for free to library members. Check your local library website, or call to find out if they are enrolled in a program like this.
Non-profit groups in many school districts have created free tutoring programs for local students, like Ignited Minds in New Mexico.
National non-profit groups like Tutoring America provide funding or scholarships for students who need private tutoring help but don’t have the financial resources to pay for it.
There are also programs like ClassWallet that help students obtain funding to pay for private tutoring services. TutorUp is a partner with ClassWallet.
Some states provide vouchers that can be used towards tutoring expenses.
The federal government has approved coronavirus relief money to fund “microgrants” for parents to use to hire tutors or teachers.
Tuition Assistance
TutorUp has partnered with ClassWallet, a resource that helps provide funding to families that can be used on tutoring expenses.
Get a FREE Tutoring Session
First time customers at TutorUp can get a free hour of tutoring when they buy 3 sessions. Sign up here.
Online games, printable worksheets, guided lessons and more. Organized by grade level, from Preschool through 6th grade: https://www.education.com/games/math/
Math practice sorted by grade level from PreK through 8th grade. You can also search for math practice by skill, like Decimals, or Money, Multiplication, Fractions and more: https://www.mathgames.com/
Every student in the United States has experienced some form of disruption in their education so far in 2020. Remote or online learning has ranged from basically checking in online to get current class assignments to sitting in front of a computer for hours a day in a virtual classroom with all of your classmates. Each school district has taken different approaches, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the end result has been somewhat chaotic. Teachers, students, and parents have all had struggles, and while they may not all agree on the total impact the lockdown has had, its clear that education has suffered.
The Washington Post recently reported that “Remote learning has been a struggle for teachers and is expected to set back the learning gains of a generation of students. It has been particularly hard on children of color, kids from families who are financially insecure, and those without access to computers and technology at home.”
For example, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the school district found that schools with higher percentages of English language learners (ELL) had lower login rates to the online portal the district was using. To try to remedy that, the district identified which students needed internet access or digital devices, and were able to improve the situation for those students.
Many school districts have returned to full-time in-person learning, however even in those school districts, a number of parents have opted to keep their children home because of concerns over the Coronavirus, and some districts started the school year in person but have already switched back to remote learning.
Finally, there are many school districts who are doing a combination of remote learning and in-person classes, and some have started the school year remotely, with plans to transition to in-person classes over time.
The Balance Between Remote Learning and In-Person Learning
In their recent spotlight on Online Learning, Education Week takes a close look at balancing in-person and remote instruction. They recommend essentials for remote learning that have proven to be helpful, including the suggestion that teachers should try to spend some one-on-one time with each student during the week. Also, breaking up lessons into smaller chunks is helpful not only for comprehension, but many students are using mobile devices rather than a laptop or desktop computer, so smaller is better.
Slowing Things Down
Teachers will find the right pace for their particular students, but taking things slow is important in order to make sure everyone is comprehending and keeping up. Teachers are also finding that many students need the flexibility to do their classwork on nights and weekends. In the Madrid-Waddington school district in New York, they found that 30 percent of students completed much of their work outside of traditional school hours.
In situations where students are attending school in person, they most likely ended the last school year at a deficit, and are spending a good part of this fall semester just trying to get caught up with where they should be. And there is always the chance that schools will decide to return to remote learning if a COVID-19 resurgence crops up in their area. Because of this, many teachers are trying to take advantage of real classroom time to focus on curriculum elements that are difficult to teach remotely.
Not surprisingly, the students with better online access and whose parents can coach them at home are coping better with remote learning. Realistically, even in districts where reliable online access is great and students have appropriate digital devices, parents have jobs and usually have more than one school-age child, and the roles of teacher and tech support are not something they can easily assume. So parents are increasingly looking for help in managing their children’s educational activities.
How Tutoring Helps
Before COVID, the vast majority of students who participated in some form of tutoring were attending school in person. What they needed was some additional support in order to master a subject they may have been struggling with. There were many models of tutoring available: specialized classes with multiple students at a brick-and-mortar location; one-on-one tutoring in person at such a location; one-on-one tutoring in the student’s home or the tutor’s home; in-person tutoring at a library or other public facility; online group classes a student could sign up for; online study guides and practice tests; and online individual tutoring sessions.
Since COVID, much more emphasis has been placed on the various online tutoring methods due to the concern over meeting in person, even with social distancing, masks, and sanitizing. However, combined with virtual school, online tutoring may seem like more of the same, resulting in burnout. Younger students have much more of a struggle keeping up with remote learning than older students, but it’s certainly not ideal.
That’s when the distinction between online classes and online one-on-one tutoring is so important. When you can have a tutoring session one-on-one where the tutor is an experienced educator and not just a subject matter expert, and they focus their entire attention on one student and that student’s individual, unique needs, the fact that it takes place over a video screen is very minor. Parents are looking for high quality online tutoring to help them out as well as helping out their children academically.
What online school is missing is the ability to really reach students individually and ensure that they are “getting it” and can keep up. Many students are distracted or don’t even bother to log in. They just try to complete their assignments on their own and get them turned in. And teachers have the incredibly difficult task of trying to engage groups of such disconnected students and meet curriculum goals.
It May Seem Counterintuitive
Parents who are finding that their students are struggling with remote learning may not immediately see how more time online can possibly help. But once they see that online tutoring sessions can be exactly like in-person tutoring sessions, and they see how their child is engaged and improving academically, they embrace it as an important tool in helping their child succeed.
For more information on how our certified teacher/tutors can help your child, one-on-one, check us out!
If your answer is “because the Pilgrims ate turkey on Thanksgiving”, you may be mistaken! Wild turkeys were common in the area around Plymouth in 1621, but the most widely accepted description of the first thanksgiving meal, coming from Edward Winslow, who was actually there, doesn’t mention turkey.
A quick search online shows that there are many different resources for families and students who are looking for free online tutoring help. It seems that most of these resources offer homework assistance, including 24/7 instant answers to student questions, but many also pair up tutors with students for free sessions…
We’ve launched new Parent and Tutor Dashboards with increased functionality
We’re pleased to be working with Community Health Systems (CHS) to provide tutoring to their employees’ children
Happy to be working with ClassWallet to help provide funding to students to pay for tutoring services.
Glad to partner with GoodHire to provide our background check services.
We’ve been writing about…
How is your school year going so far?
The 2020 school year has seen unprecedented challenges and lots of upheaval. The teachers we talk to have shared their own individual experiences which run the gamut. Some are back in school full-time, some are holding virtual classes online, or a hybrid blend of the two, and many have decided to sit out this school year in favor of staying home to work with students one-on-one in private tutoring.
The parents we talk to need help dealing with the huge increase in homework combined with the lack of attention their students are experiencing…
In our blog post “Back to School in 2020” we talk about some of the strategies parents are choosing to handle their children’s education, including homeschooling, private school, in-person learning pods, online mini pods, and private tutoring. Some of these are temporary replacements for traditional school, until things get back to “normal”, and some of these will be a permanent change.
The 2020 school year so far has seen unprecedented challenges and lots of upheaval. The teachers we talk to have shared their own individual experiences and they run the gamut. Some are back in school full-time, some are holding virtual classes online, or a hybrid blend of the two, and many have decided to sit out this school year in favor of staying home to work with students one-on-one in private tutoring.
The parents we talk to need help dealing with the huge increase in homework combined with the lack of attention their students are experiencing. As parents struggle to manage work and home responsibilities, they are finding it difficult to also be proxy teachers to their kids. And all the while they are worried that their students are falling behind.
Change is Constant
With countless schools on lockdown to one degree or another all over the country, there is no universal plan for moving forward. Individual school districts, counties, and states all have varying levels of authority to decide what form instruction is taking this year and this has led to a lot of frustration for all concerned. Some schools have changed course once or twice already in the first month of school, having started in-person instruction only to revert to remote learning because of spikes in positive COVID-19 test results.
Just looking at the state of California, it’s obvious how chaotic the situation really is. Counties are moving from purple to red in the state’s four-tiered color coded tracking system. While the state has invested heavily in distance learning technology, gaps exist where many students just don’t have the access they need. In fact, parents have sued Los Angeles Unified school district over what they consider an “inadequate” plan for remote learning.
School districts in the Dallas area are still figuring out how they’re going to handle this school year. They’ve discussed using a hybrid model for nine weeks and then reevaluating. That means half of the students would go to school on Monday and Tuesday, have a “flex” day on Wednesday, and the other half would go to school on Thursday and Friday.
Teacher Shortages Force Last-Minute Changes
In New York, inadequate staff for in-person classes has led to schools being forced to quickly switch to remote learning. At one school, the change happened on the first day of school. In some cases, blended learning where students alternate between in-classroom time and online-from-home time has been implemented.
Colorado schools have announced that “we are in a crisis” due to their COVID teacher shortage. “Districts are getting creative,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association. “I’ve even seen districts asking parents if they want to consider getting a substitute license to help them fill the gap.”
The Tri-State area of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois has reported a shortage of teachers and substitute teachers. As teachers are hesitant to head into the classroom, schools are finding that they are unable to find substitutes. And to add to the shortages, they are also having trouble finding reliable bus drivers.
Federal Funding to Help
In March, $13.2 billion of the CARES Act stimulus package was dedicated to K-12 schools. Continued tax revenue losses due to the COVID-19 shutdowns will have an ongoing negative impact on education funding. As a result, the House, the Senate, and the administration are currently in negotiations to pass another bill that would continue to help fund education, along with many other relief programs. Schools are asking for assistance in funding coronavirus school safety measures as these are additional operating costs that were unanticipated and unbudgeted.
Is There Any Positive News?
Regarding the coronavirus, a new study of COVID-19 in schools brings good news. As of September 25, there was a confirmed infection rate of 75 cases per 100,000 students and 140 cases per 100,000 staff members. That translates to 0.075% of children and 0.14% of staff. An associate professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins is quoted in the Washington Post’s coverage of the survey as saying, “We’re not seeing schools as crucibles for onward transmission. It’s reasonable to say that it looks promising at this point.”
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts reports that the back-to-school season “is off to a fine start” as they focus on the importance of in-person learning in communities with low COVID-19 risks. Assistant superintendent Erin Perkins said the challenges of bringing students and staff back into school buildings were made worth it by “the way children lit up as they entered the room.”
On the community level, the Trees for Cities charitable organization is urging teachers and parents to help children embrace outdoor learning at home or school. They are providing free online educational resources and curriculum guides to help students do more outdoor learning. Creative approaches to teaching and learning are cropping up all over.
Local heroes step up to support at-home students. In Columbus, Ohio, a non-profit called Impact Community Action is building desks for children who are learning virtually from home. Local artists are painting the desks. Another group in Maryland, Desks by Dad, is also producing study furniture for children. And in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The Community Desk Project is doing the same.
Students helping students – a teenager in Reno has started a company with her friends with the goal of providing learning kits for children with special needs. Priyanka Senthil formed AUesome to make customizable at-home therapy kits. Senthil partnered with 4 friends to launch the company as part of a summer entrepreneurship program for high school students worldwide. There are many examples of students who are using creative ways to help other students through these uncharted lands.
There’s a lot going on, and that can be stressful, but hard times also bring out the best in people, and on a grass-roots level, people are creatively coming up with ways to help students and parents get through the challenges they face this school year. Instead of focusing on the negatives, as Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Preschool age children (3 and 4-year-olds) have needs and challenges as far as readiness for tutoring that older children have overcome. A child who has attended kindergarten is familiar with the concept of “time for learning” as compared to “play time”, while younger children who haven’t been exposed to a “school” or “classroom” environment are not.
According to doctors, the normal attention span for children is 3 to 5 minutes per year of a child’s age. So a 3-year-old should be able to concentrate for up to 15 minutes at a time on a specific task or learning activities. They note that a child’s attention span while watching TV is not an accurate measure of his or her attention span.
At this young age, it’s important to intersperse free play time with time devoted to learning, and every parent needs to determine for her own child what age might be too young for tutoring. Children who are of kindergarten age and older not only have longer attention spans, but are also more accustomed to the concept of sitting still, working on “schoolwork” and listening to the teacher. All of these contribute to their ability to benefit from one-on-one tutoring. However, this doesn’t mean that preschool age children can’t benefit from tutoring that is appropriate to their age and abilities.
Setting Expectations
Younger children who have not attended a preschool, or who have not had any type of exposure to instruction may benefit from short tutoring sessions that focus on activities the child enjoys or has shown interest in like learning letters, reading their favorite books, working on puzzles, and playing with toys that increase hand-eye coordination, improve memory, and teach problem-solving.
Age-appropriate goals for young children include helping them develop a love of learning and a positive impression of school. Building a child’s confidence in their own abilities by choosing activities that they can be successful in will help them when they are faced with more difficult activities in school. One-on-one tutoring can be a huge boost to a child who is lacking in confidence or self-esteem.
Older children may already have identified learning disabilities or developmental delays that a private tutor would be able to address. In a one-on-one teacher/student relationship, tutoring can be personalized to focus on exactly what an individual child needs help with. Since the average classroom in the U.S. has approximately 23 students, it’s very difficult for a teacher to spend time working individually with students. With tutoring, there are fewer distractions for even the most focused students and they are able to have 100% of their instructor’s attention.
Parental Goals
Regardless of the age of the student, parents need to be careful not to impose their own – possibly unattainable – goals on their children. As parents, we all want to see our children succeed in life, and getting a good education is one way to help them do that. However putting too much pressure on a child to excel academically can end up having the opposite effect.
Children who feel inadequate, or that they are somehow deficient, and need remedial help, can quickly develop a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem which can ultimately lead them to dislike school. And if children have to spend too much of their “free” time on homework, tutoring, and other academic activity, they may miss out on the benefits of other kinds of extracurricular activities, family time, and just plain fun time.
Finding the Balance
A trained, experienced teacher can recognize a child’s capacity, their attention span, the areas they need help with, and just how much tutoring is actually beneficial. For this reason, certified, experienced teachers make the best tutors. Simply being a subject matter expert is not enough. Without that training and those teaching skills, a tutor isn’t as capable of helping a child, especially a child who is struggling in school.
Children are each unique individuals with their own abilities and challenges. What works for one child might not work for another. Parents working together with a teacher/tutor can determine when their child is ready for tutoring, how much tutoring they would benefit from, and the best way to proceed to achieve the best results.
We know how frustrating it can be to try to find an expert tutor for an in-demand subject area like math. With some tutoring services, math tutors know they can charge a premium for their skills. This leads to hourly rates for in-person sessions that can soar as high as $200 an hour!
Tutoring should be simple and affordable. For example, at TutorUp, we only work with certified, experienced teachers who know the curriculum standards. Not only are these teachers subject-area experts, but they’re passionate educators — not entrepreneurs out to make a quick buck.
To understand the true costs of working with a licensed professional, read on as we separate the fact from the fiction. Despite what other sites may say, math tutors are much more affordable than you think.
Here’s a closer look at the true cost of math tutoring:
Myth #1: Math Tutors in Urban Areas Charge More
You’ve heard the horror stories. Parents who want to give their students an edge in prep courses or standardized tests spend up to $200 an hour to hire tutors for in-demand subjects like math — especially in major cities like New York and Washington, D.C. At TutorUp, your geographic location does not affect the cost of tutoring.
At TutorUp, our tutors are experienced teachers — not salespeople. They already have deep knowledge in their subject area, as well as the pedagogical training they need to help your student succeed. No matter what grade level your student is in, we can connect you with a tutor who can meet your student right where they are.
When it comes down to it, math tutoring is just like any other subject. You need a knowledgeable, licensed educator who can forge an instant connection with your student and teach the material from your local school district with passion, at a rate your family can afford.
Myth #2: Math Tutors Who Work for Tutoring Services Tack on Fees
Other tutoring services that offer subject-area help typically take between 40-70% of a tutor’s fee as an ongoing commission. This incentivizes tutors who are in high demand, like math and science tutors, to charge more in order to recoup their losses.
At TutorUp, we want to connect you with the very best tutors for your child’s needs. There are no extra fees, and the cost of an hourlong session is based on grade level, and whether the session takes place online or in person. Price ranges from $45 per hour to $65 per hour. When you buy a package with multiple sessions, you can save up to 25%.
TutorUp Math Tutors all Grades
Single 30-minute session online $29
New Student Special Offer! Buy 3 sessions, get a 4th session free! Only $79
Call 877-888-6787 – ask about our package pricing and subscriptions
Myth #3: Math Tutors Charge More Than Tutoring Other Subjects
Not all tutoring services necessarily work with credentialed teachers. As a parent, you might be saving money by choosing an unlicensed math tutor, but you could be sacrificing quality in instruction, too. But our math tutors cost the same as tutors in any other subject.
Also, our online tutors are the same experienced teachers who provide our in-person tutoring. And your tutoring sessions are one-on-one, so your child gets the same personalized attention whether it’s online or in person. We do charge an additional $5 per hour for in-person sessions, to compensate the tutor for travel. That $5 goes directly to the tutor.
When you choose in-person tutoring, we connect you with a tutor who lives nearby, and your student gets the benefit of working with local, passionate teachers who know what it takes to work with students individually, and they’re ready to work with your student at a rate that makes sense for you and your family. TutorUp has found a better way to connect parents with licensed teachers in their area who can tutor their students for an affordable rate, whether in person or online.
Myth #4: Math Tutors Personalize Lessons at a Premium
Just because some entrepreneurial math tutors command a premium for personalized lessons and in-person instruction, we’ve been conditioned to think these are rare skills. But they’re exactly what your student’s teacher already knows how to do! And that’s why we work with experienced teachers. All of our tutors personalize lessons, and it’s included in the cost, not an extra charge.
Maybe your student is a visual learner who needs help plotting a graph. Or maybe your student is a hands-on learner who would rather learn about volume and area by making a miniature model of your city. When a math tutor sees what a student needs by working together, they can customize their instruction methods to meet your student where he or she is at — and keep building on the momentum of each lesson.
Whatever your student needs, personalized teaching can lead directly to the “ah-ha” moments that make for more successful learning. And it doesn’t have to cost a premium.
Many tutoring companies are experiencing a higher interest in getting personalized help, especially in math and reading tutoring services.
The COVID “Slide”
There’s solid evidence that the quarantine and forced closing of schools has resulted in a lot of confusion and lost ground for students. The sudden switch to virtual school has caused many students to lose ground in all of the basic subjects, math included. Parents are struggling to keep up with the new routine, and many are turning to private tutors to help their kids stay on top of their daily assignments, while also trying to catch up on material they missed at the end of the last school semester.
At TutorUp, we have experienced an increased demand across the board, not just in math tutoring services, and recently we’re getting more requests for in-person tutoring. We are able to witness first-hand how private tutoring can improve student comprehension, achievement, and confidence, whether online or in-person.
USA Today reports that “Tutoring is one of the oldest forms of education. A growing body of research shows that, when done right, it’s also one of the most effective means of lifting student achievement.“ Further, they address the COVID slide like this, “The toll on students’ attainment and engagement has been dire; it will almost certainly be compounded by the usual slide in learning many kids experience over summer vacation.”
Tutoring is an Effective Strategy For Learning
The Fordham Institute has researched educational interventions, including tutoring. They found that “tutoring is one of the most powerful interventions of all… Indeed, well-structured tutoring programs can produce gains in reading or math that are equivalent to about five months of learning beyond students’ ordinary progress.”
Boosting Student Achievement and Confidence
There is a stigma attached to students who are assigned to remedial classes, or who are identified as having learning challenges. Private tutoring removes this public stigma and provides the one-on-one personalized attention students need to get up to speed with their classmates. As students reach high school, they are increasingly reluctant to ask questions in class for fear of appearing “stupid” in front of their peers. As a result, they stay quiet and fall further behind.
Dr. Robert Slavin, Director of The Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University states, “Of the single interventions that could be instituted at relatively modest cost and with quite rapid speed, tutoring stands out: The research base for its effectiveness is unusually consistent and strong, the practice is internationally endorsed, and there are many college graduates who will soon look for meaningful employment.”
Check out how much math tutors cost, including our pricing for math tutoring services at TutorUp.
Walk through the aisles of Back to School supplies in your local stores and you’ll notice a few new items on the shelves. Face masks, hand sanitizers, antiseptic wipes and other virus-related items have joined backpacks, folders, pens and pencils as essential school supplies, thanks to the presence of COVID-19.
In most states, the decision about whether or not to return to in-person school is being made at the school district level, and there are still districts that haven’t decided on how they will start the new school year. In other states, the governor is deciding. Whatever the situation in your school district, there is sure to be controversy.
To Return or Not Return, That is the Question
Pediatricians and the CDC have advocated for returning our children to school as usual, citing the extremely low incidence of the COVID-19 virus among those under 18 years old. There is also significant concern about the effects on children of being isolated and missing social contact. On top of that are concerns that students have fallen behind academically, and online classrooms have been a poor substitute for being present in school.
Many parents are working, some from home and some outside of the home, and having the kids home every day has been a hardship. Arranging for supervision and trying to manage their children’s online schoolwork has been difficult to do, so many parents are looking forward to having their kids back in school.
But returning to school in person has millions of people worried about the risks. Parents are understandably concerned about the health and safety of their children, and teachers are worried about exposure to the virus themselves, and the possibility that they could carry the virus home to their own families.
Innovation and Creativity Offer Solutions
In light of the uncertainty, parents are stepping up to the challenge and are creating their own solutions. This fall “school” will look very different for many families. Here are 5 options parents are choosing for their children.
Homeschooling
Across the U.S., there has been a surge in interest from families who are seriously considering homeschooling. Many parents discovered last semester that they were more capable than they gave themselves credit for. Schools were scrambling to provide some type of academic activity, and many parents ended up being de facto teachers. And decided they liked it. So rather than depend on the school district to make a decision for the good of their family, parents are going to take on the challenge themselves.
Private School
Private schools are reporting an increase in inquiries from parents looking for options. Private schools, on average, have smaller class sizes and are not governed by the same restrictions as public schools. Many parents need their children to be in school so they can work, and they feel a private school may be better able to implement safety measures for their children.
Pods – In Person “Micro Schools”
Chatter on social media and online parent groups is showing an increasing interest in forming small private groups of students called pods. A couple of families get together and pool their resources, creating a classroom environment in one of their homes. Some pods are all family members, some are neighbors, and they are either sharing homeschooling duties for the group or they are pooling resources and hiring a tutor or teacher to come to their in-home classroom and work with the small group. It’s a modern take on the old one-room schoolhouse concept.
Mini Pods – Online
Very similar to the in-person pods or micro schools, this is a variation that allows for the teacher or tutor to conduct classes in a virtual environment. There are a lot of different conferencing or online schooling platforms that can handle live sessions with a teacher and several students at once.
Regular School Plus Tutoring
For many parents, these options may not work, and they are going to go with whatever their local schools plan to do while supplementing their child’s education with some regularly scheduled private tutoring. Many children lost ground academically when schools were forced to put together an online alternative, and parents are finding that having the one-on-one attention and support of a tutor is the best way to help their kids stay on track. Whether kids are attending school in person or online, the reality of teaching a large group of students at once is that some students are going to fall behind, some students are high achievers and will be bored. For these students, individualized private tutoring is an option growing in popularity.
For the 2020 school year, one thing is certain – it’s going to look far different from what we’ve all gotten used to.
