The disjointed learning environment that students have experienced throughout the last few years of COVID-19 has drastically impacted their experience in the classroom. Both parents and teachers are seeing increased disengagement, decreased motivation, and a lack of confidence in students.
This can be especially distressing for parents who want to see their child love education and thrive in the classroom. If you’re ready to take action about this, consider tutoring, which is a proven way to address these issues and revive engagement through 1:1 attention. Here’s how you can tell if your child will benefit from tutoring.
Signs Your Child Needs a Tutor
- Your child is struggling to focus
Are you seeing consistent signs that your child is struggling to focus? As noted above, disengagement is common among students these days because of the constant disruptions they experienced due to the pandemic.
The fact that your child is struggling does not mean they are a bad student. In fact, students may struggle to focus for several reasons. The material may be too difficult or too easy.
This is where tutoring can be truly beneficial. Having 1:1 attention in a topic that they need an extra boost in, or having guidance to push them ahead so they aren’t bored in a topic they need to be challenged in.
- Your child’s grades are dropping
If your child has consistently performed at an A-level or a B-level and suddenly they’re bringing home Cs and Ds, then you’ll undoubtedly have questions. What’s happening? Are they understanding the material? Are they turning in their homework? Are they connecting with their teacher?
It can take some time to sift through the real reason that your child is struggling, but fortunately, nearly all the solutions can involve a tutor. A tutor can help your child gain a better understanding of the material, offer an alternative if they aren’t connecting with their teacher, re-engage them if they’re losing interest for one reason or another, or help them make it through the assignments they have yet to turn in.
- Your child is working hard but not seeing success
It can be difficult to watch your child work hard and not see success come easily. In many ways, this is a life lesson everyone should learn. However, consistently struggling can also take a toll on a student’s confidence. Feeling as though they aren’t “smart” or “good” at a certain subject(s) from an early age can be a disservice to them later on.
Tutoring can give them the little extra help they need to start seeing success. Whether they start to understand a difficult concept or get a boost in their grade. Grades aren’t everything, but how your student feels about themselves is vitally important and that is something you should prioritize
Top Reasons to Explore Tutoring
- Create a personalize learning experience
Schools don’t create personalized learning experiences for each child. You can love your child’s school and teacher and acknowledge that they aren’t getting what they need from their classroom setting. Hiring a tutor or your child and your child only allows them to get 1:1 attention. The tutor will customize lesson plans and activities with your child in mind, and they’ll spend as long as your child may need on a certain concept.
If your child learns at a different pace than their peers (either really fast or slow), then a tutor can help you meet their needs by acting as a private teacher.
- Desire to have a solid learning foundation
The early years of school are vitally important. Not only is this a time for children to love learning, but it’s also when you create a foundation for skills and knowledge. If they get “left behind” in the classroom at age 8 during a foundational math skill, then they could continue to struggle in that subject from that point forward.
Recognizing the significance of a strong learning foundation is critical, and that means acknowledging learning struggles or differences where they exist. As a parent, you can help develop and support your child’s learning foundation by being involved in their educational experience and hiring a tutor when necessary.
- Maximize learning time
Your child spends all day at school, but not all that time is spent learning. Some of it’s spent socializing, eating, or even just waiting for other kids to get the attention they need in the classroom. Working with a tutor is a great opportunity for your child to get ahead in any given subject.
Some children can learn more with a personal tutor in just an hour or two at home than they can all week in a given subject at school. They thrive with 1:1 attention and are able to get their questions answered more quickly and accurately
- Instill a passion for learning
If you want your child to grow up to be a lifelong learner, it starts at a young age. When you love learning, you’re always looking to acquire new skills or knowledge or perhaps build on the existing skills and knowledge that you already have.
And remember, it feels good to learn new things and accomplish new feats. However, it can occasionally become frustrating when the material is different and challenging. A tutor – a friendly face other than mom or dad — can act as a guide during this process. They’ll help your child learn to navigate these novel situations.
- Allow 1:1 attention
When it comes to learning, 1:1 attention isn’t valued enough. It not only allows your child to receive dedicated time just for them, but it also permits honesty for strengths and weaknesses. It can be awkward for a child to admit that they don’t know something or pose a question about something they think they “should know” in front of their peers.
Yet, when they’re one-on-one with their tutor, they can be vulnerable and get to the bottom of where they struggle with a concept.
Final Thoughts
Don’t be afraid to reach out for more help if your child is showing any of the signs above! A tutor can help you build a strong learning foundation that can be so difficult to achieve. It’s not too late to transform a disengaged or unmotivated student into a lifelong learner. Better yet, you don’t have to spend a dime to do so. The Education Project is providing free tutoring to prevent students from falling behind.