4 Ways to Prepare for your Childâ€^™s First Math Tutoring Session

By Chloe, Instructor

You’ve done your research, weighed the options, made your pros and cons list, talked to your child, and you’ve decided that the best course of action is to hire a math tutor.

Great!

If you’ve never worked with a math tutor before, or even if you have but your child hasn’t, it’s important to make sure you and your child are fully prepared for the session. Math tutors can be great at what they do, but they aren’t mind readers, so it’s important to know what you’re going to have them work on so that they are able to quickly get to the focus: helping your kid with math!

Below are a few tips on how to prepare for your first session.

1. Complete your homework ahead of time!

   A lot of people think, “my child needs help with their homework, how are they supposed to finish it before the tutor arrives?” This question is valid, but also misses an important part of the equation when it comes to working with a tutor: time.

   Chances are, your child isn’t having an issue with all of their homework. If they work through everything that they already know how to do, the tutor can spend more time helping them understand the things they are having difficulty with. It will also leave room for the tutor to explain things that may not have anything to do with the homework, including filling in knowledge gaps that may not be readily apparent.

2. Have questions prepared

   Maybe your child isn’t comfortable telling you, their parent, which parts of math they are having difficulty with. Even though you may be completely supportive, sometimes kids can feel ashamed for not understanding something that you do. To counter this, have your child write down a few questions about topics they are struggling with to go over with their tutor. Let them know that they do not have to share this list with you if they don’t want to, but they should absolutely show it to their tutor. Let your tutor know that this list exists, just in case your child is too nervous to talk about it.

3. Bring your schoolwork

   There are a number of reasons bringing your work from class can be helpful during tutoring. Firstly, it allows the tutor to see which methods the teacher is using to teach you the material so that they can try an alternative method—just for the sake of understanding. Many teachers have a specific method they want kids to use, but that method might not make sense to a child who is being introduced to a topic for the first time. Bringing your schoolwork can allow for a tutor to teach the material in a way your child understands and then explain the teacher’s method and why it works.

   Secondly, looking over schoolwork can help a tutor understand which areas in math are common problem areas for your child—even areas that don’t frequently come up in the homework or aren’t featured in the current material at all.

4. Make a plan!

   How much do you want to get accomplished in your first session? Is a test coming up, and you want to go over an entire chapter? Is this going to be the first of many sessions, or do you just have one single issue that needs to be resolved? Whatever your goals for the first tutoring session are, it’s important to know what they are so that you can articulate them to your tutor. This will help the tutor to understand your goals so that they can better manage time throughout the session. It will also help set a benchmark for success—something to aim for!

Once you’ve completed these steps, you should be ready for your first tutoring session! Best of luck to you and your child, and always remember—there is no shame in asking for help when you need it.