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There she was. Spending hours upon hours trying to figure it all out for her chemistry quiz. As I saw her studying, with her head down in her books and frowning, I felt her pain and frustration. I knew I had to hire a tutor – But how? How to find the best tutor?
I never got very far in this G-d forsaken subject. (Any scientists who are reading this blog, my sincere apologies) Even if I tried to figure it out today, there is no way that I could help her.
Before I picked up my phone to ask my Facebook peeps for help finding a tutor, or to text a friend for a referral, these thoughts immediately flooded my mind. Why can’t my child just suck it up and figure it out? Can’t she ask her teacher for extra help? Go online and take up a Khan Academy course?
According to Teachers on Call, the answer to those questions that were running through my head and on to this blog is that it really depends on the child.
@JoanneSallay is the President and CEO of Teachers on Call. Since 1984, this family business has been providing personalized home and online tutoring by Ontario Certified Teachers for elementary and high-school students. Tutoring is available in all subjects and grades from kindergarten to grade 12 in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area, and across Ontario.
What does Joanne think of my ranging thoughts?
“It can be incredibly challenging to teach your own children, even when it’s an area of strength. This only intensifies as grade levels become more advanced and subjects become more specialized, such as with Math & Science. The feedback we overwhelmingly receive from parents is that students benefit from personalized 1-on-1 support from a caring tutor who provides guidance and academic coaching on a consistent basis. It’s extremely rewarding for our team when students achieve successful results at school, resulting in an increase in confidence and self-esteem.”
Let’s take Math, as an example. Geez – it’s such a touchy subject. Most people think you get it or you don’t, which is totally not the case. The best way to really understand the process of understanding this subject is explained here.
Understanding Chemistry is hard. I need a tutor for my daughter and I need a tutor now. To answer the question of how to find the best tutor, I called Teachers on Call.
Posting on social media to find a tutor kinda worked for me before. But whoa – this time. My goodness. Even my daughter was impressed. And she, my friends, is one tough customer.
It all starts with a phone call from a woman named Judy.
Judy is a retired school principal and if there’s one thing she knows and knows well as the back of her hand are the following: School subjects. Teachers. Students. From the first few moments on the phone, she was the soothing voice of reason. I felt as if I was talking to my best friend. We talked about my daughter’s school, her learning styles, academics, and the most important question especially these days – her mental health.
Never, in my 21-year long parenting career have I ever encountered such attention to detail before hiring a tutor.
Then she wanted to speak to my daughter.
It didn’t take long for Judy to get my daughter to open up. “Mom – she’s so nice!” I asked her what she spoke about and she responded “Oh, you know.. just stuff.” She hasn’t even started her tutoring sessions and already I was kicking myself – what took me so long to sign up with Teachers on Call? I was secretly hoping for Judy to tutor my daughter since the rapport was so admirable.
The very next day, Judy rang with a name and a start date.
How to find the best tutor? It’s all in the preparations. Usually, teachers and tutors are screened before they are hired, but what about the student? By taking a few moments to ask about the student’s learning styles, current challenges, and overall expectations, the result of a proper working relationship will only be one way. With this scenario:
I walked over to my daughter’s desk while she was working and asked how the tutoring sessions were going. Her response?
“Shhh!” without a frown to be seen on her face.
I’m so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to write what I’m passionate about and what I think will serve others. If you would like me to write about your product or service, please be in touch.