Questions to Ask a Tutor
What to Know Before Hiring Someone to Work with Your Child
Finding out more information before you hire a tutor for your child will help you pick the right person.
After you have decided to hire a tutor, and found one you want to try, it is important to ask some good questions to make sure that you feel comfortable. The more prepared you are for that first phone call or meeting, the quicker you will find out whether or not that tutor will work for your child.
Experience Level
When asking questions about the tutor’s experience, there is no one question that covers it all. Whatever is important to you, and shows that the tutor indeed has experience, is fine. Some questions you can ask include:
- What age do you typically work with?
- What subject areas do you typically tutor in?
- Have you worked with any special needs children?
- Have you worked in the school system?
- How much teaching/tutoring experience do you have?
Motivating Children to Learn
Ask about how the tutor will motivate your child. The more reluctant or strong willed your child is, the more important this question will be.
Fee Schedule
Depending on your situation, these questions may vary. Knowing what is charged per hour is the basic question. You may also want to ask the charges for ½ hour if your child is very young or has severe ADHD. If money is short, ask if you can get a discount for paying a month in advance, or if there is another type of deal you can work out to reduce the fees a little.
Location
Do you have to go to the tutor? Will she come to your house? Can you meet in a neutral place like the local library? Or is she currently a teacher and able to meet in her classroom at school? The fee may differ based on location as well – if the tutor has to drive somewhere to meet you, she may charge a little more to help cover her gas and extra time it took to travel.
What Should I Expect?
Know what expectations the tutor has of you and what you can expect from the tutor. Find out how much notice the tutor requires if you need to cancel, and how she expects you to make those hours up. Find out what she expects if you are running late or got stuck in traffic when coming to pick your child up at the end of the session.
Some commercial learning centers may provide some sort of “guarantee” and a set program. Make sure you understand both of these things. Discuss the progress you would like to see your child make, and make sure you and the tutor both know what success will look like.
References
Many times you will have the name of a tutor from a friend’s recommendation, but if not, ask the tutor for a reference. Contacting other families that have worked with the tutor will not only put you at ease regarding the legitimacy of the tutor, but will let you know how the tutor works with children and how successful the tutoring was, from the perspective of another parent.
Finally, if you hire a tutor for your child and end up unsatisfied for any reason, it is important to talk to her. You may end up asking for a recommendation for another tutor, trying a before or after school program, trying a commercial learning center instead of private tutor or a private tutor instead of a commercial learning center. Make sure that above all, your child learns to love learning.
