When it comes to helping your child succeed in school, you need all the help that you can get. When your child is struggling, and you cannot help them, and your teacher suggests that your child needs extra help, the most common way to do this is to get a tutor for your child. For some fee, or sometimes no charge at all, your child will get an individual who will meet with your child after class, or at some other set time to help your child with his or her homework. What exactly should you look for in a tutor, that will ensure your child is getting the best that they can out of the tutor?
Well first of all, your tutor should have some sort of credentials. Whether it be a degree in the subject being taught, or a high aptitude in the subject taught, there should be some proof that the tutor knows what he or she is doing. Usually a tutor will have a degree in the subject, or if a student, will come with a recommendation from a teacher, or another student that the student has tutored. If you go to a tutoring service, most will have tutors go through a process of certification, to prove that that the student has enough knowledge in a subject to teach it.
A tutor should be a good teacher too. Just knowing a subject is one thing, but knowing how to convey the knowledge to your child is another thing entirely. If your child doesn't pay attention well, then you would need to teach in a manner that is engaging, and will hold the attention of a child. If the child is younger, you may need to teach in a way that is simple, and will allow the child to be active in learning.
A tutor needs to be able to achieve results. While you cannot blame the tutor for a child not doing better all the time, the tutor needs to be able to raise the grades of the child, or at least get the child to try harder when the tutor is with the child.
The one thing that I always demanded was that the student be ready to go when I was ready to go. If the student wasn't ready, then I wouldn't be able to teach them. A good tutor will be able to get a student ready to learn, as in they will be able to get the student to motivate himself or herself so that each session can be productive. Parents should help in this role as well, but if they don't then the tutor needs to be able to reach the student.
A good tutor is more than just a good student. A good tutor will be able to teach, and make learning fun and engaging. A good tutor is able to bridge the gap between the student and the parents and teachers. Although the tutor can't always be a savior, a good tutor should always be able to achieve some sort of results.