Teen Life

With the first quarter of the academic year just completed and first quarter report cards just around the corner, it is time to review how you're progressing. If you're not doing as well as you (and your parents) had hoped, it may be time to put in a little extra effort with a tutor to try to make up for any gaps in your knowledge.

The first step is having a conversation with your parents and asking yourself the following questions -- be honest! Am I regularly completing assignments? Am I asking questions when I don't understand part of a lesson? Am I making the time I need to do my schoolwork in a high quality way? Based on these answers, you'll start to figure out if you need the extra guidance of a tutor, or if you need to refocus your study habits (Be honest!)

You may want to try changing the environment in which you work. It's important to make sure you have a quiet place to study, free from the distraction of televisions and cell phones. If you're working on a computer, make sure you're staying away from Facebook or messaging while you work... just sitting at the computer doesn't mean you're being productive! If you've tried all these things, you can still make a change. Some students work better while listening to quiet music, so don't necessarily consider your iPod a distraction. Study groups are another helpful strategy for academic success; they're used all the time at the college level, and high school students can benefit from this practice as well.

If you feel you're following good study practices and still not achieving the success you want, consider meeting with your teacher. Remember, your teacher knows both you and the material being taught, so he or she is the best first resource for extra help.

A Note to Parents: If your son or daughter is in high school, he/she should be encouraged to seek out the teacher him/herself, thus helping the student to practice self-advocacy skills. If the child is in middle school, you may want to either phone or email the teacher to discuss the issues or perhaps, even better, to arrange for a conference with the student present. This meeting will help determine what the difficulties are and generate ideas of how to improve performance.

If you and your parents think you need more outside support than your teacher can provide, it may be time to look for an outside tutor. Consider the reasons you need a tutor. Do you need help improving your study habits or organization? Do you need help with your test-taking skills? Or do you need someone to help you with material in a specific subject area? Make sure you understand why you need a tutor before you begin looking for one; it will make the experience a more positive one!

A Note to Parents: Before beginning the search process for a tutor, consider the cost (approximately $80 an hour), how the tutoring will fit into the child and family's schedules, and where the tutoring will take place (at home, in a tutoring office, or at another location such as the library). Make sure you understand all of these logistics as you begin your search process, so that you'll find an instructor that will be most beneficial to your child.

Once you have discussed these considerations with your parents, there are many resources for finding an appropriate tutor:

Find an older student in the school who has expertise in the subject area. Your teacher might have students to recommend, or your school may have an organized tutoring program, perhaps through the National Honor Society. This approach will most likely be free, but you'll need to be comfortable working with another student.
Ask teachers, guidance counselors, and other parents at your school if they can recommend a tutor. They may know retired teachers who tutor, or an individual who has worked successfully with other students.
Place an advertisement at a local college's employment office or at specific sites such as craigslist.com or collegehelpers.com (see our list of Student Employment Offices below). The cost of a college student will be less than the cost of a professional tutor. Be sure to check where the tutoring will take place to be sure it is convenient.
Contact a tutoring company such as Advantage Testing, Kaplan Test Prep, Summit, Club Z, or Sylvan Learning. These businesses will usually try to match a tutor to your needs. This route can be one of the more expensive forms of tutoring, but companies have various instructional plans and may provide some financial aid. For example, they may have a group tutoring session in study skills that may be less costly than a one-on-one session.

Remember that needing a tutor isn't a bad thing! Everyone has areas of school work in which they can further improve. Being proactive and recognizing that you need help are very positive things, and they'll help you be successful in your studies throughout high school and college.

A Note to Parents: Once the tutoring is in place, be sure to give the tutor permission to talk with your child's teacher. This communication is important to determine not only where the child needs help but also how the child is progressing. If, in the end, the child, tutor, and teacher believe that the course level is too advanced, it may be necessary to move to a lower level of the class where the child will feel less overwhelmed by the material, gain confidence in his/her ability, and ultimately be more successful. The goal for every student is to build self-confidence and to achieve academic success.

Student Employment Offices at Boston Area Colleges

These offices can help you find undergraduate students in Boston that are looking for tutoring positions. These students will often be studying education or may have expertise within the subject area in which your child needs help.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Northeastern University

Tufts University

Other colleges (including Babson, Boston College, Simmons, Suffolk, Wellesley, and Wheelock) all welcome listings for off-campus employers on College Helpers, which lets you advertise for the specific type of tutor you're seeking.