1. Find out what subjects your child needs help in. Looking at your child’s report card is an easy way to know what subject he/she is not working up to his/her potential. Also, don’t hesitate to ask the teacher what skills is your child lacking to be getting the grade that your child is striving for. Having good communication with the teacher, lets the teacher know that the parent is working together with the child. If a student is behind, usually teachers will allow a proper catch up by assigning extra credit. Some teachers even have after school hours to instruct your child further. Some children seem to improve by getting the one on one instruction that comes with having a tutor.

2. Where do you find the right tutor for your child? That seems to be one of the hardest problems for the parent. The easiest way to find a tutor is by finding a credited institution that supply’s tutors on demand for parents. You can be assured that it’s the institution’s goal of placing tutors with proper certifications in the hands of any parent who is looking for the right match. This site where you are now, screens each tutor individually through a process in order to verify the candidate would be reliable and safe for your child’s needs. Also, the candidate must have experience,certifications, and skills to offer to your child. The most wonderful part is if your not satisfied, you are under no obligation to continue with the same tutor. You can always pick another tutor of your choice. You can continue or stop at your own leisure. Never sign up with an institution that obliges you in any way for a contract period.

3. How to select the right candidate? There are many things to be thinking of before you start picking out the right choice.

a. Which kind of tutor do you need for your child? Does your child have special needs? Will any English tutor do or should certification in certain areas like reading, spelling, proofreading, or writing have any influence?

b. How far is the tutor from me? Is your tutor close enough to be on time or if running a little bit late would not be a problem? Knowing the distance is one solution in making sure your tutor is dependable instead of worrying if your child will be sitting and waiting for the lesson.

c. How qualified is the tutor for the subject your child needs? Any tutor must have proper skills. You can not think that a qualified experienced English tutor could provide the same set of skills if your child is needing help in math. A well rounded tutor is not a bad thing, but make sure your tutor is specialized in the subject for your child.

d. Realize experience is different than qualified. So many people confuse or combine the two virtues which should be purposely kept separate. You can have a tutor that is definitely qualified, but who hasn’t had any dealings with serving the public. The other situation is where you have had a tutor who has lots of experience,but never any tutoring education. For your child, you should look for a tutor who is both experienced and qualified.

4. Pick up to four candidates before final selection. This is always a good rule of thumb. By picking four you will have inside satisfaction that you are not just taking a random chance of introduction with your child. Think ahead, that the tutor you select,your child will depend on to instruct and guide towards a better future. Write to each of them that you are interested in their services and let them know you are comparing them to others. Tell them of your child’s problem and ask if selected what would a sample lesson be. Ask them how often would they suggest your child be tutored. Ask them if they are available to tutor for the length of time that your child needs. You want to make sure that the tutor will try to be there and not just leave after one or two lessons. If you get a fast, detailed response, this will inform you that they are interested and probably can supply proper knowledge to your child. Then email them that you would like to speak to them by phone. Having a good communication talk with the new tutor can be comforting to you before introducing him/her to your child. Be sure to throw at least one request to the tutor to see if the tutor is receptive in accommodating your needs as well if it would benefit your child or can the tutor be willing to give you an explanation of why right now wouldn’t be the right time. By giving such a thorough review of the candidates, in the end will give you at least backup candidates,so you don’t have to wear yourself out by having another fresh search.

5. Prepare how your child is going to study. After choosing the right candidate, think about where you would like the meeting to take place. Some parents who still are unsure if the candidate is right, likes the first meeting to take place at the library. The library is monitored,your meeting the tutor for the first time, and you can see the interaction that is taking place between the tutor and student before taking the tutor to your home. If you are confident enough, then you can go by convenience. Maybe it is more convenient for you to have the tutor to meet in your home than the library. The trips of going to the library may tire out your child before the lesson begins. Can the teachings of the lessons be performed in a “silent please” area? Or can the library make accommodations for a private room to be used? The area in the home should be a place like the dining room table, away from the noise of a television or other children. It shouldn’t be in the child’s bedroom. It should be in a structured environment where computer or printing use can be made available. Working on a table at home will be easy for the child to adapt to know as a “learning area” like their own desk at school.

6. Are you ready for the first meeting! It’s always nice to have a glass of water set for the tutor. But, remember, it is not necessary. The tutor may instruct you that having food/water around during a lesson may distract the child from learning. If the student starts getting up to get water or during a lesson stops to drink water may interrupt the child understanding of the lesson. Usually, it should be the tutor’s judgment of whether the child really would need a drink or just is using it as an excuse to move around. An experienced tutor should be able to handle her classroom area. I would recommend that the parent requests that the first lesson be observed from afar. When a parent is there sitting at the same table, it may get the reaction from the child of looking back and forth to the parent, trying to be assured that their response to the tutor is correct. Observing from afar, can give the child room to breathe as to say. A good tutor lets the child give an honest response, even if it is off the mark, and then steers the child to the best answer. As long as you are confident with the first visit then each lesson afterwards doesn’t need to be monitored. This lets the tutor and student have a good bonding environment to enable better learning.

That’s it! I hope you have taken with you today, a little bit of information from my article that can help you with your search.
-Zahra B.

I would like to invite you to learn more about myself. I am a professional Tutor in the Lilburn, GA area. I have tutored for over 25 years in a variety of situations in the English field. I have tutored children,teenagers,college students,and adults. You are able to see my profile on this website. My accomplishments are many, I am proud to say. My students enjoy my teaching style and have always improved in their studies.

1. Provide a quiet place for the child to study and review the concepts that have been learned that day. This could be a time after dinner when the table is clear or any another designated study area within the home or the bedroom.

2. Keep track of assignments. The more you are involved in the child’s school schedule, the more the child is going to consult about it with you. Remember when assignments are due, when assignments need to be started and when any tests or quizzes occur within the classroom.

3. Help children with basic skills including math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These basic skills are required for any further math concepts to become developed throughout their academic career.

4. Use everyday situations to help your child learn math, English and scientific principals. This will ensure the child will realise the importance of the lessons that are being taught while reinforcing the information that has been covered in the classroom setting. Repetition ensures that the child will retain the information.

5. Use worksheets, computer software and educational games to further develop and practice the concepts that have been taught within the school. Using the skills learned on a daily basis will help to solidify the lesson within the child’s brain.

And finally, don’t be afraid to seek professional tutoring help if you’re in over your head or if your child is simply struggling too much.  Tutor Match has thousands of Math tutors, English tutors, and Science tutors available either in your neighborhood or offering tutoring services online.

1.  The saying is “for all intents and purposes,” NOT “for all intensive purposes.” You can check out Wiki Answers on this if you don’t believe me, but it’s an old legal saying from English law.  It is used to compare two different acts, such as “He just asked me to sign the divorce papers, which for all intents and purposes means our marriage will soon be over.”  You can think of it as “for all practical purposes” or “in effect.”

2. Irregardless is a word.  That’s right, I said it – according to the Merriam Websiter online dictionary, irregardless is a word, just not a very good one.  A nonstandard form of the more proper “regardless,” “irregardless” originated in the early 1900s and is still popular today.  Most people will correct you if use it in a sentence because it is basically a synonym of “regardless,” which is the preferred spelling.

3. You do well; Superman does good.  When someone asks you, “How are you doing?” don’t answer them with “I’m doing good,” instead say “I’m doing well.”  Unless, of course, you happen to be foiling a bank heist when they ask you.  The difference is you (as a person) can do something well, but things (inanimate objects) are good.  The notable exception is Superman, who “does good,” meaning he is performing acts of goodwill.

In case you’re looking for more assistance with your grammar, or just anything else related to English language studies, check out some of our many online English tutors over at Tutormatch.com.  Or visit TutorMatch to find a tutor locally near you for private tutoring sessions.

I felt it was such a valuable site that I sent the owner, Linda, a few questions to answer about the site so you could get a better idea about what GrammarNOW.com is all about:

Please tell our audience a little about what GrammarNOW.com is all about:

GrammarNOW! is a site dedicated to offering resources that help with grammar and writing. I offer a Q&A Club that answers individual grammar or writing questions, a Tip of the Week by email, an editing service, and a wide variety of resources for all kinds of writers: students of all levels, teachers, business professionals, fiction and nonfiction writers, and many others, including those who are just curious or have a nagging grammar question. In addition, there are links to language discussions (e.g. jargon), and software or other products I have researched and think will be helpful to my visitors.

When did you start GrammarNOW.com and why?

I began the site in 1998 because I saw a need to help people with grammar. I originally just offered free answers to questions, but eventually I had to begin the Q&A Club because the demand became overwhelming. The site has evolved over the years to offer the many resources that it does today.
 
Please tell us a little about yourself, and your background:

I taught English at the high school, junior college, and mostly university level for 25 years, primarily composition and literature. After that, I began freelance copy editing, which I still do, and enjoy very much. I have clients from around the world and get to read a wide variety of materials. My resume is online at http://grammarnow.com/resume/. (I also have a web design and development business that began about the same time as the grammar site. When I started teaching writing students to create simple web pages for their personal or collaborative writing projects—this was in the early days of creating web pages for all of us – I learned html myself and, well, things just took off after that in unexpected ways.)

What kinds of service does grammarnow.com offer for students and/or teachers?

Aside from the Q&A Club, which offers immediate replies to individual grammar and composition questions, both students and teachers will find very helpful relevant links in my Resources list and in the software offered on the site. I am very selective when choosing resources, trying to make sure that they are useful for my visitors. Just to reassure teachers, my copy editing service is not available for students who are graded on composition or for essay writing classes. It is only available for upper-level students in fields other than English or for graduate students.

How often do you update the site, and where do you get new content and ideas from?

I update it whenever new content becomes available. People write to me asking to be included in my resource list or to advertise on the site. I analyze my stats in detail so I know where my visitors are coming from and what they’re looking for. So when someone new requests inclusion on the site, I research them and consider whether they’ll add value to the site, and then add them if so. Otherwise, I may update my resume or testimonials. Just this week, I added a new resource (yours!) and a new advertiser to the site to provide more value for visitors. I am always updating the Tip of the Week. Sometimes I consider redesigning the site, and have done so once, but who has time?

Are you planning any new additions or features to the site?  What’s next for grammarnow.com?

The next big step is my searchable CD of grammarNOW! Tips. Right now, visitors can sign up for a free weekly grammar Tip of the Week by email. I am working toward putting about 200 of them on a CD that can be searchable by word or phrase. Anyone who is signed up for the Tip of the Week will receive a notice when the CD is ready for purchase.

This video is from the tutor’s perspective, there’s also another video from the student’s point of view.