Parents are often undecided when it comes to adding a tutor to their child’s academic routine. Will it make a difference? Is it really “worth it”? Today we break down why tutoring is a good educational investment.
When it comes down to it, tutoring provides two distinct categories of benefits: current and future gains. For most families, the “current” is typically the reason tutoring is first considered. Thinking in terms of immediate returns on your educational investment, the tutoring process should encourage academic improvement right from the start. This is extremely helpful for struggling students who need to close any potential gaps in their learning while still continuing to take in new information throughout the school year. Here are some of the benefits parents and students will experience in the present.
- Reduced homework time. Students are often happy to report that they spend less time on homework and studying while still retaining just as much (if not more!) information.
- Reduced stress. Many families report that after-school stress was often associated with homework difficulties that were largely alleviated through working with a tutor.
- Improved organization. Parents are often surprised to see their students organize their materials and school work once settling into the tutoring routine. The tutors we work with place a large emphasis on executive functioning skills, which include organization and time management.
- More leisure time. Students are thrilled to have more time for hobbies and activities throughout the school year. In addition, students are able to avoid having to take summer school to repeat classes.
- Improved grades. This is the most obvious benefit of tutoring, and the reason most families seek out tutoring services to begin with.
At Tutor Doctor, we often talk about the concept of a growth mindset – developing a core belief in students that they can succeed through perseverance and genuine effort. A growth mindset helps students to build confidence and overcome challenges with problem-solving skills. The very idea of a growth mindset extends well beyond our years in school, and our goal is to foster this mentality into the future – learning for life, as we say. Here are some future benefits parents and students can expect:
- Improved confidence. Students often receive a huge boost in confidence after overcoming academic difficulties. The experience teaches them that they can succeed in the face of obstacles, and this sense of resilience is a valuable skill they will carry for the rest of their lives.
- University benefits. It’s extremely common for colleges and universities to have students take subject-based placement tests prior to attending. The reason for this is to determine the student’s “starting point” for various general education classes, and scoring highly can often exempt a student from taking these courses. For example: Lower-level mathematics courses are often considered prerequisites and, despite being mandatory, unfortunately do not provide transferable college credits. It doesn’t sound like much, but this can really be a huge time saver – a student that never went beyond algebra may require years of college math classes, whereas a student that passed the AP Calculus exam is completely exempt. Tutoring can help students hone their skills now so that they can save time down the road.
Not sure if a tutor is the right choice for your family? Give us a call for a free consultation and we’ll help you decide if tutoring is a good educational investment for your student.
