Why do so many high school students have tutors nowadays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone uses tutors because grades are far more important for college admission than ever before. All of this hypercompetition is due to what is going on at the college level. For those of you not aware, the truth is that many of the old safety schools are harder to get in to now. I never knew anyone who couldn't get in to UMD or VT.

+100. When my parents went ivy league, it was 40% acceptance rate, when I went it was 20% acceptance rate, and now it’s five. And you take out the hooked kids and that makes it more like 3 1/2 percent for everyone else. If you have young kids and haven’t looked into college prices and acceptance dates, then it’s worth a peek, just so you understand how things are especially coming from large metro areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a sophomore in MCPS and he has 3 tutors, plus parents who actively support him in 2 other subjects. It's a lot of money (and time. The PP who made some crack about more money than time for kids doesn't appreciate that it actually is a hassle to coordinate and be present for tutoring if you work FT and have more than 1 kid to tend to.)

Why? I don't fault teachers or textbooks. (Not sure why that's such an issue here, my son has a textbook in some classes anyway.) Maybe we have the only kid in Bethesda who's not gifted or accelerated or whatever. Some weeks he has 6, even 9 tests in various subjects and he struggles. He's not naturally well-organized or driven, and left to his own devices, he seems to be a B/C student. With tutoring, he's an A/B student.

Like the PP it's also something we can afford. Private school would have been a huge stretch although I sometimes think it would have been worth the sacrifice for this kid. We have a younger child who does better in school and is much more competitive overall, I don't think we'll need the same amount of home support when he gets to HS.

Make sure this kind of kid doesn’t go to a college that’s a notch or two above his own native level. Colleges don’t have the homework and participation grades to pad things, and you can’t rely on multiple weekly tutors. he can really get psyched out if he thinks he’s an A/B student and is in a tougher school then when he can handle it on his own. Colleges don’t have the homework and participation grades to pad things, and weekly tutors are really available and he can really get psyched out if he thinks he’s in a/B student but is in a tougher school than what he can handle on his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because so many of you have convinced yourselves that your kids are special learners who need special attention, accommodations, extra time, tutors and trainers and specialists, etc. and can’t face up to the fact that your kid is just...average. You are setting them up for colossal failure when they have been overachieving their entire lives with the help of a whole team of specialists and one day they have to be grown ups all by their little selves.

I just replied to another post somewhat like this but more nicely lol. It’s fine to be challenged, but don’t overface your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because so many of you have convinced yourselves that your kids are special learners who need special attention, accommodations, extra time, tutors and trainers and specialists, etc. and can’t face up to the fact that your kid is just...average. You are setting them up for colossal failure when they have been overachieving their entire lives with the help of a whole team of specialists and one day they have to be grown ups all by their little selves.

Oh dear, did you wander in from the wrong forum embittered spinster?
You really should have another go at learning to read. I don't think anyone here said their kid was special. But a lot of people have said they are unable to do the normal daily homework help with their kids.
You are a horrible person. But you know that don't you.

DP. Reading through this thread shows that a big part of the problem is a lot of kids are in the wrong class, harder classes than they should be. Which is the parents' fault

Definitely a big part of it. Parents of Gen ED kids will tutor their way through honors classes, and parents of honors kids will tutor their way through AP classes. In these cases kids would probably learn the material more fundamentally at the level down from where they’re at with tutors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because so many of you have convinced yourselves that your kids are special learners who need special attention, accommodations, extra time, tutors and trainers and specialists, etc. and can’t face up to the fact that your kid is just...average. You are setting them up for colossal failure when they have been overachieving their entire lives with the help of a whole team of specialists and one day they have to be grown ups all by their little selves.

Oh dear, did you wander in from the wrong forum embittered spinster?
You really should have another go at learning to read. I don't think anyone here said their kid was special. But a lot of people have said they are unable to do the normal daily homework help with their kids.
You are a horrible person. But you know that don't you.

No, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em. My kids’ classes are full of kids operating way above their abilities solely resting on the support of a team of tutors and other learning specialists, getting extra time for exams, etc. You’re not doing your kids any favors.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

My child has had one tutor a year for high school. She met with them once every 2-3 weeks, on average. I helped her with math concepts until she got too far into geometry.

I had a math tutor in high school. He explained things in a way that I understood, and I excelled at math after that year with him. Once a student is behind in a math or science subject, it is difficult to catch up.

I don’t think getting some help is an unreasonable way to get ahead. That’s just crazy. It’s our job as parents to help them learn. In the summer before she leaves for college, I’ll probably hire someone for writing and study skills help. These are important skills for college and beyond.

[Anonymous]

This has been a documented problem for at least the past decade in MoCo. Parents originally pushed hard for their kids to be in the "top" math classes and the schools followed.

My kid was in 5th grade doing ok in math and I said to the teacher - really, I don't know if the top class is right for them next year, given they need extra help. They told me no, that my child was assigned the top class and that most, MOST kids who were going into that were assisted by tutors, that this was the norm.

Then I discover that there are 3-4 top groups and 1 "regular" groups for math in 6th grade.

So the problem started with the original parents over a decade ago and the knock-on effect of this is that current parents are having to deal with it and fill the gaps.

So for those of your blaming current parents for pushing their kids into classes that are too challenging - you have only got part of that story correct. I'm sure that does happen, but not for the majority of the kids, its become the norm.