Tutors

[Anonymous]

Depending on the subject, there are a fair amount of tutors out there. Probably most for math, least for English and history. People ask friends for recommendations, and do also ask the schools or individual teachers for recommendations for tutors. The tutoring companies are good but very, very pricey, so if you look around for someone starting out or a good grad or college student, you might do better financially (but will have to spend more time looking for the tutor and quality control, at least at the beginning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on the subject, there are a fair amount of tutors out there. Probably most for math, least for English and history. People ask friends for recommendations, and do also ask the schools or individual teachers for recommendations for tutors. The tutoring companies are good but very, very pricey, so if you look around for someone starting out or a good grad or college student, you might do better financially (but will have to spend more time looking for the tutor and quality control, at least at the beginning).

I should add that a lot of the schools have nice tutoring/extra-help resources provided in-house, and either the kids don't tell their families about them; or they are after school and the kids have other extra-curriculars; or parents feel like they want the extra comfort/focus of a guaranteed one-on-one session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on the subject, there are a fair amount of tutors out there. Probably most for math, least for English and history. People ask friends for recommendations, and do also ask the schools or individual teachers for recommendations for tutors. The tutoring companies are good but very, very pricey, so if you look around for someone starting out or a good grad or college student, you might do better financially (but will have to spend more time looking for the tutor and quality control, at least at the beginning).

The college students we have used, as long as they major in the subject area they tutor (math, premed (bio), chemistry), have always worked out well without quality checks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use a tutor for Honors Algebra and Chemistry. It appears that a lot of the kids (not all) who r doing really well have tutors, in more than one subject. Some of the *$ teachers r not really teaching, given that, and with the amount of HW and ECs, I don't see any other way.

Let me guess- Sidwell? I've heard complaints from Sidwell parents that all the kids have tutors b/c the teachers aren't teaching.

I'm the parent of two Sidwell grads and a current student. None has been tutored; all have done well. Most of the teachers are really good, but there are exceptions, as there at all schools. That said, among my kids' friends at a a range of schools -- both independents and public -- many more are tutored than I would have guessed to be the case. What is surprising to me is that many parents don't first urge their kids to seek help from teachers, but immediately turn to a tutor instead. When our kids have had difficulty, their teachers have been more than willing to help them get up to speed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use a tutor for Honors Algebra and Chemistry. It appears that a lot of the kids (not all) who r doing really well have tutors, in more than one subject. Some of the *$ teachers r not really teaching, given that, and with the amount of HW and ECs, I don't see any other way.

Let me guess- Sidwell? I've heard complaints from Sidwell parents that all the kids have tutors b/c the teachers aren't teaching.

I'm the parent of two Sidwell grads and a current student. None has been tutored; all have done well. Most of the teachers are really good, but there are exceptions, as there at all schools. That said, among my kids' friends at a a range of schools -- both independents and public -- many more are tutored than I would have guessed to be the case. What is surprising to me is that many parents don't first urge their kids to seek help from teachers, but immediately turn to a tutor instead. When our kids have had difficulty, their teachers have been more than willing to help them get up to speed.

It's not so much that teacher's won't help, it's the amount of time they have available not just to your child but also to other kids. Most definitely, my child could have turned to their teacher but there's nothing like owning that uninterrupted weekly hour or more for a tutor's undivided attention to your child's needs.

I have a couple of friends who have foreign language tutors (critical languages) who spend their time fully immersed in the language which complements their language school work. It boils down to what you want to accomplish with the tutor. Some use them to stay ahead, others to catch up. others for an introduction to more advanced math.

Again, there is nothing like consistent, individualized attention.

[Anonymous]

S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

If you have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on DC's education, and a tutor can help DC to better understand the material and earn an A, why would you not spend the (relatively) little additional money to work with a tutor? The teachers are generally very good instructors, but they simply do not have the time to devote an additional 1-2 hours/week of personal time to each student who requests it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

If you have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on DC's education, and a tutor can help DC to better understand the material and earn an A, why would you not spend the (relatively) little additional money to work with a tutor? The teachers are generally very good instructors, but they simply do not have the time to devote an additional 1-2 hours/week of personal time to each student who requests it.

If your kid needs that much tutoring time, have you considered whether s/he is in the right school or in the right class within the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

Even if you are paying $25-35K, there are still subjects that are more difficult to grasp for some kids even with the best teacher. Math is one of those. Snowflake may write like a pro but can't seem to latch onto math. Some one on one for awhile might be what she needs. No shame in that nor does it diminish the teacher'a effectiveness. From Stanford to MIT, they have peer tutors. No shame or blame in getting extra help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

Would you also say summer enrichment classes are unnecessary because the information should be covered under that $25-35k during the regular school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

If you have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on DC's education, and a tutor can help DC to better understand the material and earn an A, why would you not spend the (relatively) little additional money to work with a tutor? The teachers are generally very good instructors, but they simply do not have the time to devote an additional 1-2 hours/week of personal time to each student who requests it.

If your kid needs that much tutoring time, have you considered whether s/he is in the right school or in the right class within the school?

PP, I will post candidly. DC is in the top 5 their class at a very competitive school, and has always taken the most challenging classes. They have -- during their upper school years -- been tutored at most 1 or 2 hours a week, the additional time split between science and math as needed. There are 7-8 weeks every academic year (Aug-Jun) in which they do not meet with a tutor because of scheduling conflicts, academic breaks, etc. DC enjoys the time spent with their college tutor (currently a pre-med major, who charges $25/hour), because it allows them to further explore areas they are interested in, or to work on those concepts which they find more of a challenge. This year, DC's accelerated/AP math average is 99%+, and their accelerated/AP science grade is an A as well -- so with all due respect to your inquiry above, no, I do not question whether they are at the right school or in the right class within the school.

[Anonymous]

Pp thanks for your perspective. That sounds completely reasonable. I know parents spending 70 or 80 bucks an hour on math tutoring and I just didn't understand that on top of 30k a year. Your situation sounds normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S/o: If you are paying 25-35k a year on school are you expecting that the school should be teaching well enough or teachers should be providing extra help after school instead of hiring a tutor?

If you have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on DC's education, and a tutor can help DC to better understand the material and earn an A, why would you not spend the (relatively) little additional money to work with a tutor? The teachers are generally very good instructors, but they simply do not have the time to devote an additional 1-2 hours/week of personal time to each student who requests it.

If your kid needs that much tutoring time, have you considered whether s/he is in the right school or in the right class within the school?

PP, I will post candidly. DC is in the top 5 their class at a very competitive school, and has always taken the most challenging classes. They have -- during their upper school years -- been tutored at most 1 or 2 hours a week, the additional time split between science and math as needed. There are 7-8 weeks every academic year (Aug-Jun) in which they do not meet with a tutor because of scheduling conflicts, academic breaks, etc. DC enjoys the time spent with their college tutor (currently a pre-med major, who charges $25/hour), because it allows them to further explore areas they are interested in, or to work on those concepts which they find more of a challenge. This year, DC's accelerated/AP math average is 99%+, and their accelerated/AP science grade is an A as well -- so with all due respect to your inquiry above, no, I do not question whether they are at the right school or in the right class within the school.

Oh, dear $25/hour? Are you sure you're buying the very best for your DC? In the modest spirit of your post and with all due respect and candor, I ask because my DC, a college student who was never tutored himself, but somehow managed to gain acceptance to a top 5 university, gets paid $40-$50/hour to tutor. He likes the kids he works with and enjoys spending time with them, even though they're under terrrible stress due to parental pressure to get straight A's. The bennie for us is that it makes him appreciate the fact that we let him have a happy childhood free of the pressure to be perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Oh, dear $25/hour? Are you sure you're buying the very best for your DC? In the modest spirit of your post and with all due respect and candor, I ask because my DC, a college student who was never tutored himself, but somehow managed to gain acceptance to a top 5 university, gets paid $40-$50/hour to tutor. He likes the kids he works with and enjoys spending time with them, even though they're under terrrible stress due to parental pressure to get straight A's. The bennie for us is that it makes him appreciate the fact that we let him have a happy childhood free of the pressure to be perfect.

In the spirit of one-upmanship and sarcasm so winningly demonstrated by your post, I counter with this response. The college student set the rate, and we accepted their offer. Are they a good enough tutor? The proof of the pudding is in the eating -- so yes. (As an aside, make a list for yourself of what you would consider to be the top 5 U.S. universities for mathematics. engineering, technology, science, and research in those areas. The tutor is a student at one of those.)

This last bit is actually not sarcastic. Congratulations to you on raising a DC who is intelligent (top 5 university), industrious (they tutor), gifted and hard-working (he never needed a tutor). As a parent I recognize that is a great accomplishment which had a lot to do with the love, support, education, and example your provided for him.

I do hope that you will not harshly judge those of us who support our children with the help of tutoring, though. DC requested the help so that they could better understand their work, and it has actually made their life much less stressful, not more so. DC is very proud of what they have been able to learn and accomplish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Oh, dear $25/hour? Are you sure you're buying the very best for your DC? In the modest spirit of your post and with all due respect and candor, I ask because my DC, a college student who was never tutored himself, but somehow managed to gain acceptance to a top 5 university, gets paid $40-$50/hour to tutor. He likes the kids he works with and enjoys spending time with them, even though they're under terrrible stress due to parental pressure to get straight A's. The bennie for us is that it makes him appreciate the fact that we let him have a happy childhood free of the pressure to be perfect.

In the spirit of one-upmanship and sarcasm so winningly demonstrated by your post, I counter with this response. The college student set the rate, and we accepted their offer. Are they a good enough tutor? The proof of the pudding is in the eating -- so yes. (As an aside, make a list for yourself of what you would consider to be the top 5 U.S. universities for mathematics. engineering, technology, science, and research in those areas. The tutor is a student at one of those.)

This last bit is actually not sarcastic. Congratulations to you on raising a DC who is intelligent (top 5 university), industrious (they tutor), gifted and hard-working (he never needed a tutor). As a parent I recognize that is a great accomplishment which had a lot to do with the love, support, education, and example your provided for him.

I do hope that you will not harshly judge those of us who support our children with the help of tutoring, though. DC requested the help so that they could better understand their work, and it has actually made their life much less stressful, not more so. DC is very proud of what they have been able to learn and accomplish.