Whatever the reason, hiring a tutor is a serious venture. You don’t want to risk adding more stress to your child’s life and the additional expense can be a strain on your budget. You definitely want the dollars spent to bring positive results, and help move your child’s education forward.

Here are some things to consider when looking for the best tutor for your child:

Safety and convenience

Your primary concern is for the well-being of your child. You’ll be entrusting your little learner into the hands of another adult. Be sure to get references and check them out. Ask the tutor if masks are required during in-person sessions and if online sessions are available. Make sure you are comfortable with the environment in which your child will be learning.

Skills and experience

The best tutors are retired or currently not employed teachers. They are certified and have lots of experience with children needing additional support. Sometimes businesses that offer tutoring for children are able to provide encouraging lessons in basic subjects, but just as often their teachers are not certified and have limited experience in teaching a subject with learning styles in mind. They may not be able to present a lesson in a number of different ways to help the child understand.

Occasionally a family member may be able to step in and help your child in a certain subject. In that case, work with your child’s teacher to get proper materials for the lessons. It’s important that the tutoring sessions not confuse your learner by teaching lessons that conflict in any way with the classroom expectations.

Be sure that you work with your child’s teachers and the tutor to set specific goals for the time spent in tutoring sessions. One good way to build learning confidence is to see progress over time as certain goals are met.

Patience, empathy, and kindness

Children who have fallen behind in their classroom work often are very discouraged. They may feel they can’t learn and may have taken a hit to their self-esteem. So anything additional in their schedule can feel like punishment. Avoid that possibility by hiring someone who understands the problem and offers nothing but positive lessons presented in small, bite-sized pieces so that failure is not an option.

Good tutors will have games and activities that are both instructional and fun. They may use a reward system that encourages a bit of risk-taking, but also makes your child feel hopeful and accomplished.

A good tutor is on task but upbeat and friendly. He or she will be patient but expect the best so that sessions are worthwhile and have specific milestones to achieve. Often charts and stickers work very well for a child who has not been able to earn them in class.

Enthusiasm for the subject, positivity

Typically children who have experienced a degree of failure are sure that they’re “bad at math” or “bad at reading.” A good tutor can present material in a way so that your child can shine. And enthusiasm for the fun of reading a good book or solving a math problem literally can change your child’s mind about that subject. An enthusiastic tutor who truly loves the subject matter.

Reliability

Your family’s schedule is important and adding a tutoring session may be a stretch for you. So if your tutor is not on time, or fails to measure up in any way, please feel free to find another one.

It’s also a good idea to schedule tutoring sessions for a month or two at a time and then re-evaluate the need for the extra support. You may decide that the extra boost in learning was all your child needed to get back on track. Or you may decide that certain times of the year are just too busy to add another time slot. Maybe waiting until spring or even summer would be the best choice for your family.

It’s important that your child never feel that working with a tutor is an embarrassment or a punishment. It may be wise to explain that throughout history children have worked with tutors and that classroom instruction is a relatively new way to learn.

Finding the best tutor for your child will take some research and time. Engaging the tutor will cost some money. But a strong, capable tutor may be just the boost your child needs to become a confident, successful learner.

JAN PIERCE, M.Ed., is a retired teacher and writer specializing in education, parenting, and family life. She is the author of Homegrown Readers and Homegrown Family Fun. Find Jan at janpierce.net.

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Benefits of musical experiences

But studies are showing that a broad array of musical experiences can build connections in the brains of young children aged 0-6 and that these connections are vitally important for all kinds of later learning. Incorporating music into the fabric of your daily family life can bring social and educational benefits to your children in surprising ways.

• Soft music can calm and soothe children, from fussy babies to high-strung older children, serving as a stress-reducer.

• Music can help children focus attention, a necessary skill in any learning process.

• Hearing music and responding to it accelerates brain development, especially in language acquisition and reading and math skills.

• Music provides healthy ways to interact with others, both adults and peers. • Moving to music builds motor skills and allows healthy self-expression.

• Music interactions build memory skills.

• Music provides a vehicle for the expression of many emotions, especially joy.

Early brain development

Neuroscientists now believe that crucial brain development takes place in the early years between ages 0-6. These years offer a window of opportunity to build connections in the brain that will serve the child throughout a lifetime.

New connections are made in the brain based on what the child sees, hears, and touches. Music is a key way to introduce new learning experiences to your child in both fun and productive ways. We now know that children who engage in musical activities from birth to age six have a head start on social competence, cognitive skills and emotional well-being. Besides, music is fun!

Games and activities

Here are some games and activities to bring more music into the culture of your family life:

• Play music for babies and toddlers. Encourage them to sway, bounce, clap, and otherwise respond to the rhythms.

• Make up songs as you go about your daily routines. They might relate to bath or nap times, meal times or play times. “It’s time for your bath, bath, bath” to the tune of a favorite song.

• Sing familiar songs and insert silly words. “Mary had a little ____.”

• Play music and provide household items or simple rhythm instruments for your children to play.

• Learn songs to sing together as a family. These work wonders during commute times in the car.

• Sing “movement” songs to build simple dance routines. “Wiggle, hop, and turn around.”

Have fun with music because “In the first six years of life, a child’s brain develops more and faster than at any other time in life. The early experiences a child has – the things seen, heard, and touched – stimulate the brain, forming connections. Healthy brain development establishes a child’s social competence, cognitive skills, and positive emotional well-being,” according to clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrany.

Let music of all kinds form a backdrop to your daily family life. Have some musical fun with your kids and build their brainpower.

JAN PIERCE, M.Ed., is a freelance writer specializing in education, parenting and family life topics. She is the author of Homegrown Family Fun and Homegrown Readers. Find Jan at www.janpierce.net Want ten free tips on boosting your child’s reading skills? Go to www.janpierce.net. The download is free.

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