When is Math Tutoring the Right Choice?

Many students struggle a little bit in math class, just as many people struggle in any endeavor that requires abstract, rigorous thinking. A certain level of struggle is a normal, natural part of education and does not necessarily indicate a need for tutoring. After all, one of the most valuable things students can learn in school is how to overcome difficulty by relying on themselves. However, in certain situations, tutoring can make a tremendous positive difference in a student's education.

In my opinion, the most clear-cut situation in which a student ought to have tutoring is when that student becomes so frustrated that learning math feels like a hopeless, impossible task. Some symptoms of this situation are regular tears shed during math homework, serious avoidance of anything having to with mathematics, or an ordinarily open, honest child or teen lying about math class or refusing to discuss it. If any of these symptoms are present, the student is clearly in a place where he or she will simply not be able to pull themselves out of their difficulty on their own. A patient, understanding, non-judgmental professional tutor can make all the difference. Of course, math tutoring is not math therapy- when I am working with this type of student, we talk about fractions and variables, not emotions. Nevertheless, a sensitive and thorough tutor can effectively remove the emotional blocks that sometimes prevent success in mathematical success.

Of course, in an ideal world, no one would get to the point where they are utterly petrified by math. There is always a period of time when a student is beginning to flounder but has not yet become chronically discouraged. As I said earlier, I believe strongly that a certain amount of struggle is a valuable part of education. It builds resilience and self-reliance. The trick for parents is to see when their child is crossing the line from wrestling with a subject in a healthy way to losing the match. If a student appears to be putting a good amount of effort into his or her studies, but is nevertheless bringing home anemic test scores and the essential concepts don't seem to be sticking, tutoring may nip the problem in the bud and prevent the student from beginning a downward spiral.

One situation in which tutoring can be counterproductive is when a bright student is floundering in math class strictly because he or she is not putting in any effort. Has your child's teacher called you to complain that your child is spending his or her class time launching spitballs? On the one hand, tutoring might actually help with behavior problems if the root cause is that the child is trying to hide a lack of knowledge. On the other hand, if the behavioral difficulties have any other root cause, tutoring can just give the child a further excuse to not pay attention in class. ("I don't need to listen to the teacher. I'll just learn this stuff later with my tutor.)

Sometimes tutoring is necessary because finding good math teachers is a difficult task for schools, and they don't always succeed. On more than one occasion, I've had parents call me because, although their child was doing fine in terms of school grades, there was clearly a major problem with the math class. Maybe your child reports that his or her teacher often becomes confused when trying to explain material. Maybe your child has observed that his or her math teacher isn't fully fluent in English. Maybe you have noticed that math problems your child has copied as part of his or her class notes are often solved incorrectly. You can't always rescue your child from a bad class, but you can make sure that he or she doesn't fall behind by hiring a tutor to make up the difference.

The final situation that I will discuss is enrichment for the gifted or simply curious student. It's wonderful to have a child who wants more math! However, it is important to think enrichment through carefully. Often, the first impulse is just to teach the student more advanced material. That might be fun (and it's relatively easy for the teacher or tutor) but it's not a tactic that I endorse. The problem is, if your student gets ahead of his or her class, when the class catches up, he or she is going to be quite bored while the rest of the class learns something that he or she has already mastered. A much better approach is to teach students math that doesn't normally make it into school curriculums. After all, math is an enormous domain, and standard school curriculums only cover a small portion of the possibilities. By teaching unusual math, it's possible to keep a child highly challenged without causing future problems. Better yet, that student will then have a wider and deeper range of mathematical experience to draw from than they would otherwise have had. Of course, because this approach to math tutoring is relatively difficult, it is most likely to work with an experienced, professional tutor.

Math tutoring is not a panacea, but it is nevertheless a very useful tool for a wide range of students. There are many more situations in which a parent may consider math tutoring than I have mentioned here. If you are trying to figure out if math tutoring is right for your family, I would recommend thinking about what the root cause of your difficulty is. Would highly individualized attention from an educational professional get to the root of the problem? If so, your student is a good candidate for math tutoring.