What Exactly is “Tutoring?”

 With all of the recent education upheaval and change that students have experienced, “tutoring” has become a bit of a buzzword, but what exactly is tutoring and how can it help your child?

What is Tutoring?

In short, tutoring is additional academic and/or skills development support from a more experienced person. This support can be provided by a student’s classroom teacher, another school staff member, a professional tutor, or even a peer. However, tutoring isn’t simply teaching subject matter content. It’s about helping students to understand their own learning process and supporting them in learning in the way that works best for them. Effective tutoring relies on the establishment of rapport, communication, and a trusting relationship between tutor and student so that the tutor can provide personalized support. This relationship and trust is vital to impactful tutoring because opening up about what you find challenging and how you are struggling isn’t easy and that transparency is necessary for individualizing tutoring sessions.

What Types of Tutoring are Out There?

In terms of subject matter, the sky's the limit! If you want to learn it, there is a tutor who can teach it!

When it comes to tutoring format, there are 3 formats of tutoring that are most common:

1. One to One- One-to one tutoring is one student and one tutor and allows for the most personalization when it comes to content focus and learning strategies. The student is the tutor’s sole focus during the session, which means that the tutor supports the student with exactly what is needed and in the way that works best for the student. Because of the ability to individualize all aspects of the session, one-to-one is often the most impactful form of tutoring. This is why Tutor Doctor focuses on the one-to-one approach.

2. Small group- Small group tutoring is one tutor and typically 2-5 students. This can be an effective form of tutoring for students as it allows them to learn from their peers as well as their tutor. With multiple students in a single tutoring session it is more challenging for the tutor to personalize content focus and learning strategies, but a quality tutor will do all they can to reach each student on an individual level.

3. Learning Centers- Learning centers often mimic the classroom, with one tutor and a large number of students. These tutoring sessions are often teacher-driven and can lack personalization as the tutor often needs to focus on the needs of the group as a whole, rather than individual students. Like small group tutoring, students in a learning center tutoring session can benefit from learning from their peers, but if your student is struggling to excel in their school classroom environment, they will likely not excel in a learning center’s classroom style environment either.

There are also 2 ways that tutoring support can be delivered, in-person or online.

In-person- In-person or in-home tutoring is really effective for many students. The tutor and student work together in the same physical space, which allows the tutor to better read a student’s physical cues and body language and it can be easier for some students to stay focused and on task when in physical proximity to their tutor. However, some in-person tutors will require you to get your student to in-person sessions at a local library or other space. Luckily there are tutors, like Tutor Doctor, who will come to you! This can be really beneficial for students who feel most comfortable learning in their own home and it means you don’t have to worry about getting your student to their session.