Tutoring Vs. Tutoring...How Do I Choose?

The new phone book came yesterday. I always get a kick out of opening the new one and checking to see that my name is still there. Of course, when you are in business and have a yellow page ad you have extra incentive. I PAID to have them put my name in that book. Fortunately, I found that it was right where it was supposed to be.

Then I looked at my "competitors" ads. What I suddenly realized was that I'm not really in competition with most of those people. Why? Because we do different things. To my alarm, I realized that by looking at the ads, you couldn't really tell the difference between what all these "learning centers" do.

As summer approaches, many parents will be thinking about getting tutoring for their children to maintain or increase their skills. Let's take a look at the different kinds of learning centers and the programs they offer. There are four basic kinds of "learning centers" that you can choose from.

1. Enrichment - Where children go to learn something that the school doesn't offer. Drama, computers, art, music, creative writing, advanced subjects; all these are designed to add to what children already do at school. Enrichment also includes SAT and other kinds of test preparation.
   
   
2. Reading Centers - For students who simple fell behind for any number of reasons. The most common is a long absence from school. Sometimes the student just missed a few basic skills along the way. Some children simply like the attention a center can give them; they respond to the personal contact.
   
   
3. Help With Homework - Just what is says. Sometimes kids need (more often like) somebody to help them out with their homework. Specific subject area tutoring, such as Geometry or Spanish, may also be offered at a center like this.
   
   
4. Clinical Tutoring - Centers that focus on the detection and correction of learning disabilities. Unlike all the others, these centers concentrate not on subjects, but rather the learning processes of the whole student. Their goal is to guide the student in developing the underlying thinking processes that must be in place in order for the basic skills to make sense. These programs address and integrate both processing and skills to teach the student how to learn or pay attention not just how to cope. Many times this involves procedures that aren't used in traditional school settings or even special education programs.

Many centers cover more than one area but most learning centers do not service all of these needs. The right match between student and tutorial program from the start will help you get the best for your time, money, and most importantly, your child's learning.

A Word of Warning! Because clinical tutorial centers are the most specialized, they are often the most expensive, so people sometimes choose to go somewhere else. Unfortunately they often "throw away" a lot of time and money because the root problem was something that stood in the way of learning rather than just information that the child was missing.

I hurt for people who call me, describe an obvious learning or attention focus problem, the tell me they are going somewhere else because it is closer or less expensive. You see, there is a good chance that they are about to waste time and money on a program that won't solve the underlying learning problem. Even worse is the loss of self esteem. As one adult student told me recently,

"It's not the money or the time I spent at reading centers that gets to me. It's the failing over and over I can't take."

I also mark my calendar, because after several months, they almost always call back.

Choosing the right learning center from the start allows the experience to be a positive investment for everyone involved. Think carefully about your child's learning needs. Then interview tutors and center directors to see if their services really match those needs.