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Preparing to Tutor Your Teen

© Terrie Lynn Bittner

Some parents opt to tutor their own teen during the summer rather than to hire a tutor. There are some factors to consider before choosing to take this route. First, evaluate how well you work with your teenager. If you cannot make him behave for you, there is a good possibility that you will not be able to make him study each day. If you both wind up angry and frustrated when you work together, tutoring may also not be an option. Skill in the subject is not as important as is a willingness to learn and the ability to evaluate his skills and needs. In fact, learning the subject together can benefit both of you; as he tries to explain the subject to you, he will have to think it through. If he sees you working hard to master the material, he will learn how to learn and perhaps learn something about motivation and diligence as well. Show him how eager you are to learn the material with him and why.

If you feel you can work as your child's tutor, plan the process with your teen. Make him an active participant in the process. In school, education is force-fed to him. He shows up for class and does what he is told. Everything is done for him. Now he should learn to be a real student, which is the only way he will overcome whatever caused his difficulties in the first place. A real student is one who takes ownership of his education. Ask him to set a time and place to do the work, taking into consideration your needs and schedules as well as his. It is unlikely that a 6 AM tutoring session will work if your teen is a night owl. On the other hand, a midnight session may not work for you. He should consider both your schedules and preferences and then ask you if the time he is chosen is acceptable.

Ask him to think about why he didn't do well in this subject in school. He needs to know why he failed before he can fix the problem. You aren't just teaching him math or reading. You are trying to teach him to succeed next year. If he failed because he didn't go to class or didn't do the homework- and you should know before you start if this was the case-he needs to think about why these are important parts of his learning. Did he study? If he really tried, and still failed, does he know why? Is there a learning disability? Did the teacher teach over his head? Was the classroom environment

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