So, when should you contact a tutor? See a tutor the first night your child has trouble with his/her homework and seeing the teacher for extra help doesn't help. Why? Because at that point it will take so little to get your child caught right up. Don't wait until the first poor test; make sure all tests are good tests and there's no pressure to overperform to compensate for a damaging mark early in the year. One hour in September can be worth five or more hours in December! Waiting costs you time and money.

EXAMPLE: "We have great tutors!"
YOUR RESPONSE: "Well, I should hope so! What are you doing in business if you don't have good tutors??"

What did that statement really tell you? NOTHING! But, it sure sounds good, doesn't it? Now, even we will say that we have excellent tutors, but when we explain what our tutors do, you'll probably be amazed. A good tutor will tell you something you don't already know because it is his/her job to know more than you about tutoring! <

But, at the same time, it's your responsibility to keep an open mind to being helped. If you call a tutor and abruptly ask, "What are your prices?" then the tutor feels you're not looking for help -- you're looking for a bargain. Good tutors want to work with families who will support and work with them to help their students, not put up an instant barrier by putting the tutors on the spot and forcing them to justify their rate when they don't even know what you're looking for yet.

Good tutors are natural caregivers and nurturers and if you ask for help, they'll give you so much, even over the phone for free! Most of them hate the fact that they have to charge money for what they do, but they have to make a living, too! And, a good tutor, no matter how expensive, can offer you something that is within your budget. A bad tutor is NEVER a bargain, no matter how inexpensive, because it's never worth paying a cent for a bad tutor. Many quality professionals will give discounts if it's obvious that you are in financial need, but of course, if you ask them out of the blue what their fee is, they won't quote a discounted rate. If you give a tutor a chance to get to know you, and to care about your situation, a good tutor will gladly give you suggestions and advice right over the phone.

Here's an example of an email we recently received from a grateful parent whom we knew we couldn't help (due to the specific situation and location of his child). We did, however, tell him that within a couple of days we would be able to get back to him with some resources to help him in his search. This is the email we received today (Sept. 1, 2006):

Hi Claire,

Thank you so much! The information you sent me is invaluable! I am extremely impressed by the help you have provided and the trouble you have taken to direct us to the appropriate resources. Before contacting you I had repeatedly asked my son's class teacher, his special education teacher, his old school principal and his new school principal for help in locating a math tutor. In each case I drew a total and complete blank!

I realize that tutoring is a separate field from public school teaching. I even wonder if there is an element of resentment that tutors are required to meet the needs not fully addressed by special education teachers? Nevertheless, I am amazed that so many sincere and well-meaning public school educators would be so unaware of the tutoring resources you have described. In less than twenty four hours, you have provided information that I could not obtain from my son's educators despite many months of repeated petitioning.

I now feel optimistic about finding appropriate help with my son's difficulties, which are the source of much pain and embarrassment for him. I might even approach the jump program myself to investigate the possibility of training as a tutor since there seems to be an element of caring within the tutoring system that is sometimes lacking in the public schools.

Thanks again,

As you can see, we've put a lot of time into helping parents choose a tutoring service that's right for them, both in creating website pages for parents,and in person. The reason is that we see many parents who have already tried one or more tutoring services before they come to us, and they have told us the mistakes they made and what they wish they had/hadn't done when searching for and selecting a tutor. We hope this knowledge will help you find the tutor that you need!