One-On-One Learning
There is a lot of pressure and competition in academics and unfortunately, schools are not designed to provide success for everyone. Classrooms in and around Chicago often have 25 students or more. This equates to 25 different personalities and nearly as many learning styles. No teacher can possibly connect with all of his or her students equally. Throughout the school year, there will be some children who find the subject matter to be relatively easy, while others will struggle to keep up and begin to fall behind. This is rarely attributable to anything the students are doing incorrectly. More likely, they may require a different perspective or explanation to effectively master a given concept.
This is why a classroom’s student-to-teacher ratio is so important. And while it is not feasible to significantly reduce that figure in schools, tutoring provides children with a powerful one-on-one learning environment. As a private tutor, I am able to specifically cater lesson plans to the learning style and pace of each student. This is not possible in a classroom setting, where teachers must do their best to focus on the collective needs of a large group.
When tutoring, I make sure to get to know each child as an individual. By identifying and discussing his or her interests outside of school, I am able to make a connection that extends beyond the often monotonous minutiae of “How to solve for x.” Taking it a step further, I can then incorporate that information into my teaching methods. A student who participates on his or her school’s baseball or softball team, for example, may be able to better grasp percentages or probabilities if I break down how batting averages are calculated. Children generally learn more efficiently when they are able to visualize how the material is applied in their daily lives.
Convenience
Kids are busy. They attend school for seven hours a day and afterwards, many of them participate in extracurricular activities, as well. When children finally get home, they have to do homework and eat dinner. Traveling somewhere to work with a tutor is not an efficient use of time. To make things easier for families, my sessions are held in the comfort of each student’s home. If it is easier, or preferable, to meet up in a public location (e.g., Starbucks), that is also fine, of course. I’ve tutored students from Orland Park to Sheridan Park and virtually everywhere in between.
Flexibility
Sessions are typically 60 or 90 minutes and may be scheduled weekly, or as needed. I make a sincere effort to accommodate any short-term or long-term changes in a family’s schedule. I’ve tutored late at night during the week, as well as early in the morning on a weekend. If I have availability when a family wants me to come, I try my best to make it happen.
Additional Help
I believe that repetition is a vital element in the process of grasping new concepts. The more one engages with a task or subject, the more effortless it becomes. For students interested in retaining new material between our tutoring sessions, I offer unlimited practice problems and provide solutions, often in the form of written explanations sent via email. There is no additional fee for this service.
Pay-As-You-Go Pricing
I tutor as frequently – or infrequently – as each family desires. That means that, unlike a lot of other tutoring services that exist, I do not require a minimum number of sessions and there are no pre-paid packages. And just as I do with location and scheduling, I try to make the financial component as easy as possible for each family. I accept the following wide range of payment methods: cash, personal check, QuickPay, Zelle, Venmo or PayPal.
Experience
There are a lot of organizations that offer tutoring services, but many of them charge more than I do and/or hire relatively inexperienced college students to do the teaching for them. I know; I began tutoring at one of these places several years ago. Each family that worked with me gave my employer a positive review of their experience with me. But they were being charged a high hourly rate, while I was being compensated only a small fraction of it. Today, I work for myself and by cutting out the middle man (i.e., the business), I am able to charge families less money, while providing a superior service. Whereas I have been doing this for several years, a large number of tutors at these companies are part-time employees who are looking for a little extra cash while they are attending college. I am sure some of them are good at what they do, but the hiring process at these companies is not exactly stringent. Most 18-year old college students know how to perform basic algebra. But do they know how to adapt teaching methods to best fit the learning style of each child? The combination of my fees and experience provides a better value to families. Please take the time to read some testimonials from some of the families I’ve worked with. I have other references as well, if needed.