Good article. Thanks, Kharde.
No probs. Glad it helped.
This may or may not be helpful but here goes…
I did ok in math until high school Algebra, then bombed. It was intimidating and, once behind, could never catch up.
I listened to the teacher and my dad and watched as they showed me how to work problems. It made perfect sense as they did it, but when it came my turn to try, I just couldn’t get it straight in my head.
With my dad and a tutor, there was indeed the added pressure of having someone watching and waiting for me to fail.
Then came college and I had to repeat algebra. I was VERY nervous about it and freaking out a bit on the first day of class.
I changed my strategy. I completely tuned the teacher out. When he was up there teaching, I READ THE BOOK to myself at my own pace and worked slowly through each step of the sample problems in the explanatory part of each section of the book. I would refuse to go on to the next step of a sample problem until I truly understood the step before.
My grades went instantly from Ds and Fs in high school algebra to straight As in college algebra with the same material only one year or so removed from all those disappointments. I even began working ahead of the pace of the college class.
In high school, I was jumping straight from the lecture into the homework without really “getting it” based upon the lecture. I could follow what the teacher was doing up on the board and it seemed to “make sense” but it’s one thing to be able to follow along and another to really understand and apply it all by yourself.
With tutoring, I always felt the tutor was breathing down my neck, staring at my struggles, and expecting me to learn it in 15 minutes “or else.” I felt like I was just wasting the tutor’s time and my parents’ money spent on your tutor in addition to feeling horribly stupid for my math skills. It was my own self-imposed insecurity and nothing the tutor said or did to make me feel that way.
We pay $75 per roughly two hour session that includes both our girls. This is in NYC. I suspect this is dirt cheap for NYC. I can’t help with how to find one - my wife met the tutor while the girls were still in their stroller. She came up and complemented the girls and introduced herself and they hit it off and my wife kept her in mind over the years. When the time came sometime around 4th grade when state test prep started and we were noticing holes in their learning my wife and the tutor bumped into each other (she lives in the neighborhood) and they started up math & english. They usually get together in one of the local library branches or if in a pinch at the local Barnes & Noble cafe. She uses a mix of home-grown assignments and materials, online (IXL), and Barron’s test prep books. We went to two sessions a week when we needed to ramp up for the test.
All these quotes seem so expensive for a simple hour of math instruction. I know a math tutor who only charges a penny for the first minute, two cents for the second, four cents for the third minute etc. etc.
Basically, you’ll get what you pay for. You could get a student with little pedagogical skill to help out with homework problems for very cheap. Check local college math departments for those.
Or for more money, you can get a math teacher that actually will teach the mathematics you need to know. They can be harder to find and will cost a lot more money. My cost would be $75/hr and that is only because the economy is so bad. This does not sound like the route his mom wants to take although it would get your nephew off to a much better start.
Here’s a freebie. You might want to read some of the papers from Dr. Carolyn Kiernan from the University of Quebec. I really like her work about trying to get students over the conceptual hurdles in algebra.
I tutored algebra while in high school, basically going over concepts from the student’s text and doing multiple examples very slowly. I think I charged $15 per hour (this was 30 years ago). I went to the student’s house (it was a sister of an acquaintance). This student was slow in picking up concepts, but was keeping up in class.
While in college I tutored a high school student in geometry (I think) and she met me on campus. I think I charged about $20 per hour. This student was really good and I think she didn’t really need my help.
If either student was really behind or slow I think they would have needed a better tutor who would have charged more.
You pay for quality and convenience. Why do some people pay $15,000/yr for private schools when many countries offer school for free.
I agree, learning Math fundamentals is not difficult, most students simply need to put the effort in (at least until Senior high school anyway). The problem with youths in this day-and-age, is they are very free spirited and teacher’s/ tutor’s biggest struggle is to motivate studeents to engage, rather then to teach. In my day, we had no choice.
That’s why I liked that blog link I posted; it states how a good tutor will befriend a student, then positively guide …blah blah…
I second the advice of trying the Khan Academy (videos are also on YouTube). Also, you may be able to find a good tutor on Skype or through video on a Google Hangout.
Has he been tested for dyscalculia? Might be a good idea to look into it if for no other reason than to rule it out as the underlying cause of his issues. It’s not uncommon for people with this disability to go undiagnosed until adulthood. Even if he doesn’t have dyscalculia, it might be worth looking into some of the alternative teaching methods used to help people who do.
In high school, another older student in the school tutored me at a very reasonable rate and I feel was just as good and perhaps even better than some pricier tutors. This brings up a question for me though. Unlike most other services, by its nature a tutor cant guarantee an exact result, such as getting an A or B, etc. From what Ive seen it seems like if you hire a tutor through an agency, oftentimes they do offer some type of baseline results you can expect to see, and if not, you are not obligated to pay, at least not the full amount.
Yet, with tutors who work independently, this is usually not the case, at least in my experience. So…any thoughts on this aspect of hiring a private tutor? Should the student expect some type of baseline or agreed upon results, (assuming of course the student does their part in putting in study time), and an expected course of action the tutor will provide? If not, is it unreasonable for the student not to pay the full amount?
Reported
I think it’s very easy to overcomplicate this. Tutoring is a fragmented and inefficient market and there’s plenty of cadillac options on the market if you’re willing to pay for that but, at the level your nephew is at, it seems like what you basically need is a glorified babysitter/cheerleader.
Actual math knowledge should matter fairly little, pretty much every tutor with undergraduate math training will know math at a level well above your nephew. What matters far more is whether the two of them click and have a good relationship.
I think the thing that most people get hung up on is that they feel the need to get the right tutor on the first go. IMHO, this is counterproductive. Post an ad on craigslist/bulletin board of a local collage, looking for math/science majors looking to make a bit of extra cash. Price it 50% higher than the standard fast food/retail sales jobs in your area and try and collect as many leads as possible. Then, just have each one have a trial hour with your nephew and pick the one that has the best chemistry. A lot of them will be duds because teaching is not in their blood but you’ll find one that takes naturally to it.
If this avenue fails, then consider a tutoring school or other more professional option. But in all likelihood, you’ll find someone great who is happy to be making the extra cash and isn’t too bothered if they’re making the exact market equilibrium wage.