The goal of working with a tutor is to shed anxiety and stress at home. Ideally you can finally have a civil conversation at the dinner table because your son has started bringing home A’s in geometry and your daughter is no longer putting off her History and Honors 英语 papers to the last minute. 那么,为什么, 即使是你找到的导师, is this image more likely to appear in a Norman Rockwell painting than in your own home?
一旦你找到了一位导师，工作就开始了. 你的孩子, 当然, feels the work—someone besides you is now holding them accountable—and, 如果你的导师有其他优先事项, 你会感觉到工作, 太. My main goal for every Revolution Family is that their stress goes down once they start, 然后继续和他们的导师一起工作.
一旦你找到了完美的导师, follow these 5 steps from the beginning to ensure you’re lowering your stress and that your child has success.
1. 提前设定目标和期望
从一开始就, your tutor should provide you with a plan that includes: quantitative and qualitative goals along set timelines. You should also be able to see clear metrics for success. 不管你是不是要被判几周, 一个学期, 或者一年的学术计划, there need to be defined milestones and clear action steps.
你的孩子’s work with their tutor needs to stay focused. 如果你的孩子历史得了C, 是因为误解吗, 不感兴趣, 瓦解, 或者三者的组合? 目标需要反映问题. This is essential to working proactively and removing the need for the tutor; without those clear goals, your tutor is just being reactive and not addressing core issues.
2. 参加第一次会议
Key things to listen for: how does the tutor set up the goal-setting conversation? What questions do they ask of the student and how do they ask follow-up questions? (Good follow-ups I used as a tutor were: “Tell me more about that” and “Explain what you mean”.) How does the tutor offer his/her input and how does the tutor wrap up goal-setting? (Did they summarize, draw conclusions, and offer next steps or action items?)
Revolution Families often request that we record and send them the first session and we are happy to do this. This is the beauty of hosting sessions online and we find it’s a far less intrusive way for you to see what is happening in the session. While I discourage families from sitting in on future sessions, knowing how the first session went is incredibly important to learn how your child feels about their tutor.
3. 在前几次面试后采访你的学生
Key questions to ask include: How did you feel when you finished today’s session? 告诉我你今天学到了什么. The goal of these questions is to listen for the rapport a tutor is building. While it may be odd to flat-out ask if a student trusts and likes their tutor, you know your child best and you’ll hear cues of how good a match their tutor is. The first session is incredibly important for building this rapport and that relationship will matter for all future sessions. 辅导 sessions need to be a safe space in which your child feels comfortable making mistakes, 受到挑战并承担责任, 还有个啦啦队长. That all comes back to the rapport built in the first session.
展望未来, continue asking questions to understand how the tutor reacts when your child doesn’t understand something. This question lets you spot red flags: the way a tutor approaches concept gaps and misunderstandings shows if they’ll end up being a crutch for your student. It is also very telling about their mindset to learning (whether fixed or growth). This is something to watch through future sessions, as well.
4. 每次会议结束后要求提交一份书面报告
Key questions to address include: What was the focus of the session? 是什么成就? 多么大的挑战和障碍啊? 完成了哪些与目标相关的结果/里程碑? We have consistently heard feedback from our families that the parent updates they receive from our tutors provide an avenue for the parents to have conversations with their kids about the work they are doing in school and with their tutor.
对于忙碌的父母, this is a great way for you to be on the same page as your child in school, 要意识到任何挑战, 并在必要时为他们辩护. This puts you on your child’s team when it comes to schoolwork, 作为父母，这通常是一个艰难的地方. Make sure you are getting this important information from your tutor after each session or, 至少, 每周.
5. 持有安排签到
目标是在每10个小时的辅导之后检查一下. The Advisors on my team speak to tutors weekly about their students, and will check in with their families every 4 to 6 weeks. 如果你有自己的导师，这同样重要. It should not be something that the tutor charges you for but something they include as part of the program. This is your parent teacher conference or performance review of the past few weeks. What is your child doing well; are there any concerns arising? And, most importantly, how can you help your child and their tutor?
Parents I know often assume that just hiring a tutor will solve their problems. Yes, it’s a step in the right direction, but everyone needs to be held accountable. Just as the tutor you bring in holds your child accountable, you or someone needs to help hold the tutor accountable.
With these 5 steps, you’re better set up to manage a tutoring program successfully.
