Tutor Tips: Working With Kids and Teens

I’ve always loved the personal aspect of tutoring, whether my students were working towards improving standardized test scores or they just want to increase their English proficiencies. Getting to know the tutee is particularly rewarding and it makes it more convenient and more rewarding to customize your lessons. Sometimes helping students prepare for a standardized test is actually a little easier than just working on general English skills because the end goal is clear and progress is easier to measure. However, when working with kids and teens, having the element of a standardized test can complicate things considerably if a parent isn’t on the same page.

When working with students who haven’t graduated from high school yet, I strongly recommend making the student take a practice test before your first lesson. Although I think this is good practice for any student who you assist with standardized testing, I think it is even more important when it comes to working with kids because where the student has actually started and where the parent thinks their child is starting is often vastly different. When they first contact you, parents may think that they are hiring you to help their child achieve a minimum score of 100 on the TOEFL, and they may be frustrated if the student can’t seem to break an 82. However, if the same student started with a beginning score of 46, an 82 is a vast improvement that should be celebrated and the parent should know this as well.

I also think it is important to give both the parent regular updates, just as a teacher would during a conference. It is in no one’s best interest for the day the official results are delivered to be the first day when the parent understands what the student has been working on.

To streamline the process, I’ve made a document just for tutors. If you can’t regularly meet with the parents, emailing them with the progress in this type of document might be a good solution.

If for some reason, having the student take an entire practice test isn't feasible, then at least have the student send you a writing sample first. This will give you a good indication of where the student is starting from and will let you prepare for your first lesson better.

Additionally, I like to make sure I understand the student’s motivation for improving his/her score from the first meeting. Are they only doing this because Mom and Dad are making them? Do they think that all of their friends are getting higher scores, so they want to improve? Do they have their heart set on going to a particularly university, and they know that school’s minimum is just out of reach? Finding what drives the student can give you as a tutor great insight into what can motivate them. On the first day, give them the goal sheet here.

-Danielle