Who Benefits From Private Tutoring?

Private tutoring is not for every student.  Some are okay in a large prep class.  Still, others prefer to lock themselves in their room with the books and prepare alone.  For the rest of you, a private tutor can be of great use.  Here are some profiles of students who can thrive with one on one instruction:

1. The Social Butterfly- the student with many friends will more than likely sit in the back of the room of a large Test Prep Class and socialize while the instructor is giving the lesson.  To the social butterfly, SAT or ACT prep is just another social event and an opportunity to goof off.

2.  The Overprogrammed Student- Captain of the Swimming Team or Captain of the Cheerleaders, Interns at the Local Soup Kitchen, Lead actor in the school play.  You get the picture!  With such an irregular schedule, it is hard for these “kings and queens” of the extracurriculars to show up at a test prep class every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. So a private tutor who can mix and match dates and times is a great luxury.

3.  The Lazy, Unstructured, Unfocused Student- sometimes an intelligent kid needs the structure and focus which private tutoring can provide. Tutors can act as mentors to these students through motivation, organization and by making sure they complete the homework in a timely manner.

“When the Student Is Ready, The Teacher Will Appear”

The title of this post is from an ancient Buddhist proverb.  I thought about it today as I was helping a student prepare for next Saturday’s SAT exam at her local public library.  As she  focused on a 25 minute math section, my eyes glanced around the book stacks and I zeroed in on the test preparation books in the reference section. I was awestruck by the sheer volume of competent information available. It was then that I realized that all the SAT prep knowledge is readily available for students.  Across the room, another tutor was teaching a woman how to read.

Books, tutors, audio tape, videos, power point presentations, online courses, flash cards, smartphones,etc.  The technology is there. The material is there.  The flow of information is the constant. It’s the student that is the variable.  He or she must have the work ethic, the desire to improve, the energy to improve his or her lot in life, the motivation to succeed.  The student is the variable.  When the student opens his or her mind to learn, the teachers are already there.

ACT is this Saturday, SAT is 3 Weeks Away, PSAT is 5 weeks away.

High School Juniors and Seniors, it’s a new school year and a whole new Standardized Test schedule.  Its time to focus.  The summer is over and as sad as this news may make you feel, I guarantee you that you will feel a lot worse if you don’t start to refocus on killing these tests!

Just to motivate you I have found an interesting article called The Top 5 Reasons To Take The SAT Just click on the link and read it.

Preparing for this test is not a waste of time!  Diligent preparation will leave you with lifelong skills and habits.