5 Unexpected Benefits of Hiring a Tutor

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There is nothing in the world I hate more than homework. Due to issues with homework, we made the best parenting decision this school year and got my son a tutor. These are the benefits of hiring a tutor that we totally weren’t expecting.

Five years ago my husband started traveling. At the time I had a 1st grader and a pre-schooler. I didn’t have a whole lot of homework to worry about except spelling words.

Today, I have a 3rd grader and a 6th grader. My older child works hard to finish all his work at school. If he doesn’t finish it in class, he finishes it in another class or at lunch. He never has homework.

My younger son, he has math homework and the struggle for me to teach math after we have done the activity of the day, think piano or sports, and then we have homework. I am telling you, it is a nightmare.

A few months ago my son came home with a math review sheet. I sat down to help him with it, and I couldn’t even figure out the answer. Third-grade math y’all! What the what?!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty smart, and I know math. But I can not wrap my brain around this new math that they are teaching kids in school.

This question had my son crying. And I was crying because I was so sad that I couldn’t help my son understand it. My husband was on FaceTime, and he looked at the question, and he looked at me and looked at our son and told him he was going to do awesome on the test and to stop studying. So we stopped.

I would love to tell you my son did awesomely. He didn’t. But what did happen was awesome!

When my husband came home the next day, he said we had to hire a tutor. This tutor has been the saving grace of our family! I don’t have to teach math that I don’t understand anymore.

One of my favorite benefits of hiring a tutor, I get to do the most important role a parent plays. I get to cheer him on and tell him he is getting it and encourage him to believe in himself!

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How to find a tutor

As parents, you know your child’s weaknesses and strengths better than any person in the world. You are the resource that every teacher should be using. If your child struggles in school, then you need to be your child’s voice and get them the help they need.

When talking to the teacher, ask them if there is a teacher in the school who tutors. Some teachers have the time to and want extra income and will tutor students. We hired one of our child’s teachers, and we meet with her once a week at the library.

There are also large companies that will tutor your child. I have had friends who have used them, and they were thrilled with the results they had from there.

We decided to hire a private tutor because we thought it would be more cost effective for us.

Impacts of tutoring

Tutoring has been a life savior in many ways. He is getting 1-1 support, and he can ask questions if he doesn’t understand.

The only downfall of tutoring is that it is an activity that is after school. I realize he has spent the entire day learning and I do feel guilty that he has to sit for another hour learning.

Confidence is rising

We have seen his grades increase since starting with a tutor. He still struggles with the word problems in math, but he is doing so much better than before. He is also doing math in his head and saying it out loud.

The other day we had frozen pizza for dinner, and he asked why I cut it into sixths instead of eighths. I was SO proud of him for being able to recognize that is what I had done. Math in everyday language is key.

Independent in after-school homework

As this year has gone on, his confidence in himself and that he understands what he is reading is huge. He knows he has to read every day for 20 minutes and write a few sentences about the book. He now takes the initiative to get that done.

Test scores are getting better

Test scores aren’t the end all be all, but when the schools are measuring where your child is in the grade level, it matters. I am so happy to say that my son has improved.

No more homework tears!

This is my personal favorite! Since my husband travels, I am the one who is the taskmaster at the end of the day. I am sitting with them doing homework and all the end of the day things. With the tutor, I know that I don’t have to monitor homework as closely, I just have to be their cheerleader and encourage them. Sometimes I let him teach me so I can see if he understands it.

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Benefits of hiring a tutor

So if you are the mom who is hustling the kids from soccer to home to dinner to homework. I feel you! I’m there with you. I can’t say it will get better because I still have years to go.

If you are struggling with homework and you find yourself crying because you aren’t able to teach your child, I know where you are. I want to encourage you, and it will get better.

Questions to ask yourself

These are a few questions we asked ourselves before it was time to hire the tutor:

1. Can I teach my kid?
2. Is the emotional chaos going to happen every night?
3. What if I am not able to teach him?
4. Are his grades improving?
5. Do you want to wait and see what will happen, or do you want to be proactive?

Those were the ones we started with. When my husband came home and said we were hiring a tutor, it was because it had already been a discussion. He already knew we had a problem and it was time to help the issue before it got worse.

So take these questions and have a conversation with your husband about your child. Your husband will be open to it if he knows you have already started the thought process of how to help your child. He wants to see his child thrive just as much as you do and the benefits of hiring a tutor will pay off in the long run!

If you do use my questions, let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you and cheer you on to help your child.