Tips for Hiring a Tutor

So you’ve decided that your dyslexic child needs a tutor, but where do you start? 

STEP 1.  Ask yourself is “why does my child need a tutor?  What are our goals with tutoring”?  

Some common reasons to get a tutor:

• For repetition to solidify skills that have already been learned (kids with dyslexia benefit from lots of repetition)
• For providing extra instruction on a skill they are still learning.
• For homework assistance.  While you could do homework support yourself, there are many reasons might want to pass off to someone else.  The most common reason is that kids will be more compliant with participating in the homework for another adult than for their parent.
• For pre-teaching upcoming skills. Pre-teaching is beneficial for children with dyslexia, again because it provides repetition of topics over time.  The other reason is can be beneficial for some kids is that it reduces anxiety.  Imagine your child gets to a tough new topic in algebra this fall, but the stress is reduced because they’ve seen problems like it before working with the tutor. 

Step 2. "What's my budget?"

Tutors aren’t cheap.  

The least expensive option is to hire a high school or college student. This option is great for homework assistance, but I’d be hesitant to expect much else.  

There are professional tutors for hire. They are often people who are trained as teachers but not always.  You can also hire a teacher from your child's school.  I’ve had great luck over the years asking teachers that my children loved to continue to work with them over the summer. Given the level of training, you can expect to pay $50 -100 per hour.

There are tutoring centers - like Kumon and Mathnasium. My personal experience with these has been limited but I’ve had many patients over the years have good experiences. It’s important to note however that they have no specific training or expertise in learning disabilities. These services are more like memberships that you pay by the month. 

Lastly there are specialized literacy instructors for children with dyslexia and specific learning disabilities. Here you are looking for people who are trained in "Structured Literacy", "Orton-Gillingham Approach", "Wilson Reading System" and others. For more information check out. What is Orton-Gillingham?  How much will pay depends on the level of training, but for an advanced practitioner in the Orton-Gillingham Approach you can expect to pay $100+ per hour.

Step 3. Find the right fit.

The most important thing is that your child buys into the tutoring. The tutor's level of certification doesn't mean ANYTHING if your child fights going to every session or half-heartedly participates. This may mean trying out a few options before committing. 

Finding the perfect fit for a tutor is just one of the many steps you may be taking on your Parenting Dyslexia journey.  If you are just getting started on your journey, be sure to click here to download you FREE PD360 Starter Guide.