Does Your Child Need a Tutor?

By: Huntington Learning Centers | 0 Shares 91 Reads

ORADELL, NJ--(Marketwire - Sep 12, 2011) - Ideally, parents will know long before their child brings home a failing report card that he or she needs tutoring help -- but Eileen Huntington, co-founder of Huntington Learning Center, says that it's important for parents to heed both academic and non-academic warning signs that their child needs supplemental education.

"Grades are an obvious measure of a student's school progress, but there are a number of other clues to help you recognize problems," says Huntington. "Your child isn't likely to come to you asking for tutoring help, so as a parent, it's important to be aware of the red flags that may indicate your child could benefit from one-on-one tutoring."

How can you tell if your child needs tutoring? Here are several warning signs:

Your child's homework is incomplete, inaccurate and sloppy. Throughout school, your child should become increasingly independent when it comes to homework, but if you find that the school work he or she does without assistance is incoherent or unfinished, talk to your child. Does he or she understand assignments? Talk to his or her or teacher, too. Is your child paying attention in class? How should you assist at home?

Your child often spins his or her wheels. When your child studies or does homework, does he or she have trouble getting started and/or staying on task? Talk to your child's teacher about how much time your child should spend on homework each night and pay attention to the actual time spent. If your child studies regularly but his or her grades don't reflect the effort, explore possible reasons with his or her teacher.

Your child seems totally apathetic about school. Certainly, some children may express great distaste for school when they are struggling, but others may simply lose interest in learning. If your child was once excited about school and now seems indifferent, talk to him or her and try to probe gently into what's going on.

You notice a gradual decline in grades. If your child's grades on homework and tests have steadily gone down since the beginning of the school year, it could be a sign of something more serious than a tough unit or one difficult class. A temporary dip is nothing to get overly concerned about, but grades that get progressively worse can indicate that your child lacks basic skills and therefore can't keep up in the classroom.

Your child is very hard on him or herself. School struggles can take a serious toll on a child's self-esteem and confidence. If you find your child being extremely self-critical, demeaning and pessimistic about school, it's definitely time to investigate and seek help.

Homework time includes lots of tears and crying. Children who struggle with school can become so frustrated that their emotions overwhelm them during homework time. If your child dreads homework and studying, and all study sessions are tense and stressful, perhaps your child is avoiding school altogether because he or she feels incapable of doing the work.

The clearest sign that a child needs tutoring is a poor report card, but Huntington encourages parents to act as soon as they sense there is a problem.

"When a child has problems in school, his or her grades aren't the only things that suffer -- children experience a lot of frustration, sadness and even anger when they struggle in school," Huntington says. "Seek help early. Problems like these don't go away on their own. At Huntington, we design programs that are tailored to each child's specific needs, and we don't believe in quick fixes. Our goal is to close those gaps in skills so that our students can go on to be better, more confident, and most importantly, happier students."

For more information about Huntington Learning Center, families can visit www.huntingtonlearning.com.

About Huntington Learning Center

Founded in 1977, Huntington Learning Center is the nation's longest-running supplemental education services provider, and a pioneer and leader in the franchise learning center arena. Huntington provides instruction in reading, writing, spelling, phonics, mathematics and study skills as well as one-to-one instruction in SAT and ACT preparation to tens of thousands of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Huntington prides itself on its unparalleled programs which specialize in helping parents, caregivers and educators identify the gaps in skills and knowledge that can limit learning potential, and in providing a personalized program of instruction to enable children to excel. To learn more or to locate a center near you, call today, 1-800 CAN LEARN.

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