According to Wikipedia, a tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assistance or tutelage to one or more people on certain subject areas or skills. The tutor spends a few hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to transfer their expertise on the topic or skill to the student. As a teacher, I spent many hours throughout the course of my career privately tutoring students. I enjoyed spending time to get to know the child as a person as well as a student. The growth I witnessed, both academically and emotionally, was well worth the commitment for the student and the parent. Children benefit from tutoring for different reasons and the benefits definitely support the parents’ decision to hire a tutor. One reason many parents seek the assistance of a professional tutor is to provide their child with instruction in a one-on-one teaching environment. This allows the child to be him or herself in a private and protected setting. There is less fear of making a mistake or asking questions, therefore real learning can take place. Also, a professional tutor understands how to address the child’s specific academic deficit. The tutor may communicate with both the parents and the teacher to determine the areas of concern. However, a good tutor is experienced in administering quick assessments to gain the insight and data needed to identify the skills in question. With this data, the tutor can “tailor” the instruction specifically to meet the needs of the child. Another reason parents choose to hire a tutor is to support the development of the child’s self-confidence which leads to more self-worth. During the one-one-one, tailor-made instructional sessions, the child begins to develop understanding and mastery of needed skills. The student develops an attitude of “I can do this.” This growth will begin to transfer to the child’s classroom performance which is the reason for hiring a tutor in the first place. Last, but certainly not least, many parents hire the support of a tutor to provide homework assistance to their child. In today’s society, it is characteristic of a household for both parents to work. Typically, the child may be in an after-school facility and can’t be picked up until after 5 pm. Homework is given to provide the child with the opportunity to practice skills covered in class as well as prepare for weekly quizzes, so it is a very important component in the learning process. If the child has a tutor who can assist with homework explanations and checks once or twice each week, this provides a great sense of relief and support to the working parents. In 28 years as an educator, I have seen a lot of children trying to navigate their way through the learning process. Many children get lost in the classroom for various reasons and no matter how hard a teacher tries, he or she can’t be everything to everybody in one day. Believe me, I know because I’ve been there and done that! As an educator, I know one thing to be certain, for a child to be academically successful, he or she must feel supported as a student. Don’t hesitate to seek out the help of a private tutor. The teacher will appreciate all the help he or she can get! At the end of the day, it’s all about the children!