With New York schoolchildren groaning under an often-demanding testing schedule and with the pressure for good grades and admission to prestigious colleges as stressed-filled as ever, tutoring can loom large in the minds of parents seeking to help their children in a personalized setting.
Tutoring, at its best, is one-on-one in nature and modern technology can help parents find the right fit for a child in need up sprucing up on certain subjects.
Nassau County has many reliable tutoring centers which have been providing services for years. Two services, Varsity Tutor and University Tutor are, as their names suggest, set up to inspire students to greater heights. Both also advertise their large array of tutors online, with individual profiles of each one. It helps parents make the right fit and it may even inspire adults to put down the suitcase and contribute their own time to the tutoring process.
Both Varsity and University Tutor lists their volunteers online. Parents can choose tutors according to subject matter and local villages. For instance, according to University Tutor, there are no less than 259 tutors who list Great Neck as their residence.
The prospective tutors list their education, their degrees, their specialties and their teaching experience. On the Varsity tutor website, a Spanish tutor from Long Island, “Sejal,” explains her educational philosophy.
“I have been a well-rounded student in sciences and the humanities because of my patience in problem solving and because I utilize different study methods for different material,” she writes. “I have experience working with a wide range of students from elementary school to college students. The best part of tutoring for me is when a student truly begins to enjoy a subject they initially found difficult.”
Another volunteer, “Matthew” adds, “I can tutor all levels of mathematics and my specialty is in the area of mathematics education. I am always thinking of new ways to teach difficult material, and I have an intense knowledge of common core subjects, methods and procedures.”
Some tutors have interests beyond the classroom.
Another certified Spanish tutor, “Alex” has his own unique resume.
“I have had the good fortune to create my own work while assisting other directors with productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at the Kennedy Center,” he stated. “I have tutored throughout high school and college in literature and writing, helping with essays, papers and college applications. I also have experience with PSAT, SAT and ACT prep, finding particular success in helping students master the critical reading and writing sections.”
Such widespread interests are not uncommon among tutors. Meanwhile, “Michael P.,” a Syosset-based mathematics tutor for University Tutors has eclectic reading interests that range from Dostoevsky’s The Idiot to The Federalist Papers.
These quotes are just a small sample of what hundreds of volunteers have to offer local young people. Not all tutoring can take place on a one-on-one basis, but experts believe that one-on-one tutoring is the most ideal way of improving a students’ performance in a subject they are struggling with. Varsity Tutors, for instance, specializes in live one-on-one learning. Online tutoring is also available from most firms.
One-on-one tutors are willing to meet in places convenient for the students. Volunteers in Nassau County affiliated with University Tutor, for example, express the desire to meet in distance ranging in travel times from 15 to 30 minutes for valuable one-on-one tutoring.
