The Benefits of Tutoring

by Manjot Singh

The more you learn, the more you know.  The more you know, the more you forget.  The more you forget, the less you know.  So why learn?  This has served as a long-time motto for me throughout middle school and now high school.  To be honest, it sounded like a great idea at the time.  I was so convinced that the statements above made sense that I forgot about how important it is to study and work hard to be successful right now.  That’s exactly why tutoring is so crucial.  For people like me who aren’t very self-motivated, tutoring really does provide that extra push that you can’t find in a school setting.  Whereas in school there is cut-throat competition (at least for high school) to do well, in private tutoring, a student is learning more for the benefit of his or herself rather than in order to supercede and in the cases of a boring teacher, outlast other students.  I know from personal experience that tutors tailor their program to every single need you can ever have.  They first diagnose your strengths and weaknesses to determine what they have to do in order to enhance your strengths and make your weaknesses strengths.  They come up with a program structure that includes objectives and projected impact.  They then coordinate a schedule of when to meet based upon your own busy schedule.  And lastly, they’re just really supportive of your academics and they really do want to see you do well and they won’t give up until you do. 
But the next question is how do you know if you need tutoring?  Some of the most crucial reasons include if a teacher or counselor recommends tutoring, if grades are dropping, if homework seems increasingly difficult, if you have extreme anxiety before tests, if your self-esteem is dropping, if you have a loss of interest in learning, if you feel like you want to give up or resist doing schoolwork, and lastly if you’re reluctant to go to school.  Although these are not all of the reasons, these are a good indication of whether tutoring can benefit you or not. 
To be honest, tutoring is not some kind of scam or trap that makes you spend without reason.  There are enough people making use of it and there are enough people sticking with it because of its limitless benefits and possibilities.  It helps improve academic skills, build self-esteem and confidence, develop a positive attitude towards school, offer positive role models, improve social skills, slow down truancies and drop out rates. Tutoring is rejuvenating.  Students hold themselves accountable in tutoring which is two times as effective when it comes to learning than studying alone.  It can also help academically and intellectually advanced students remain challenged- and, therefore, interested in their education.  And because it is one-to-one or small group private tutoring, it can go at accelerated paces necessary for such students.
Not all of us can be like Chuck Norris who doesn’t read books but rather stares them down until he gets the information he wants.  Not all of us can take tests like Chuck Norris either, who put down “violence” as every one of the answers of his high school math final and ended up getting an A+ on the test because Chuck Norris solves all his problems with violence.  For the rest of us who can’t do what he does, tutoring is a practical, cost-effective, and efficient alternative to start doing better in school and creating a strong foundation for your future.