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Tutoring help for kids
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January 17, 2000: 7:42 a.m. ET
From online tutoring to learning centers, getting your child the right help
By Staff Writer Shelly K. Schwartz
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - When it comes to our children's education, most of us like to believe that money is no object -- that we'll do whatever it takes to help our kids succeed.
But realistically speaking, we all have our budgetary breaking points.
That's why it creates such a dilemma for parents when their child's grades start to slip. Do you shell out the cash for a full-time tutor, enroll them in a special learning center or simply spend a few extra hours each week with the books -- free from the distraction of video games and phone calls?
And more importantly, how do you know when trouble in school stems from a more serious learning disability?
Report to the teacher's office
Experts say the first thing you should do is contact the child's teacher.
"Before you usher them off to a tutoring center it would really pay for the parent to talk to the teacher first," said Carol Loewith, an educational consultant and president of the Independent Educational Consultants Association. "They are with that child everyday and they have such a good feel for how that child is progressing compared to the other kids in the class."
It may just be that your child is doing fine and that your expectations are simply too high, she said.
Across the ages
After you've talked with the teacher, learning specialists say you should consider a few other outside variables that may be a factor.
If your child is very young, between grades one and four, for example, and his or her grades are falling behind, it may be a sign of social insecurities or an indication that your child is being promoted into higher grades without first mastering the basics.
"You should pay attention to how well your child is socializing with other children," said Rick Bavaria, vice president of education for Baltimore-based Sylvan Learning Center. "That's especially important for children in kindergarten and first grade, since that's one of the major goals of those classes -- to teach them how to share and respect each other."
Also, he noted, look for physical signs during their younger years.
Is your child having trouble hearing or seeing objects at home? Are they slow to grasp the basic concepts of math, including addition and subtraction?
A pair of new glasses could do the trick.
"The bottom line is all of this should be done with the help of a teacher, but the parents should follow their instincts, too," Bavaria said.
He also stressed parents should be "slow to panic."
The big kids
Kids in higher elementary and middle school grades often struggle with different issues entirely.
"That's the age when classes start to become departmentalized and this could be the first manifestation of learning differences, because now the child is going from class to class," Loewith said. "You may be looking at a time management or organizational problem rather than a problem with the subject matter."
She noted that's often the case with kids who had good or average grades their first few years in school, but started to fall behind in the fourth or fifth grades.
In middle school and high school, any number of variables can come into play -- from puberty to social distractions.
At this age, in particular, the important thing is to test your child to get to the root of their problem.
"Before you run off to a million different tutoring systems, have the school test the student to see if he or she is grappling with issues or just needs some extra help," Loewith said. "You don't want to fix what is not broken."
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed in 1975, the public school system is required to test any child suspected of having a learning disability at no cost to the tax-paying parent.
Last year alone, the federal government spent $4.3 billion on student testing.
Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for the Education Department, said schools conduct physical exams, including vision and hearing tests, along with written exams to test the students' mental capacities. They also often have speech therapists on staff. But, he noted it's the discretion of the teacher and school staff to determine whether a parent's request for testing is necessary.
"It has to be worked out between the school and the parent," he said. "If the teacher and people at school who have contact with the student just don't agree, then sometimes the school will object. But even then, this (disabilities) act does provide for an appeals process."
Costs
If it's determined that your child simply needs a little extra instruction to keep up, you may consider hiring a full-time tutor to come to your home.
It's a good idea to talk to a few parents in your neighborhood -- or whose kids play on your child's soccer team -- who can recommend a good tutor. Your child's teacher may also provide some guidance.
Costs vary widely, depending on your area of the country, but most charge anywhere from $25 to $50 an hour for house calls.
Tutor, Inc. in St. Louis, for example, provides in-home tutoring for students in kindergarten through 12th grade using state licensed teachers.
The company charges $500 for 10 hours in instruction, $850 for 20 hours and $1,600 for 40 hours -- plus a one-time evaluation fee of $100, according to its Web site.
Another tutoring company in Miami, The Ultimate Tutor, offers both online and in-person tutoring to high school and college students.
The company specializes in math and science, and charges students $30 per hour. Discount packages of 5 hours cost about $135, 10 hours costs $250 and 20 hours is about $450.
"We seem to get a lot of e-mail questions from students in Virginia," said James Herrera, chief executive office of The Ultimate Tutor. "The students just open up an account and start sending in their e-mail questions.
E-mails get answered by the end of business day, he said, noting his staff will research a question and track down outside experts to address any requests they can't immediately answer.
For more urgent questions, students get a cell phone number that they can use to contact tutors immediately.
From the company's founding in 1995, Herrera said business has grown 30 fold.
"Response has been incredible," he said. "We're getting 30,000 [Web site] hits a month."
Learning centers
Another popular, and sometimes less costly, option these days is organized tutoring labs, like Sylvan or Huntington Learning Centers.
Sylvan, which provides educational assistance in small group settings, charges about $38 an hour at its Baltimore locations. But the centers are franchised and rates can vary nationwide.
Bavaria said the average student at a Sylvan center logs between 48 and 52 hours with an instructor.
"Research shows us that most kids work best in small groups, because they learn from each other," he said. "The child is diagnosed for their needs, they get personalized instruction and we constantly assess them through tests to see how they are progressing."
But even Bavaria agrees that small group instruction is not ideal for every child.
"The problem with these classes is that the tutoring is usually done in small groups rather than one-on-one instruction," Loewith said. "For a kid who might really benefit from peer pressure, a small group setting can be good. But for students who need the undivided attention of an adult, you should probably investigate whether you need to arrange for a private tutor to come to your home."
Word of warning
The cheapest option, of course, is to become the tutor yourself.
Set aside a few hours each night to spend with your child and their homework. Be sure to make up tests to ensure your child is grasping the basic concepts you are reviewing before you move on.
But if you take on the teacher role, Loewith said, be prepared for some friction on the home front.
"Parents have to be willing to become the nag," she said. "Sometimes what happens is it puts the parent in a very difficult place, because when the child is at school there's a wonderful triangle of direction with the parent, teacher and student. If Mom and Dad become the teacher, sometimes there's a lot of crankiness around the dining room table." 
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