How to get started as a tutor?

[stessier]

I've been helping my kids and now my nieces and nephews with math homework the last few years and they have all done well and said I was better than their teachers. I've really enjoyed helping them learn, believe anyone can be good at math if someone takes the time to work with them, and have great patience.

So has anyone ever been a math tutor (I'm thinking I could do middle school through algebra 2)? How did you get started? Do I need to have lesson plans or is just helping review what was taught in class enough? How much does one charge?

I will still have a full time job and so would only be available from about 5:30-9pm. I have a webcam, microphone, and reliable internet, but think teaching would work best in person.

My thought is to start next year and slowly build so when I retire I'll have some extra income that might allow me to delay SS for a few years.

[TheMix]

My best friend did it for a number of years. He's out of the country right now on vacation, but I can see if he'd be willing to chat with you when he gets back. Send me a PM.

[Brian]

Be rich, living in England, in the 15th Century.

Oh, sorry, I thought you said Tudor.

[Kraken]

How to become a tutor

Here are the most common steps needed to become a tutor:

1. Earn a degree
Tutors need at least a high school degree before they can seek certification or begin tutoring younger students. They will need a bachelor's degree before they are qualified to find work with a tutoring agency or organization.

2. Become certified.
Tutors can be certified through accredited tutoring associations including the American Tutoring Association, Association for Tutoring Professionals, the College Reading and Learning Association and the National Tutoring Association. Tutors will need to research which certification best suits them since each association has different requirements for a tutor's level of experience and education.

3. Choose a specialty
Most tutors specialize in teaching certain subjects. These include English, math, science or other common courses. They also may decide to specialize in preparing college applicants for college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT.

4. Set rates and advertise
If a tutor plans to work independently, they can set their own rates and are responsible for making their own advertisements. Tutors will need to research the average salary for similar tutors in their area, as well as local supply and demand to set an appropriate rate. Tutors can advertise on online job boards, post flyers in school or libraries or register with online tutoring websites to find clients.

My 5 minutes of research indicate that anybody can hang a shingle and call themselves a tutor without any licensing or qualifications. Earning decent money at it will require certification.

[RunningMn9]

If you are going to become a private tutor, it's basically the Wild West and it's all about finding clients. My wife has been a professional math tutor for almost 20 years. She started out tutoring for the local county college, but now works for a facility that provides mental health care to middle and high school students. She has a math degree but did not need any certification. She started out tutoring privately locally, via word of mouth and Facebook, but when COVID hit she switched to fully remote and has students all over the country. She covers from middle school through Calculus, but there's a lot of prep work, even though it's focused on their homework or test prep (she doesn't craft her own lesson plans usually).

[Kraken]

I'd think that success will be built upon word of mouth and referrals. Once you get people to vouch for you, others will beat down your door. Or knock politely, anyway. My own freelance experience says that if you can get a foot in the door, you can demonstrate your talent and the spice will flow. But that first step's a doozy.

[Daehawk]

Oh wait no thats Tudor.

[Remus West]

Contact local schools and let them know you're interested in doing it. If you want to tutor math go meet the math teachers and talk shop with them so they feel comfortable giving your name to students and families. Ask the teachers what the going rate is for tutoring in your area. You may want to take a few days to sub in the buildings to get to know them and show your knowledge.

[Holman]

One option is to join a tutoring service. They'll take a cut, but they do the marketing for you, and you look legitimate because you've been vetted (and gone through criminal and child-safety background checks, etc).

Parents these days are wary of letting a strange adult spend time with their child unless there's an organization vouching for them.

[Smoove_B]

One option is to join a tutoring service. They'll take a cut, but they do the marketing for you, and you look legitimate because you've been vetted (and gone through criminal and child-safety background checks, etc).

Yeah, I'd think this is probably the est way to go. It will stink giving some money to the service, but you can at least get that protective layer and build credentials as an "official tutor" for long enough to see if you want to then eventually quit and do it on your own (as a former, "legit" tutor).

[RunningMn9]

One option is to join a tutoring service. They'll take a cut, but they do the marketing for you, and you look legitimate because you've been vetted (and gone through criminal and child-safety background checks, etc).

Parents these days are wary of letting a strange adult spend time with their child unless there's an organization vouching for them.

That’s a good option too. My wife did that for a bit, although I think that was more focused specifically on SAT prep.

[Jeff V]

I could probably make a case about doing so in English/writing and history. But I am not a teacher -- history I am strong in some subjects but not so much in others. Writing I can edit and explain the reasons behind my edits, but teach them to write clean copy in the first place? I don't know.

My kids (both straight-A) don't really ask me for help anymore -- and when they did, it was math and the way they teach math these days I cannot comprehend. My son is already dangerously close to exceeding my ability to help him at all -- he's doing geometry now...something I didn't do until sophomore year in high school. He's in 4th grade, but promoted a year to 5th grade math.

I edited some friend's daughters college entry exam essays, and they both got into their school of choice. Maybe that's a niche I could pursue...

[Holman]

Being a tutor today isn't about reinforcing skills or giving the student a wider perspective on a subject. It's a very specific transaction: parents give you money, and you get their kid higher SATs and AP scores. There are steps along the way, and obviously so for students not yet at the test-taking point, but ultimately it's all about that.

The best way to get a tutoring service to consider you would be to study the formats and strategies for those tests.

[Holman]

I edited some friend's daughters college entry exam essays, and they both got into their school of choice. Maybe that's a niche I could pursue...

There are professional services for that, too.

[stessier]

Thanks for all the suggestions. TheMix - you've got mail.

[Punisher]

Oh wait no thats Tudor.

I think you mean this...

[Blackhawk]

And here I thought he wanted to be a potato.

[Isgrimnur]

[GnomeGlimmer]

If you're considering becoming a tutor, SchoolSolver.com is a great platform to start with, offering opportunities to connect with students and provide assistance across various subjects.

[em2nought]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

[Victoria Raverna]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

[em2nought]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

No, but America is a land of lawyers and schemes.

[Punisher]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

No, but America is a land of lawyers and schemes.

I think that as long as you chain them to the wall on the other side of the room from you you'll be fine.

[em2nought]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

No, but America is a land of lawyers and schemes.

I think that as long as you chain them to the wall on the other side of the room from you you'll be fine.

My brother told me he used to keep a rope in his desk at work, and offer to babysit for the girls in the office when they mentioned it. Of course this was way way back in the days when you couldn't offend anyone at the drop of a hat.

[Punisher]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

No, but America is a land of lawyers and schemes.

I think that as long as you chain them to the wall on the other side of the room from you you'll be fine.

My brother told me he used to keep a rope in his desk at work, and offer to babysit for the girls in the office when they mentioned it. Of course this was way way back in the days when you couldn't offend anyone at the drop of a hat.

I've tried rope but some of those sucker's have sharp teeth and chewed right through.

[em2nought]

No way I want to be in a room alone with other people's children in the western world at least.

Are you a danger to other people's children?

No, but America is a land of lawyers and schemes.

I think that as long as you chain them to the wall on the other side of the room from you you'll be fine.

My brother told me he used to keep a rope in his desk at work, and offer to babysit for the girls in the office when they mentioned it. Of course this was way way back in the days when you couldn't offend anyone at the drop of a hat.

I've tried rope but some of those sucker's have sharp teeth and chewed right through.

My older brother was lucky, I don't think anyone ever called his bluff. He wasn't so lucky when it came to Crohn's Disease though.