Perhaps your child has been having a bit of trouble in math class. This may be a natural response if new material has been introduced which your child doesn’t understand, or it may be a long standing problem. Whether your child is struggling with the concepts and needs individual attention, or simply wants to get ahead, you may want to consider the benefits of online math tutoring. Here’s a brief description of 4 qualities that parents should look out for in a good math teacher.

A good math teacher should know their stuff

At the risk of sounding obvious, parents should understand that any good teacher worth their sort should know their subject. If a teacher doesn’t have mastery over their subject, they are not worth your attention.

For a good math teacher, patience is key

One of the most important virtues a tutor needs is patience. A good math tutor should be willing to explain concepts to a kid several times and in several different ways, as well as answering all of the questions a child has. An impatient tutor may be worse than no tutor at all, as rushing kids through a lesson may make the child feel even worse, exacerbating their mental block.

A good math teacher has different ways of explaining the same concept

Every child responds best to different sets of stimuli. A good math tutor must have different explanations for every piece of material they’re going over, so that they can find the type of explanation which works best with the way your child’s brain is wired. If writing the problem out isn’t helping, the tutor should try another tack, such as making a drawing or telling a story. Not only does this explanation need to make sense, but it must be engaging for the lesson to really stick.

A good math teacher understands the role of parents even in personalized tutoring

A good tutor should be willing to involve parents in the learning process. Keeping a parent aware of how their child is doing not only provides parents with the peace of mind, it also allows the parents to help the tutor by creating a plan, such as adjusting the amount of time spent with the tutor each week, or making necessary changes in the learning environment. When parents and tutors work together towards the child’s best interests, they can expect the best possible results out of the math tutoring experience.

Growingstars.com is a service to connect you with a quality online math tutor who is patient, knowledgeable and versatile. The site has a ton of tools that are used to keep parents in the loop, from regular testing to parent-tutor conferences which can be used to build your child’s educational plan.