dirty ethel rackham Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 K, my transgender daughter, who is 22 years old, who has had a ton of mental health issues, has experienced a relatively long period of stability. But the gaps in work history have been made it difficult to get a job other than seasonal work. Meanwhile, I have been taking physics at the community college 30+ years after graduating college with a BS in math and I am finding that I remember nothing. I have been reduced to tears trying to do the homework. So, I started asking K to help me. Well, it turns out that she is really good at tutoring. She is able to sit with me, ask me pertinent questions to either assess what I already understand or don't understand, or to lead me to a better understanding of an issue. She doesn't solve any of the problems for me, but leads me to figuring it out. Sometimes, I need way more hand-holding and she has been very patient. But you know the best part? She seems to enjoy this and it has been a bonding experience for us. She seems to have a spark and interest. Dd just came home for a long weekend and asked K for help with Calculus. K sat with her for over an hour helping her with her homework. Something that would have taken her 3-4 hours without someone helping lead her to how to solve the problem. I have been taking advantage of the free tutoring at the community college when K is not available, but it has been hit or miss on how helpful they are in me learning the material (not just getting the homework assignment done.) So, K and I have talked about her doing some tutoring for pay. She did not graduate college . Before she went away to college, she had completed most of the first year of Physics for majors, Chemistry for majors, and a full year of Calculus. When she went away to college, she was able to complete a couple more classes in her major before her mental illness spun out of control and she had to leave. Her lack of a degree may make it harder for her to get hired by a tutoring agency. So, I think she needs to just get a few private clients. She can meet clients at our local library. Lots of tutors do so. What are some good tips to help her get started and to help present her in a good light? We live in an area that has high academic expectations and parents pay for tutors. She does need my help to do this. While her executive function skills are improving, she really does needs scaffoldiing to make this happen. Until she can take over and handle the business portion of this, she needs me to help manage that side while she just does the actual tutoring. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 My thought is to have her tutor a few students for free, and then get reviews/references from them? Maybe collect some objective info like grades before/after tutoring, as well as their written out appreciation. Use that to set up a website, then spread the word and try to get paying clients based on that? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 You don’t need a degree to get a tutoring job with an agency. I tutored for agencies as an undergraduate and know others doing that now. Our school district keeps a list of available tutors in various subjects to show to parents. That is probably very district specific though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 24 minutes ago, texasmom33 said: Could she apply at Mathnasium or somewhere similar? I know a couple of people who have tutored at Mathnasium who don't have degrees. It might help K get a clientele and experience. FWIW I tutored off and on through undergrad- most of my clients were my former teacher's and professor's kids or friends or people thru their recommendations. I think it's more about networking than anything else. But honestly, it might be good to start with an established company like Mathnasium or Kumon or whatever is big in your area- but one with an actual business location and whatnot at first than trying to establish a base and find places to meet up. Then she can use them as a referral base later on. Mathnasium around us only wants Duggar look alikes. The Christian homeschoolers get hired there (even with lower scores and grades than K) and K couldn't get an interview. (And this is with K wearing just presentable pants and shirt, but she is masculine looking with longer hair.) The franchise owner here is very conservative. The other issue is that K is much better with teens, college age, and adults. Littler kids are not in her wheelhouse. Kumon and Mathnasium around us are only looking for k-8 right now. 17 minutes ago, texasmom33 said: Also, and I hope you don't mind me saying this- if you do please let me know and I'll delete it-- But with K's situation, I would think that a place like Mathnasium or what have you, with people present, a very public presence, background check and all of that might work well in K's favor as far as safety wise. I don't know what your area is like, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue there, but I would honestly be a bit concerned for K's safety just in that not everyone is always the most accepting. I would just hate to see a false accusation or a threatening person or anything else come about- to me it's sort of a CYA. I feel like if she were part of a corporate place it might offer some layer of protection. I might be off base on that, and if I am I apologize. I would just be a bit wary- especially if she's going to be working with minors, I know if K were my kid, I'd want to make sure there was no way anything could be twisted or misconstrued for some one elses' own agenda or whatever, as to me K is in the more vulnerable situation. Like I mentioned above, K really only wants teens, college or adults. And, almost all of the private tutors in our area meet their clients at the public library and conduct all their tutoring at tables out in the open in full view of the public, not in private study rooms. This would be safer than going to someone's home or any other location. It is very sad that K's issues make her more suspect that Joe Gym teacher (and I have had experience with several pervs who got away with it because they were good football coaches or something like that.) K is much more at risk of abuse and violence than she would be to anyone else. But, I get where you are coming from. 35 minutes ago, Ktgrok said: My thought is to have her tutor a few students for free, and then get reviews/references from them? Maybe collect some objective info like grades before/after tutoring, as well as their written out appreciation. Use that to set up a website, then spread the word and try to get paying clients based on that? That might be a good idea. I might be able to advertise within our neighborhood and with a few select members of our homeschool community. I can't do so with the majority because of the fundy bias against people like K. 30 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said: You don’t need a degree to get a tutoring job with an agency. I tutored for agencies as an undergraduate and know others doing that now. Our school district keeps a list of available tutors in various subjects to show to parents. That is probably very district specific though. I don't think I'd be able to get K on a list at our schools. It is somewhat competitive to get on them. There is a real shortage of Latin tutors in our area. My oldest was a good Latin tutor, but couldn't get put on the list because it might have taken clients away from the department head's favorite people. I might look into the library. We are basically looking for just a few hours a week at first. She needs to build up the mental stamina. I don't think she wants to do this full-time but as a supplement to another part-time job. I'm just so happy to see her actually interested in getting a job. This is HUGE!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Do you have Wyzant.com in your area? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I wonder if there are any online options too, where she could tutor via Skype or something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Do you have a non-Christian based homeschool group? Check out art centers, eclectic homeschooling, etc... Have her offer 2 free tutoring sessions to new clients to build up a base. Could K do SAT math tutoring? If so, that pays $$. If IF K is willing to teach a SAT/ACT math prep review session either online or in person for free she would get a ton of clients. Do a one-half hour SAT tutoring session at the library (our library allows us to book a big room for free); have students bring a notebook, several pencils, and their calculator and a bottle of water. K can download the free math section of the SAT, make copies and work through the problems with the kids. Have business cards ready and offer $10 off their first session. If K does this online - let me know! I would sign DD up for sure!! I know a few folks who make a nice living in SAT/ACT tutoring. If you have $$$ private schools nearby, K can do very well. And if you don't, it might be worth a drive to find them. (My area has private schools where it costs $25,000 a year per kid, and those parents are still willing to pay $$$ for private tutoring) If your school system is on the semester scheudle, have K offer a get -to-know your fancy calculator session in January. Again do it for free and hand out those business cards. K will need to develop some skills on creating a data base, etc. of her clients so she can learn to build a business. Find out when report cards come out and send all clients a follow up email. K can work on a website; they are so easy to build. Hopefully, K can make one that takes online payments, online scheduling, etc.. Interesting, my ds, who has had his own mental heath struggles is an outstanding tutor. He is so patient and intuitive and smart. I wish he could see that part of himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I would check out wyzant.com We found a local tutor through the site (my son was his first student, good price, he was a grad student so we tried him out) We also used an online tutor through the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Another thought is the local library or community college that offers GED or ESL courses. Adults studying for the GED might be in need at a good supportive math tutor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Chegg and Tutor.com are great places to start! You put yourself as 'available' when you want to, so when she hits her limit, just go offline. My dd started with Chegg toward the end of freshman year in college, I think. She gets paid $20/hour. Once she started and people knew she did it, she also gained some private clients (but still did it online for the most part). I'm sure your area pays more than that per hour, but you have to get started. She's tutoring less now in junior year because she has so many other things going on, but still keeps her account active. That's the great thing, it's not 15 set hours per week or whatever, she can have it ebb and flow. This is what her profile looks like: https://www.chegg.com/tutors/online-tutors/Gabrielle-C-4493360/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 6 hours ago, katilac said: Chegg and Tutor.com are great places to start! You put yourself as 'available' when you want to, so when she hits her limit, just go offline. My dd started with Chegg toward the end of freshman year in college, I think. She gets paid $20/hour. Once she started and people knew she did it, she also gained some private clients (but still did it online for the most part). I'm sure your area pays more than that per hour, but you have to get started. She's tutoring less now in junior year because she has so many other things going on, but still keeps her account active. That's the great thing, it's not 15 set hours per week or whatever, she can have it ebb and flow. This is what her profile looks like: https://www.chegg.com/tutors/online-tutors/Gabrielle-C-4493360/ That profile was very helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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