Why Your Child Should Consider Peer Tutoring

Many students benefit greatly from the effects of tutoring. Your child can be better prepared for exams, feel more confident regarding their school subjects, and strengthen their organizational skills. This process can be one of the most rewarding steps in your child’s education. But what most students forget to consider is that they can also teach others, in the role of a peer tutor.

For example, during the school year, teachers will assign partners for peer reviewing on projects, papers, and other assignments. This provides students with the opportunity to be both the person reviewing, and the person being reviewed. Peer reviewing imparts the chance to learn from one another from both perspectives, as the tutor and the tutee.

There are other opportunities for your child to be in the position of the tutor. If your child is in high school, peer tutoring positions can be acquired through their school. Peer tutoring hopefuls should ask a teacher about getting started and request some starter tips. If your child is in college, some positions are paid and can help gain course credit. They should ask the career counseling office for support. These teaching experiences look great on resumes.

But it is not just about selecting their best subject and trying to help others who ask for aid. Your child can benefit from peer tutoring while they help guide others. Peer tutors gain a sense of empathy for those they assist, and may learn more about supporting others. Peer tutors can learn how it feels to be struggling with a subject so they can connect emotionally with their student, which is a key aspect of teaching. They can learn how to instill academic confidence in their student, by showing their student that learning takes patience.

Peer tutoring provides the tutor with a greater sense of how to be patient with their student and also gives them more confidence in their own skills, both in the actual subject matter and in their ability to impart knowledge to another. Along with fortifying their knowledge on the subjects they help others with, peer tutoring increases a tutor’s capacity for communicating clearly and listening effectively. All of these skills are valuable for students to learn as they take the next steps in their chosen educational path.