Your child may have hit an academic roadblock (or several) and you, naturally, want to step in and help fix it. If you have the financial resources, a tutor seems like an appropriate first step. Right?
TAKE A BEAT THERE, CAREGIVER!
If a tutor doesn't know your young child's profile (aka how they learn), what will they work on? I mean, what skills is your child behind in? What are their strengths?
There are countless “reading” tutors out there. However, there are also multiple components of learning to read (5 actually!) so literacy is more multifaceted than many noneducators initially realize.
Also, another vital important to consider is how a child is functioning emotionally. I mean, does being behind roll off their back, or does it bother them? Are they easily overwhelmed or frustrated? These things aren’t entirely black and white, yet can be incredibly helpful in peeling back the layers to understanding how to support a child who learns differently.
Appropriate support interventions (whether it’s pull-out instruction, supplemental tutoring, or something else) come from knowing what areas to focus on — what to build and what to celebrate.
And you can only know these things when you have educational and emotional testing, aka neuropsychological testing…aka a “neuropsych,” done. The pros and cons of the different places to have this done are here. Wherever a neuropsych is completed, if it is done with integrity, its information and recommendations can be incredibly helpful.
Look at it this way:
Would you let a doctor put a cast on your child’s arm without an X-ray?
Would you make a souffle without knowing what ingredients you need or the temperature to set the oven?
Would you hit the road to that AirBnB vacation without directions? I mean, just get in the car and drive, you know, anywhere that isn’t home.
Blindly tutoring without a full picture of what is needed and appropriate is weird in the same way as any of the above.
Speaking of the term “appropriate,” there is this thing called FAPE law.
Under the IDEA and Massachusetts special education laws, children with disabilities have the right to a “free appropriate public education,” often referred to as “FAPE.” FAPE requires that a student’s IEP be tailored to address the student’s unique needs in a way that is reasonably calculated to enable the student to make meaningful and effective educational progress. Children with disabilities are entitled to special education services under both federal and state laws. Massachusetts has enacted its own statutes which govern the rights of disabled children in this state. Under these laws, children ages three through twenty-one who have not attained a high school diploma are potentially eligible to receive special education services.
Source: Sankey Law
In other words, you have a right to testing.
You have the right to support.
Below is another resource that is specific on HOW to trigger testing (in MA as the procedures may vary from state to state).
So consider not wasting precious education time (or your money).
Take a pause.
Gather information via testing and assessments.
Then, maybe hire a tutor — and/or advocate for services in your district.
In theory, your district is supposed to provide an appropriate education without you needing to supplement with private pay for testing and tutors.
Theory is nice and all, but it may or may not be reality. After all, reading is a fundamental right, supported by law.
TEST ON!