Why Hiring a Math Tutor Is Like Buying Fast Food

How often do you find yourself working late or out running errands, and you’re suddenly starving. The thought of going home to cook a meal, which may take thirty minutes, is incredibly unappealing. You’re hungry now, so you make a quick detour to the nearest McDonald’s, Chipotle, or Panera.

Deep down, you know fast food is not an ideal dinner choice, but you’re able to satisfy your grumbling stomach quickly. 

I’m not here to shame you… because we’ve all done it! 

If you have a Big Mac every now and then, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. The problem is that you’re missing out on essential nutrients – like proteins and vitamins – that are a must in a healthy diet. 

This is what hiring a math tutor for your child is like. 

While a math tutor can give your child the help they need if pinched for time, many math tutors may not focus on long-term growth and improvements. Instead, you should hire a math coach to help your child develop important life skills that can make them incredibly successful in life.

A math coach is like a nutritionist. 

Does your child complain as they complete their homework and ask, “When will I use this in real life?” 

Maybe it’s difficult for your child to grasp why they are solving a math problem that asks them to divide eighty apples between a group of friends.

It’s not what the question is asking, though. It’s why the question is being asked.

Reasoning and critical thinking skills are developed when your child solves word problems. Through problem-solving, your child develops these skills to use across different subjects, in future professional settings, and in life. 

Some of these skills include: 

1. Thinking creatively and non-linearly 

A math coach helps expand your child’s thinking skills and encourages them to try different problem-solving methods. The coach ensures that your child has their computational skills mastered, then focuses on developing strong analytical and critical thinking skills. In doing so, your child works on reasoning and persuasive skills that they can use in other school subjects.

2. Asking questions and discussing alternative strategies

Your child develops a rapport by working with one math coach over a long-term period. They are then more comfortable asking for help if they need it. When it comes to solving math problems, there are multiple strategies that your child might be able to use. A coach encourages your child to try different strategies and manipulate problems on their own.

3. Learning from failure and becoming self-aware

Students often fear failure and think that it is something terrible. In truth, though, failure provides a  big learning opportunity. A math coach can help your child develop the strategies to learn from failure and generate success. Every failure that your child faces is an opportunity to never fail again.

A coach also steers your child to recognize and learn from their mistakes without needing assistance. By becoming more self-aware as a student, your child works toward becoming a self-advocate. This helps them through high school and college as they grow more independent.    

A math coach boosts up these skills as if giving your child vitamins and proteins. Having strong reasoning and thinking skills helps your child in other academic classes and future professional fields.

A math coach focuses on long-term benefits. 

Hiring a math coach for your child means that you’re eager to set them up for long-term learning and math success.

There is also a significant financial benefit if your child is strong in mathematics and enters into a STEM-related field. 

The U.S. Department of Education reported math and science majors to have a higher salary and employment rate after graduation. STEM-related majors typically have an entry salary of $65,000, compared to other fields that start at around $45,000-$50,000.

As a parent, you’re eager to set your child on the path to success. Introducing positive learning habits to your child helps with professional and financial growth in the future. Positive learning habits include establishing routines, practicing daily, and utilizing effective study and review techniques. 

Learning how to organize time and tasks is a critical skill that many students struggle with. This is especially true a middle school student. Classes become more advanced, and they start juggling high expectations from different teachers. 

Before your middle schooler starts panicking or picks up poor study habits, find a math coach that can help them organize their time to work efficiently. 

Similar to a nutritionist developing a dietary plan, your child’s math coach customizes a learning plan to help your child. This plan focuses on long-term growth and performance improvements as your child develops their skills. 

Your child’s Thinkster Math coach creates an easy-to-follow learning plan. Each day your child understands and follows an expected sequence for their daily work. They review graded assignments and feedback from the previous day, watch tutorials or join a tutoring session, and then complete independent assignments for a set amount of time.

This sequence (review, learn, and practice) helps your child organize their time effectively and is carried into other classes and subjects.

A math coach also updates you on your child’s performance and long-term learning improvements with frequent reporting and conferences. You can learn more about Thinkster’s reports and data available and how we share auditable learning improvements with you daily.

Hire a nutritionist for lifelong learning and success.  

If you’re looking for a Big Mac kind of fix for your child, a math tutor can definitely help. Math tutors are a great resource for test prep or math homework help if your child needs someone to step in and help with a short-term goal.

When it comes to long-term improvements, a math coach provides a learning experience that sets your child up for future academic, professional, and life success. 

A Thinkster Math coach is excited and ready to provide a tutoring experience to help your child with long-term skill improvement in areas like problem-solving, organization, and time management.

A dedicated Thinkster math tutor creates a learning plan for your child to set them up for phenomenal growth and progress. The private math tutor customizes the plan to meet your goal – such as receiving math help on math topics, improve math skills, boost confidence, or prep for a standardized test (like PARCC or SBAC).

As part of the learning plan, your child will complete math worksheets that are checked daily by their expert math tutor. If there is a particular math concept your child is learning in the math class, their Thinkster tutor can incorporate that into the learning plan too. This way, your child gets to work on supplementary material and work to support the school lesson.

The Thinkster coach also meets with your child for private tutoring. Online tutoring sessions with their math teacher mean that your child gets interactive math help to better understand topics they are having difficulty with.

Learn more about why our math coaches are absolute rockstars! If you are looking for an online math tutor or tutoring service, be sure to learn more about our elite coaching program.