How to find if your babysitter is a tutor material?

With a baby sitter taking up the complete responsibility of the kids in their care, it would be advisable to look at all the qualities he/she should possess to act as a good tutor to the kid. An effective tutor can make the world’s difference on how well the child does (or does not do) in the future!

Qualities that make a babysitter a good tutor:

Do not make your private life public- professionalism is all about setting certain social boundaries. It is best to avoid discussing deeply personal topics unless it is relevant to your subject matter. Choose a tutor who develops friendship with kids as kids may start to slack off and  take an advantage of the friendship. It is also best to avoid creating social media relationships as it could blur the professional lines of your relationship.

A babysitter could be a good tutor when he/she does not arrive unprepared as it would create the impression that he/she is uninterested in the job. He/she should first go over the current assignments and try to inspire the student to be prepared as well; this will facilitate easy learning.

It is best to find out if your babysitter is less physical- tickling, wrestling and other overt physical expressions should be avoided while on the job. It is best to sit next to the child instead of standing over him/her as this would avoid a situation that is uncomfortable, weird and intimidating.

A babysitter who is tutoring your kid should be able to adopt a flexible approach-  it is wrong to create a one-size-fits-all lesson plan or approach to teaching as each person learns in a different way. Being inflexible could hinder a babysitter’s ability to recognize the specific learning challenges of individual kids. Children really notice when you personalize your lessons for them, with it being important to consider learning styles, progress speed, specific priorities and interests.

A babysitter who is not too fast is good tutoring material. Trying to be on schedule by rushing through the material would only  confuse the children further and create feelings of shame when concepts are not sufficiently absorbed. A patient and kind tutor can make kids comfortable and make them do better work.

A babysitter who can keep emotions under control and avoid expressions of anger or frustration is a good tutor; he/she should avoid undermining the learning process by talking down to the child. Let the child take advantage of the one-on-one environment in which students can engage adults in real conversation.

A babysitter who makes a good tutor should not overpromise regarding the improvement of low grades ; in case of poor performance the kid may feel potentially cheated or hopeless. If the kid is successful, he/she may start expecting the same improvement in other subjects also.

To conclude, good tutors have the ability to truly enrich the lives of the people they serve by building confidence and igniting curiosity and passion. A good babysitter with all these qualities would be able to tutor and bring out the best in his/her pupils.