July 25, 2019

Portland Math Tutor

The Benefits Of Hiring A Portland Math Tutor

Only around 25% of children in America are meeting the standard proficiency levels for math. Parents with children who are struggling to keep up in their math classes know firsthand just how frustrating it can be for both themselves and their children. At first, most parents take the approach of helping teach their children alone. Unfortunately, this is not always the best approach and most parents can only help so much because of their limited knowledge. It takes more than know-how to effectively teach a student properly.

The solution to a struggling student is to hire a math tutor in Portland. There are many benefits of offering the gift of a personal tutor to your child when they are struggling in their classes. If you are on the fence, below are some of the advantages to be gained from using a Portland math tutor.

More Confidence in Math And Learning

One of the best benefits of hiring a tutor for your child is it will help boost their confidence levels. As a parent who loves their children, a few minor mistakes on tests or a couple of low scores might not seem so bad. However, there is a lot of pressure for students these days to get great scores on all tests in order to get into the classes and schools they want.

All kids make mistakes, but when you have a child making numerous mistakes and they don’t understand how they keep making them, it can become very frustrating and their confidence levels will take a hit. They may become hesitant to ask questions or speak up for help in fear they will be made fun of or made to feel less capable than other students.

Tutors can help make the subject of math more fun for your child and less intimidating. Time spent with a professional tutor will give your child the confidence they need to keep trying. It can give your child a great foundation for the future.

One-On-One Attention

You have the option of choosing an online tutor or an in-person tutor. No matter which choice you go with, your child will be getting one-on-one attention. Teachers in school do not have the time to devote attention to each child in their classes. Because of this, some children end up suffering the consequences. Even if your child’s math teacher offers extra help after school, it still may not be enough to make a difference. A tutor will be able to give them full attention and effectively identify where they are having issues understanding their coursework.

This type of help rarely happens inside a classroom. Teachers simply don’t have the time or motivation to help their students individually. They are focused on other things. They miss the individual trees and instead see the forest. They are too focused on deadlines, exams, and ensuring they are on track with their common core standards. In addition, more teachers are burned out and underpaid. They lack real and true motivation to help your child learn.

In addition, we have found that it’s the students who struggle with math who most need and most benefit from having one-on-one individually personalized tutoring.

Improve Grades and Test Scores in Math

Low test scores are often an indication of a lack of motivation or a lack of understanding. When you hire a tutor, they will be able to help your child with both of these issues. Everyone learns a little differently. Tutors are able to learn about the student and find ways to help them according to how they learn for the best results. Over time, test scores and grades will improve. This is essential for preparing your children for important standardized tests in the future. Math is critical to do well on the ACT and the SAT. And it’s also important for other exams. Does your child want to attend business school? The GRE and GMAT both require extensive mathematics. In addition, famously, the MCAT does not allow students to use a calculator.

Develop A Growth Mindset

Many students believe that they “suck at math” or that they simply can’t learn it. Often times, these students have a fixed mindset when it comes to learning subjects like math and science. Having a fixed mindset is a type of attitude. People who are fixed in their mindset believe that their skills are locked in place. They falsely believe that no matter the amount of effort they put in, they are doomed to fail. Therefore, they wrongly conclude, they might as well not even try. When they earn a D or F, they think “I’m stupid.” This internalizes the failure. They think it is part of their being or their essence.

On the other hand, students who develop a growth mindset believe that they can learn anything they set their mind to. If they happen to get a D, they would think something like: “Wow—that really stinks. I must not have studied hard enough for that exam. Next time I will step it up.” They realize that often time learning “failures” are simply a result of having the wrong strategy.

Working closely with a trusted tutor is important because it can help develop a growth mindset within the student. This can radiate out to every area of their life.

Help Them Learn The Most Important Subject

A Gallup poll showed that Americans rank mathematics as being the most valuable and beneficial subject in their lives. There has been a big push these days to teach more communication, arts, and English skills in schools. These skills are really important. And they should be taught. However, the data here show that students value mathematics. This is likely becoming more and more prevalent as the world moves towards an increasing focus on STEM-related fields and businesses. Hiring a tutor can help your child learn this valuable subject!

Ease Of Transition

When children have to change schools due to a move, it can have a significant impact on their studies. The new school may not be following the same math learning schedule your child was getting used to. This can cause confusion and difficulty for your child to acclimate. The trouble with their classwork can be made exasperated by the pressures of being the new kid in class. A tutor can help them behind the scenes to transition easier into their new math class. They can quickly be caught up if they are behind and helped to understand concepts that were missed out on while moving from one school to another. Your child will be able to start off on the right foot at their new school.

Improve Mathematical Reasoning

Hiring a math tutor can help your child develop their mathematical reasoning skills. These skills are thought to be the glue that binds all math and science subjects together. Mathematical reasoning is the ability to think about, understand, and explain reasoning about math problems. These skills are vital because often in math there is not one single solution. There are often multiple ways to solve complex problems. Students who have strong mathematical reasoning skills are able to see this and analyze problems before they attempt to solve them. Becoming a strong mathematical reasoner is also crucial to developing independence as a mathematical thinker. It allows students to see patterns in the problems that they encounter.

Encourage Strong Interdisciplinary Skill & Thinking

Mathematics is a special discipline because the core concepts in math are interdisciplinary, they are very useful in other fields. To the majority of students, math is an abstract concept that they will “never use in real life.” One benefit of working with a tutor is that the student can learn interdisciplinary thinking. At Tutor Portland, our tutors are all well-versed in mathematics, science, and other subjects as well. This means they are able to relate key concepts and ideas between subjects and incorporate those into their lesson plans.

Tutors can teach students that math isn’t only important during 50 minute periods throughout the week. Math is important all the time. You can use math to think about concepts in other fields. And other fields are starting to realize this. Many professional degrees and programs are now requiring applicants to have a strong interdisciplinary background.

Prepare Your Student for a Great Career

Many of the best—the most meaningful, well-paid, and highest status—careers require mathematics. Becoming a doctor requires high levels of math in order to succeed in subjects like general chemistry and general physics, and in order to do well on the MCAT. Engineers also need to be highly skilled in math. Any science field requires math. People high in the realms of computer science require mathematics. Statistics is built on math. For a long time, these careers have all required math. And the world is shifting even more so in this direction.

Many articles discuss how the future of work is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). This article discusses research from the Department of Education showing that students who study mathematics in college have higher rates of employment and better wages and careers post-college. This is likely because STEM positions are growing at a faster rate than non-STEM positions are.

Improve Your Child’s Financial Skills

Having a strong sense of mathematics helps students to better manage their resources or their monetary “capital.” Understanding the concepts of fractions, percents, ratios, proportions, and rate of change allow people to mentally think about their finances. It also improves their ability to strategically allocate their capital. Much of life comes down to the decisions that we make. And the decisions we make surrounding money are really important. Where are we going to choose to live, to go to school, and what investments might we make?

Warren Buffett has famously said that all the mathematics you need to be a good investor is a strong understanding of algebra. He says that he uses high school algebra every day as he analyzes and values companies. Now, your son or daughter may never become Warren Buffett. But, knowing algebra could help prevent them from making poor investment decisions.

Our Tailored Math Tutoring & Mentoring Process Creates Inner Drive

There is a lot of research these days showing that inner drive and study strategies are *the* most important factor determining which kids excel at mathematics. IQ is not the most important factor. Research shows that kids learn math when they are driven to learn it by internal motivation and when they have the most refined study strategies. The study strategies are easy to implement, but you have to know the right ones to apply. We can teach those to your student quickly. The more challenging thing it to gently kindle their inner drive to learn mathematics. Our math tutors know how to do this. We have a developed a specialized simultaneous tutoring and mentoring process that allows us to help with this.

At that the same time that we are tutoring your child, we are also mentoring them. I like to say that the mentoring aspect is the most important thing we do. We help students develop their own reasons for why *they* want to learn mathematics. We never force reasons upon them. Their reasons have to come from within! This is multiple orders of magnitude more powerful.

Develop Math Skills During School Breaks

All kids love their spring breaks and winter breaks. The downside to these long breaks is that it can be very easy for a child to forget the skills they have learned during the year. Thankfully, a tutor can help your child remember the skills they have already learned and then teach them new skills before going back to school. They will be better prepared for the new lessons their teacher will be giving. Your child will already have a leg up on the curriculum before they head back to class. With reinforcement, a tutor can help students recall their skills much easier. Their memories and skills of complicated math formulas will greatly improve as well.

As you can see, there are many reasons to consider hiring a tutor for your child. The right tutoring professionals can help children become more receptive to the struggles they are having in their math class and learn the skills to overcome them. Their comprehension, confidence and learned skills will offer them a better future both in mathematics and beyond.

Finding A Great Math Tutor in Portland

If you live in the Portland, Oregon area and are looking for a great math tutor for your child, consider us. No matter what area your child is struggling in or wants to improve in, our tutors will give them the necessary skills to improve their grades and be better prepared for testing.

Tutor Portland | Math Tutoring
950 SW 21st Ave #1117
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 347-7120

Math tutoring Services Include:

• Mathematics tutoring
• Calculus tutors
• Algebra tutors
• Elementary math tutors
• Math test prep

We also offer math tutoring services for:

• Spanish tutors
• Chemistry tutors

Math