Are you passionate about children’s education? Are you training to become a teacher? If you’ve checked out our article on 3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Volunteering you may have already decided that tutoring children is the perfect volunteer match for you. If not, there are still several reasons to consider it.
When you were a kid, you may have struggled in school. If you did, then you know the pain and difficulty that can accompany school problems. The truth it some children just need that extra boost in order to succeed. The good news is there are some GREAT programs out there for students and for people looking to tutor.
When deciding to tutor children, you have two options. 1) volunteer and 2) get paid for it. There are positives and negatives to both options.
1) Volunteer Tutoring
Volunteer tutoring is ideal for people with a limited amount of time or educational experience. The downside is that it may get stressful or interfere with your personal life if it takes up too much of your time. However, the benefits FAR outweigh the negatives.
If you’re looking to tutor children strictly as a hobby, I highly recommend doing it for free. There are some great organizations out there that need people who are devoted to children’s education.
One of my personal favorites is 826 National, an organization started by writer and philanthropist Dave Eggers.
2) Paid Tutoring
Paid tutoring is ideal for people who have experience in education (such as a degree in Education, or other relevant experience), though there are paid tutoring gigs for people without a background in it as well. If you have specialized skills, like fluency in a foreign language, for example, then you’ll be that much more qualified for paid tutoring.
Paid tutoring is great for people who want to earn a little extra income on the side, such as college students. Do keep in mind that it may become stressful, particularly if parents expects unrealistic results or have unrealistic expectations of you. Though again, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
Craigslist occasionally has paid volunteering positions listed under their Education section. In addition, there are programs like AmeriCorps that offer tutoring positions with a living allowance and education award. Whatever you decide, know that you’ll be making an undeniable difference in the life of a child.
