What are some good ways to get involved in tutoring kids in your local public schools?
I want to tutor kids (in high school) in Math, Sciences and Computer Science. I don't have a degree in education but I do have experience working as a tutor in college. Was wondering if y'all got any tips and tricks ?
Answers ( 1 )
You're describing my retirement scenario -- I was an engineer who tutored math in high school and college, then wanted to volunteer in schools after I finished my career. All I did was call up the principals of the schools closest to where I lived and told them exactly that. One principal wanted me to work in the library, helping kids check out their books. PASS! :-) But another said "Come on it, we'll get you working with kids as quickly as we can!" Find a school where the teachers and principal want to draw in volunteers from the community (no surprise that these will be strong schools) and go from there. There will likely be a background check you'll need to go through if you want to help more than a couple hours a week, but that was a piece of cake for me.
If you want to tutor for pay, then it's a little different. You'll still want to talk with principals where you can, but they're probably not going to have the funding to bring you in (especially if the school year has already started and their budgets are already set). There are lots of assistant positions that work with small groups of kids for $15/hr or so; if that's what you want to try, definitely give them a call towards the end of the school year regarding the next year.
If you want to be a private tutor, maybe try to contact parents directly through Facebook neighborhood groups or Nextdoor. I could easily do this, but it has one drawback (for me): you're likely to be helping the children of rich parents, when it's probably the kids from poor families that need the help the most. I have a hard time being associated with systems that increase wealth inequality in the country, so I've shied away from that path -- but I don't fault anyone who does so. You have to pay the bills somehow . . .