How to Become a Reading Tutor

Becoming a reading tutor is a great way to "give back" or "pay forward". Many children can use some extra help in learning how to read or how to read better. Most schools welcome parents and members of the community who want to become a tutor and help children with their reading. Most schools will even provide the tutor with a little training about what needs to be done. Here is how to become a reading tutor.

Things You'll Need

• Ability to read
• Commitment to tutoring on a regular basis
• Desire to work with children

Instructions

1. Determine whether you want to work with children. Some people love working with children while others are intimidated by the prospect. When you become a reading tutor, you are not just teaching reading, you are teaching a child. You need to have an appreciation for how special a child is to do a good job as a reading tutor.

2. Contact a local school. Most schools welcome reading tutors from the community. Of course, if you have a connection to a child who is in a particular school, that school might be a good place to start. However, you need not have a child in a particular school in order to become a reading tutor there. Call the school and ask what you need to do to become a reading tutor at the school.

3. Submit to a background check. Schools need to make sure that their students are safe, so most require their reading tutors to fill out paperwork for a background check. The schools need to make sure that you do not have a criminal record before they will allow you to spend one-on-one alone time with a child.

4. Attend any training offered by the school. Most schools offer a brief training course for reading tutors at the beginning of the school year. The training course might only last for 30 minutes and provide basic recommendations for tutoring children in reading. Pay attention to the advice that the school offers to help you do a better job as a reading tutor.

5. Find out what age group you will be tutoring. Some schools need help with the younger children in learning how to read, while other schools need reading tutors to help improve the reading of children who will be taking an end of the year standardized test. The school will let you know in what grades they need reading tutors.

6. Research ways to tutor children in reading. Once you know what age children you will be tutoring, you can research ideas on-line or talk with other reading tutors about things you can do to become a better reading tutor. For example, if you will be helping younger children learn how to read, you can research ways to make learning the letter sounds more fun. The teacher can always offer better ways to reach a particular child.

7. Tailor tutoring to a child's interests. To the extent you can, try to read books with a child that piques his interest. Find out what interests the child. See if you can find books in the library at the child's reading level that match the child's interests. By tailoring the tutoring to the child's interests, the child is more likely to be a willing participant in the tutoring.

Tips & Warnings

• Be reliable. The best tutors show up at a particular time on a regular basis. If a child cannot count on you to show up to tutor her, then you are going to have a much more difficult time being effective as a reading tutor.