I have the wonderful and unique position of teaching Dual Credit English classes. This means that I teach college courses at a local high school. These students have passed the college placement tests and will receive college credit along with high school credit for Senior English (that's where the "dual" part comes in). Some students are amazingly ready for the course work, while others struggle right along. I don't have the luxury of office hours for them after school so I often suggest they go to the college Writing Center for extra help. Hey, it's free!

When meeting with your tutor, you’ll want some indication of progress. Ask her to draft a letter/email every two to four weeks for you. I like email because it is a paper trail and easily forwarded to teachers for review. Try to stay away from verbal updates. In the written review she should cover:

1. Your child’s attentiveness and willingness to learn. (Behavior during sessions.)

As a parent, I know what it is like to look at your child and see the smartest kid in the world and worry that despite those brains, the school experience is going down hill fast. The notion of the “smart kid” was turned on it’s head in the early ‘80s by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. He identified eight areas in which people can be “smart”. The implications of his theory of multiple intelligences impacted the education community because they called for a restructuring of formal education.

Students came into my writing center for help on an assignment at all different points in the writing process. Some students came with a rough draft to review with me; but, more often, I would see students who had not even started the assignment. What do you do when your child comes home with an assignment and has no idea how to start? It will be hard for you to figure out what the teacher wants since you were not there for discussion. Helping your child help himself will pay off in the long run, especially once he is on his own in college.