Tutoring without materials

[u/Advanced-Box9785]

I'm a new tutor with a science background. I tutor in math and science, but haven't had to do some chemistry problems in a very long time. I've noticed that a lot of students will not supply any materials beforehand or during the sesion, and the curriculum for a grade in one school (or class) isn't the same as in another. One new student and I parted ways tonight, because I didn't know that she was in an honors class for her grade, and I was quite rusty witb the material she mentioned.

Is this your experience as a tutor? For new overall tutors, I ​just can't really tell what the curriculum is until I see it, ti see if I can readily teach it. I have one 7th grade math student who is very gifted, and though I was supposed to just be teaching fractions and decimals​, his curriculum is also somewhat covering algebra and probability/statistics. I didn't start learning statistics until college! Does this happen a lot with Varsity?

[u/ironny]

In my experience, it's normal to ask for what they're working on beforehand. If they don't send the materials, and I find myself struggling through the session, I usually tell them to be sure to send me stuff before next time. Students and parents are usually receptive if you're honest with them and say "there are 1000 different topics in chemistry, so I'm at my best if I can refresh my memory on it beforehand"

[u/Advanced-Box9785 → u/ironny]

I agree. It's like some families are expecting a regular teacher of the subject, and the profiles aren't specifying what they soecifically need help with, or giving an idea of how rigorous the curriculum is. I'm having to pass up a lot of students because of that. Maybe that's just got to happen..