Julie Diamond is a certified teacher in Canada and the Founder & CEO of Diamond Teachers Group, a teacher-only tutoring company that provides 1:1 online tutoring with provincially certified teachers.
Tutoring can do more than help with homework, assignments and tests. It can help students learn how to take ownership of their learning.
When families decide to hire a tutor, it’s often because they want to help their child feel more confident, understand challenging material, improve their skills or feel less overwhelmed by school.
But there’s another important benefit of tutoring that we don’t always talk about:
Tutoring can also help your child become a more independent learner.
At Diamond Teachers Group, we believe it takes a village to support a child. Parents, classroom teachers, tutors and students all have an important role to play. But as children get older, that support should evolve.
For students around age 10 and up, tutoring can be a great opportunity to gradually shift some of the responsibility for learning from the parent to the student.
Why Should a Tutor Connect With My Child’s Classroom Teacher?
Whenever the family and classroom teacher are comfortable with it, we encourage connecting your child’s tutor with their classroom teacher.
With your permission, our team can send the teacher a brief email and copy you on the message so everyone is aware of the communication.
Why do we encourage this?
Understanding what your child is learning in class, and the order in which material will be introduced, allows the tutor to better align their sessions and your child's Success Strategy with what is happening at school.
For example, if the classroom teacher is introducing fractions this week and moving into decimals the following week, the tutor can use that information to reinforce what your child is currently learning while also introducing some of what is coming next.
This doesn't mean the tutor is trying to replace the classroom teacher or race ahead simply for the sake of getting ahead.
It's about helping your child feel prepared and build their confidence.
A tutor might review a concept your child has been working on that week, identify a misunderstanding before it becomes a larger gap, or introduce some vocabulary and foundational concepts that will soon appear in class.
When a student walks into class and thinks, "I've seen this before," that familiarity can help them feel more prepared and confident.
What If My Child or Their Teacher Isn't Comfortable With This Connection?
That's completely okay! Not every classroom teacher will be comfortable with this type of communication, and not every student will want their tutor connected with their teacher. We respect that.
Our tutors are experienced, provincially certified educators who understand the curriculum and can still make the most of each tutoring session without direct communication with the classroom teacher.
In these situations, we encourage another important approach: Put your child in charge of preparing for tutoring. For students around age 10 and up, we encourage families to work with their child to make uploading materials to the tutoring platform part of the student's responsibility.
Let Your Child Take Responsibility for Their Materials
Rather than parents having to find the latest assignment, take a photo of the review sheet, locate the test date and send everything to the tutor, encourage your child to do it.
Ideally, students should upload their materials at least one day before their tutoring session. This gives the tutor time to review the material and prepare an intentional session.
It might look like this: "I have a math test on Thursday. I've uploaded my review sheet. I understand questions 1–5, but I'm having trouble with 6 and 8."
That's very different from a parent emailing the tutor: "Can you please help with math? There's a test coming up."
The first example puts the student in the driver's seat because they're identifying what they need help with, communicating that need and taking action. Those are skills that extend far beyond tutoring.
Give Your Child a Voice in the Tutoring Process
At Diamond Teachers Group, we actually begin encouraging student ownership during the tutor-matching process.
When appropriate, we encourage families to involve their child in completing the student form. We want to hear about their interests, strengths, challenges and what they think would help them. We also encourage students to participate in the Meet & Greets with potential tutors.
Whenever possible, we like to give families two tutor options, allowing the student to have a say in who they would feel most comfortable learning with. This matters because tutoring works best when students feel that they have some ownership over the process.
If everything is arranged for them, all communication happens between adults and a parent manages every assignment and session, it can unintentionally reinforce the idea that school is something being managed for them rather than something they have a role in managing.
We want something different. Our goal is to help students gradually take ownership of their learning by recognizing what they understand, where they’re struggling, what they need help with, and what steps they can take next. When they aren’t sure how to answer these questions, their tutor can guide them through the process, helping them better understand how they learn, identify their needs, and prepare questions and goals to focus on in future sessions. Over time, students develop the confidence and skills to become more independent learners.
How Can Parents Support Independence Without Doing Everything?
I know how tempting it is to step in. If your child has forgotten to upload their homework, it's easy to do it for them. If they're nervous about a test, it's easy to email the tutor. If they don't know what they're supposed to bring to a session, it's easy for a parent to track it down.
And sometimes, especially when a child is struggling, they absolutely need more support.
But it's also worth asking: Is there an opportunity here for my child to take the next step themselves?
That might mean reminding your child to upload their materials rather than uploading them yourself.
It might mean asking: "What do you want to work on with your tutor this week?"
It might mean encouraging your child to tell the tutor that they have a test coming up.
It might mean asking after a session: "What did you learn today?" rather than: "Did you do your tutoring?"
These small shifts can help students begin to see themselves as active participants in their education.
Tutoring Shouldn't Add More to Your Plate
One of the reasons families hire a tutor is because they need support. The last thing we want is for tutoring to become another job for the parent.
You shouldn't have to become your child's academic manager. Instead, tutoring can be an opportunity to take something off your plate while putting something into your child's hands.
The tutor can take responsibility for planning purposeful lessons, providing instruction, explaining difficult concepts and helping your child develop strategies. Your child can gradually take responsibility for communicating what they need, preparing materials, asking questions, reflecting on their learning and following through.
Then you can support that process without having to manage every detail.
It Really Does Take a Village
Supporting a child academically really does take a village.
The classroom teacher brings knowledge of the classroom environment and curriculum. A tutor, who is also a teacher, brings individualized instruction, strategies, knowledge of the curriculum, and encouragement. Parents provide support, advocacy and a safe foundation.
But the student shouldn't be left out of that team. As children grow, we want them to become increasingly active participants in their own education. Tutoring provides a supportive environment where students can practise those skills. They can learn to communicate, prepare, ask questions, reflect, problem-solve and take initiative, while still having an experienced teacher there to guide them.
Ultimately, we're not just trying to help a student get through this week's math assignment or prepare for Friday's test. We're helping them develop the skills to eventually manage those things themselves. The most empowering thing we can teach a child isn't simply how to get the right answer. It's how to recognize when they need help, know what to do next and have the confidence to take that next step.
That's what learning independence looks like. And that's what makes tutoring so much more than tutoring.