All your common asked questions, answered!
Summer Tutoring, Coaching & Educational Therapy
How do you approach scheduling tutoring clients over the summer?
First, I choose what day and time I'd like to work on a weekly basis. Then, I propose a plan to clients who I think would benefit from summer support. Sometimes, I will float the idea by the student first to see if they are interested, and if they are, then speak with the family.
I recommend having a personal conversation with each client and their family to confirm a plan for summer, even if you are using automatic scheduling tools.
Do you charge different rates for the summer?
No, I typically keep the same rates for the summer as I do for the school year.
Taxes and Finances
How do people set themselves up efficiently for doing taxes?
I have loaded my bank accounts and business credit to automatically load my transactions in to Quickbooks. Then, my bookkeeper categorizes my expenses into tax-friendly categories. I meet with my bookkeeper monthly and tax attorney quarterly to ensure my taxes are paid, I am taking advantage of all possible legal, tax saving opportunities.
I also like that on Tutorbird you can put in one-time or repeating expenses and then export your expenses to provide to your tax professional, if you'd like to do it more manually.
What assessments should I use?
What assessments do you administer before starting services?
I utilize IXL to diagnose where students are at according to grade level standards across curricular areas. You can learn more about how to use IXL's assessment tools by using this link.
I also do an inventory of executive function skills that asks students to assess themselves on a range of skills and dispositions related to executive function.
I always try to establish some form of baseline data to help the student and family see the change. Baseline data can be as simple as taking a screenshot of their grades.
I typically do not do any formal assessment like the WISC and the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities.
Should I get insurance for my tutoring work with students?
If we maintain an online/virtual practice, do we still need insurance?
I do not maintain insurance for my private online practice. My business is an S-Corp, which protects me to some degree as I am shielded by the corporation.
Because I contract with school districts, I do have insurance for my business in order to meet their expectations.
If you are seeing clients in-person, you may want to consider insurance.
If you are professional-level or Board Certified Member of the Association of Educational Therapists, you can get view options for professional liability insurance by clicking on this link.
How do you set professional boundaries?
If we maintain an online/virtual practice, do we still need insurance?
I do not maintain insurance for my private online practice. My business is an S-Corp, which protects me to some degree as I am shielded by the corporation.
How do I work with tutors or contractors?
Hi! I've been hiring tutors as contractors and I think I need to create standard operating procedures. I'm aiming to keep them brief and simple to follow- nothing too wordy. Have any of you created them for your companies? I'd love to see some examples if you're willing to share.
Great question! We created an employee handbook for new team members to sign. We used a resource that was California specific, but you can google "(your state) employee handbook" and use a template that is sensitive to your states laws and practices. I also recommend using a trust worthy labor law attorney that is local and understands your community to review it -- they could also guide you toward what tool to use if you weren't sure. I used a labor law attorney to set this up and it gives me a lot of security knowing I am doing it by the book