You might also consider offering a couple of free math tutoring sessions at your local library. Libraries are always putting together programs for the community. You could offer the mini-sessions at different levels / age breaks. Print up business cards, perhaps set up a simple website touting your services. Give the cards/URL to every parent/kid that comes to the free tutoring sessions. Could be a good way to get word-of-mouth going. These could be timed with some of the major exams, i.e. AP Calc, etc.
D1 started tutoring for one kid at school because she was doing badly in math and biology. D1 helped her organize her notes/tests and helped her review the materials. The student went from C to B. The parents were thrilled with the improvement. After that D1 was getting more students than she could handle. She ended up referring few of her friends. As one poster said, most gifted students do not need tutoring, it’s underperforming students who need help. D1 said more often than not it is poor studying skill and inability to organize/review notes. Her tutoring working continued while she was in college. The parents from her high school would book her when she is home for winter and summer.
Right, gifted student do not need help, but they do need challenge which schools and parents might not be able to provide. That said, I’m aware it’s not possible to find a lot of them, and I enjoy helping other kids as well.
I’ve been tutoring math (up through pre-calc) for six years. I started by just telling my friends I wanted to start tutoring and asking if any of their kids needed help. I charged $40/hour which is a steal because most tutors here are $100-150. My kids were in middle school at the time so the kids I tutored were middle schoolers, mostly advanced kids taking high school geometry. It went really well and word of mouth took over. I told the families that I would up my rate to $60/hour when their kids got to high school. I kept my rate there for a couple of years but recently upped it to $80/hour and still no one blinks. I see a few kids who I’ve seen for years and, each year, I have parents who call me with a new student and/or some of my students decide they are ok without a tutor for a year. It’s a little bit of a revolving door but it’s great. I can work in the afternoons/evenings while my S19 and D21 are at their extracurrilars and doing their homework. I don’t miss much with them as they are super busy between 3:00 and 11:00!
If you are friendly with parents in your town, I would just throw your name out there and offer to help. I researched tutoring for over a year but then a friend of mine said “just start already!” and she was right. Once I jumped in, it was pretty easy to get business.
@yucca10 I would consider our S19 gifted in math. He’s in multivariable as a senior and got a 5 on the BC test as a junior. I don’t think there’s much of a market for tutors to go above and beyond with gifted math kids. He’s got his plate full with all of his classes and he wouldn’t have time to just do extra math. I agree that you’d need to focus on kids who need help.
@homerdog How did your son do in elementary and middle school? Surely in high school gifted kids have a lot of things on their plate, but when my son was in 5th grade the school agreed to let him just skip math lessons and watch Khan Academy instead, which wasn’t ideal but better than doing things he already knew over and over again. So he could do algebra in 6th grade, but not all schools offer this.
@yucca10 starting in fourth grade, he was officially triple advanced in math as were a few others. In fifth grade, kids are tested and placed in their middle school math class. He was challenged plenty from then on. Plus, he always had extra-curriculars that kept him busy in addition to homework so he didn’t need to be pushed. Kids in our school system start getting “pulled out” of regular math class starting as early as second grade to work with the school’s gifted tutor. Maybe ask around in your neighborhood if younger kids who are strong in math are getting bored in school…
In 6th grade, our S and a few of his buddies were allowed to self-study math and finished the text book a month before the year ended. (I believe they were the only kids who ever finished the math book, cover to cover at that school. The classmates completed maybe 1/2 of it.)
After that, they were assigned to teach the entire school to use the one photo scanner the school had and put together a great yearbook for the school. They didn’t want or get any additional math enrichment.
The next year, S was in math league for 7th and 8th grades. The teacher coached them after school. That was all the math they were interested in or had time for.
S and D and their friends were not at all interested in tutors or adding more academics to their plate. My relative who does tutor ends up with a lot of kids who lack confidence or just need another way of understanding math and/or reading. She doesn’t tutor accelerated kids either. Lots of tutoring to prep for standardized tests, like act/sat.