In all the years I have been teaching young children I am always surprised at the

amount of money parents spend helping their children learn. Sadly, they never

know if they are spending their money wisely.  Often they purchase educational

goods and services that do not help and my even hinder their child’s progress.

Well, it needn’t be that way.

Here are three things to keep in mind when you are thinking of spending money on

educational resources for your child.

1.  Do not believe all you read in newspapers and magazines.

They may tell you about some new exciting way that has been proved to help children learn, but

beware, before you rush out to buy it you need to do some research.  Make no

mistake, most of these programs work and work well but just because they work for

some children does not mean that they will work for your child.  Children learn in

different ways and have different learning needs.  You should be sure that the resource

or service matches how your child likes to learn and offers what they need to learn

to ensure that you are not wasting your hard earned money.

2.  Beware of advice from friends and family.

This advice is always well meant and MAY be helpful but you need to be careful

about accepting it.  Advice from friends and family is always colored by their

experiences of education and teaching and these experiences may be very different

from your child’s experience of school and learning.  Educational beliefs and

practices change and the advice they offer may not fit with how your child is being

taught right now.  If you come up with an idea that you think might work for your

child check it out with your child’s teacher first so that you are not spending money

on something that conflicts with how your child is learning in school.

3.  Beware of the ‘perfect’ tutor!

Just because your friend has found a wonderful tutor for her child it does not necessarily

follow that the same tutor will be just as wonderful for your child.  There are many

wonderful tutors out there and they all work in different ways.  Your child will

probably learn in a different way from your friend’s child so the same tutor could be

good for one child and not so good for the next.

Always check out HOW a tutor is going to help your child and make sure the teaching

style matches your child’s learning style. In that way you can almost guarantee

success.

So, before you spend money to help your child learn, make sure that you have

the information you need to be able to choose wisely.  You and your child will be

grateful that you did!