First thing when you tutor is to find out what your tutee knows and what s/he doesn’t knows. As a tutor, your job is to fill in the gaps in the school curriculum, or to strengthen his/her abilities in whatever s/he is weak in.

So – start by asking questions. Don’t ask the kind of questions that get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but rather the kind of questions that draw the student out and get him/her talking about the topic.

Take notes while they talk – where are the hesitations? Where are the errors?

Don’t simply re-do what they get in school – if they didn’t get it the first time, they likely won’t get it the second time either. Find a new way to help them learn the information. Rather than worksheets and quizzes, ask them to make up a dialogue between historical characters on the eve of battle, or pretend to write a speech for Abraham Lincoln when he ran for president, or to object to the Louisiana Purchase as being a foolish waste of money or?

Depending on the topic, you can go a long way with this – and the student doesn’t have to write essays, etc.

Keep it light, keep it interesting.

Good luck.