During an initial session, a tutor will assess your student's current understanding of math concepts, identify specific areas where they're struggling, and learn about their learning style and goals. This might involve working through a few practice problems to see how your student approaches challenges and where misconceptions might exist. The tutor will then create a personalized plan tailored to your student's needs, whether that's building foundational skills, boosting confidence, or preparing for upcoming assessments. This foundation ensures every session after that is targeted and effective.

Showing work reveals your student's thinking process and helps teachers—and tutors—identify exactly where confusion happens. A student might get the wrong answer due to a calculation error, a misunderstanding of the concept, or trouble organizing their thoughts, and showing work makes that clear. When tutors see the work, they can address the root cause rather than just correcting the answer. This practice also builds problem-solving skills that transfer to more complex math later, since students learn to break problems into logical steps.

Math anxiety often stems from feeling rushed, confused, or unsupported—and personalized 1-on-1 instruction directly addresses all three. In a tutoring session, there's no pressure to keep up with a class pace; your student can ask questions freely and work through concepts at their own speed. Tutors build confidence by celebrating small wins, breaking difficult problems into simpler steps, and showing students they're capable of understanding math. Over time, this supportive environment helps students see math as something they can do, rather than something that's done to them.

Yes. Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who understand elementary math curricula and can align their instruction with what your student is learning in class—whether their school uses traditional textbooks, problem-based approaches, or other methods. When you share your student's current unit or textbook with a tutor, they can reinforce classroom concepts, clarify confusing topics, and help your student practice the specific strategies their teacher is using. This alignment makes tutoring a natural extension of classroom learning rather than something separate.

Word problems require students to read carefully, identify what information matters, and translate words into mathematical operations—skills that don't come naturally to many elementary students. Tutors teach concrete strategies like underlining key information, drawing pictures or diagrams, and breaking multi-step problems into smaller questions. By practicing these strategies repeatedly with a tutor's guidance, students begin to see patterns and develop confidence. Over time, what felt overwhelming becomes manageable because students have a reliable process to follow.

Memorizing facts—like multiplication tables—is useful, but understanding means your student can explain why 3 × 4 equals 12 and recognize when to use multiplication in different situations. Students who only memorize struggle when they encounter new problems because they have no framework to apply their knowledge. Personalized tutoring builds conceptual understanding by using manipulatives, visual models, and real-world connections that help students see the 'why' behind procedures. This deeper understanding makes advanced math—fractions, algebra, geometry—much more accessible.

Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who have strong backgrounds in elementary mathematics and proven experience working with students at this level. Many are certified teachers, education majors, or professionals with deep subject expertise. All tutors go through a vetting process to ensure they're knowledgeable and can communicate clearly with young learners. When you connect with a tutor, you'll have confidence that your student is learning from someone who truly understands both the subject and how elementary students learn best.