This tip sheet is intended for home tutors of ESL students.
1. Go to the student's home with a supervisor prior to your first tutoring session. Get a feel for your student's home and the environment in which you will be teaching. Are you tutoring a mother of pre-school children? If so, be prepared to interact with children and adjust to the child's needs.
2. Use materials in your lesson plans that are relevant to your student's culture. It is necessary to discuss with your student what kind of books he or she has an interest. If you just chose books based on what you think your student will like, you may bore or offend your student. For example, I chose for my student, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Because my student is a very low reading level I confused her greatly by the book's use of the verb "to be".
3. Use material in your lesson plans that are applicable to practical issues. For example, it was necessary for my student to learn the vocabulary about the human body parts and various ailments because she has two young daughters. If her children are ill, she needs to be able to describe the situation to a medical professional.
4. Don't feel like you have to be confined to your student's home. If a park is nearby, go there. Talk about what a great day it is. Ride the swings and point out the names of everything in the park. Spending time without pen and paper is valuable to a student who may be alienated from other English-speaking adults.
5. Educate yourself about cultural activities in the community that your student may want to attend. If your student sees that you are taking an interest in his or her life, he or she will be more apt to educating you about his or her experiences.