Need a tutor? Call the doctor
Published Friday October 30th, 2009
Quispamsis woman says a mentoring position led her to explore a career in helping children; as she launches a tutoring franchise Sharon Daigle says it’s a perfect match
In her new career, Sharon Daigle says one of her top priorities is to make a magical match.
After working in customer service for more than a decade, the Quispamsis mom has launched a tutoring business out of her home. The franchise, called Tutor Doctor, is based in Toronto and has consultants all over the country.
Daigle is one of two franchisees in New Brunswick.
Daigle said the match between tutor and student is one of the most vital parts of the process.
“It has to be perfect so the student has a good experience,” Daigle said. “What child wants to do more work after they’ve been in school all day? That’s why it’s really important they enjoy the tutor.”
Daigle said she was led to the company after making a match of her own.
She filled out a profile for a business that matches people with franchises that fit their personalities.
“They match you up with the franchisors and I learned about the companies. Tutor Doctor is just A-1 when it comes to quality and they’re very high in customer service,” Daigle said. “I really had to go through a big process for them to pick me to make sure I was the right fit for their company. It’s really important for them to get the right people in.”
Daigle will not be tutoring herself but will act as a liaison between tutors and customers. When a tutoring request comes to Daigle, she sets up a free consultation with the family to learn about the student’s needs. Daigle then finds a tutor who matches with the student and sets up the appointments from there.
Daigle said finding a tutor through the business has benefits over looking for one independently.
“The thing is it is calling somebody and (the family) doesn’t know who they are. They may tutor math but they may just be winging it,” she said. “All our tutors are already trained them. All our tutors have criminal record checks and we take the time on the match.”
Daigle said a volunteer position as a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John led her to explore helping children as a career option.
“When I started mentoring that’s what really got me onto it,” she said. “The first couple of weeks (I met with a student) he didn’t say too much and we were coming to the end of the year and I said ‘Oh you must be really excited for the summer coming up’ and he said ‘Well kind of’ and when I said why, he said ‘Then I don’t get to see you anymore.’ My heart melted. I really liked that feeling.”
Daigle said most students have trouble with math and English but she noted that every child is different.
“All kids can learn and they learn differently,” she said. “As they struggle there’s no confidence and they don’t want to go to school.”
Daigle said Tutor Doctor runs its programs on a building block system, which works to fill in any blocks a student may have missed from grade to grade.
“Within each grade if the child got 60 per cent then the child missed 40 per cent of those blocks or concepts,” she explained. “When they move into the next grade the teacher then assumes they’ve gotten all the concepts from the last grade and they start building on the blocks. Well if they get to a place where the blocks aren’t there and they try to build on it, it falls. We work on filling in the missing blocks.”
Daigle said the tutoring company goes beyond just teaching students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 but includes adult learning and subjects stretch to cover technology and computer programs for adults and seniors who may want to learn more.
“We can tailor it to fit anybody,” Daigle said.
Another benefit of Tutor Doctor is that the tutor will go to the customer’s home for one-on-one learning instead of meeting in a class setting, Daigle said.
To learn more about the program, contact Daigle at 848-0988 or email sdaigle@tutordoctor.com.
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