How to Tutor in Introductory Accounting
- 1). Determine the student’s familiarity and comfort level with accounting. This will help provide the starting point in the education process. Assessing the level of competence also helps to prevent wasting time going over information the student has already mastered.
- 2). Schedule regular sessions. Set up specific dates and times to meet and go over some aspect of the accounting process. The sessions may be scheduled weekly or more often based on the time constraints of tutor and pupil.
- 3). Create lesson plans. A lesson plan is simply an outline of what will be covered in each session. Often, the content for each lesson is correlated with chapters in the textbook. This allows both tutor and pupil to know in advance what will be covered and when.
- 4). Assign homework. Each homework assignment should be relevant to information covered in the most recent session. Allow the student to complete the assignments using the accounting software and print out reports to show the placement of entries and transactions.
- 5). Use quizzes and exams to ensure that the information is being assimilated properly. The use of pop quizzes and regular testing may be more commonly employed in classroom settings, but it can be equally effective in a tutoring situation. Both tutor and student can see the tests as a chance to measure progress and also uncover any points that may need further explanation before proceeding.
- 6). Entertain questions. Always make sure the student feels free to ask any question related to the course of study. This will help to ensure that communication between tutor and student remains positive and complete.