Have you ever wanted to open your child's brain with a screw driver and insert a hard concept into the right slot? Anyone who has struggled with a child who "doesn't get it" will appreciate the sentiment.
There are less gruesome steps to follow when communicating a hard concept to your child. Two settings seem practical for tutoring. First is when your child is working independently, say in his math book, and needs help. You can only "drop tutor" those subjects that you understand well or have covered earlier in your homeschooling experience.
The second setting is when you are trying to teach your children a subject you don't know yourself. Perhaps you will find it is more effective for you to learn the subject along with your children rather than trying to stay one lesson ahead of them or assigning it to them in the hopes that they will be able to do it on their own. As you study with them you are able to see when a new concept comes up that needs "teaching time" and when you can just work on your worksheets together.
Here are some tips which will help you to develop your learning style
1. Bridge new information with information the child already knows
2. Have the child state the definition in his own words
3. Have the child give an example of the definition
4. Go to an every day comparison
5. Limit and define a concept by contrasting it with a related concept
6. Don't assume that the children, who listen in, have it
7. If understanding is still muddy, go to the concrete
8. Make the connection to the new concept
9. Drill to memorize the Fundamentals by Rote
10. Have the Children Play Teacher
11. Overlearn by Repeating the Drill Over the Next Several Days
12. Use Teacher's Aids
13. Practice the Application
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