How Much to Charge for Tutoring Elementary Kids?

Tutoring at the elementary school can be crucial for students. Elementary school is where kids need to get a solid foundation in reading, pronunciation, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, among other areas of learning. This foundation must be rock solid to prepare them for high school, where they'll have to write lengthy essays and take calculus. As a tutor, you can charge a range of rates for your services--anywhere from $20 to $80 an hour. How much you charge, however, depends on the following factors.

Expertise

Base the fee you will charge on your level of expertise. Although an intelligent high school student might be able to tutor a child in elementary school efficiently, and probably for an extremely low price, a doctorate or masters degree offers that much more knowledge. This is especially true if the degrees are in education. If you have a graduate degree or degrees, you might add an extra $5 to $10 an hour to a basic price.

Subject

Take into consideration the subject that you'll be tutoring the elementary students in. Those who can tutor in more esoteric subjects like Russian, for example, may charge slightly more. Such tutors are harder to come by, while most tutors will be able to provide instruction in common subjects like reading and math.

Distance

Many students ask tutors to come to their homes, and most tutoring sessions only last one to two hours. Thus, it's not really worth your time to drive across town to tutor a student for $20 an hour. If a student lives far away, you could add additional "travel costs" of $5 to $10 to your normal rate.

Economic Status of Students

A lot of the students who require extra help are from disadvantaged areas and underprivileged schools. Many of their families can't afford to pay standard rates for tutors. Consider offering an extreme discount for such kids or a "pay what you can" policy if you can afford it.