An age-old practice dating back to the days of hunting and gathering, tutoring has become an ingrained part of our society and culture.

In fact, the first recorded incidence of tutoring appears to go back to 343 BC when Alexander the Great was a mere 13-year-old and Aristotle was sent an invitation to tutor him.

Over time, we find the following tutoring-related developments:

- At the beginning of the 18th century, very few kids went to school. The few who did attend received educational training through the aide of a private tutor. A general education, lessons often pertained to such subjects as: Latin, rhetoric (Public Speaking) and math-along with a focus on practical experience relating to a service trade or family business. During this era, parentsguardians expected children to act like mini-adults whereby they did not scream, cry or hit but instead conducted themselves with great restraint.

And, tutors, known back then as 'bear leaders'-a title hinting at the unruly behavior of their charges-were supposed to inculcate lessons along the way, pointing out the most notable of landmarks, e.g., buildings, paintings, views, and historical sites to the young pupils. In addition, these tutors were also held responsible for watching over students' recreation to ensure they used their inheritances 'properly' and chose 'worthy' suitors.

- Throughout the 18th century, formalized education in the way of private schools was only accessible to families with sizable earnings. Even Benjamin Franklin who, at the time, was working as a printer was instructed to remove his son, William Franklin, from a Philadelphia academy when finances got tight.

- At the end of the 18th century, particularly within the North during the colonial era, academic institutions offering a similar setting to that of private schools (classes rather than one-on-one tutors) came to be more popular than individual tutors.

In contrast with parent's strict oversight of their children during the early part of the 18th century, children were now permitted to act in a more infantile-like fashion. To teach children how to properly behave, parentsguardians invested time in educating and guiding them. In contrast with apprenticeships, which entailed specialized training within a specific field, e.g., time spent shadowing a blacksmith, tutoring focused on academic instruction, e.g., lessons in reading and writing.

Among affluent families, even with the surge in the academies, tutors remained prevalent within both the North and South. At the time, the field of tutoring for wealthy families was comprised predominately of men with a few unmarried women, who were not yet employed within a specific trade.

Within the US, Southern families as compared with Northerners, demonstrated a greater reliance upon tutors. The reason for this was that the South was undergoing a time of plantation living. Thus, the area was more spread out and more difficult to establish collective school facilities.

In contrast, prioritizing economic progress and social stability, the North elected to funnel their efforts and finances into the creation of community educational forums.

Interestingly, because the North invested more in education, southerners often recruited young northern men to act as tutors. An example of one such Northern tutor was Eli Whitney (1765-1825), who upon graduation from Yale, was hired by a Georgian family. Note: Eli later became famous for his invention of the cotton gin.

During the 18th century, tutoring was used to accentuate key family and gender dynamics. For example, within planter families, tutors were often expected to discipline young children so fathers could develop more affectionate bonds with their offspring. The goal being that children should emulate tutors who, in spite of acting like disciplinarians, were to be viewed as role models.

Depending upon the nature of the young person's homestead (major types of industries, values, etc.), the tutor would seek to impart applicable strains of knowledge.

For example, tutors working with young men in agricultural family businesses would educate them on such subjects as: mathematics and Latin (training for crop productions and the signing of legal documents).

Tutors, referred to at that time as 'household educators', worked mainly with women to provide tutelage in such pivotal cultural areas as: music, dancing and French. For both young men and women, the tutor's goal-even more than preparing them for a career- was to produce a 'socialized' gentleman or lady, one capable of maintaining a conversation and relaying insightful tidbits of cultural information.

And within the nation's higher education facilities, another major development within the US' tutoring practice took place: professors deferred some of their teaching to young men, many of whom were recent graduates.

Working one-on-one with the students, often times, these young men were only slightly older than their student charges. This then contributed to frequent incidents whereby students showed a lack of respect for their tutors and, in light of the minor age difference, commonly opted to challenge their 'authority figures'. During this era, this 'status quo' proceeded to cause a series of ongoing problems between tutors and students.

Many of the professional issues dealing with tutoring did not get officially worked out until the end of the 19th century. It was not until then that tutoring became more of a respected practice regardless of the age difference between tutor and student.