If I absolutely had to choose between the two of them, I guess I'd pick Kim as a tutor over Dalton, because compared to him she's a goddamn genius. She
might be able to add and subtract double digit numbers, especially if Dalton can shoplift a calculator next time he's at Walmart, but once Aidean gets to multiplication and division
(
), he might as well be learning Diophantine geometry.
My concern, however, is that I think Kim is one of those people who is so stupid that she is not capable of understanding how stupid she actually is. I'm positive she believes herself to have average or maybe even slightly above average intelligence. I could see her continuing to "tutor" Aidean, teaching him how to do things incorrectly, and refusing to believe him when he tries to tell her that his teacher told him something else. Sometimes it's even harder for a kid to master a concept when he first has to "unlearn" the wrong approach. Aidean might actually be better off if Kim didn't try to teach him anything and just left it to his (woefully underpaid) teachers.
Kim is an absolute moron who has no business being responsible for raising a child, but she's also arrogant, entitled, and averse to perceived authority figures. A teacher trying to tell Aidean, however diplomatically, that what his mom told him about a subject was wrong, is really going to piss Kim off. I can all but guarantee that Aidean will have a negative experience with school and an adversarial relationship with his teachers, and it will be encouraged by his "parents". As soon as it's recognized that he's far behind his peers academically and lacks a stable home environment, the school will intervene with extra support and resources. Kim and Dalton will interpret this as an indictment of them personally, which it kind of is. Instead of deciding that they're all on the same side, working together to help Aidean succeed at school, they'll complain about being "disrespected" and suggest that the teacher is incompetent or malicious. Aidean will pick up on their attitudes and decide that his teacher is mean or unfair, and he won't respect her. None of this is Aidean's fault; he's a child who has been failed by everyone in his life since he was born.