Why would I hire a tutor?
This is the most important question you need to ask yourselves before you start your search for the right tutor for your child. For many students, this can provide them with a relaxed atmosphere in which to learn, one where they don’t just ‘feel’ at home, they ‘are’ at home, and therefore are secure in an environment which is most conducive to learning. Many neuroscientific studies have shown that students learn better in a relaxed and stimulating environment, and having one-to-one tuition in the home environment is an ideal setting for this to be facilitated.
A major advantage of the tutor-tutee relationship is the ability to completely flex the syllabus, learning style and pace to suit the individual child, something which in a classroom of 30 or above, can be rendered almost an impossible goal. This provides a richness to the time spent, meaning a much fuller educational experience can be enjoyed in a relatively short space of time.
What a good tutor will also do is to provide the child with learning skills that are fully transferable to other topics and other subjects. The passing of a test or an exam is a short-term goal, but the other benefits include an increase in confidence and often a more positive attitude to learning in general. Above all a good tutor is there to inspire and motivate as much as teach! In this respect, learning taking place in the tutoring environment is holisitic in the truest sense of the word – where content is important but the way this content is treated is key!
Whether you are keen for your child to brush up on their early foreign language skills, gain a boost in confidence whilst preparing for SATs, GCSE’s, or A-Levels, or simply benefit from some extra guidance on a specific curricular subject at any age, then tutoring can be of benefit.
What is guaranteed however, is the flexibility in the approach. It is to be agreed between parents, child and tutor, how many times per week the tuition takes place and indeed the duration of the relationship. The key is to be constantly reflective and to keep referring back to the child to see how they feel they are progressing as well and to keep channels of communication open throughout the process.
If the match of tutor to child is not the right one for any reason, then it is imperative to have the flexibility to change this at any point during the process.
It is also important not only to have regular feedback to yourself and the tutee, but also that once the pre-arranged goals have been met, that the arrangement comes to a natural close. This is the true mark of a successful tutoring relationship. Once you and your child are satisfied that the objectives stated have been met, then it is deemed that a tutor has done their job successfully and they will agree that it is time to move on!
