Your kids? They’re the best, even if they didn’t as well as you’d have liked them to in school. You should go hug them right now before you continue reading this article.
Children vary pretty widely when it comes to the kind of attention they need, which is something you notice fairly soon if you have more than one kid. So if your child is lagging behind in school, you should be looking into how you can help.
Tuitions are a pretty good idea, especially if you think your kid could benefit from some personal attention. But you can’t just pick any old tuition centre or tutor for your little one, can you?
You’ve got to make sure they’re reliable, and can meet your child’s needs without being too harsh, which could kill their desire to learn.
So before you decide on a tuition for your child, ask yourself these questions.
- Are They Qualified?
They don’t necessarily need to have a PhD, but if you do find a tutor who has one, and is a good teacher, guard them with your life.
Essentially, your tuition teacher should have a basic college degree with a specialisation in the subject your child needs help in. Ideally, they should also have had experience teaching kids in the same age group as your child, or working with them in any other capacity.
- What’s The Class Strength?
One-on-one sessions work for some children, while others learn better in groups.
If you’re looking at group sessions, you need to make sure these groups aren’t larger than 10-15 students. Any more than that and there won’t be much point to you hiring a tutor. It’ll just be the equivalent of sending your kids to school twice a day.
- Do they have a Good Track Record?
When you’re looking at tuitions, talk to other parents and even your child’s teachers to see if they know people, or have an opinion about the tutor you’re considering.
If your child has friends who attend the tuitions you have in mind, get them to ask their friends, because then you’ll get the truth, right from the horse’s mouth.
Good tutors generally retain their students and are able to maintain a sense of goodwill amongst students and parents alike. You should probably ignore parents trying to push their own services though, unless you know them well enough.
- What Are The Timings Like?
Can you imagine having to sit through school, and then four hours of tuition?
If you’re not willing to sit that long through a maths class, you definitely shouldn’t expect your kid to. It’s unfair, and frankly, quite useless, because your child won’t be able to retain that overload of information.
Your kids should ideally get a little down time, because they need to kick back and relax a little too, and make sure their classes aren’t longer than an hour and a half or two hours.
- Do Your Kids Like Them?
There is nothing a tutor can do for your child, no matter how qualified they are, if your kids don’t like them.
Think about it. Wouldn’t you hate it if you were forced to work with someone you didn’t like? You totally would.
Don’t waste your kids’ and their tutor’s time if they can’t establish a rapport with each other. Look for someone else.
Asking these questions is the easiest way of eliminating those who’re more focused on their fees than on your children’s education.
Once you’ve found the right tutor, you’re sure to see a dramatic improvement in your kids performance and it’ll be the perfect excuse for a family outing for ice-cream!
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