Parents play a primary role in ensuring their children get quality education that will arm them not only with academic knowledge, but also life skills to succeed in their career and life.
However, education pertains not only to the time your child spends inside the classroom. The wisdom and insights they will acquire should not be solely coming from their school, but also from their life outside it, such as their interaction with friends and experiences in your home and with the family.
While teachers are often fully equipped to deliver the lessons for the day, sometimes children need additional support to fully maximise the teachings. Hiring a tutor will give your child the framework, discipline and perspective to help them turn out to be better students.
Professional tutors can guide your child to improve in various areas of development: get better academic marks, handle accelerated courses or more advanced tasks, prepare for exams and school applications, improve study habits, to cope with a learning disability, and more. The first step to take when opting for private tutoring is to work with your child in identifying specific goals and objectives.
Your choice of tutor will have a huge impact on the outcome of the entire experience. Since it’s your child’s future that is at stake, it pays to allay your fears and concerns by considering the following pieces of advice:
Ask about the background and qualifications of the tutor.
The ideal educational background for a tutor depends on your focus. For instance, if you want your child to be tutored in Math, then it pays to seek a tutor with a Mathematics major and is well-versed in the educational theories and instructional approaches of teaching Math. A college degree is a basic requirement as well as a teaching certificate, but even current students can still be effective tutors, as long as they have the subject expertise and teaching experience necessary to impart important lessons to your child. It’s best to get tutors from a reputable tutoring agency, as most tutors under them would have undergone additional training under their program.
Observe the tutor’s personality and teaching approach.
No matter how good a tutor is, if his or her teaching style doesn’t match or can’t adapt to what your kid needs, then both the student and tutor (and you as the parent) might find each session difficult to go through. For best results, hire a tutor with strong relationship-building skills. You need someone who can encourage and inspire your child. You need a tutor who is not afraid and is equipped to point out errors in your child’s study habits or learning attitudes. Communication style is also crucial – get a tutor who has a systematic way of updating you with your kid’s progress and working with you according to what’s best for your child’s academic development.
Understand the costs.
A lot of tutoring centres provide free trial sessions. Take advantage of those trial sessions so you can get to know their curriculum and teaching styles better before you decide on paying for the service. Aside from the tutor’s fee, what other items do you need to spend for? Some centres already include the materials and workbooks within the tuition, while others charge for these items separately. The location also impacts the total tutoring expenses. If the centre is near your home, transportation costs will be lower and attending sessions will also be more manageable. You can also consider home service tutoring, if that’s the most practical option. Meanwhile, one-on-one tutoring is naturally priced higher than group sessions, so talk to the tutoring centre’s advisor on which option is most suitable to your kid’s needs.