Choosing the right maths tutor for your child isn’t necessarily going to be an easy task.
Firstly, you may be battling the fact that they don’t actually want a tutor, the idea to get them one is completely yours.
Secondly, they hate maths. Their teacher at school has not been a good fit and you are worried that whoever you find may be of a similar ilk and it will make matters worse.
Then there is the financial implications and the time considerations.
If they do it online, will my child concentrate?
If they come to my house, where will they work?
Should we go to them, I’ll need to drag the others along with me or make sure I’m back from work in time.
Finding the right maths tutor isn’t necessarily going to happen straight away and what is right for one person may be completely wrong for the next.
Do they offer a free trial? Some offer a free assessment, but will this reflect what the lessons are like? Will this reflect your child’s honest ability; given a test on a subject they fear by an unknown person, potentially in a strange environment. The odds of your child working to their full potential in that lesson may not be guaranteed. (Be aware also that some tutors offer a free assessment as they only take on higher grade students and they don’t want to take on anyone who could be detrimental to their pass rate).
Remember, what worked for them may be different for your child, but it will hopefully give you a guide. Find out how the lessons were structured, what the tutor’s attitude was: peer teaching, warm, dictator and authoritative, uninterested…
Are you beginning a journey into a regimented program or is there some flexibility. Do they work in line with what your son/daughter is doing at school, or do they work with your child’s areas of needs? Are they willing to mix and match on this?
If your child is, or you suspect might be neurodiverse, do they have any experience of supporting other such children?
What is your gut instinct, it often tells us a lot. If you discover you have made a mistake, how easy is it to break the contract?
Maths is a subject that traumatises so many people, finding the right tutor can make a huge difference, and drastically improve your child’s confidence with the subject.
I have deliberately not given any answers to the questions here as my goal is to advice you in what to look for rather than to promote us, however if you do have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask: info@clarajamestutoring.co.uk
Each week we also send out an email on supporting your (secondary school) child with their maths and English. If you would like to receive this, please do say and I shall make sure you receive it.
Morning,
I hope the week is going well.
So many people seem to be doing D of E and work experience
at the moment, good luck if that’s you and if you’re at Marlow Camp next
fingers crossed for good weather!
I’ve just finished a lesson on division. It seems to be
something that messes with the brains of so many people.
I found it got easier when I stopped thinking about it as
division and instead thought about it as multiplication. So, if for example I
had the question 396 divided by 3, I would look at it as 3x what = 3. My answer
would be 1. How many times would I need to multiply 3 to get to 9, (my answer
would be 3). Then 3x something = 6. My answer would be 2. Giving me the overall
answer of 132.
I know that’s a really simple example but hopefully it explains
my point.
Thankfully in schools they don’t often seem to need to do
long division, but I’ve worked with a couple of adults (generally nurses for
some reason) who have needed it.
I think I’ll explain this one in a video, as it will be too
complicated to explain it with words as bits get put all over the place. I hope
this makes sense though:
Enjoy the rest of the week and speak soon,
Dawn