Parents'/Students' Home Tuition Frequently Asked Questions
How do you request for a home tutor?
FamilyTutor offers many easy & flexible ways for you to get the perfect home tutor! You may:
Call us straight at +65 8777 2168
WhatsApp us at +65 8777 2168
Fill in our Tutor Request Form here
Each of the 3 ways ensures that we fully understand your requirement in the shortest amount of time.
At FamilyTutor, we strive to match a tutor to not only teach the student well, but also to build good rapport and meaningful relationships with the student and even with the whole family!
What can you expect after requesting for a home tutor?
Whether it is calling us straight at +65 8777 2168, WhatsApp-ing us at +65 8777 2168, or filling up our Tutor Request Form, you can expect us to guide you step-by-step from start to end!
After requesting for a tutor using any of the above 3 ways, within 24 hours, we will update you with a few sets of really suitable and detailed tutor profile via WhatsApp! From there, you can choose the tutor that you prefer.
In the midst of choosing your preferred tutor, you may request for more information of the recommended tutors by communicating with our coordinators. If it makes you feel more assured, you may even request to speak with the tutor privately via a direct phone call.
Once you are comfortable with engaging one of the recommended tutors, we can help you set a start date immediately!
At FamilyTutor, we strive to make our parents or students feel comfortable engaging the tutors whom we recommend!
What types of home tutors are there for you?
Generally, there are 3 types of home tutors. They are:
Part-Time Tutors
As the name suggests, they conduct home tuition as a part-time job. They can be working full-time as a store manager, data analyst, or even a salesperson! However, because they love teaching and can teach really well, they choose to teach as a home tutor outside of their usual working hours!
Full-Time Tutors
These are the tutors whose main occupation is to conduct home tuition and impart valuable knowledge to student, which explains the phrase “full-time”! Giving home tuition is their bread and butter, so sometimes we call them “professional home tutors”!
Ex-/Current School Teachers
These tutors have the experience teaching in MOE/IGCSE/IB schools, therefore they know the syllabus really well!
How can you trust the home tutors recommended by FamilyTutor?
At FamilyTutor, we want our tutors to not only impart knowledge and help the student improve their grades, but also want the students & parents to feel at ease when the tutors are teaching at their home! Even better, we want the students & parents to feel like their tutors are part of their family (that is also why we are called “FamilyTutor”)!
Therefore, we manually interview our tutors and not let any computer algorithm do the job! By doing so, we are able to detect any favourable human attributes – such as sincerity, responsibility, and positive attitude – and recommend only those tutors that possess these attributes to the students & parents who come to us!
Yes, we are providing a service, so we must go out of the way to help the students & parents achieve their academic goals and feel good about our service and tutors!
Why do different home tutors charge differently?
When we recommend a few really suitable tutors to you, you might see that for the same subject and level, different tutors charge different hourly rates.
This happens because usually FamilyTutor does not set those hourly rates. Most of the time, the hourly rates that you see are ones that each individual tutor charges based on their qualifications, experience, the distance they have to travel to the student’s place, their level of teaching confidence, and many more.
One thing that FamilyTutor can do for you is to ensure that the tutors’ asking hourly rates are in line with the current market rates. When the time comes, our experienced coordinators may even help you negotiate for hourly rates that both parties are comfortable and happy with!
You can view the latest market hourly rates over here.
Why do different home tuition agencies have different rates?
If you are one who shops around different home tuition agencies, you may see different hourly rate ranges for the subjects & levels that you require the tutor for.
There are many reasons for the differences.
Some agencies may have not updated their website for many years, thus the hourly rates shown on the website may be outdated.
Some agencies may quote a much lower hourly rate range so they could attract parents or students to make the first contact with them. Most of the time in such cases, parents or students eventually may find themselves paying for a higher hourly rate than promised because there just aren’t many great tutors who can accept the low hourly rates.
At FamilyTutor, we show only the most updated market hourly rates (for min. 1.5-hour classes) offered by the tutors available out there. We wish to be transparent with potential clients like you because we want to manage your budget expectations well from the very start, instead of having you to realise that you need to pay for more than what is initially promised.
To FamilyTutor, education is a serious matter. As much as we do not want you to scrimp on education, we do not want you to overspend on it at the same time.
You can view the latest market hourly rates over here.
What do you need to make payment for?
Before we explain further, you have to know that you do not need to pay any additional fee for our matching service! Our matching service is free for students & parents!
Also, you do not need to make any advance payment! The bottom line is: based on the mutually agreed hourly rate, you pay only for the lessons that have been delivered.
Let’s say our selected tutor charges an hourly rate of $50/hour for a 2-hour lesson. Before this 2-hour lesson, there is no need to pay the $100 tuition fee at all. Any payment would be made after that 2-hour lesson has been delivered by that tutor.
Our agency fee is charged to our tutors. To facilitate the collection of agency fees from our tutors, we require your cooperation to make payment for the first few lessons (usually 50% of the first 4 weeks) directly to FamilyTutor. Thereafter, you will make payment to the tutor directly for the remaining lessons. No worries, the payment details will be communicated to you clearly when you confirm to engage a tutor with us!
Again, you do not pay anything extra at all!
How do you make payment for the lessons?
You may request to make payment to the tutors by cash or cheque, via bank transfer, PayNow, or PayLah! This is provided that the confirmed tutors are agreeable too! Usually, our tutors have no problem with any of the options mentioned above.
Our agency fee is charged to our tutors, so to facilitate the collection of agency fees from our tutors, we require your cooperation to make payment for the first few lessons (usually 50% of the first 4 weeks) directly to FamilyTutor. Thereafter, you will make payment to the tutors directly for the remaining lessons. No worries, the payment details and method will be communicated to you clearly when you confirm to engage a tutor with us! We accept bank transfer, PayNow, PayLah, cash, or even cheque!
Can you terminate the tuition if you feel that the tutor is not suitable?
You can terminate the tuition any time after the first lesson if you think that the tutor is not suitable for you. However, you must inform FamilyTutor at least 24 hours before the next lesson and must make payment for all the lessons conducted. Please note that it is our company’s policy that any termination of tuition made less than 24 hours before the next lesson will incur a late charge of 50% of that lesson’s fee.
To terminate tuition with the confirmed tutor, please inform FamilyTutor at +65 8777 2168 (Mon-Sun 9am-10pm) via WhatsApp or phone call at least 24 hours before the next lesson commences. From there, we will advise you on the next step.
Please note that once you have confirmed the tutor, there is a binding contract to complete one full lesson. You may request for a change of tutor or termination of the tuition only after completing the first lesson. Any termination before the first lesson is completely delivered will incur an administrative charge of no less than one lessons’ worth of fee.
Can your tutor terminate the tuition?
Tutors are expected to commit at least 4 weeks’ worth of lessons before any termination of tuition. If the tutor wants to terminate the tuition without any valid reason (e.g. medical-related) before completing at least 4 weeks’ worth of lessons, he or she will not be entitled to receive any tuition fee that is yet to be paid to him or her.
We seek your understanding that we cannot force our tutors to commit for more than 4 weeks of lessons. However, we do encourage responsible behaviour in our tutors.
In the first place, when recommending tutors to you, we strive to select only the responsible ones for you! We believe that as long as the students & parents treat our tutors with basic respect, there is no reason our tutors would terminate the tuition.
Can you postpone lessons?
Yes, you can postpone lessons.
However, any postponement of the lessons in the first 4 weeks should be made known to FamilyTutor via WhatsApp or phone calls at +65 8777 2168 and to the tutor via his or her phone number at least 24 hours before the next lesson commences. This is except for special cases such as medical emergencies.
Please note that any failure to postpone at least 24 hours before the next lesson commences may incur a compensation to the tutor for his or her loss of time. The compensation is usually no less than 50% of one lessons’ worth of fee.
Can your tutor postpone lessons?
FamilyTutor discourages our tutors to postpone lessons unless there is a valid reason, such as suddenly falling sick or having some sort of medical emergencies.
All in all, we encourage our tutors to inform you of any postponement of lesson at least 24 hours before the next lesson commences, and makes up for the missed lesson within the next 7 days.
At the same time, we wish you could set a healthy communication system with your tutor so both parties could understand each other’s schedule and come to a consensus regarding any postponement issue.
What happens if I cancel the scheduled first lesson with a tutor?
You will be liable for an admin fee that is equivalent to one regular lesson’s worth of tuition fee, which must be paid by the due date specified in the invoice issued.
You are therefore strongly encouraged to stick with the mutually agreed schedule of the first lesson.
Do I need to prepare any tuition material or will the tutor prepare it?
The answer is: it depends!
Most of the time, if the parents or the students already have materials such as assessment books and past-year exam papers, the tutors do not need to purchase any extra tuition materials unless they think that the students need the extra materials for the learning to take place more effectively. That said, FamilyTutor will always advise the tutors to purchase them only if the parents are also agreeable to it. We would not want any situation whereby a tutor purchases extra materials for the student without the parent’s acknowledgment and ends up asking the parent for reimbursement for the purchased materials out of nowhere!
Sometimes, the tutor may already have the necessary tuition materials to provide to the student and they may be free!
Most importantly, communicate this clearly to the tutor even before the start of the first lesson to prevent any misunderstanding! FamilyTutor can also be the one to remind the tutors your decision regarding this issue. We are always here to assist you!
More Burning Questions About Home Tuition?
Let Us Answer You!
Should you get a home tutor?
Whether to have a home tutor in Singapore was never an easy question. Sometimes, life does not go how we expect it to be and things get difficult. But fret not, you are not alone! We relate with you and hence have come up with some possible indicators worth thinking about while deciding if getting a home tutor in Singapore for your child is a necessary option.
Is your child unable to concentrate when studying?
In every child’s growing years, more often than not they will encounter the problem of being unable to concentrate when studying. Why can’t I play all day? This is too boring! We hear that very often as children may not be matured enough to understand that education and learning are essential in upgrading one’s skill sets and brain power for the future. Your child might actually be intelligent but just unable to concentrate. In such situations, it would be such a waste to forgo the fact that your child could be groomed to be a talented and capable person. Hence, FamilyTutor advises you to get a home tutor in Singapore for your child to realise their full potential. With a home tutor, he/she will be able to stay focused through personalised learning styles that suit your child and would capture more of their attention! Because of a role model which your child can learn from, who knows, your child could decide to also help others concentrate and inspire them by being a home tutor themselves one day!
Is your child unconfident of his/her learning abilities?
Failures are always painful, and harsh environments make it worse. Maybe the problem doesn’t actually lie in being unable to do something, but instead lies in thinking that you can’t. No parent would want their child to lose confidence in their learning abilities. Every child is born unique and special, and with much-needed confidence they could go a longer way. Hence, if you find that your child is struggling in finding that confidence, FamilyTutor strongly urges you to take action as soon as possible. Engaging a home tutor in Singapore could help your child realise that Hey, Your methods are not Wrong or Hey, Your working is excellent! With a home tutor guiding your child in questions, words of affirmation will definitely be a confidence boost for your child. In no time would you see a change in how your child feels about themselves, thus giving rise to a more confident and stronger individual.
Is your child fearful of his/her subjects?
Maybe the thought of having to write a language composition or the thought of doing a complex mathematics question daunts your child. In the process of learning new things, realising that it is hard might often spawn fear of a particular subject. Especially because children are sometimes just more susceptible to perceiving new challenges negatively, this behaviour might be more obvious. Being fearful of a subject will lead to no good because it would get worse and worse. Hence, nipping this issue in the bud by eradicating your child’s fear for the subject is highly necessary. FamilyTutor feels that one effective way would be with the help of a home tutor. As home tutors are highly familiar with the subject and most likely have gone through the curriculum, they will be in the best position to help your child professionally and even help to reduce their fear in the subject. With determination and perseverance, we promise you a fearless and courageous child in time to come.
Sometimes, a little help impacts one greatly – far greater in magnitude than the help given from the start. Maybe your child does not experience those problems mentioned above, then you should rejoice! But maybe your child is facing other problems and you know that positive change is required. It is time to take that leap of faith and entrust the job to a home tutor in Singapore – for that help, that model, that support. We have seen desirable results; do you want to too? It is never too late to start now!
What can you gain from home tuition?
Home tuition in Singapore has become increasingly popular. It is a paradigm shift from the old tuition centres to the new era of home tuition today. The reason for such a shift is simple: more and more people have to come to realise the benefits of having home tuition. Here, we introduce to you the basics to get you started on the right path.
Quality!
If you are worried that the tutors providing home tuition are not half as qualified as those in tuition centres, you might just be unaware! Not only are the tutors qualified to your suited preference, you will be able to select your ideal tutor of your choice demographic and background. At FamilyTutor, we ensure that the tutors going to your homes have gone through stringent quality checks to ensure that they meet the requirements set by YOU before considering them. Not only do we ensure their standard of educational level attainment, we ensure that they hold a high level of regard for the job as well. (Character is twice as important to us!) FamilyTutor also allows for the flexibility of qualifications you need: if you only require an undergraduate to guide your child in learning you could be paying half as little as if you went to a full-fledged tuition centre!
Environment!
What better could you provide your child with than learning in the comfort of your own familiar home? As parents, we understand the difficulties of learning for some, and hence it is in all of our interests to at least create an excellent environment conducive for our child’s learning. So, worry no more about long travelling times, uncomfortable chairs, lack of food and many more! Having home tuition in your OWN HOME allows you to create the perfect environment your child needs best to focus, learn and grow! You do not even need to worry about your child having a seat far away from the tutor (like in group tuition) because your child can be directly opposite or even be beside the tutor, based on their preference. At FamilyTutor, we help you ensure that the discussion of your child’s learning styles and ideal environment is fully brought across to your tutor. You will receive such a top notch environment!
Attention!
One of the priceless benefits of having home tuition in Singapore is the readiness of attention provided during the session. In such a fast-paced society today, what children need most is to stay focused amidst the common distractions of social media. FamilyTutor assures you of the quality attention your child needs! Home tuition allows the child to be given full attention by the tutor; likewise the child would have to give their full attention during the stipulated period of time as well! The benefits your child’s learning, and increases the rate of increase in their learning as well: fear no more the dreaded and infamous learning curve.
Flexibility!
Suddenly need to cancel your tuition session this week due to urgent matters or wish to have more lessons nearing the exams? FamilyTutor Has You Covered. With the flexible nature of home tuition in Singapore, you will not have to worry about cancellation fees and administrative costs in rearranging for a makeup session! Our tutors are humans just like you, hence a friendly discussion for prior arrangements can definitely be made just for you. In fact, home tuition in Singapore is known for its flexibility in learning pace as well. The pace of lessons would be tailored to your child’s ability (if she needs it slow for Mathematics but can go faster for Science, that’s not a problem!), putting your child in a very favourable position.
Family!
We value the idea of family. We are not just another tuition agency; we are FAMILYTutor. On top of all of the listed benefits of home tuition in Singapore above, the striking point about home tuition is that it is right in the home, and home is where family is. Family is at the core of us and it is the essence of what we do and cherish. To FamilyTutor, we want your tutor to be like a part of your family. The tutor helps your child in their academia and in the process of learning, your child applies the attitudes of learning to life as well. Life-long lessons built when interacting with role models (like our tutors!) will certainly equip your child with a valuable set of life skills as well!
What to look out for in your home tutor?
Everyone is different and unique. With that in mind, a one-size-fits-all approach definitely would never work well in any situation, especially in areas of human interaction. For the different kinds of private tutors in Singapore, some will be good for your child while some will unfortunately just not be that suitable. Identifying the possible kinds of characteristics to consider when looking for private tutors in Singapore would greatly ease the selection process. Looking out for the ideal perfect private tutor is not the way to go; it is rather about looking out for the one that you need!
The kinds of qualifications!
Looking for a private tutor in Singapore with just enough qualifications is very important in setting expectations for the help your child would receive. Be it an ex-MOE teacher or a part-time tutor, these private tutors specialize to different degrees and deliver different types of help. Maybe your child requires a tutor that is able to dive deep into the foundations of a subject or maybe your child requires a tutor that knows the latest common questions and tricks to tackle recent questions. Whatever it is, knowing exactly what your child needs is crucial in sieving the right kind of qualification your private tutor should possess to be suitable in aiding your child. FamilyTutor offers a wide selection of tutors with varying qualifications to suit unique needs of each child. Fret not, there will exist that one tutor that can save the day!
The kinds of personalities!
Looking for a private tutor in Singapore would also require you to consider the character traits of your child. If you know that your child is generally quieter and less outspoken, maybe looking for a private tutor that is friendly yet not loud would be helpful in encouraging your child to have meaningful tuition lessons. Or if your child simply cannot sit still then having a strict tutor would definitely be better than having a tutor that isn’t. FamilyTutor understands that finding out personalities is not the easiest job. Hence, FamilyTutor goes the extra mile to allow tutors to talk more about themselves to us, and finding out how they are like as a person and a tutor.
The kinds of pedagogies!
Looking for a private tutor in Singapore would promise you good guidance. However, pedagogies matter. Every child is born different. Hence, finding out how they learn best is essential in ensuring success in what they are aiming to achieve. FamilyTutor requests for our tutors to talk about and elaborate on their pedagogies used professionally. We take pride in tutors who are genuine and take the job seriously. And if they are really good at what they are doing, then without doubt they would be able to properly explain their own pedagogies. From there, we will be able to find out and assist you in choosing the best of the best!
The kinds of values they possess!
Looking for a private tutor in Singapore would also require you to consider someone who is morally upright and just. We do not want our child to be negatively influenced by the tutor, inculcating the wrong values or causing unnecessary stress in them. FamilyTutor takes this very seriously and does not simply consider qualifications, pedagogies or personalities. We want your child to be in good hands, so we manually interview our tutors and do not let any computer algorithm do the job! By doing so, we are able to detect any favourable human attributes – such as sincerity, responsibility, and positive attitude – and recommend only those tutors that possess these desirable attributes to the students & parents who come to us!
It takes time to realise that these minute details in selection influences how well the lessons go, hence we invite you to take the first step with FamilyTutor as we assist you through the various considerations you should be making. We simply want the best for YOU and YOUR CHILD, we will be here ANYTIME!
How can FamilyTutor assist you?
With the increasing need for tutors in Singapore, many have taken notice of this potentially lucrative market and have jumped on the bandwagon to join the ever-growing tuition industry. As a result, we now have many tutors ready to accommodate to the needs of the masses in Singapore. However, the problem that some of us may encounter is that we find ourselves lost with too many tutors to choose from. Being doting and concerned parents, we always hope to employ the right tutor in Singapore so that our child has both an enjoyable and fulfilling tutoring experience!
At FamilyTutor, we actually assure you with educated, committed, and suitable tutors from a pool of carefully procured talent. Don’t like the first tutor? Not meeting your expectations? We promise a second even better. We understand that as parents, you would love to understand the internal workings and processes of our tutor selection. To further your understanding of what goes on behind-the-scenes, we provide you with the general approach we adopt in selecting the right tutor for your child in Singapore.
Where we find our tutors from
The prerequisite to searching for the right tutor for you is to have a pool of talented tutors first. Believe it or not, FamilyTutor does not actually find our tutors! Instead, tutors come straight to us! We feel that this is the ideal way to secure an interested tutor for an assignment, simply because the desire to take on the assignment originally stems from the tutor in the first place. This naturally ensures a committed tutor for you, as they chose to make an informed decision to offer to take on the assignment themselves.
What we look for in our tutors
So, from our pool of tutors, we will then sieve out the cream of the crop! At FamilyTutor, we thoughtfully take into account many considerations for our selection. Firstly, we promise you a tutor with the demographic of your choice! Be it gender, age, qualification or any other preferences specified, we got you covered. From the selected group of candidates we deem suitable, we then further filter for the best by looking out for the passionate, enthusiastic, and genuine individuals simply through the way they respond and interact with us (and it tells because in times of stressful job selections, it is the easiest for the tutors to be themselves!).
How our tutors are like
Surely no parent would want a qualified tutor with terrible character. That’s why, FamilyTutor’s slogan is “Putting Every Singaporean Son & Daughter In Good Hands”. The tutors we provide you will be mature and take pride in their job, where communication of ideas between both parent and tutor would certainly not be a problem. FamilyTutor values professionalism and hence there wouldn’t be even a single case of low commitment from your tutor, unreasonable talk or even being a bad example to your child. We are not just a tuition agency that links you up with any random tutor; we go further than that to ensure the best experience possible!
We value you
Ultimately, the hunt for the right tutor in Singapore is not a slipshod job. FamilyTutor values you and your child, and we simply hope for your child to receive the best educational guidance as possible. We match a tutor not only to teach your child well and improve his or her grades, but also to build good rapport and a meaningful relationship with your child and even with your whole family! This is what we have been doing and is what we will continue to do for you. We find joy in helping every family find the right tutor for their child in Singapore, and we would certainly love to help YOU too.
Let FamilyTutor help you find the right tutor in Singapore for your child, and we will definitely not disappoint!
