How to Choose the Right Tutor Category for Your Child
When parents consider hiring a home tutor, they evaluate several things they would like the tutor to help them with. They consider the goals they have for their kids with the home tutor. They also consider their experience and familiarity with the subject area in which their pupils are having difficulty. But before selecting a home tutor for their child, parents must decide what kind or category of tutoring they would like.
Essentially, there are three categories in most home tutoring agencies in Singapore. In FamilyTutor, it’s no different. We offer part-time, full-time, and NIE-trained/school teachers home tutors for parents to choose from. We also cater to primary to university-level students. As such, because of this, the home tutors in these categories vary from one another – from their rates to their experience.
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How to choose the right tutor category for your child?
But how do you choose the right category to engage a home tutor in? Many circumstances will influence the parents’ decision on this, thus there isn’t a clear-cut answer to this subject. However, we’ve included a list of relevant questions and factors parents ought to think about while selecting the group that best suits their child.
1. How much are you willing to spend?
Singaporean parents don’t mince when it comes to their children’s education. It’s common knowledge that parents merely want the best for their kids and that they should succeed in everything that they do. Having said that, a home tutoring service will probably suggest a full-time or even NIE-trained home tutor if money is not a concern for you.
Tuition rates vary based on two things – experience and rates. These are the most common factors that affect the categories where a home tutor fits in.
Since they have far more experience working with students and teaching, NIE-trained home tutors will charge much more than full or part-time tutors. They also benefit from having access to more resources, which will aid students in their study as well as in test-taking. Because of this, they will be more equipped to teach students new approaches and adjust to their individual learning preferences thanks to their expertise.
A full-time home tutor focuses only on private instruction. Having said that, there are skilled people who provide home tuition to pupils, whether or not they are struggling. They also hold diplomas and certificates and have more expertise with home tutoring. Full-time home tutors dedicate more time and are more dedicated to their work than part-time tutors. Investing in student-centered tutoring and honing their teaching is what they do.
The majority of part-time home tutors are students pursuing their diplomas. Because they only work limited hours and lack the necessary training to be teachers, they charge the lowest of the three groups. That does not, however, imply that they can hardly assist the students in any way. Even with their current grades, they should still be qualified to instruct younger pupils. They know the syllabus as well since they are still students.
If budget alone is the problem, then parents should weigh down whether they are affable to hiring a part-time home tutor at a budget-friendly rate or going for a full-time or NIE-trained one but will stretch their budget a bit.
2. What are your child’s needs?
Prior to choosing to engage a home tutor, you should first determine what your child actually needs. It is best to discuss any difficulties they are having with a particular subject or topic with them before engaging a tutor. In this manner, you’ll also know just what questions to pose to a home tutoring service. Parents should refrain from hiring a home tutor and choosing whatever category based only on the notion that their child needs a home tutor. In what way do they need a home tutor? Why do they need them? Hiring a home tutor just because isn’t a good answer to any of these questions.
In Singapore alone, there are a lot of home tutors. They have distinct personalities and pedagogies and are experts in various fields of study. Sometimes, we employ the best home tutor because we only want the best for our children, but it still doesn’t work out well for them. It is preferable if you consider your child’s needs and choose a tutor based on those needs. Recall that a variety of things can contribute to a student’s difficulties in the classroom. It doesn’t always imply that they lack proficiency in that area. Anxiety or shyness might occasionally be major contributors to their difficulties.
It is better to employ a part-time tutor for a student who is struggling to relate to their peers in class or who is hesitant to speak up. Part-time home tutors share a common ground because they are typically students themselves. They’ll also be able to empathize with your child’s difficulties more. Compared to an older NIE-trained tutor, they will be less intimidating and more approachable.
Parents should search for additional variables that could impact their child’s academic performance in addition to age. For example, a full-time or NIE-trained home tutor may be more beneficial for a student who is easily studious and performs well in class but struggles on exams. They will be able to teach students more exam strategies and approaches that they need in order to perform better on their exams.
At the end of the day, ask yourself what does your child need? What are the things a home tutor can do for him to develop his/her skills? What are the things that affect his learning in class and at home? It wouldn’t hurt to talk to your child first before hiring a home tutor.
3. What personalities fit your child?
A home tutor’s personality also plays a role in their career just as much as their pedagogy. Parents ought to think about the kind of personalities that their children would interact with most comfortably and which ones suit them the best.
An older, tougher, and more traditional tutor, for instance, might be more effective for a misbehaving youngster than a younger, more relatable part-time tutor. A more amiable and engaging home tutor could encourage a quieter and less engaged child to come out of their shell. It seems logical that it could not be simple to identify the ideal personalities, especially at the beginning. However, when pairing a home tutor with a student, a home tuition agency will make sure to take this into account if parents know exactly what personalities work best with their child, or even if they know their child’s personality at all.
Since the instruction is 1-to-1, students and their home tutors should get along well in order for the relationship to flourish. It is better for the student to like their home tutor’s company than to dislike them and find learning more difficult as a result.
4. How much are you willing to gamble?
For parents, students, and home tutors, home tuition isn’t a game, but it’s still a significant risk. An excellent home tutoring agency will make every effort to match pupils with the ideal home tutor. Whether we like it or not, there is always a chance that something may go wrong. There are many factors and scenarios wherein home tuition wouldn’t be effective for a certain student. Money spent on the home tutor may be a concern when this happens, but the bigger loss would be the time spent.
It becomes a complete waste to hire an incompetent home tutor if the youngster doesn’t benefit from the tutoring. Everyone is in a race to be the best they can be, academically or otherwise, in today’s ruthless and cutthroat environment. By hiring an experienced and more qualified home tutor, you will be securing a more effective home tutor for your child. And in the grand scheme of things, that is all we could possibly want for our children.
Conclusion
Selecting the category from which to choose your child’s home tutor is a laborious process that needs careful consideration. Finding your child the ideal home tutor is a difficult task. There are many aspects to consider and it may take a long time for parents to make a decision. If that’s the case, consider reaching out to a home tuition agency and asking for their recommendations based on the factors above. At the end of the day, home tuition is for the student’s benefit and the rewards they will reap in the future. Whatever decision you will make, consider the advantages of private tuition for your child and what works best for them.
Carelle
Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.