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Personal Qualities of a Great Home Tutor
There are many students that can testify of the effectiveness and advantages of home tuition. With every successful student reaching their academic goals, often times, there are also home tutors behind them, supporting them every step of the way. While many may think that home tutoring is an easy job, it also takes a lot to be an effective home tutor. To be a tutor, they have to be willing to give large amount of commitment, devotion, compassion, and generosity to completely help a student grow and progress to be the best student they possibly can.
Guidance is very important for students. No matter what educational level students are in, they still need the mentorship from individuals who have been or have gone through the position they are currently in. Being a home tutor also doesn’t end with just teaching a student or helping them overcome their weaknesses. A home tutor will get to know they student and may possibly become their confidante. Tutors can also be the very person that will challenge the student to be better and do better in their studies. Suffice to say, tutors also help in influencing their students while also helping them reach their academic goals.
What makes a good home tutor?
Before we look further to the personal qualities of a good home tutor, let’s first tackle the essential qualities to look for in a home tutor.
• Academic qualifications and subject knowledge
There are many home tutors without teaching certifications. It is not a requirement for tutors to have one although they can still boost up the tutor’s credentials. However, this doesn’t mean that the tutor can be from any background. Considering they will be teaching students, they still need to have a strong educational background on the subject they will teach.
• Flexibility and good time management
A home tutor will not only be teaching one student per day. Because of this, a home tutor should be able to effectively organize their time and maximize the time spent in one tuition session.
• Experience
Parents and students will most likely feel at ease knowing that the tutor they will hire had been tutoring for many years with a bank full of recommendations from their previous students. Experience also teacher tutors how to deal with students (such as with different learning styles and behavior) and parents (with different approaches, etc.).
What personal qualities make a good home tutor?
When parents look to hire a home tutor, there are certain criteria they require. Academic qualifications, experience, and credentials all look promising to parents and usually, these will be the first thing they see in a home tutor. However, there are also some personality traits that parents and students find vital when looking for a home tutor.
There can be many qualified and experienced home tutor, but if they are not effective in building a rapport with their students, tuition will also become tense and will most likely turn into a “chore”. Students who feel more comfortable with their tutor open up more and thus, are also more willing to learn.
1. Willingness to share
Tutors, in essence, are people who share their knowledge to others in order to help them. That is why there are home tutors that are part-timers or who are also experts in their respective fields but choose to give tuition to others to share their knowledge and expertise. With this being said, tutors are expected to share their vast wealth of knowledge in order to push their students to do better.
Students wouldn’t want tutors who are arrogant and uptight. No amount of knowledge or expertise will make up for it if they are not willing to fully share with the students for their own good.
2. Positive attitude
There are many students who struggle with their self-esteem, especially more so when they are struggling with their classes. They often lack motivation and suffer with low self-confidence. If the tutor is also cynical and downright unmotivated too, the student will feel this and it will not be a very good or effective combination.
There is a lot of responsibilities trusted upon home tutors in events where the issue with the student is their lack of motivation or low self-esteem. They need constant encouragement and kind words to help them also see their potential. With an encouraging home tutor, students will feel more at ease and thus, result in a higher success rate for both the student and the tutor. Students will be more open and when they have problems or confusion with the lesson, they can easily approach their home tutor with the matter.
Having a positive attitude isn’t comprised of spoiling or coddling the student. Although some tutors may be tempted to overprotect the student, they shouldn’t have to be the one to hold off difficult situations from coming to the student. Instead, they should be there to assist and support the student through the rough times in order for the student to be able to act on their own and improve. Being a positive home tutor doesn’t mean the tutor should be able to shield the student away from complicated subjects or topics. In difficult times, a positive tutor by the student’s side will help them be able to bounce back and gain back the momentum of their motivation.
3. Listens well
Communication always goes two ways. There should be an exchange for it to be effective. As such, in home tuition communication is very important. Listening is also one of the key aspects to make communication between a home tutor and a student effective. It is said that listening comes from a place of sincerity and commitment. When someone is listening, they are interested in the conversation.
Additionally, listening and hearing aren’t exactly the same thing. A home tutor may be hearing a student’s concern or problems, but if they are not actively listening, the student will know this. Listening isn’t just about the sounds going in the tutor’s ears. Their body language also shows if they are listening or not.
Idly nodding or agreeing along aren’t responses that essentially build up the relationship home tutors and students should have. A home tutor and student should have a sense of camaraderie to make tuition as easy and effective as possible. If the student sees that their tutor is uninterested in their problems or doesn’t listen to them, there are chances that they will be more apprehensive to open up next time to the home tutor.
4. Open and approachable
There are people who exude confidence in their professional work that makes people think they are expert in what they do. However, there is a thin line where this goes over sometimes and causes possible intimidation on the student’s side.
An intimidated student will less likely approach the tutor for questions. In building a relationship with a student, tutors should be open and approachable to also create a similarly open and approachable environment during the tuition session. Students shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions to their tutor. In fact, asking questions is encouraged in home tuition as it helps students clear up misconceptions. Students shouldn’t be made to feel like a burden by their home tutor.
5. Gives feedback
Students will not be able to grow if they are coddled and shielded. By being open to give students constructive feedback, they can use this to improve and do better the next time. Of course, feedback shouldn’t also be harsh but sugar-coated ones also should be kept to a minimum.
A lot of people don’t realize that giving feedback, and useful ones, is a skill. A good home tutor should be able to point out the areas that needs improvement and provide examples in order to help find a solution to the problem. Feedbacks shouldn’t be made to put the student down or make them feel bad about themselves. On the other hand, students should also earn to take feedbacks positively and use them to work on their weaknesses. Without constructive feedback, students will remain stagnant and there can never be actual progress going up.
6. Trustworthy
A good student and home tutor relationship should be built on mutual trust and respect. Both should be open and honest with each other to make tuition easier. If a student is not honest with his/her struggles or problems with a subject or topic, the tutor may have a hard time determining the ways to help the student improve. This also goes for the home tutor. They should also be honest to the student and parents in giving out progress reports and feedback. Additionally, tutors may also act as the student’s confidante and mentor. Students will be able to share more to people they trust and will also treat whatever they share with confidentiality.
Conclusion
Looking for personal qualities of a great home tutor may be an unnerving task. However, students and parents have to keep them in mind when considering hiring one. Not only will they make tuition more effective, but with a good home tutor, students will feel more at ease and will be more motivated to reach their academic goals.
We at FamilyTutor ensure you that our home tutors have the qualities of a great and effective home tutor. As the best home tuition agency in Singapore, we not only match your students with the best home tutors but also make sure they have a meaningful relationship and improve their academic skills and values.
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.
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About FamilyTutor!
FamilyTutor is an established home tuition agency in Singapore! We match suitable home tutors for our clients not just to improve the students' academic grades, but also to build a strong rapport and meaningful relationship with the students and even the their whole family. FamilyTutor put every student in good hands!
If you need an excellent home tutor, feel free to call/WhatsApp us at +65 8777-2168! Our matching service is free!
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