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Signs You’ve Hired the Wrong Home Tutor
Choosing the right home tutor for your child is a difficult task unto itself. They will not only be in-charge of making sure your child has help in their struggles and progresses, they will also be spending time with your child and may influence them as a person as well. As parents, you will not only be investing money on them, but also your trust in their capabilities in helping your child.
Finding a home tutor is only half of the battle. The other half relies on finding the right home tutor for your child. As students vary with their skills, learning styles, and personalities, home tutors are also the same. The main objective as parents will be choosing the best tutor that first your child’s needs.
However, there may be instances wherein the home tutor you’ve hired may not be the right one after all. Here are some signs that you’ve hired the wrong home tutor for your child:
1. Your child doesn’t like the home tutor
The most obvious sign that you should call for a replacement is that when your child doesn’t like their home tutor. But how would you know they don’t like the tutor? Unfortunately, children may not always directly tell their parents they don’t like the tutor. However, if your child dreads the home tutoring session, that’s a hint they don’t like the home tutor.
Children don’t necessarily look forward to home tuition especially when they are already burnt out from school. An extra hour and a half of further lessons might be more of a chore to them. In instances like this, a good home tutor would have already explained to the child the benefits he/she will earn in private tuition at the very first session. But if they are still hesitant after four or five sessions, then there may be a problem.
Home tutors generally help the student gain motivation and confidence in their skills. Through building a relationship with their home tutor, a student may develop the traits and skills they need to achieve their goals. However, if the child constantly makes up excuses or is generally unexcited with the tutoring session, then it would just defeat the purpose of upping their motivation.
Teaching an unhappy child will not make for a good environment, academically or otherwise. They will not understand or even retain lessons because they don’t want to be there in the first place. Making a connection with the student should be priority of a home tutor to help ease the way for supplementary lessons. If the student and home tutor doesn’t jive well, then reaching their desired goals may prove to be difficult.
2. They are clueless about the curriculum
Home tutors have more room to move around with regards to teaching styles and methods than teachers in schools. They have a more outside-of-the-box approach in teaching especially with students struggling to find learning interesting.
That said, if a home tutor had no idea about the curriculum, then there’s also a problem. A home tutor should still be familiar with the subject syllabus and curriculum no matter what sort of teaching method works best for the student. Exams and tests ultimately still base off the curriculum and if home tutors just teach students off the tangent without bothering to relate to the curriculum, then it would again defeat the point of tuition.
On the first session, as parents, you should ask the home tutor about their approach involving the curriculum and how they can relate it to your child’s needs. This way, you’ll have a guarantee that the home tutor you’ve hired is well-versed in the curriculum.
If you are still apprehensive, you need not worry. In FamilyTutor, we make sure that our home tutors are well-versed and familiar with Singapore’s educational curriculum and subject syllabus.
3. They are always late
Home tutors often have very hectic and busy schedule and sometimes, they have other students who they are also tutoring aside from your child. This can result to home tutors sometimes coming in late or leaving earlier to make sure they can get to their next appointments.
Another thing to watch out for is the home tutor’s schedule. If it seems like the home tutor has less time on their hands, this would inadvertently affect their teaching and lessons for your child. A home tutor who is always late or leaving early is depriving your child of the full lesson and even limiting their learning time. A home tutor who often comes late only shows poor time management skills and disorganization. If this is the case, this would also reflect on their lessons.
Home tuition sessions depend on a strict routine and schedule to maintain the pace and momentum of learning for the student. If it constantly changes due to the home tutor not coming on time or changing the time of meeting, the child would also be more distracted and would lessen their potential in achieving their goals on time.
4. They overcharge
One of the things parents consider when hiring a home tutor would be the budget they are willing to spend for the home tutor. Usually, parents take this into consideration together with the needs of their child. Finding the right home tutor for the price range they are aiming for might be a tough job.
Some home tutors advertise a significantly low rate. Parents should be wary of these kinds of tutors. Although not all of them are as such, many of these home tutors charge lower because they might not also be who they say they are.
When speaking to a home tutor, make sure to strike a deal before the first tutoring sessions even starts. It’s pretty common for some home tutors to increase their rates once they are hired, blaming the “demand” for them. It’s always a good idea to think this through or at least hold off agreeing to a pay raise until you see they are the tutors they claim they are.
If you are speculative on finding a good home tutor for a reasonable rate, check out home tuition agencies. One good thing about using a home tuition agency instead of finding a home tutor on your own, is that rates are generally fixed. This way, parents already have a certain budget they and the home tutor will stick to.
5. They are not giving progress reports
As parents, it’s important to be kept in the loop with regards to your child’s progress and development, especially with subjects they struggle in. Progress reports should be given to parents on a regular basis or at least at every milestone.
If your child’s home tutor leaves quickly after every lesson, maybe it’s time to poke around and start asking questions. It’s fairly easy to ask the right questions to home tutors to see how your child is faring. However, if they are hesitant to answer your questions, there may be a problem. A home tutor who couldn’t give a proper review or feedback about the child’s progress or struggles may mean they are not doing their job well.
If at the very beginning, they couldn’t tell you or suggest measures to take for the child’s development, then it’s probable they may not have any clue how to handle the consecutive lessons. It’s a good idea to set goals with your child and his/her home tutor at the very beginning to makes sure you have a way of seeing if there is progress or not. By asking for reports every once and a while, parents will be assured the home tuition has effectivity.
6. Your child is not making progress
This is fairly the brightest red flag you couldn’t possibly miss. If your child still isn’t making progress whether it’s in exams, tests, or reading comprehension, then it just means that the tuition clearly wasn’t effective.
In other cases, there may be instances of significant progress at the very beginning of the sessions but then after a while, it slows down or hits a plateau. This just means that the home tutor has become too comfortable with their role and isn’t pushing their efforts or the child further. We have to understand that there is a goal to reach. It’s a staircase that only goes up. If the child remains where he is for a long time, they won’t be able to reach their goals on time.
In instances where we see progress and then gradually slow down, it means that the home tutor isn’t doing the job they’re supposed to do. The child is capable of progress and overcoming their struggles but without the continuous and proper guidance, they will remain where they are. As such, maybe it is time to think of a replacement much better suited for the goals you have in mind.
Conclusion
Private tutors are hired to encourage a child’s learning and development in areas they struggle in or wish to further understand. Making sure to get the best home tutor for your child’s needs and goals is imperative. If parents just settle for whatever home tutors are willing to give them, they are just doing more harm to their child than the good they aim for.
The child’s effort, and the parents’ as well, will just be wasted. Of course, we couldn’t exactly pinpoint which are the good from the bad until after a few sessions. However, if parents can see that they are not the best fit for their child, it’s a good idea to hire a replacement at the latest time possible.
In FamilyTutor, as leading home tuition in Singapore, we make sure to match the best home tutor for every student’s needs and goals. We provide tutor profiles to parents so they will know who they are engaging in. check out our home tutors’ credentials and rates here!
FamilyTutor offers over 200 subjects for students from pre-school to university. We only want the best for your sons and daughters! Thinking of getting a home tutor for your child? Talk to us here!
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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FamilyTutor is an established and the people’s favourite home tuition agency in Singapore! We match a suitable tutor for you not just to improve the student’s grade, but also to build a good rapport and meaningful relationship with the student and even with the student’s whole family! With FamilyTutor, every Singaporean son & daughter is in good hands.
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