What It Takes to Be a Home Tutor

One thing to consider and to give great importance in doing so is determining the age group you want to teach. Different age groups require different levels of attention as well as different styles of teaching. What may work for an older age group may not be effective for younger ones. And a strategy for younger ones may bore their older counterparts.

For younger students, you need to realize and understand their hyperactivity. They also have significantly shorter attention spans. It will not be easy for you if you are used to teaching older students and you take the offer to teach a student in primary school. For one, your lesson plans have to include breaks and fun activities for them to absorb the learning points as well as dispense their pent-up energy. They may also need to teach twice or even more for the same topic. As younger children have short attention spans, they may not understand the lesson on the first try and would require repeated instructions or even a change of strategy altogether.

As for students who are older, they also have steeper learning curves and may need an adjustment when it comes to their pace. Unlike younger students who are more into learning the foundations of every topic, older students are learning about the more complicated sides of it. They also have a lot of subjects to juggle at that. Some students who are fast learners will seek to improve quickly and may demand more from their home tutors. They can’t afford to waste their precious time during the slow parts of your lessons. Suffice to say, older students may demand more and if you aren’t prepared may get whiplash from all the demands.