I will admit that I fought against getting our girls a tutor at school. My mindset was that they have enough demands on their time with the normal school day, I didn’t want them stressing about getting certain grades and I didn’t want to take the fun out of their childhood.
Over the years, we have used tutors though for our girls. So what changed our minds? When is it the best time to get a tutor for your child?
It depends on the child
Our eldest daughter certainly didn’t need or want private tuition. She always found school and homework very easy. She was also at a school where hardly anyone else got a tutor so it was never really talked about. She was also training as an elite athlete 6-7 days a week so who knows when we would have fitted a tutor in.
Our middle daughter was different though. She has dyslexia and started to dip in confidence and ask for a tutor. We already knew that she is very intelligent but learning in a busy classroom of 35 children wasn’t always the best way of encouraging her learning.
Tutors don’t have to come to your home
I’m not particularly vain about my home but I do like it to be tidy when we have visitors. A tutor coming to our busy home was a huge reason that I put it off at first. We have 3 children, one was doing GCSE art on the dining room table and a toddler that constantly played footy around the house. Hardly the idyllic calming learning environment that was needed.
A couple of local primary school teachers set up their own tutoring service on weekend mornings at our local village hall though so we used to visit there on a Sunday morning. They set it up with tiny groups and refreshment tables and made it an absolutely beautiful space to learn. Think Instagram for personal tutors and you are about right.
Homework Struggles
Middle child’s school was big on homework! Don’t get me started on how this takes away the fun of an evening and the dread when you realise you haven’t done it the night before it’s due. I do believe in reading a lot at home but comprehension homework with my daughters was pure hell. Funnily enough though, it seemed so much more enjoyable when she did it with her tutor!
Subject Specific
We still use a tutor now from time to time, even when we are at BTEC level. There’s absolutely no way me or Mr C could help much with BTEC Combined Science, but the Science Tutor can. He builds confidence in our daughter and teaches exam technique. So much so that parent’s evening last night was a joy to hear how well she has recently done in her Physics exam!
Siblings
Our youngest has grown up feeling comfortable with tutors coming to the house (We let them in now the children are older but we still have A level Art all over the dining room table!) She talks about when she wants to use the Maths tutor for her GCSEs and even had a couple of sessions just before her SATS. (Her choice, not us pushing her).
