TUITION

Whatever their level of ability, children usually respond very well to one-to-one tuition. They thrive on the attention and I work hard to build a rapport as quickly as I can with each child as that is so important in their motivation and learning process.

If a child is struggling to keep up in school it can be very demoralising. With the best will in the world it is very difficult for the teacher or teaching assistant to give the individual attention that is often required and craved. A child can easily feel a failure, become withdrawn, upset or rebellious. Equally a bright child may not feel stretched enough and soon lose interest.

One-to-one tuition can help to build a child’s confidence as the learning is tailored to the particular child and not to a whole class of thirty or so. It can sometimes be a slow process but with confidence comes motivation and the willingness and ability to begin to assume responsibility for  their own learning process. This is a message I try to get across to each child I teach. Teachers, parents and tutors can help encourage, demonstrate, explain and point the child in the right direction but no-one can do their learning for them! That is up to the individual child. This is an important message too for those children who are quick to learn. They still need to keep themselves motivated otherwise they can get bored and begin to drop behind despite being bright academically.

Another big advantage of one-to-one tuition is the fact that the individual child cannot hide in the comfort of the group and pretend they understand something even if they don’t. A parent recently remarked to me that it wasn’t until he was sixteen or so that something clicked in his mind and maths became easy. Until that point he had nodded wisely even though he had no idea what the teacher was talking about! If a tutor asks a child if they have understood something it soon becomes apparent whether or not they have indeed understood when they are asked to show or explain their understanding. This helps both the child and the tutor to realise where the gaps in understanding are. If a child has missed out on some basic understanding it can be very hard for them to catch up at school in a big class as the school curriculum carries on apace. As this parent commented it is often a matter of time and the mind will ‘click’. This is obviously a very exciting moment for all concerned.