Are there signs your child might be falling behind at school? Tutoring during the school holidays is a great way to rectify this problem. More and more parents are using tutoring services during the holidays and more and more one on one personal tutors are making themselves available for private tutorials in subjects such as maths, Spanish, physics, and chemistry.

Private tutoring during the holidays is a great way to make the most of academic support and let students catch up with studies. With a bit of organisation and enthusiasm, students can improve their grades when they’re not even at school!

When should you take private tutorials? Should you consider home personal tutors or online tutoring? Find a tutor today!

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Avoiding the ‘Summer Slide’: Should my Child Study During the Summer Hols?

Parents, teachers, educationalists and even children themselves will have wildly varying opinions – so, should children be studying during their summer holidays?

A recent article interviewed Adam Tindill, assistant director at an Explore Learning tuition centre in Wolverhampton. Adam recognizes the phenomenon of the ‘summer slide’ or ‘regression’, where children’s educational attainment seems to go backwards over the holidays, leaving them struggling at the start of the new school year in September. Adam remarks that summer learning is about ‘keeping the brain in an education mindset’ but in a flexible and limited way: ‘It’s not the same as doing five days a week at school’, he remarks.

The educationalist Noel Janis-Norton agrees, believing that ‘Half an hour of micro skills practice – spelling, multiplication, handwriting and so on – is not onerous. If you start the day with half an hour of structure, the rest of the day feels like a treat.’

However, there is certainly no consensus on this. Chris Husbands from University College London, remarked that ‘There’s no clear evidence that summer catch-up work is useful, and it can be counter-productive as they need to be engaged to learn. If your neighbour’s children are building dams in streams, and yours are doing maths camps, they are going to be resentful.’  And Lee Elliott Major of the Sutton Trust reiterates that the jury is still out on whether children studying through the summer is beneficial.

As in most things in life, the key is surely balance. A recent opinion piece from Singapore(where there is currently much concern about ‘over-tutoring’) highlights children’s deep need for purposeless, unstructured play. As well as being fundamental to survival, The National Institute for Play in Monterey, California, describes play as ‘the gateway to vitality’.

It is safe to say, therefore, that both children and adults need to make space for play in their lives.

Work on the Weak Points

There are some subjects where weaknesses are inevitable. Subjects like maths and foreign languages often require private tutorials to help struggling students. If they're struggling to wrap their head around grammar, an English tutor might be the solution.

By dealing with gaps in a student’s knowledge, they’ll become more confident in their abilities when they realise they can learn at their own pace with a tutor!

Maths is often hugely unpopular with students. Who hasn’t resorted to tearing their hair out when it comes to calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and geometry? With a good maths tutor and some supplemental instruction, your child can learn to think logically and overcome some of the subject's most difficult problems.

Private maths tutorials are a particularly good idea for parents whose children are in secondary school. In fact, parents aren’t usually experts in every single school subject and may be unable to help their child with their studies, homework, or an assignment. Tutors London can help with some of the trickier subjects, especially when it comes to A Levels where subjects like maths can be a nightmare for some students!

Can my child get a a private tutor during the holidays?
Taking private tuition during the holidays can be great for kids! (Source: Being Mumma)

For primary school children struggling with a foreign language, academic support during the holidays might be just what the doctor ordered.

In fact, foreign languages (French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, etc.) are becoming more and more common in our everyday lives and an in-home private tutor or an online tutor could help your child to become bilingual!

If you want to give your child an advantage in a globalised world, it’s recommended that they learn at least one foreign language to a good level. In-home private tutorials over the summer are a great idea to ensure that children keep practising their foreign languages when there are no classes at school!

It’s also a good idea for when they’re preparing for an exam. Why not consider one to one academic tutoring for exam preparation? You can easily find a tutor online!

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Lucinda
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Don’t Waste the Holidays: Create a Work Schedule!

Have fun while you study over the holidays!

Don’t forget that students, no matter how old they are, want to make the most of their holidays and certainly don’t want to spend all their time buried in the books. Is there a specific age for having private tutorials? Are they too young for private tuition?

How do you make sure that they aren’t overworked?

Planning a work schedule is a great idea. This means you can set aside parts of the day for study and others for relaxation. Students need a well-defined work schedule in order to work effectively.

You’ll be surprised at how much harder they’ll work when they're being tutored if they know there’s a fun and engaging activity planned for afterwards!

For example: “Tomorrow morning you’ll have class and then in the afternoon we’ll go to the beach!”

Can I get a private tutor during the six weeks holidays?
Revision during the holidays is fine. Just don't forget to relax! (Source: pexels)

Motivation is key to academic success. It’s important not to overwork your child or teenager with private tutorials or you risk putting them off the whole idea. If you break up an afternoon of one on one tutoring with a trip to the cinema, they’ll work even harder after the film!

Outline your schedule to make it more appealing.

Here’s an example schedule:

Monday 10th August:

  • 9:30-12:00: Maths tutorials

  • 12:00-14:00: Lunch break in town.

  • 14:00-16:00: Walk in the park

  • 16:00-18:00: Visit the Fine Arts Museum

  • 18:00-19:30: Computer games/TV time

  • 19:30-21:00: Dinner

Tuesday 11th August:

  • Lie in!

  • 11:00-12:00: French academic support

  • 12:00-14:00: Picnic with friends

  • 14:00-16:00: Homework help (Physics, Chemistry)

  • 16:00-19:30: Birthday party

  • 19:30-21:00: Dinner

If you follow a schedule like this, you’ll see your child improve in no time.

What about outside of the holidays? We recommend having private tutorials on Wednesdays and at the weekend.

Use Fun Activities (Holiday Workbook, Outdoor Tutorials)

To break the monotony of revising, you can always consider fun and engaging activities like having class outside.

Summer is the perfect time to digest maths theories al fresco rather than in a stuffy, poorly-lit classroom. How do you find an outdoor private tutorial?

You can get in touch with a private tutor (via tutoring companies like Superprof) who does outdoor or in home tutoring. Whether it’s for one or several students, now’s the time!

Holiday workbooks are in! They’re fun and for everyone. Your kids will love them. Whether at primary school or secondary school, holiday workbooks are an easy way to work while having fun.

Where can I get summer exercise books for my children?
Have fun while learning with summer workbooks. (Source: girlslovin.com)

Apps are also a great way to have fun while learning. Nowadays, everybody seems to have a tablet or a smartphone. Why not use them for learning?

Parents who are sick of seeing their kids glued to their phone will change their minds when they see some of the apps available for academic support. There are even apps for kids as young as 3 years old! The apps for very young children, while more for learning about learning than revising, can be very useful.

Check out the AppStore or Google Play for the wide range of educational apps available for young children.

If they have exercises to do, why not consider hiring a home tutor in the evenings?

Don’t Forget What You’ve Learnt at School by Having Private Tutorials During the Holidays

Everyone knows that holidays are, above all, for having fun. But do we really need to completely forget about schooling during this time?

Taking private tutorials during the summer can be hugely beneficial for students who’ve been struggling in school. Their problems compound over the course the year. By completely ignoring their studies over the summer, students risk making these problems even worse!

Can I get geography tutorials over the summer?
Have a few lessons to make sure you don't forget all the important things you've learnt. (Source: PokemonGo STL)

To avoid forgetting everything by the time they go back to school, it’s a good idea to revise the basics during the holidays. For example:

  • work on a foreign language with a native tutor,

  • look back over the important mathematical formulae so that you still remember it when you go back to school.

Even during half term, it’s a good idea to schedule a few extra private tutorials where an academic tutor can prepare the student for any exams they may have when they get back.

For students getting ready for their A Levels, they should:

  • look at past papers,

  • study the theories,

  • work on their essay technique, etc.

Having Tutorials During the Holidays is a Great Way to Work on your Weaknesses

Don’t get me wrong, free state education is great. However, it’s not perfect.

There are too many students in classes meaning that it’s harder to give every student the attention they deserve. Of course, the teachers do a great job of adapting their lessons to their students. However, it’s very difficult to do this perfectly when there are tonnes of them!

No two students are alike. They behave differently and learn differently. Some students just have to hear something and copy it and they get it. Others learn differently. However, teachers have the difficult job of deciding when they can stop the class to explain something and when they have to just carry on. This is why some students require tailored academic support.

Whether it’s via homework help or intensive private tutorials, some students need to catch up with certain subjects. According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), the UK has been slipping down the rankings over the last ten years.

Students often struggle with maths.

This problem often arises from a difficulty when it comes to logical reasoning. With the help of a private tutor students can learn how to approach difficult maths problems.

Can I revise with a private tutor during the summer?
Holidays are for having fun AND revising! (Source: Haiku Deck)

Sometimes teachers are absent for long periods of time while students are taught by a variety of substitutes.

This can result in hours of class time being lost!

While every teacher is great in their own way, some students don’t respond well to their style. An academic coach can use a different approach, which may make all the difference!

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Joseph

Joseph is a French and Spanish to English translator, language enthusiast, and blogger.