6 minute read
Education
Choosing a Tutor for
Your Child By Kate Hilpern
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In the past, parents might employ a tutor, discreetly, to help their child keep up at school. Now tutoring is much more high profile and focuses on making students more academically competitive – getting ahead, not just keeping up.
The upside is that parents have a greater choice of highly professional and specialist tutors. However, because employing a tutor is regarded by some as the mark of ‘good’ parenting, parents may waste their money when it isn’t necessary, with little or no benefit to their child.
If you are considering tuition, have a clear objective such as helping your child to prepare for an exam, offering support after an extended absence from school or addressing a particular problem area. A vague feeling of unease because every other pupil in the class seems to have a tutor probably isn’t sufficient reason!
How do you go about finding a tutor?
Word-of-mouth can be very effective. Talk to friends and parents at the school gates, even ask your child’s teachers for tutors in your area who are reliable, friendly and get results. Bear in mind though, that the fantastic tutor who worked wonders with your neighbour’s child may not develop the same rapport with your own.
Tutoring websites, which act rather like newsagents’ advertising boards, are a useful starting point. These are little more than a collection of small ads but tuition offered here will be relatively affordable, though the onus is on parents to interview potential tutors. Or you may want to consider local tuition companies that feature in magazines like Families.
Another option is a tutor agency. These range from small, local concerns to national or even international companies. All provide a personal service and offer a choice of highly experienced, hand-picked and expert tutors, custom-built to meet your child’s needs. You’ll end up paying more but the best agencies take immense care vetting, training and matching their tutors and conducting careful follow-ups.
With costs ranging from £25 to £150+ an hour, depending on the subject and your location, tuition is an investment. There’s no iron-clad guarantee that it will transform your child’s school grades so, if you proceed, then taking care how and who you choose is definitely the first step in the right direction.
Kate Hilpern is from the Good Schools Guide, UK’s leading independent source of school reviews, education information and advice. The Good Schools Guide reviews over 50 tutor agencies, having visited each and talked to staff and former clients. For more info, visit www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk
REDDIFORD SCHOOL
Long Established Reputation for Academic Excellence Booking now for Pre-School assessments taking place on Monday 4th January 2021
An independent day school for boys and girls aged 2 years 9 months to 11 4th IN THE TOP 100 INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS Sunday Times
Academically selective 100% excellence in all areas - Independent Schools Inspectorate Children prepared for Independent / Grammar Schools’ entrance exams Academic excellence in a warm and caring environment Outstanding staff / pupil ratio across all year groups To visit the school, please contact: The Admissions Secretary, Reddiford School, 38 Cecil Park, Pinner, Middx, HA5 5HH. Tel: 020 8866 0660 Email: admissions@reddiford.org.uk Established. 1913
Improving Your Child’s Working Memory
Working memory is the part of the brain that stores information so it can use it again. Children use this all the time: to remember what they read in the previous paragraph of a book, when doing mental maths and to follow directions with lots of steps. The good news is that, if your child’s working memory seems poor, it can be improved with practice. Here are some ideas that might help:
Encourage questions
To learn and remember, a child needs to fully understand a topic. By asking questions, children actively participates in learning, helping them develop a deeper understanding of the subject.
Let your child be the teacher
Only when you fully understand something can you truly explain it. To check your child’s understanding, get them to tell you what they know. “Teaching you” knowledge they just learned is more likely to make it stick.
Discuss a topic and ask your child’s opinion
Learning is much more fun if you can discuss topics and exchange opinions. If your child is expecting a discussion, they are more likely to retain the information for at least the amount of time required to answer questions about it. Once an engaging discussion has happened, they are more likely to remember the subject matter.
Visualisation and flashcards
Get your child to picture something in their mind and then describe it. Initially they may need to draw the picture first, but,
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with practice, they may no longer need to do this. Flashcards with words or pictures can also be used to practice spellings or the meanings of words.
Use the senses
Your child will develop a better relationship with what they are learning if they engage with it in lots of ways. Get your child to talk, act out using props, read and listen to audio or podcasts.
Encourage active reading
Active reading involves underlining or highlighting text or making notes on stickers. This helps your child keep the information in mind. Pair with asking questions or discussing a topic as described above!
Break information down
Smaller amounts of information are easier to remember. Build up from there. Encourage your child to organise the information into lists with headings and use different colours to make certain parts stand out.
Virtual School Library Launched
To help children who have fallen behind with their literacy and to safeguard children’s access to books and families’ access to literacy support in the event of future local lockdowns, the National Literacy Trust has launched a Virtual School Library.
The Virtual School Library will provide all primary school children in the UK with a free ebook or audiobook, an exclusive video and engaging activities from a different beloved children’s author or illustrator every week.
Complimenting existing school libraries, the Virtual School Library will give children access to books all year round, whether they are learning at school or at home.
In addition, the National Literacy Trust has launched a website, Words for Life, to provide families with activities to support children’s literacy at home.
