18th October 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
In a report on the North Shore News website, Kathy Lynn has given her opinion on when a student should be offered a private tutor. Kathy explains how she clearly recalls a day at primary school, where she turned to her teacher, and said that she found maths very difficult. At the time Kathy was doing very well in maths, and her teacher responded to tell her this, and thought no more about it.
Kathy’s point is that these situations are exactly the times when teachers and parents should be asking themselves whether a tutor is a good idea. Kathy believes that there was a basic idea which had been taught that day, and this was something which she didn’t understand. It’s possible that seeing a tutor for just one hour would have clarified the idea for her, and not led to what she now calls a ‘maths phobia’.
Kathy sees this kind of situation as the perfect time to offer private tuition to a student. She says that when a student is struggling with just one idea, a tutor could be just what they need, maybe only a one hour session. Of course, she doesn’t overlook students who are consistently misunderstanding ideas, and thinks that a long-term tutor for those students can be a very good idea too. Obviously, for GCSE and A-level exams, Kathy sees the importance of hiring a tutor in the build up.
The situation where Kathy Lynn thinks that a tutor isn’t needed is when preparing students for the school year ahead i.e. before a student could possibly be struggling; she doesn’t think that private tuition should be used as a preventative measure. Obviously it may be true that a tutor is more effective during the school year than in the build up to it, but there is no real evidence for Kathy’s conclusions. However, what you can’t argue with is her conclusion, which is that parents should take time to carefully decide whether a tutor is the right thing for their child.