Tutors are traditionally thought of as being engaged to help a child cram for a GCSE or A Level exam. Or perhaps to help a child pass an entrance exam into a particular school.
However, the role of a tutor has broadened hugely over the last decade. We have come to better understand the invaluable support a one-to-one connection gives a child.
Knowing that an adult is sitting with you, purely to help you and no one else, is in itself a morale boosting situation for a child. The fact that the adult is then taking their time to explain concepts that have previously eluded the child lowers their anxiety levels and starts to build confidence and motivation.
So how does a tutor specifically help and support a child?
Probably the most obvious reason a parent gets in touch with us is for academic tuition – this could be for exam preparation or just general support – and this is exactly how a tutor can help.
Tutors fill in gaps in knowledge, reinforce what’s been learnt at school and explain tricky concepts. Working steadily through exam specifications, tutors check a child has covered and knows each topic. Going through past exam papers gives students vital exam practice.
Tutors tailor their lessons to exactly what a child needs so the support is targeted and individual. If a child finds a topic easy, the tutor can move fast; if a child is struggling, the tutor can slow down – and then spend the next few weeks going back over it.
Tutors use multisensory techniques (involving the senses of sight, touch, sound etc.) to engage students and ensure that information is understood and retained. They might integrate movement into their lessons to keep their students engaged and focussed.
We also work with a certain number of families each year who fully homeschool their children and in these circumstances, the tutor is fully responsible for the child’s education. Therefore the tutors’ skills in teaching and embedding the academics becomes paramount.
Study skills and ‘learning how to learn’ are just as important as the academics, if not more important…Once a student has the skills to study effectively, the world is his or her oyster.
Effective note taking, organising knowledge binders, retrieval exercises, constructing revision schedules – these are all skills a tutor teaches a student.
So often a first lesson with a student involves gathering notes, print outs, test papers etc. and organising them in a coherent way. We all know the adage Tidy Desk, Tidy Mind – this applies to any age.
A student who has the full range of study skills at their fingertips feels confident and manages their workload effectively.
This might not be as obvious but it’s just as key as the first two points. Life is more complicated now than it was when we were little and it’s important that young people take ownership of their learning – what they are learning, what they think about it, why they think that way about it and how it all fits into their life plan.
Young people need to take a step back and actively analyse what they are doing and why they are doing it. Only then can they be fully engaged.
So often we hear from tutors that young people find it hard to voice opinions. And if they do have an opinion, they can’t say why they have that opinion: they are not able to back it up.
Bouncing ideas off someone who is not a parent or a teacher (where the student might feel a huge amount of pressure), allows them to work through their thoughts and work on structuring arguments.
Children with learning differences, such as dyslexia, ASD and ADHD, especially benefit from the care and attention from working with a tutor.
Tutors who tune into how neurodiverse brains work bring creativity and empathy into their lessons.
A tutor has the time and space to explain concepts in several different ways until they find the one that chimes with the student. Material can be overlearnt to ensure it’s embedded in long term memory.
A student feels safe asking questions that he or she wouldn’t dare to ask in a classroom (and we say if a student doesn’t understand something, it’s because we are not explaining it properly).
The final point is probably the most important. As a tutor, we are mentors. Yes, we are there to improve the academics, work on study skills etc. but ultimately we are there to make the child feel good about him or herself.
Tutors straddle the line between teacher and friend and more often than not become the cheeky uncle or aunt, open to hearing the good, bad and the ugly while being full of good advice and support.
It is also worth bearing in mind that 50% of mental health problems are established by the time a child is 14. A tutor is ideally placed to spot signs that a young person is struggling with their mental wellbeing, giving parents a precious insight into how their child is getting on.
The individualised attention, the tailored support, the motivation and inspiration all come together to release the child from worry and make them excited for what comes next.
As parents, we would love to have the time and expertise to sit down with our child and support them academically. But so often, we are lacking in one or both of those things!
A tutor steps into that role: someone to improve a child’s academic performance, but also to relieve their worries and improve his or her confidence and motivation. As one client wrote to me recently, ‘I can honestly say that you and your team have been an essential part of all my kids’ education’.
Please get in touch to find out how we can bespoke match your child to the best tutors in the business. Email our founder, Lucy Cawkwell, at lucy@octuition.co.uk
