How to know if the math tuition your child is attending is good

How to know if the math tuition your child is attending is good

Advice for parents, Math Tuition / By

Understandably, parents will always be wondering if the math tuition their child is attending is good. They will be thinking if their child’s results will improve after attending tuition. How to know if the math tuition is good? Here are 4 ways that you can gauge whether the math tuition is good for your child.

1) Is your child able to understand the math lessons?

After a few lessons (preferably around 4 lessons), ask your child if he or she is able to understand the math lessons well.  If your child is able to, that’s great! Ask more questions like why are they able to understand better as compared to not being able to understand in school. Knowing all these allow you to diagnose the issue of your child’s lack of performance in math subject. At the same time, you can at least feel better that your child is in good hands in the math tuition he or she is attending.

If your child is not able to understand the math lessons well, probe further. Is it because your child cannot understand the explanation provided by the math tutor? Is it because your child cannot keep up with the pace of the class hence your child requires dedicated attention? It is key to communicate with your child from time to time to find the root of the issue and address it early on. It is very important for math tutors to ensure that their students understand the math lessons well. No students should be left behind because the lack of understanding will continue to pile up until exams.

2) Is your child able to get his or her questions answered?

Ask your child if he or she is able to ask math questions and whether or not it gets answered. Sometimes, we have to always put ourselves in students’ shoes. We have to see things from their perspective. Think about it this way. You need help with math from your tutor and your tutor is very patient and willing to help you until you understand. You will feel thankful to have such a tutor and you would be more willing to ask questions without feeling afraid. 

On the contrary, if your tutor is someone who expects you to know after teaching you a few times yet at times you still do not understand the math content, it is quite likely that you would be afraid to ask questions anymore. I have students telling me that some of their past math tutors did not want to answer their questions. These tutors simply tell the students that they have explained a lot of times and the students should figure it out themselves. To me, that’s a sign of frustration that these past math tutors are showing. Not only have they avoided answering their students’ questions, at the same time they have created a detrimental effect on the students by not being supportive and likely causing the students to be afraid to ask questions in the future. 
 

3) Is your child comfortable with the lesson configuration?

There was once I noticed a student who wasn’t able to cope well with group tuition setting and I immediately pulled her out of the group tuition, informed the parents and changed from group tuition to 1 to 1 tuition. These are things that I can notice first hand when conducting lessons but parents won’t usually see it. Parents have to ask their child attending the math tuition whether they are comfortable with the lesson configuration (group tuition). Some students require dedicated attention (1 to 1 lesson) perhaps because they are slow or they need more attention from the math tutor. Understanding this early is key to also helping your child in his or her academics.

4) What’s the chemistry like between your child and the math tutor?

It is important to know whether your child has a good chemistry with your math tutor. As a math tutor myself, I see myself as a mentor to my students in addition to teaching them mathematics. Building good rapport with students is very important. Why is it so? They know that you care for them. Being able to understand them and speak to them as friends rather than being someone of a higher position is important to them. 

When tutors are able to build rapport with their students, it serves as a platform where students will listen to their tutors’ advice. Also, students are able to ask questions freely without being afraid of getting judged. I always tell my students that they should treat me as their mentor and friend, not as someone of a higher position than them. 

If you are interested to know about the benefits of attending math tuition, you can check out 4 Key Benefits Of Math Tuition. 

If you are looking for math tuition, please visit Odyssey Math Tuition Singapore for more information.