FINDING A QUALITY HOME TUTOR

Having been a private tutor for several years now, my interactions with parents, grandparents, students, principals and teachers from a wide variety of schools has given me an insight into several aspects of home tutoring. In this post, I will discuss the qualities necessary in a good tutor for your child.

Most parents just want to find a tutor to be able to tell everyone that they have hired a private tutor.Some parents are too busy to even see if their children have done their homework.Still others feel the genuine need to engage a tutor for the child to pick up his grades in a particular subject/subjects. Some parents want the child to get a good foundation in understanding the basic concepts because in higher classes, competition gets stiff and they have to stay ahead. Whatever the need, quality tutors are hard to come by.

• A quality home tutor must be one that can establish rapport with the student. Being able to speak and connect in the same language makes all the difference. Once the tutor and student connect, effective communication and impartation of useful knowledge occurs.The tutor will be more effective when he knows when to draw the line, especially with a particularly playful or talkative student.
• A tutor should also be an excellent motivator. Sometimes, the child is afraid of exams.He does well in his weekly/monthly tests but he panics at the mere mention of exam. Encouraging him and showing him how to improve his scores, will greatly help.
• Watching his friends perform well sometimes can act as motivation but in some students, it brings in tremendous pressure and he begins to give up on himself. He might just switch his mind off in the classroom or the tuition session. It is here the tutor also becomes a strong motivating force. He has to help maintain a positive healthy mindset which is crucial for achild's performance in school.
• Healthy habits and great values of life are unconsciously imbibed by the student.Therefore, the tutor must be able to do this.
• Teaching should be his passion, and should be able to guide each student according to his area of difficulty.
• He should speak regularly to the parents regarding the child's progress and get regular feedback from the school as well. With this, the tutor can be certain of his teaching style and pace.

It is not whether the tutor is a regular teacher in a school or that he is a Ph d , it is the way in which he makes the child interested in the subject and has the desire to help him in improving his grades. This is the quality factor in a tutor.