So, you have decided to hire a private home tutor?
Excellent! A private tutor brings undivided attention, a personalized style of teaching and more focus to the table. But how to find out if the tutor is just the right fit! We have made a list of 5 criteria for you to assess a potential private tutor:
Safety:
The first and foremost criterion should be the tutor’s credibility. You are letting a stranger inside your house and in direct contact with your child. You need to make sure that the person you are trusting with your child’s future is indeed trust-worthy!
The first few meetings can be decisive. A word with other reliable families, where the tutor has taught, or the credibility of their employer/agency should be a parameter. With the current technology available, you can now use tutor aggregator websites with verified databases of good tutors around you! These websites conducts a series of quantitative and qualitative background checks before listing tutors on theirs site to give you access to ‘certified’ tutors.
Knowledge:
How well versed or proficient is the tutor in his subject? For instance, if an English teacher isn’t correct in his pronunciations, then they may not be the best fit. Also, a chemistry teacher should know all the anomalies and exceptions of the periodic table.
You should also ask for relevant qualification proofs, before hiring a tutor. You may also look at a tutor aggregator website for verified and vetted tutors who have gone proficiency tests, interviews, and background checks. This will give you a clearer picture of the tutor’s knowledge base.
Experience:
Most teachers admit that they too learn as they teach. While younger teachers often try to bring a fun element into the picture, older ones bring their wisdom. An experienced tutor is likely to understand the nuances of the subject better. Moreover, having taught several students in the past, their understanding of student’s learning needs would be quite far more. If you are looking at tutor aggregator websites, opt for one that provides for tutor ratings. That way, you can narrow down your search to tutors with better ratings.
Approach/Attitude:
How well does the tutor handle questions from a child? If your child is unable to understand a particular concept, can the tutor be creative in his teaching methods? Every kid has a unique learning ability, can the tutor patiently accommodate to your child’s pace?
Besides, the tutor needs to be a natural communicator to make your child feel comfortable, especially for the younger students. Contrary to the teacher-pupil relationship of school rooms, this one is slightly more personal and direct. The private tutor needs to have a friendly disposition while still maintaining a regular teacher’s authority. For instance, deploying an element of humor to drive a point or encouraging the student to share stories and dedicating a few minutes to having a good laugh, could go a long way to increase engagement with the student.
Accountability:
Most teachers shrug off the blame for a child’s underperformance. A good teacher not only puts their best foot forward in the execution but also is ready to be held responsible for the child’s performance.
There are often cases where the child hasn’t made much effort and lacked sincerity; a good teacher needs to handle such situations well. For instance, adding an element of surprise in the teaching methodology, or analyzing the behavioral pattern of the child would certainly help. However, dodging it off until the report sheets speak – isn’t the way to go, if a tutor promises performance.
Availability:
Consider a tutor who matches all the above requisites but has a rigorous timeline. He would not have the time to entertain your child’s queries beyond the allotted slot, nor will he be able to take the syllabus at an eased pace. All thanks to his lack of availability! However, EdTech tutor aggregator offers online and offline classes for students to never miss out on quality and other key functions to keep you abreast with all the available slots of tutor.
There might be cases where one finds a tutor that has experience but still not enough knowledge or vice-versa, but it isn’t that hard to find a tutor that ticks all these boxes right! Technology has come to your rescue here too.
We wish your little one a happy academic year ahead!
