Can graduates tutors be trusted?

[SummerX]

hihi,

I just engaged one tutor for my boy. The tutor apparently has a honours degree in Engineering from NUS. The tutor just spends like 1.5hrs on going through assessment books without a proper education plan. I am kind of new to tuition.

But am I expecting too much from the tutor?

[Ah_ZhaN]

I used to attend private tuition class and tuition center when I was very young.

It is always practicing of assessment books. Practice, practice and practice.

Never heard of any education plan before.

[jady_]

well, if your child has any doubt about the topic, he/she should raise it during tuition. & the tutor should also go through what is on the textbook that is he should teach + clarify doubts, not just keep going through assessment. Keep practising is only valid when exam is coming & everything has been taught & understood so all is needed is to practise to familiarise with all kinds of questions

anyway, if you are talking about trust. i dont see how is a graduate not trustworthy.

[morninghugs]

I am just wondering - is there anything that the tutor is doing now that you, as a parent, cannot do? It sounds like you're just paying for a nanny to make sure your child does his work.

Does the tutor value-add in any way? If this current one is only providing time that you are unable to commit because of work, you are better off engaging a tutor who could do his/her job just the same (i.e. sitting there and making sure your child does his work/ does more practice) but at a lower rate.

[mark78]

hihi,

I just engaged one tutor for my boy. The tutor apparently has a honours degree in Engineering from NUS. The tutor just spends like 1.5hrs on going through assessment books without a proper education plan. I am kind of new to tuition.

But am I expecting too much from the tutor?

what wrong with going thru the assessment books? maybe your child is weak in certain area and this questions are essential to help him strengthen his foundation after numerous practices.

Do you expect the tutor bring him to Science Centre?

[deebz]

how much are you paying your tutor? if you need those that have a proper education plan, like really teach and never practice at all, education doesnt work that way. at least imho. practice makes things perfect anyways

those who really teach like how a teacher does, explaining everything, and then do practice, rates are at least $60-100 per hour...and they are usually current school teachers. very effective, your kid will jump a grade or two in no time, but it's extremely pricey.

if you are paying about $20 or so and lesser, most will just make sure they sit with your kid and make sure they do their work. explain if your kid is unsure about how to do, and that's about it. the 1 and 1/2 hours time frame does not permit a tutor to do full teaching like normal school hours..

[reinaa]

Deebz--> I totally agree with you

[deebz]

i think those who are still undergrad teach better. since they are still studying it, they tend to remember it better and rates they charge are also lower.

those who graduated, most of them kinda forgot most things.. but charge higher coz got cert already...

previously, i took private tuition during my sec sch and jc life, and those graduated ones, teach the old school method which is not in syllabus anymore... and some new topics in the new syllabus, they dunno, so they dont teach.

now JC is like MATH 1 / MATH 2, old times, is like F MATHS and all that. so they really got blur.

changed tutor and got a younger tutor, still schooling in uni, teach better, follow new syllabus and can click coz younger

[OakleyLuscious]

i think those who are still undergrad teach better. since they are still studying it, they tend to remember it better and rates they charge are also lower.

those who graduated, most of them kinda forgot most things.. but charge higher coz got cert already...

previously, i took private tuition during my sec sch and jc life, and those graduated ones, teach the old school method which is not in syllabus anymore... and some new topics in the new syllabus, they dunno, so they dont teach.

now JC is like MATH 1 / MATH 2, old times, is like F MATHS and all that. so they really got blur.

changed tutor and got a younger tutor, still schooling in uni, teach better, follow new syllabus and can click coz younger

Hi Deebz, I am a grad tutor. In fact I worked 1.5 yrs and went back to tuition.

Then one fine day I was accused of "don't want to teach" a certain subject by a student's mum. Then next moment, she said is I "don't know how to teach" the subject. It was only the first lesson and I went there to find out what her kid knows/dunno, what they do in class, how are her grades etc... She complained thru my agent, even when I already left my contact number with her kid. I explained everything but she still insisted that I "cannot teach".

I agree with you, sometimes over a few years, the way the schs teach and the terms they use might be different, and the students might find the tutors "outdated" if they cannot use the new terms. But I also think that parents should be aware of the judgements they are dealing to the tutors they hired. If they are hoping that the tutor turns the average kid into a genius whiz, then they should hire a scientist or brain surgeon. Tutors are not magicians, and "lesson plans" are always made along the way as the tutors get to know the kid better, and the kid opens up to the tutor about his/her schoolingmethods etc... Some kids are very cooperative, and some are very blur n shy.

Also, I think a lot of "help" depends on the kid's willingness to learn. I will always remember my first ever tuition kid. Her English grades were super, never less than 90/100! So she was very proud and rude during tuition. She said she didn't see why she needed tuition since her whole class was scoring 90/100 or more, while her mother wants her to be THE TOP in class. So after one month, I told her mother I will not teach her anymore. I just didn't see any reason for me to be there if her attitude is like this. I also don't see why I should be adding stress to a girl who is already better than many of her peers.

I also heard of a tutor whose student comes over to her house, dillydallies through the 1.5hrs, play with hp etc, and the tutor doesn't scold her. To her, there is nothing wrong with earning the money, since it is not that she didn't want to teach, but the kid who is refusing to learn. It was not her obligation to discipline the kid, teach her manners or why school is important.

But for me, I am not out to make miracles. I am out to help students feel that someone is willing to guide them through their homework. I always insist that they finish their school homework before we do any assessment books or extra work. The most important thing is not to leave them floundering in homework AND adding more tuition homework. And sometimes getting to know what they are weak at is an uphill task especially if they are unable to tell you what goes on in school. Some kids play so much that they are unable to focus on what went on in class, or some are just bo chup.

[SummerX]

After reading, I think I don't mind pay abit more for a current school teacher. Anyone knows of tuition agency that can recommend school teachers as tutors? And are school teachers allow to teach tuition?

[shinystar]

i wonder what kind of education plan are you referring to as even if u hire a school teacher, he/she will also use assessment books to help ur boy.
i am a tutor and i follow the school syllabus which my student bring home.
like 1st semester they will learn numbers to money then i will teach my student according to that doing many assessment book on these topics then come up with my own qns that my student cant grasp the concept after doing many of the qns..

[deebz]

OakleyLuscious: i know where you are coming from, perhaps because you are a full time grad tutor and that's your rice bowl, but throughout my whole education life my parents kinda forced me to have tuition. thats about 10 yrs or so. so my experience with the older generation ones always turn out to be so. they are really blur. i am serious. either that or they think they know, since they are experienced and all, but honestly they don't, because i did clarify with my teachers in school and was my tutor taught was the old method which MOE doesnt use anymore.

it's just a point i am stating across, even you yourself have got complains like that against you, so i do believe i did make a valid point.

it's not against anyone, it is just based on my bad experiences and observations with the older ones, that's all. all same pattern one.

just 2 cents worth there.

[morninghugs]

SummerX, I think you can just put your request across to the tuition agency, i.e. specify that you want a current school teacher to teach your child. From an educator's point of view, it is wiser to get one instead of a non-teacher. I have seen how many children get mixed messages from school teachers and tutors because many tutors do not know how the education system fully works these days.

For example in Math, when your kid reaches upper primary, he/she will have to grapple with not just concepts in Math, but also what we call heuristics and problem-solving skills. If not for the fact that I am a current teacher, I can honestly tell you I wouldn't know how to teach a child that (trust me when I say many of my pupils' parents feedback that they do not know how to coach them in Maths and EL these days)!

Looking at solutions provided by assessment books (that is what many tutors do) only provide a theoretical background. A good tutor should know how to ask questions to check your child's understanding, how to assess his/her areas of weakness and more importantly complement what schools are teaching, not subject the poor child to more complications (e.g. we DO NOT encourage primary school pupils to use algebra without understanding. Many tutors simply tell pupils to do so without really explaining the mechanics behind algebra because simply put it, it is the easiest and most idiot-proof method to solve most problem sums)

[miztgral]

But back to the OP's query - I personally don't think undergrad or even graduate tutors are good if they aren't majoring in that subject i.e. why engage an Arts student to teach EMS even at primary level when (1) syllabus is so different from their time (2) they are probably not personally invested in Math and Science, etc?
But guess what, they are cheap. So they will function well as nannies to force children to do their work, and possibly to do homework for the children by spoonfeeding.

We can't expect cheap AND good pedagogy.

[SummerX]

Thanks for the contribution. Will most probably settle for a current school teacher for my next tutor. I don't think I want to risk my boy's education.

I came across this tuition agency website - SchTutors Tuition Agency. Looks pretty good. Apparently they only offer MOE teachers; rates wise is the current school teacher's rates like about $40/hr for p4. But I will try them since they specialised in providing only MOE teachers.

Will update you guys when I get a tutor from them.