Do Tutors Really Help Children Learn?

Do Tutors Really Help Children?

[Do Tutors Really Help is a paid post in association with MyTutor] 

Often, parents have two questions about using a tutor. Do tutors really help kids to learn? And what does it say about us if we’re using a tutor?

Let’s be real, there’s a degree of stigma in some (stupid) circles about tutoring.

• Like you’re trying to get some sort of unfair advantage over other children
• Or you’re a pushy tiger Mum and your child doesn’t even need a tutor
• Maybe even that you should be embarrassed that your child is falling behind

To all of these notions I offer a hearty pffft.

It’s 2019 and tutors are a widely available, perfectly normal service that lots of families use.

In fact, according to online tutoring service MyTutor, a third of families nationwide have used a tutor at some point. The figures are even higher in London.

We’ve been using a tutor for my 13 year old for about 18 months now. I find the idea that I should be embarrassed about it just weird.

My daughter had some issues at her last school with the maths teaching. Having always performed well in maths her marks started to fall during Year 7. Over a period of about 14 months, she went from being an A/B student to a low C, borderline D student.

For a host of reasons, she moved schools part way through year 8, and we discovered that she was basically a year behind in maths. She’s a bright girl, but maths is all about building knowledge as you go. Unless Flea was confident in the Year 7 material, she would never succeed in Year 8.

And frankly, my GCSE maths days are way behind me. When I try and help there’s a lot of, “Well, darling, I think I know what the answer is, but I’m not totally sure how I know, or how to work it out.”

Having a tutor gave Flea the opportunity to catch up with her classmates, and rebuild some of her seriously dented confidence. I’d say that tutors really helped us because:

• A tutor gives my daughter the one-to-one teaching she needed to catch up quickly. Rather than being in a group of 20 children with one teacher, she has someone who can help her the moment she needs it. Tutoring also means having someone focus on the specific areas where a child is struggling, and approaching material in a way that works for that specific child.
• Having a tutor means having access to a real expert. I used to imagine tutors were all young, inexperienced teenagers or old, retired teachers who wouldn’t understand modern maths teaching. Not so. Flea’s tutor is an experienced secondary school maths teacher who knows the current curriculum and exams inside out. And with online tutors, you can meet them via video call before committing to a paid session.
• Tutoring is really flexible. That’s essential for us during hockey season, for example, when Flea is playing three or four days a week and might be asked to play in a match at short notice. Flea sometimes does online lessons, which is perfect during hectic times of year. MyTutor offers one-to-one lessons delivered online where a tutor can teach a child remotely. Meaning you don’t have to leave the house, and lessons can happen any time that’s convenient for your family.

Do Tutors Really Help?

After seeing a tutor for just over a year, Flea is up to a solid grade B in maths.

She’s performing well in class, and her homework these days is a stream of green ticks.

We couldn’t be more pleased. If you’re still wondering do tutors really help, check this out. Research conducted by MyTutor shows that 80% of kids said the tutoring improved their confidence, and kids using MyTutor improved by a whole grade on average, in just 12 weeks.

That confidence is the reason we’ve stuck with tutoring for as long as we have. Even though Flea has covered the material she needs, we find she still tends to panic in exams. And with panic comes brain freeze.

Having a tutor gives Flea regular practice doing timed tests and completing exam-style questions. I’m hoping it will give her some extra confidence as she approaches her GCSEs.

Save £10 on Your First Tutoring Session

If you’d be interested in trying tutoring with your child, I have a special offer for readers of Who’s the Mummy – you could save £10 off your first lesson with a tutor from the MyTutor service. The service offers tutors for a whole range of subjects, not just maths!

There’s no ongoing commitment – just pay as you go, for the classes you need. And you can “meet” tutors before any lessons via video call, to make sure it’s someone you’re comfortable with.

MyTutor hand picks tutors from the UK’s leading universities to offer online tutoring sessions for children. The company is really selective about who they hire, picking just one in seven applicants. So you can be confident of finding a tutor who is highly qualified and thoroughly checked out.

The one-to-one classes are live, interactive and recorded. I love the sound of this feature, because it means kids can play back a lesson and go back over things they might be unsure about.

Check out the link here to claim your £10 off.

I’d love to know your experiences with tutors for your children. What do you think? Do tutors really help? And if you have any questions, then please let me know in the comments!