Tuition is almost a necessity for students these days as education is becoming increasingly challenging. Singapore’s education system has almost compelled students to opt for tuition it is simply too stressful and challenging to conquer examinations all alone. Parents need to choose tutors carefully so that children get the best guidance possible. In order to pick a tutor carefully, parents need to ask some important questions and seek clarifications. That is the best way to make an informed decision.
Here are some common questions that parents would ask tutors before hiring them!
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Parents will ask about the academic level of the home tutor in the subject that they are teaching. Before hiring a tutor, parents want to be assured that the tutor will have enough knowledge to be able to teach their child well. However, different parents may be expecting different standards and thus, tutors should not be discouraged if their academic background is not that strong.
For tutors who have a good academic background such as a degree in the subject they are teaching, simply showing the degree will be enough to convince parents of their academic skill. On the other hand, tutors who lack a degree will have to provide evidence through other ways to convince parents that they have enough knowledge to teach the student well.
EXPERIENCE
Once learning about the academic level of the tutor, parents will usually follow up with questions about the experience level of the tutor in teaching. Some tutors may have a PhD in the subject they are teaching but may not be a good teacher while other tutors may have limited academic background but be very skilled in helping students understand concepts and learn easily.
Parents can ask about how many students the tutor has had before, how many years they have been teaching and even feedback from previous students. Tutors must be prepared with these statistics as they can greatly increase their chances of being hired. They can further increase their chances if they have previous students to testify on their tutoring skills.
TEACHING METHODS
Once understand the basic things about the tutor, they will start asking more detailed questions such as the teaching methods of the tutor. Every child is unique and so is every tutor. Thus, it is important for the teaching method of the tutor to complement the learning needs of the student.
Even if this does not happen at first, the tutor must be able to adapt and change their teaching method after assessing the learning needs of the student. Parents must be assured that tutors can do this. Thus, tutors need to provide examples of the methods they use to teach, and if they have not taught anyone before, give parents a general idea of what they are planning to do.
STUDENT’S PROGRESS
Parents may ask for specific improvements that tutors have seen in previous students. When enrolling their child for tuition, parents are expecting their child to improve to a level where they can achieve excellent grades in exams. Some tutors are meant for students who already perform well but require that additional push to achieve really high grades or top the school for example.
Other tutors are better at helping students who have poor grades improve to a satisfactory level. Since these require very different skill sets, parents will make sure that the tutor they choose is the right one for their child. Tutors should also understand which category they fall under and give examples accordingly to prove this to the parent.
TUITION FEES
Lastly, the most important question a parent will ask is about the hourly rate of the tutor. Based on all the questions the parents have previously asked, they would have assessed how much they are willing to pay for their tuition services. Thus, it is important for tutors to have an hourly rate that matches their qualifications.
Some parents may be more easily convinced to pay a higher hourly rate while other parents may be adamant on a certain rate. Thus, tutors must make an important decision on whether to lower their hourly rate or to look for a new student.