If you have noticed your child having trouble with certain subjects or concepts, it might be time to consider making use of a tutor.
However, what makes a great tutor? How do you know that the tutor you choose is equipped to help your child succeed?
In this article, we’ll discuss what qualities a great tutor should possess and how such a tutor can help your child improve their grades.
What is a Tutor?
A tutor is an individual that provides a student with one-on-one instruction, on one or multiple schooling subjects. Tutors aim to improve a student’s understanding of certain subjects and concepts so that they may improve their grades. They can assist students in assignments and exam preparation. However, they often focus on further explaining complex concepts that the student might find difficult to grasp.
Tutoring can either take place in-person or online, depending on what the student requires and whether or not it’s easy to travel to a tutor. However, online tutoring has gained more popularity in recent years as there is a greater level of convenience and flexibility while saving on travelling time and costs.
How Online Tutoring Can Benefit Your Child
There are multiple benefits that online tutoring can offer your child which will ultimately help them improve their confidence in and enjoyment of learning.
Individual Attention
Tutoring does not take place in a classroom environment with multiple students. Instead, it’s a one-on-one experience where students can enjoy individual attention. In this environment, they’ll have the freedom and confidence to ask questions that they might be too shy to ask in class.
A Customised Teaching Approach
Each child has a different preferred learning style. While teachers might not be able to cater to this in a classroom environment, a tutor will be able to personalise a lesson to suit the student. For example, if a student is a visual learner, the tutor will be able to include visual elements in their session.
Improves a Student’s Confidence
As a student starts to understand the concepts they have been experiencing difficulties with, it will improve their confidence. Not only will they feel that they are finally understanding a subject but they’ll become more self-assured in their capabilities.
Improved Academic Performance
Once your child starts to understand concepts better, their grades will begin to improve. While the improvements might be small at first, these will increase as time goes on. As a result, what might start as a difficult subject, could become one of your child’s favourite subjects.
What Are the Qualities of a Good Tutor?
When searching for a tutor, you’ll want to ensure that they are suited to guide your child towards understanding and success. When meeting with tutors, there are a few qualities that will determine whether or not they are a good fit.
Knowledge, Expertise, and Credentials
It’s important to ensure that the tutor you choose has the necessary knowledge to help your child achieve an understanding of a subject and concept. One of the ways that you can do this is by checking whether they have the relevant tutoring credentials in the subject your child requires tutoring for. It can also be beneficial to find out how much experience they have in tutoring and the subject in question.
A Passion for the Subject
While a tutor might have extensive knowledge of a subject, they’ll also need a true passion for the subject. Passion is palpable and is required when a student is already experiencing difficulties or is demotivated. Once your child sees someone is passionate about the subject, they’ll already have a more positive outlook towards being able to achieve success.
Good Communication Skills
It’s extremely important for a tutor to have good verbal communication skills, as this will allow them to properly explain course material and convey a concept in a manner that the student can understand. They’ll also have to adjust their communication style to suit the student.
Tutors should also be skilled at written communication, as they might be required to communicate with the student via email or write notes that the student can refer to at a later stage when reviewing course work.
An Engaging Personality
While tutoring, it’s important to keep a student interested and focused. It’s, therefore, important that tutors are engaging and have a way of making the subject at hand interesting. Part of this is remaining attentive towards the student and listening to what they need and are struggling with.
Patience and Empathy
One of the greatest qualities that a tutor should possess is empathy. Some students might experience frustration with a subject or concept and it’s important for a tutor to empathise with these emotions and help the student overcome them.
Along with empathy, another quality a tutor should possess is patience. It might take some students longer to grasp certain complex concepts and a good tutor will be patient with these students along their journey.
A Positive Mindset
A tutor should be positive and encouraging. They should be able to motivate students to do their best while still providing them with constructive feedback to help them improve. This will ultimately determine whether or not your child has a positive outlook on tutoring and the subject they are experiencing difficulty with.
Excellent Organisational Skills
A good tutor is always organised and prepared for every session with their student. They should plan out each session and what they’ll be focussing on, on that particular day. They should also be able to track the student’s progress and be able to adjust schedules should the student require more time on a certain concept. Ultimately, this will allow the tutor to work through the course effectively and efficiently.
Where to Find Great Tutors
At CambriLearb we have made sure to employ only the best tutors. We have realised what makes a great tutor and focussed on identifying those qualities in each and every applicant. Therefore, you can rest easy, knowing that your child is in capable and caring hands.
