A Good Tutor Should Teach Students On Survival Skills – Both Academically and In Life As a Whole

Time have changed. Even education systems have changed and adjusted to suit future expectations. It is no longer restricted to focus on just the grades on certificates, but is moving towards a more diverse and broad-based education to ensure a holistic development, both in and out of the classroom. Singapore’s education systems hope to nurture young Singaporean to establish a set of sound values so they have the resilience and character to handle life’s inevitable setbacks and that they have the determination to work hard towards their dreams.

If education is constantly evolving, tutors should also continue to improve and upgrade themselves to match the system. Tutors’ task is no longer restricted to just passing down of knowledge alone, tutors today should be equipped with the capability to train their students to learn to be independent, diligent, creative, positive and a dream chaser. In short, Tutors in today’s modern world should adopt the holistic approach as well in order to influence and nurture our next generation.

Thus, does the tutor you have engaged belongs to the above mentioned category or he/she is just an another obsolete “theory passer-down” tutor? Below is a checklist to determine if the tutor is receptive towards such holistic approach and did he/she apply such approach:

Discourage Spoon Feeding

If your tutor applies the spoon feeding approach by teaching them every practice without giving your child a chance to attempt and giving the meaning of vocab your child is unsure of, then these actions are absolutely spoon feeding. Spoon feeding discourage independent thoughts and actions and as a result, your child will rely heavily on others for solutions. Good tutors should make your child attempt every practice on their own, make them think once or twice before stepping in to guide them, this encourage your child to face every challenge with no fear and to attempt to source for solution before giving up easily. Good tutors should ask your child to find the meaning of words they do not know instead of giving them the definition straight away. This can train them to be independent and diligent instead of reliance or laziness.

Embrace Failure

This is a tough nut aspect. From my experience, many parents and tutors are still very conservative towards failure and this is highly likely due to the past education system which allowed no space for failures. Think about it, how do we learn if we do not make mistakes? Allowing failure and embracing it allows your child to learn, they harder they fell, the more they will learn. Talk to successful people, guess 99.9% agree that lessons are learnt through failure. Thus if your child makes mistake, tutors should point out to them and make them learn. A tutor who reprimands your child for making mistakes would only discourage and obstruct the route for your child to learn and as a result the fear in them to try. A quote to ponder “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” Henry Ford.

Value Diligence

Good tutors should teach your child to be hardworking instead of looking for short cut. Some examples of students who look for short cuts are those who copy answer (with answer sheets) or those who simply do (without answer sheets), both just to be answerable to their tutors. Experience tutors are able to discover these tricks instantly and great tutors should let them know the consequences of doing so and guide them to the correct path by emphasizing that there is simply no shortcut to success. Great leaders embrace learning not just in school but throughout their entire life. Jim Rohn once mentioned, “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom”. Excellent tutor should teach your child the meaning behind every learning.

Inject Positivity

Your tutor should be positive and encouraging instead of negative and discouraging. Tutor’s attitude can greatly affect and influence your child’s mindset and in turn affect his/her learning attitude. A good tutor should be constantly motivating your child by giving sufficient praises, showing and demonstrating to your child yes he/she can achieve better.

If your tutor exhibits the above traits, it is a sign that this tutor is able to transform your child into a better person, both academically as well as in life. Grab on!

How to choose a good private tutor

No time to coach your child? Struggling with their syllabus? It’s time to engage a tutor to take over the task. So what make a good tutor? Not sure? How about a checklist to help you decide if the person you have engaged is the ideal tutor for your child.

The Tutor’s Education Background

The tutor should excel in the relevant subjects they are teaching. The better they performed in the subjects, the more they are able to pass their knowledge to your child. Ask for proof of their academic results and relevant certificates. Tutors with good results are more than happy to present their certificates.

The Tutor’s Teaching Experience

Tutors with rich experience are no time waster. They know how to prioritize and know at their finger tips of what is essential to teach during lesson. They are able to pin point immediately of what your child should take note. The more students they have taught, the more capable they are able to handle kids with different levels of intelligence, characters and personalities. They know what approach works best on individual kids. Thus the tutor’s teaching experience is one crucial criteria to take into consideration when looking for a tutor.

Is the Tutor Able to Access Your Child Within the First Few Lessons

Experienced or observant tutor has the ability to access your child’s character and performance one or two lessons. He/she knows which approach is best for your child. Without such observation, the tutor applying his/her own teaching method will somehow be futile as all children are different and not one approach can work well for all children.

Did The Tutor Ask About Your Child Previous Grades and Results?

A good tutor will be keen to know more about the student, especially the past results because the tutor’s tasks is to ensure improvements to the student’s grade. If the tutor shows no interest in the student’s grades, how is he/she going to help the student or determine there is any improvements in the long run?

Did The Tutor Set Goals with Your Child?

Goals setting is important as it gives your child a long term vision and short term motivation. It is the first step towards goal achievements and puts him/ her into real action. Thus a good tutor should spend some time with your child to set his/her goal and guide them along by helping them organize his/her time. By doing so, the child will have a target to work towards, instead of having tuition for the sake of tuition.

Determine if Rapport Between The Tutor and Your Child Is Good

Gather feedback from your child about the tutor. Does your child like the tutor? If yes, rapport has been established between your child and the tutor. Good rapport is critical for the lessons to be enjoyable. Enjoyable lessons can motivate your child to look forward to every lessons and they are more receptive towards the coaching of the tutor, thus in turn resulting in more productivity from the lessons.

Determine Tutor’s Passion and Enthusiasm

Chat with the tutor, observe how the lesson is conducted, try to determine if the tutor is passionate in his/her teaching. Is the tutor enthusiastic during lessons? Did the tutor make sure your child fully understand the mistakes made during practices? Is the tutor proud of the results his/her students produced? If the answer is yes to the above questions, congrats! Your tutor is highly likely passionate in teaching!

Is the Tutor Positive, Patient and Motivating Determine The Tutor’s Confidence Level

A positive tutor can motivate your child during down times. A patient tutor will not lose temper and give up easily, he/she will have the patience to spur your child on, as motivating is not just a one-time effort but it takes time. Thus if your tutor has the positive vibes and is patient enough, congrats! Grab hold of him/her.

Is The Tutor’s Responsible and Committed

To determine the level of the tutor’s commitment, one is able to observe through the number of lessons the tutor cancelled within a time period. If the attendance of the tutor is 100% or close, the tutor is committed. On the other hand, if he/she cancelled lessons every now and then, the commitment level is lacking and this can seriously affect your child’s progress.

Parents would definitely prefer a responsible tutor, isn’t it? A responsible tutor should notify the parent in advance if he/she is not able to turn up for the tuition or he/she is going to be late. A responsible tutor should check through the given homework and go through all mistakes your child has made. A responsible tutor should have lessons planned before hand and not waste time during the tuition. Thus getting a responsible tutor is definitely more beneficial than having a time wasting tutor.

Is The Tutor Strict Smart in Exam Techniques Is There Improvements After Few Months

Solely passing the knowledge to your child is not good enough, the tutor should be familiar with the exam format, paper duration for different subjects, so that he/she can guide your child along to better prepare them for and during the examination. A good tutor is able to pin point which are the popular topics or questions. He/she will also help your child in time management, so that your child can maximize the time not just to complete the paper but also has the allowance to check through the paper for careless mistakes.

Did The Tutor Communicate and Update the Parents 

All parents wish to be involved in their children’s education, however most parents are tied up with their work and they have limited time, thus the least they need is update from the tutor. A good tutor should communicate with the parent on the child’s progress time to time, let them know the problems (if there is any), so the parents can know what is happening and are able to plan and execute the next step.

The above are some pointers parents can take note when engaging a tutor for your child, hope this checklist can help you in deciding if the tutor is a gem to keep or it’s time to change for a better one.