Private Tutoring
Is Private Tutoring Right For Me?
Individual private tutoring has some natural benefits including convenience. Although we provided private offsite tutoring to some clients in the past, we felt the safety of both our tutors and students is more of a priority vs. convenience. Naturally, parents looking for assistance with their child’s difficulties in a subject only consider private tutors in a 1: 1 scenario. Typically, in this scenario a tutor would visit the home of the child or meet at a mutually agreed upon spot such as a library. Some private tutors have been successful using this approach in providing additional support but it’s typically a bandage solution. Below are 9 reasons why The Learning Space opposes this methodology.
1. Students Become Dependent on Private Tutors
Students often create a dependence on a private tutor to guide them through each of their tasks. What may easily happen is the student becomes reliant on the tutor overseeing everything, ultimately preventing him / her from gaining the confidence to work independently. They’re constantly waiting for reassurance from the tutor to move forward; making it difficult for these students to write tests or exams at school because the tutor will not be there.
2. Simulated Classroom Setting
A tutoring center such as The Learning Space is the closest simulation to a classroom setting. It’s important to have a student learn in this type of environment because a classroom is where the student will ultimately be tested once back in school. The external sounds of other students learning enhances the tutoring process by helping the student learn to focus effectively.
3. Safety vs. Convenience
All of the tutors and staff at The Learning Space are criminally screened and supervised. Private tutoring should also have a 2nd adult present during the session to eliminate risks to both the tutor and the student (also making it slightly less convenient). The ability to oversee, observe and even trade teaching strategies with other tutors gives a peace of mind to parents, students, and teachers in our learning center.
4. Participation is Encouraged
Private tutoring typically has the tutor doing most of the work. Group tutoring at The Learning Space allows students to interact and participate in discussions to elaborate their learning. Peer learning is an effective strategy to help students learn and retain information.
5. Knowing vs. Teaching
Private tutors may have knowledge in a subject, but knowing and teaching are two very separate skills. In a structured learning environment such as The Learning Space, all tutors are trained with teaching strategies that help students succeed. Furthermore, the tutors have the support of other teachers and supervisors if they come across any challenges to specific learning styles or challenging subjects. Learning centers such as ours often hold workshops for their tutors for professional development to teach and compare effective learning strategies.
6. Too Comfortable To Learn
A child working on math problems in the comfort of his / her home may not be an ideal learning environment. Focusing and organizing is often a problem for students. Learning centers know how to create an atmosphere that will support a students learning through a stimulated classroom environment.
7. Less Options
The Learning Space has the resources to adequately tutor your child if he / she is struggling in more than one subject. If your child is struggling in math for instance, or faces a learning challenge, private tutors may not be able to offer the same options a tutoring center would. In addition, a student may need a tutor in more than one subject such as physics, calculus, algebra, or even French and a tutoring center can offer specialists in all of these areas, whereas a private tutor may not have the expertise to cover all the subjects.
8. Out of Stock
Private tutors lack the resources needed to plan a successful tutoring session. They often plan while the session is taking place. Tutoring Centers are well stocked with textbooks and spend a lot of time and money creating learning resources that correspond with their curriculum. These along with additional resources are at the disposal of their learning center’s tutors to support the learning of their students.
9. Lack of Structure
One on one tutors often plan as they go; they often lack the ability to structure their tutoring sessions. Structure is an important part of learning. Tutoring needs to be structured. Tutoring centers do a great job providing a planned curriculum that provides an outline of what their students need and how they are going to get it. Also, tutoring centers include other students, giving them the opportunity to enhance learning through motivation.