Intensive tutoring - defintion of...?

Discussion of the 11 Plus

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
pheasantchick
Posts: 2439
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Intensive tutoring - defintion of...?

Post by pheasantchick »

On lots of different posts, people refer to 'intensive tutoring'. what is the definition of this? 1 hour per week for 1 year? 2 years? 2 hours per week?

Just curious to see what people's views on this are?

I don't mind admitting my son is having a tutor for 1 hour per week and gets homework as well. He's in year 5, and has just started. The Kent test is taken in early September so he'll have been tutored for a year in total.

I also realised recently that I feel slightly guilty at going down the tutoring route as I never thought I would. I know he's fairly bright but I don't want him to jeopardise my son's chances and want him to sit the exam relaxed and prepared.
zee
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:43 am

Post by zee »

I suspect that for most people "intensive tutoring" means "more than my DC had" or "more than I admit to my DC having". :wink:

In my mind, anything more than a year ahead seems excessive (though not necessarily "intensive", as it depends how many hours per week), and anything much over 2 hours a week (including practice at home) is intensive.

But were we to live in an area of super-selectives (in Bucks ~25% go to GS), I expect I'd move my goalposts. :wink:
hermanmunster
Posts: 12818
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

... bit like the old definition of an alcoholic being someone who drinks more than his doctor...

seriously though, it is so difficult to know how intense some of the tutroing must be - some people have breaks for hols others plough on through. Others aim it just at the exam while some involve other work too.
I am sure there is going to be a huge range... :roll:
essex-mum18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:09 am

Re: Intensive tutoring - defintion of...?

Post by essex-mum18 »

pheasantchick wrote:On lots of different posts, people refer to 'intensive tutoring'. what is the definition of this? 1 hour per week for 1 year? 2 years? 2 hours per week?

Just curious to see what people's views on this are?

I don't mind admitting my son is having a tutor for 1 hour per week and gets homework as well. He's in year 5, and has just started. The Kent test is taken in early September so he'll have been tutored for a year in total.

I also realised recently that I feel slightly guilty at going down the tutoring route as I never thought I would. I know he's fairly bright but I don't want him to jeopardise my son's chances and want him to sit the exam relaxed and prepared.
It has been a rather hot topic on 'tutoring' again. In this country, some people see the word TUTORING as a negative image (some posts on this forum has already indicated this), I do not understand why. If you look at the other countries in the Far East, it is quite a common practice for most children. It is not because they are not bright, but a bright child may not be good at everything. Therefore, parents are quite happy to hire a tutor to help their children if needed.

In my view, if tutoring ( or what everyou call it) is needed for a child's performance to be improved. Then go for it! It is sometimes difficult to define what intensive tutoring is e.g A child may take much longer to learn English if he/ she is not strong in literacy.

Again, it is up to the parents who decide whether tutoring is required for the child for the 11+. It is not right that parents should feel guilty if their child needs teaching/ tutoring for the prep.

That said, it would be a burden/ pressure if a child is put in a position that he/ she is exhausted after doing excessive amount of work ( may be another defintion here) day after day. Surely, it depends on the judgement of indivdual parent to observe the signs of a 'BURN OUT' child. May not be easy though :? :?
Chelmsford mum
Posts: 2113
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Post by Chelmsford mum »

This is really the point of debate on the thread nearby too.
We do live in an area of superselectives. I can only tell you what I regard as intensive but everyone feels differently.

I would say that an hour a week from about Dec/ Jan of year 5 is fairly typical of this area and of another selective area that we lived in.It is also the amount most tutors see as more than enough for a bright child.A little homework to go with this too is not "intensive".As I said on the thread below, if your child is at the average state primary then they simply will not cover enough in Maths or English in time, to be confident of a chance of a GS place. e.g (BODMAS, Algebra and more)They usually either need parental help or paid help.Unfair but true.

The Headmistress of my two daughters' GS is in our local paper saying "intensive tutoring is not necessary". She doesn't define it though.
I do feel sorry for children who are effectively tutored twice over, once by tutor and then by parents.
IMHO parents need to allow for the possibility, however bright your child is, that they may not get in.If they have made the whole household routine revolve around the 11+, it is hard for them to keep a failure in perspective.
zee
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:43 am

Re: Intensive tutoring - defintion of...?

Post by zee »

essex-mum18 wrote: If you look at the other countries in the Far East, it is quite a common practice for most children. It is not because they are not bright, but a bright child may not be good at everything. Therefore, parents are quite happy to hire a tutor to help their children if needed.
I took the original question to refer to tutoring specifically for 11+, which is rather different, I think.

General tutoring, whether to stretch an able child or help a struggling one catch up, can be very beneficial, even if it goes on for several years (as long as it's not too many hours per week on top of school). There isn't usually a single specific one-chance target - unless you count things like out-of-school music lessons and related grade exams.

However, specific tutoring for 11+ puts a big burden on all concerned if it is "excessive", whatever you define that as. Lots of time, effort and money, and if the child doesn't pass, everyone can feel the pain of that "failure", even though there are likely to be some wider academic benefits from all the effort.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Post by Rob Clark »

BODMAS
CM, I’m having a flashback :)

A fearsome primary school maths teacher yelling at me ‘BODMAS, boy, BODMAS’, usually closely followed by a blackboard rubber aimed somewhere near my left ear…

Apologies all for the digression. The best days of our lives, eh… :lol:
Chelmsford mum
Posts: 2113
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Post by Chelmsford mum »

Rob Clark wrote:
BODMAS
CM, I’m having a flashback :)

A fearsome primary school maths teacher yelling at me ‘BODMAS, boy, BODMAS’, usually closely followed by a blackboard rubber aimed somewhere near my left ear…

Apologies all for the digression. The best days of our lives, eh… :lol:
:shock: Nowdays you would be dialling Childline on your mobile.....
essex-mum18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:09 am

Post by essex-mum18 »

zee

I have not made myself very clear here. I did not mean GENERAL tutoring but specific exam tutoring in the Far East. Children at very young age who needs to do a one off entrance test. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it is right or healthy.

My point is that it is sometimes difficult to define what excessive/ intensive tutoring is. Each child is different and parents should not feel bad if their child may need longer time to be taught.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12818
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

Rob Clark wrote:
BODMAS
CM, I’m having a flashback :)

A fearsome primary school maths teacher yelling at me ‘BODMAS, boy, BODMAS’, usually closely followed by a blackboard rubber aimed somewhere near my left ear…

Apologies all for the digression. The best days of our lives, eh… :lol:
apols for further digression but You know it is not suprising I struggled with one of my maths teachers because she used to say:
BLESS MY DEAR AUNT SALLY. ......

.... but that's not the same is it
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now