Tuition

[Mama H]

Hello everyone,

My son who will be taking the exams this September is doing 2 hours tuition every Saturday. This is a group tuition and the tutor is now proposing to increase this to 3 hours on grounds that she does not think she would otherwise be able to cover all areas. I am now considering taking over and doing as much work with him as possible. God knows how I am going to afford the time has he has 2 younger siblings. Is there anyone who is doing the work / tutoring themselves? If so please offer some advice. We hope to do the Kent, Bexley and St Olave's exams.
Thanks

[Sally-Anne]

Hi Mama H, and welcome!

I have moved this to the Kent section of the forum, but left a "shadow topic" in the general area to maximise the chances of you getting a helpful reply.

My son who will be taking the exams this September is doing 2 hours tuition every Saturday. This is a group tuition and the tutor is now proposing to increase this to 3 hours on grounds that she does not think she would otherwise be able to cover all areas.

Or possibly she has realised that she could repay her mortgage 5 years earlier than planned?

Sorry to be cynical, but any reputable tutor should have enough experience to know how many hours preparation are required and they should give you a clear plan of the tuition programme in advance.

I am now considering taking over and doing as much work with him as possible. God knows how I am going to afford the time has he has 2 younger siblings. Is there anyone who is doing the work / tutoring themselves? If so please offer some advice. We hope to do the Kent, Bexley and St Olave's exams.

I hope that Kent folk will reassure you that it is entirely possible to DIY, or send you suggestions for other tutors via PM (Private Messsage).

Good luck, and I do hope that you get it sorted out soon.

Sally-Anne

[Frustratedmum]

Hi Mama H,

I self tutored both DS1 and DD for the Kent and Medway exams, both passed well, so I must have done something right
I grant you, finding the time with 2 siblings (I'm in same situation), wasn't always easy but we got through it unscathed!! I decided that the noise or distraction from the siblings was allowed for two reasons, one was that if I wasn't stressing about complete silence then it was all the more easier to keep sane myself but the main reason for me (and that which I told the children) was that it would be good for them to learn how to concentrate on what they were doing without letting themselves be distracted by any other noise or goings-on, so that in the event of crying, talking or any other distractions in real exam, they could learn to ignore and carry on regardless.
I used this wonderful website for loads of information and bought many varities of books, papers etc including the Bond/How-To-Do books, these allowed me to cover all the gaps in DC's learning that would be relevant for the tests. If one DC was doing some work then I would set some work for the other 2 that was relevant for their age, e.g. wordsearch books, activity books, drawing, puzzles anything that really kept all minds busy at the same time so that no-one felt more pressured than anyone else.
Feel free to message me for more info or reply with any questions and I'd be happy to help where possible.

FM

[tigger2]

Hi Mama H ,

Three hours in one go seems like an awful lot to me...No doubt some would say that their dc's can take it but I'm not so sure. I agree with frustratedmum that a decent tutor should have a good idea before dc's start as to what will be required to cover everything. It is very difficult when you find more than halfway through year 5 that perhaps the tutor is less than ideal. I found this with our ds's tutor when ds was paired up for tuition and decided to stick with it but really wish that I had not. If I had listened to my gut instinct that our situation was not right for him I should have just made that leap of faith....

I help our dd prepare for the tests at home and have found it to be less stressful than I thought it would be...dd prefers to get up early to do most of it with me..she is brighter then and less likely to have a stroppy moment !!! Whether it is really going to help is anyones guess but in her case we had no choice after being let down by a tutor in November and by then it was too late to engage another one as the recommended tutors were all booked up.

Good luck with whatever you decide but three hours in one sitting does seem like a lot...Assuming that there are not many breaks I do wonder how much of that potential three hours actually 'goes in'

Tigger
x

[Mama H]

Thanks all for your help.

F M what an offer, I would like to take this up and see what help I can get from you. Kindly email me using my private mail. I think I will struggle with NVR as most of it does not make sense to me.

[penguin]

Good Luck Mama H


I'm DIYing as well

you might be pleasantly surprised that NVR makes more sense to your DS

I'm using the Bond range of books for NVR aswell as maths and VR and whatever other practice materials + exam papers.

sometimes better than expected/sometimes not and I find sanctuary in the forums

[layla22]

I second that penguin!
I DIYed aswell last year using the bond books "How to..." It is amazing how after a while they are quicker at spotting the answer than you are!
But be "warned" the bond practice books for NVR are at a lower standard than the actual GL papers so be prepared for a dip in scores when doing the exam papers. I don't know what the lowest score was last year for a "140" in NVR but my DS only got 74-76% to achieve this.
A little often is my motto- it keeps their brain cells ticking over.
Layla22