Should I Send My Child For Tuition? (Part 1)

Not every child is born a top student, and even top students sometimes need a little help too.

With every school year comes new and more challenging schoolwork and content, the teachers go a little faster in lessons and homework slowly gets bigger.

– It’s perfectly normal for students to lag behind in studies.

What’s important is that they need to overcome these challenges in order to score well in exams and cement their learning. For those that cannot overcome the challenge alone, maybe it’s time to get your child a helping hand. (See: market tuition rates, 2019)

Here are some warning signs that your child may need tuition for that extra help:

1. Your child has bad results

One of the most obvious signs your child has problems with lessons is the decline in grades, or has relatively low grades compared to his peers.

Your child’s relative ranking per subject can be found beside their grades, under percentile.

If your child is below the 50th percentile, or has failed the subject, it might be best to consider tuition to help clear up misconceptions or gaps in learning.

Early help goes a long way in ensuring solid foundations and higher grades. (See: How Much Does Tutor Cost?)

2. Your child has average results

Your child isn’t excelling in their subjects nor is he/she struggling with any currently – getting average grades, and average percentiles.

Tests and exams are meant to be ace-d as they test your content foundation and mastery.

If your child has been scoring passes, and just passes only, how sure are you that they will magically get a Distinction during major exams?

3. Your child cannot study effectively

Studying isn’t about pure memorisation or blind copying of notes.

Education today focuses more on critical thinking and inference skills. Your child might be lagging behind in studies because they aren’t studying effectively.

Unfortunately, schools usually focuses on teaching content and far fewer focus is given to teaching effective study techniques.

Tutors usually will teach your child ways of studying more effectively, such as better time management or more efficient focus on certain subject areas.

4. Your child cannot study alone

Some students prefer to study in a group, while some students simply cannot study alone.

It can be a variety of reasons, such as those easily distracted by the environment/friends or those that need constant guidance.

A tutor is always on hand to guide your child, which can help improve the study environment tremendously.

5. You need someone to keep an eye on your child

Parents are sometimes too busy at work to look after their children.

Especially for those with younger kids, would prefer someone to keep an eye on them. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

A tutor can double up as a babysitter of sorts for the younger schoolchildren, helping to keep an eye on the kids, and at the same time help with their schoolwork.

This puts the parent’s mind at ease, knowing their children’s whereabouts through their tutor.

This could lead to some cost savings in the long run for parents looking for both a tutor and a babysitter for their younger children.

6. Your child needs a different learning environment

School classes or lectures may not be everyone’s type, and the pace of lessons may not be everyone’s preferred pace.

Classes of usually 40 students means that lessons are catered to the average student, and usually are not for everyone.

For Tuition, your child can learn at his/her own pace, and the tutor can focus more on areas your child is weak at.

The different learning environment could help motivate and make learning more efficient for your child. (See: Neighbourhood or Elite School)

7. You or you child wants to get an edge in learning

For those students whose results are decent but still wants to do better, one way is to take tuition for subjects the year above them (e.g a P3 student learning P4 content).

By learning the content ahead of time (in advance), they can better understand the subject as whole, and have a significantly easier way next year.

They also further strengthen current content and can draw better links to the concepts being taught. This gives them an edge against others in that subject. (See: JC Subject Combinations)

8. You Should Send Your Child for Tuition

As a parent, you would want the best for your child, and would like to see them excel in their life.

School is the best time for your child to learn, grow and experience new things. It is also the best time to solidify their fundamentals in knowledge.

Thus, it is important to know when your child may need a little helping hand in their learning, and rectify any problems quickly as they appear. (See: How to Choose Tutors from Tuition Agency)

Your child may not always ask for help, so you have to keep an eye out for signs that they need assistance with certain subjects. A good education and a solid foundation goes a long way in your child’s future, so all the best for your child’s learning! (See: How to Find the Perfect Tutor)

(Read Part 2 of “Should I Send My Child for Tuition?”)

(This article was written by our tutor Ching Ming Yang, on Reasons You Should Send Your Child to Tuition)

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Miriam

Miriam is part of the team that operates CocoTutors: #1 Home Tuition Agency in Singapore. We connect Parents and students to Tutors, via our tuition-matching system. You can try out our services at (www.cocotutors.com/) or by calling +65 9177 9055 directly.