Tutoring for a year 8 student, advice pls. (1 Viewer)

vay

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I am looking for a one to one tutor for my year 8 son. What do i look for in a tutor? How much tutoring should a year 8 need? Is 3 hours too much once a week?
I want to pay $10 a hour but i am in the middle of agreement of $13 a hour for a 1st year uni student for 3hours a week. I wanted 2 hours but she said 3 hours is better.
i am in hurstville nsw and if anyone has recommendations for group classes or tutors pls recommend, but i cant afford more than $13 a hour.

What questions or can u give any tips so i know if the tutor is good? How do i know if a tutor is crap or very good? Any other advice will be appreciated. what work do i expect her to provide for my son?
 

sod

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Hi

I had a tutor in maths from Year 9 so hopefully I can help. A lot of it depends on your son. For me, in year 8, 3 hours would have been too much but of course that varies from child to child. A year 8 shouldn't need THAT much tutoring unless he is having big problems at school and really does need a lot of help. If he is doing well at school and the tutoring is to further advance his ability rather then bring him up to scratch then 3 hours is too much (for year 8). For one subject, most HSC students wouldn't have more than 2-3 hours a week.
$10 is extremely cheap. Like very very cheap. Standard for 1st year uni students who did very well at school is about $40/hr and then go up to $120/hr for ex-teachers/HSC markers. Looking at group classes would be your best option because they are less expensive and you can have a good teacher looking after a couple of kids (Have a look on the internet for these). Keep in mind $13/hr is still not a lot.
I need to know the subject he's being tutored in before I can tell you what to look for in a tutor of that type so let me know :)
 

powlmao

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Year 8 is very young to have a tutor, unless he absolutely needs it.

In a tutor you would like to have someone who provides notes, exams and material.

Prices vary ($10-$50, $10 is so cheap).

A good tutor would be good at explaining concepts/ideas. Ask the uni student for his GPA, the higher it is the better.
 

Sheldon Cooper

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Year 8 students don't need tutoring at all. I actually wouldn't recommend tutoring in year 8 because its not really useful. But if you want tutoring, I would suggest Dr. Du.
It's near Hurstville but I think it may be more than $13/h. 3 hours a week for year 8 is okay. Maybe a bit too much.
How do you know if the tutor is good? You can tell. Good tutors teach efficiently and in a firm sort of manner (not harsh) and have excellent resources. They speak clearly, explain questions in depth and distinguish between different types of questions and methods so their students can tell the difference. Students with good tutors should see a huge improvement.
 

iSplicer

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I am looking for a one to one tutor for my year 8 son. What do i look for in a tutor? How much tutoring should a year 8 need? Is 3 hours too much once a week?
I want to pay $10 a hour but i am in the middle of agreement of $13 a hour for a 1st year uni student for 3hours a week. I wanted 2 hours but she said 3 hours is better.
i am in hurstville nsw and if anyone has recommendations for group classes or tutors pls recommend, but i cant afford more than $13 a hour.

What questions or can u give any tips so i know if the tutor is good? How do i know if a tutor is crap or very good? Any other advice will be appreciated. what work do i expect her to provide for my son?
Getting a mentor/role model as a tutor early is a great idea, it helped me a lot personally. More than the academic acceleration (which in itself is invaluable), the mentorship and lessons you get on work ethic are fabulous.

However your asking rate is ridiculously unfair, in my humble opinion.
 

Riproot

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An 18 year old working for <$14/hour is below minimum wage. Lol

Isn't that like illegal or something?
 

Peeik

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As a parent it is absolutely crucial that you take an active role in your child's education particularly if he/she is struggling. When I say an active role I mean you must check their homework daily. You will be surprised in how much your child changes their attitude when their parents shows that standards in learning. Also maintain consistent dialogue to see how he/she is finding maths. Observing his/her book is a good way to determine his/her strengths/weaknesses and motivation for the subject. If you decide to employ a tutor, it is important that you give the tutor some time to get use to the student. This may take an entire term before both the student and tutor get use to each other. 3 hours a week sounds reasonable but i certainly wouldnt do anymore because it may be too much on the student.

If your child is struggling with mathematics, a private tutor (one on one) is the best option. Tutoring colleges such as Dr. Du, The brain and Harry's math generally go at a quicker pace and this will not help your child at all.
 

iSplicer

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As a parent it is absolutely crucial that you take an active role in your child's education particularly if he/she is struggling. When I say an active role I mean you must check their homework daily. You will be surprised in how much your child changes their attitude when their parents shows that standards in learning. Also maintain consistent dialogue to see how he/she is finding maths. Observing his/her book is a good way to determine his/her strengths/weaknesses and motivation for the subject. If you decide to employ a tutor, it is important that you give the tutor some time to get use to the student. This may take an entire term before both the student and tutor get use to each other. 3 hours a week sounds reasonable but i certainly wouldnt do anymore because it may be too much on the student.

If your child is struggling with mathematics, a private tutor (one on one) is the best option. Tutoring colleges such as Dr. Du, The brain and Harry's math generally go at a quicker pace and this will not help your child at all.
+1 for every part of this post, except the bolded bit. I went to a tutoring college in Year 8, the pace really pushed me and it was awesome. I only went 1.5 hours a week though.
 

4025808

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+1 for every part of this post, except the bolded bit. I went to a tutoring college in Year 8, the pace really pushed me and it was awesome. I only went 1.5 hours a week though.
But that ultimately depends on the student's ability. If they can cope with the work, fine, but if they're not smart enough to cope with the work, then a private tutor would be better off for them. So in the end, each and every person has different abilities and capabilities.
 

iSplicer

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But that ultimately depends on the student's ability. If they can cope with the work, fine, but if they're not smart enough to cope with the work, then a private tutor would be better off for them. So in the end, each and every person has different abilities and capabilities.
I was simply contending the part of Peeik's otherwise awesome post, where he/she said tutoring colleges don't help at all. That's obviously not true, it helps some students a lot more than others.
 
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enoilgam

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But that ultimately depends on the student's ability. If they can cope with the work, fine, but if they're not smart enough to cope with the work, then a private tutor would be better off for them. So in the end, each and every person has different abilities and capabilities.
Agreed. Wayne Bennett gave a talk at our school a couple years ago and he said that one thing he learned in his 20+ years of coaching was that "You cant motivate the unmotivated". I tutor 7-10 in maths (mainly kids who are struggling) and from what I have seen, parents can be as proactive as they want with their childs education, but if their child is unmotivated it wont do much.

On my first day of high school, my old man told me this "Im not going to nag you or get on your case anymore, if you want to do well, good for you. If you dont, well then thats your problem. At the end of the day, you live with the consequences not me". Thats the exact same thing I will be telling my kids. At the end of the day, you have to be responsible for motivating yourself - you cant have other people doing it for you. This will take you a long way in uni, the workforce and life in general. However, thats not to say a bit of guidance wont help - but that guidance will only work if you want to do well.

Just to clarify I am not saying parents should do nothing - my dad encouraged me and the like but the responsibility largely fell on me to decide whether or not I wanted to do well.
 

Riproot

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If your child is struggling with mathematics, a private tutor (one on one) is the best option. Tutoring colleges such as Dr. Du, The brain and Harry's math generally go at a quicker pace and this will not help your child at all.
This is true.

If they are actually STRUGGLING (in the bottom half of their grade at a regular school), then it won't help them AT ALL. They will just fall further behind and feel worse.
 
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kaz1

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If your kid is good at maths, get him to master algebra and trig, then get to calculus asap.
 

krystalkay

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My opinion is that, if ur only gnna offer $10 for a tutor, then maybe you should giv him the $10 if he does good for a test, and motivate him that way.
Ive found that maths tutoring is only there to just force you to do the work, not to teach you (unless you accelerate), and most kids are capable of studying it by theirselves, hence maybe offering your child the money if he does well in his tests might work out better.
 

soloooooo

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$10 won't get you any tutor, let alone anyone half decent one. The 'tutor' would get paid more than $10 an hour to 'work' (stand around and do nothing) at McDonalds.
 

Demento1

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$10 won't get you any tutor, let alone anyone half decent one. The 'tutor' would get paid more than $10 an hour to 'work' (stand around and do nothing) at McDonalds.
This. You would be looking to pay at least $20 or more. Perhaps classes in tuition colleges are the better option. Please note however, that you should assess how the year 8 person is doing. Year 8 students do not need to be pushed unnecessarily.
 

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