When is the right time to start tuition?

[Funz]

For me,


1st line of defence, the child himself/herself
2nd line of defence, parents and older siblings/cousins
last line of defence, tuition

I have friends who hire tutors from the start of P1. But these same parents also soon realise it is not a tutor that they want but someone to take on the responsibility of making sure the kid does his homework, learns his spelling on top of coaching them on the subjects they are weak in.

[Chenonceau]

Funz, you have PM.

[Funz]

Chenonceau:

Funz, you have PM.

got it. and you're welcome.

[heyhoe]

Hi Chenonceau,


Can you share how do you teach your child to learn independently?

Thanks!

[alng]

Hi, I am not Chen but I can try to answer the question on how to teach a child to learn independently.


Basically, when a child has a question or doubt, do not offer the answer outright. Teach the child how to find the answer. Offering the answer outright is probably more efficient and less painful (to the parents) but definitely is a less effective way of learning.

Instead, spend more time to ask the child more questions and let the child think about his/her own question. Lead the child to self discover the answer. In this way, the knowledge/skills self-discovered by the child will be retained in the child’s memory for a longer period. In the process of self-discovery, the child is bound to make mistakes and this may mean that the results may slip. This self discovery process can be painful for parents. But look at the longer term, the earlier the child learns how to learn independently, the better it is for the child and the parents.

Teach a child to fish than to give the fishes to the child.

[DesertWind]

My boy now 4.5 yo, with speech-delay and needs one-to-one attention according to his kindy teachers. Therefore I have put him for once a week "tuition/therapy" now in K1. Mainly so that he gets one-to-one attention and learn something since in kindy he won’t get the attention and am afraid he may lack behind in his learning.


However, amazingly, I bought one Kumon workbook to try on my boy to get him to do writing at the beginning of this year and he took one look, second look, tried doing a couple of pages and now he is hooked! He has since completed 4 Kumon workbooks and now working on 3 others concurrently. What brings such joy to my heart is the fact that every morning now at about 10 am, he will pick up the workbooks automatically and sit down at his square Ikea table to do his writing. BTW, I am full time working which means my maid-cum-nanny is the one doing the supervision! And he can actually sit down about one hour occasionally even one and a half hours just doing the writing. I think he is really interested and am glad the Kumon works!

Due to the lack of time, seriously there is no way I could have sent him for tuition/enrichments more than once a week. So the next best thing is to do the teaching myself! Now evening time when I come back I will spend the time teaching him from wall-charts numbers 1-100 and words etc. Now the kindy teacher is telling me to teach him Jolly phonics! Gee…whiz…I feel pressurized already!

It gives me great joy to teach my kid except that he was usually quite uncooperative with me, much to my chagrin! Half the time trying to get his attention, the other half the time trying to teach him and hoping some of it will get into his head. Not easy man!

[smartmummy]

My son doesn’t like ti go tuition.he only attending English from k1.mummy coaching to all other subjects.now i asked him to go to Mt tuition, he refused.i said i don’t know how to teach, better u go to tuition.he said u learn from her and teach me.

I suspect does he depend on me?

[janet88]

smartmummy:

My son doesn't like ti go tuition.he only attending English from k1.mummy coaching to all other subjects.now i asked him to go to Mt tuition, he refused.i said i don't know how to teach, better u go to tuition.he said u learn from her and teach me.

I suspect does he depend on me?

My son didn't want tuition initially. It was in P5 that he realized he needed help. That \"teacher will teach\" is old school mentality...school teacher won't teach all and cannot be depended upon to
pass exams. He was resistant to tuition bcos his classmates told him tutors give alot of hw. For math, he does have more bcos it is a subject which requires practice. I will push him with science and english when he is free. He's ok but hates CL.

[Jav]

I am in dilemma - between enrichment, home tuition & after school care. My kid in nature is very easily distracted & seems not interested in studying. It’s not easy to attract his concentration as his mind is easily wandering around. He currently attends enrichment in group but I don’t see the effectiveness. After class, I tested him on his understanding & redo the question he has completed in the class. To my dismay, he cannot do them. The enrichment has good worksheet but if kid is not able to absorb the contents taught, I am beginning to think it maybe wasteful. Therefore, at the end, I am the one that must learn to teach. But I must admit that it takes a great deal from me to teach & I don’t enjoy it & have enough patience- with all the shouting - I don’t think it’s of any good. As a FTWM, come home tiredly still has to take on a second job which end up everyone is unhappy.


He is in P1 & attends after school care too but i am also not sure how effective is the centre. He may complete his hw there but it’s not checked on the correctness of the completion so every night I still have to do the supervision.

I therefore wonder whether the home tuition maybe better alternative. But it’s not easy to find the right tutor.

Any parents with experiences to share? Much appreciated.

[winnie_pooh]

Hi Jav


I understand how you feel. I’m a working mother too. And if afterwork still need full time coaching our kid, it can be drain and tiring. If they are not paying attention, we end us shouting and scolding them. It somehow spoilt the relationship.

My kid also goes student care . For me, i feel that studnet care is someone can take care of them after or before school due to we are working parent and no one is around to help up. Student is a place for rest, meal and bath. You can ask the kids to do school homework or home assignment but i think they are not tuition centre. The teacher might guide but not professionally enough. Therefore, don’t hope that they will help your child to improve on work. They are just a student care and not tuition centre.

Compare tuition centre and home tuition, it has it pro and con.
Initially i also tried tuition centre. But it timing comsuming to bring my kid to and back home. And also have to take note of the tuition centre timing. Without the min children, they were not start a class. I feel that although the class is might be small but it just like going to school, learning as a class. How much your kid can absorb also depend. If you wanna withdraw your kid, you still need to give advance notice.

Whereas, home tuition don’t have all this issued. The tutor just need to go to your place. Sometimes, if you can’t make it, it more flexable to change the timing. 1-1 tuition can focus on your kid. Especally when your kid can get distracted easily. For myself, my kid is having home tuition for about 2 years already.

Of course choosing home tutor is important. It good to have someone recomended on the tutor. There are alot of tuition agency outside,must be careful with your choice. Of course when the tutor teacher is not around, then we as mother has to stand in to coach our kid

I think it good to build up their foundation. as P1 nowadays, dont even have exam but just some test. Those test are rather easy. Can’t really tell whether your kid know the subject well. When you come to P3, it will be very difference.