Making the decision to spend time and money on tutoring your child is hard enough, without also having to worry about which tutor to choose. It is absolutely imperative that your child is given the attention and expertise that they deserve to ensure that they have every opportunity to improve their skills. So,what do you need to look for in your tutor and the centre that they work for?
Reputation
Whilst reviews aren’t always the best indicator of performance, they will give you a very good idea of what current and past families see as the strengths and weaknesses of the tutors in question. Check what people have said on Facebook, Google and even LinkedIn. Also noting how the centre responds to any negative reviews can clearly demonstrate their values and service.
Reason for tutoring
Does you child need help to improve their skills, or extension to challenge them? Has their school teacher suggested tutoring or perhaps a specialist has recommended additional work? Whatever the reason, your tutor should be able to demonstrate previous experience in the particular teaching method required.
Specialisation
What is the particular skill that you need to focus on with your child? Many tutors provide a broad brush approach to tutoring and teach a wide range of subjects, but don’t provide a speciality. This approach won’t benefit your child if they need help in a particular subject. The right tutor for your child will specialise in a subject so they can teach specific skills or tools that will help your child improve and extend themselves.
Leap into Literacy focuses solely on reading comprehension, creative writing and other literacy skills such as grammar and spelling. If your child needs help or extension in any of these areas, then they will receive the exact attention and focus for what they need.
Experience and qualifications of tutors and owners
Founder of Leap into Literacy, Allison Greenland, has spent many years in both primary and secondary classrooms teaching English, has completed her PhD research which focused on reading comprehension, and has taught creative writing for both children and adults.
This extensive knowledge and background ensures that Leap into Literacy has a strong focus on the foundations of literacy.
Similarly, all the tutors that work at Leap into Literacy have experience or qualifications specific to literacy. You can read their profiles here.
Unfortunately,you do not need any qualifications to call yourself a tutor, so make sure that you investigate the theoretical and practical experience of your tutors.
Transparent and well documented curriculum
Does your child’s tutoring session have a structure? Is there a written plan, or does your tutor just seem to make it up on the fly? All of Leap into Literacy’s lesson plans are written by founder Allison who has a PhD in Teaching and Curriculum Design. These plans are executed by the experienced tutors who ensure that all children are benefiting from the lesson.
Outcomes from many of our lessons are documented here on the blog. You can see how the pieces of the lesson fit together and what essential literacy skills the children gain from the lesson.
Trial lesson
Last but not least, if you’ve done all your research but still unsure about whether a particular tutor or centre is right for your child, make sure that you book in for a trial lesson. Any tutor who is confident in their ability to work well with your child will offer you an opportunity free of charge to see first hand what happens in a lesson and what the benefit is to your child.
Contact Leap into Literacy if you would like to have a chat about whether we are the right literacy tutor for your child, or you can book your free trial here.