To be struggling a bit?

[MimisMagicMum]

I'm employed by a local family to prepare their 12 YO Dtwin boys for a prestigious school entrance exam. They're delightful boys and the parents are lovely too.

But I'm finding it a tall order to teach them both in the allocated time slot. I find it a real struggle to go over my prepped materials in just one hour every Sat - they're both bright but learn at different paces, plus they're lively and chatty & obviously get a tad distracted by each other... Completely normal!

Then comes homework... One will always find certain things easier/harder than the other and I'm finding it so stressful to make sure we cover all the material we need to in enough time

Any words of advice please.

[Wolfiefan]

Tell the parents you need to change to 45 mins per child. Separately?

[CooPie10]

I think it's best to speak to the parents and explain all the above. Maybe suggest having the lessons separate. Either twin is going to benefit less if the lesson time isn't enough to structure it to each child's strengths. Better to address it earlier than leave it till the last minute when not much can be done.

[MimisMagicMum]

Thanks - I would but don't want to charge the parents more, I feel bad pushing the prices up but equally am finding the current situation very tough indeed. Is it just me? Just wondering how other people have managed with similar..

[MimisMagicMum]

The parents were pretty adamant that they wanted an hour each week of shared teaching though

[RandomMess]

What do you usually charge?

[MimisMagicMum]

I'm not in the Uk; EUR 30 an hour inc travel

[Wolfiefan]

But normally you would spend an individual hour with each child in a particular family? Feel free to offer a discount but explain you can't effectively meet the differing needs of both children given the timing restraint.

[MimisMagicMum]

So just to clarify about £23ph. My standard rate when in the U.K. was £20 ph, more for travel.

[RandomMess]

I suppose I would offer them 1.5 hours for 40 Euros to have the boys separately or similar tbh.

Tell them it isn't working because they boys have differing strengths and are distracting each other.

[caroldecker]

How much are they paying for the school if they get in - £10k per child? an extra few Euro to achieve that does not seem unreasonable.
If they fail, you will suffer getting less recommendations for future work, so you need to manage the parents expectations.

[RubbleBubble00]

I'd either sit parents down and write email telling them what you have told us with specific examples of how one twin is being slowed by other in one subject and visa versa. See what they say. Compromise on 30mins each if they won't pay more