Support for my dreamy Yr 2 DD

[Gusthetheatrecat]

Firstly, I don't normally hang out on this board. So apologies if I'm inadvertently igniting a big 'private tuition' debate that's been aired before.

I was hoping to get some advice on how I could get some additional support for my Yr 2 daughter. She is an August baby, had grommets in reception for partial hearing loss, and is slightly short-sighted. She's the middle of three rambunctious girls, and I feel like all of these various factors have combined to mean she's a bit lacking in focus! She has a very short attention span, is very daydreamy, and left to herself won't listen to anything anyone says, but will wait to be reminded.

Now, she is also sociable and hilarious, and gorgeous and appealing (obviously am not biased) but I am a bit worried this might mean she never really 'switches on' as she never has to! I think people will always love her, which is obviously a huge advantage, but I don't want her to think that being funny and dimpling at people means she never has to listen to what they say.

My MIL (who is fab) was asking if we'd thought about some private tuition and my snap reaction was no, not at all, that wouldn't help. But then I thought some more and I thought actually, perhaps a bit of private tuition, just for a short while, might help to give her a boost and 'shore her up' a bit on some of the basics, meaning she could then get on herself. A bit of input about numbers, a bit of assistance with her pencil grip, and a quick nudge with reading (she's on the edge of reading chapter books, but not quite there. I feel like I've been waiting for her 'big reading breakthough' for about a year) and it might give her the skills and the confidence to help her get on.

She will always be an August born child. And equally she may well just not be academic (I have thought really carefully about whether I am expecting her to be something she's not, as I am very academic myself and was a chronic over-achiever as a child).

So I wondered if anyone had any idea of where and how I could find the right person for what I have in mind? I guess what I really need is a primary teacher who's just left the profession, but is doing a bit of private work in the meantime?! I definitely don't want a 'SATS crammer' style tutor, because frankly I don't really give a monkeys about the end of year expectations, etc, the school can sort that out. I just want her to have a little boost so she can catch up, gain some confidence, and reach her potential.

I should add that her school are really good, and are giving her some targetted interventions in the afternoons, and her teacher is on the ball and noticed her lack of listening / focus before I even brought it up!

But can anyone help?

[Bitlost]

My late August born daughter was also dreamy and not performing to the best of her abilities. We gave her 10-12 hours of tutoring with a primary supply teacher at Easter last year and she ended the year top of her year.

I just contacted a local tutoring business and they put me in touch with our tutor.

Can't recommend it enough.

[Gusthetheatrecat]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing. I wonder if I'm being a bit precious and just thinking that 'off the peg' tutoring wouldn't be enough for my PSB?!