AIBU to think this tutor has an attitude?

Teacher recommended that your child not take history and now a reputable tutor also says that your child doesn’t seem suited to the subject. But you are getting all weird about it. Maybe these people know more about the education system than you and perhaps you should listen a bit more rather than fight against them 🤷🏼‍♀️ just a thought.

If he doesn’t know the content, how can he revise it? Surely you need helpful ways of teaching him the content.

Hang on, your DS was late (30 mins?) and you found the tutor's sighing 'a bit unnecessary'? WTF? That was incredibly rude of your DS and you, frankly.

A history tutor's job is to fill gaps in knowledge, not teach a Y11 student how to revise...surely he's had exams before now?

Dear god! You sent a tutor a mind map?! I know a very experienced tutor and you would be sacked! Either you let the tutor do their job or if you are so bloody fabulous then you teach your son how to revise stuff he doesn't even know....

Revision is revision. Surely he is revising for his other subjects and therefore knows basic revision skills?!

It’s quite clear the problem is that he doesn’t have sufficient knowledge in the first place, so he can’t possibly “revise” - he needs to actually learn the stuff first! That’s what the tutor should be (and it sounds like is trying to) help with.

If your son is not even bothering to take notes in class and can’t remember the name of the topic he has studied in a given week (how on earth do you get the Cold War confused with anything else, unless you are not actually paying any attention in class?!), he’s got no hope of getting a decent grade though, tutor or no tutor.

Also exceptionally rude to be late to the tutor session, and then moan that the tutor was unimpressed about this.

Your son is the problem here, not the tutor… and if you can’t see that, you are the problem as well!

My two ds had history as their favourite subject. As they were passionate about it they performed better than other areas where as teens, they were a bit lax. But for history they read extra books, watched documentaries , had discussions at dinner etc. They just got it.
Sounds like your ds will not be able to perform at this level so he might be better with geography where there is more to learn and not so much discussions and debate.
I am in lreland so l am presuming things ae pretty much the same and l have seen ds learn and learn for Geography to get the facts but not offering opinions.
As a teacher who has tutored outside the classroom l have had parents who thought l could bring their dc to an A student now that l am here. I wish l could but if the child is lacking ability l can help but not to that extreme. I would also not work with a parent as difficult as you as it needs to be a team effort.
For your sons sake listen to the tutor. He has no ulterior motive in offering advice so value his experience and go with him.

Since you’re confident that you know the revision strategies that will help, and don’t consider subject knowledge a barrier, the good news is that you can save money by teaching your DS the magical revision strategies yourself.

You need to figure out what exactly you want a tutor to offer before hiring one. You don't really seem to have done a good job upfront if your are on your 3rd tutor.I think you will get the most out of tutoring your son through the curriculum yourself and teaching him the techniques that you find essential.

OP is 100% a wind up merchant

It was suggested that your son shouldn’t opt for GCSE History.
He doesn’t take notes in lessons and doesn’t know or understand the topics he’s studying. How can he create mind maps and flashcards when he doesn’t have the information he needs to do that. He’s not making connections with the time lines, dates and topics, so he has no base.

You employed someone who has expertise in the subject and you don’t like what he’s saying. He is advising you that your son doesn’t have the capability to pursue History, especially at A level. Please steer your boy away from a subject that is not going to be beneficial for him and will be stressful.

Focus on the subjects he has a chance of achieving good grades in.

I do see your point about baseline assessments but I just feel like it could have been done after teaching him some strategies rather than at the very start of the tutoring journey.

But that quite literally is what baseline assessment is! To see what level he is at now!

And as for
she gave me an example she did with her own class where she set her year 10's a task where they had to make a mind-map of key themes from An Inspector Calls and then use it to plan an essay
Your son doesn't listen in class, doesn't make notes, and if you were to follow this example, would write an essay on Hamlet! It's a very different situation.

Surely this thread has to be a wind up.

At first, I thought that the op was an arrogant, entitled parent who thought she knew better than the professionals.

The update about sending the tutor an example mind map made me literally gasp out loud. I was shocked that someone would be so patronising. Tutors know what a bloody mind map is - and they also know when it's appropriate to introduce them into their tutoring.

But saying that she has binned off 2 other history tutors is when the thread jumped the shark for me. I can't believe that any parent can really be this arrogant.

Yeah this can't be true.

It’s Saturday FFS!!! Tutors aren’t on call whenever you need them.

this post has got to be a wind up surely?!?!

I feel bad for him because he likes the subject, but he's just not very good at it and obviously that's problematic if he is considering this subject as a potential academic or career pathway.

He doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of having an academic or career pathway in history!

@Hundies100 Great username there.

Well given youve not had many sessions with no3, why does it matter if you change again? At the end of the day having the right tutor is more important surely ?

Reported.

You’re absolutely crazy!!!! Every person on here is telling you the same thing, listen to them!!!!!!! Anyone can teach someone how to revise, even ChatGPT could tell you!! But if your son is getting the Cold War mixed up with something else (what on earth was he getting mixed up with??) then maybe listen to the tutor. Does your DS actually need history to do any future career?

They let him down? How?
Your 3rd tutor in how long time? You may have unrealistic expectations of how and what a tutor can work with your child.

You don't have a tutor problem. You have a DS attitude to learning problem.

"He's good at Science when he's interested"

Says it all, really.

He's not replied because that's not what he's tutoring.

He hasn't replied yet either
because it's Saturday evening and he's in the pub or
he's busy banging his head against his desk or
he's occupied with drafting the email dumping the OP and her son as clients.

The thing is I can't really get rid of this tutor because my DS has had 3 history tutors because the other 2 let him down

I don't often use the 🤣 emoji but I'm making an exception here.

He’s trying to decide exactly how much of a muppet you are and whether he needs the money enough to put up with you.

look, all teachers and tutors know about mind maps and flash cards and the like. You’ve been incredibly rude to him, when he has been very honest with you.

personally I’d bet a fiver the next email will be saying he can’t tutor your kid anymore and he hopes you find a tutor more in line with what you want.