Tutoring an able child

*gaps

Usually children find the GCSE subjects challenging because of what they missed in the previous years. It is good for a child to identifying the gals and learning at a last minute that is in the year prior to the exam. It is better to have a solid knowledge year by year. Tutor can help with that

If it was me, I wouldn't, but I'm teaching a lot of bright girls this year who've put themselves under such pressure for perfection it's made them mentally unwell. I'd be wary of sending a subconscious message that nothing but the best is good enough.

In Y8 there is an awfully long way to go, and I think having hobbies and outside interests is far more important. Picking up something like a new instrument is just as likely to teach resilience and how to deal with challenges, but also has the potential to be really fun!

At the end of the day, if she did get an 8 in GCSE maths, it wouldn't harm her life chances in any way. If she puts pressure on herself to be perfect, and develops exam anxiety (for example) then that could cause real problems down the line.

I would save tutoring for higher up the school, in case she starts finding a subject a challenge or there's issues with teaching in one of her GCSE subjects.

Mine has tutors in 2 subjects in y11 for confidence reasons , very able, but prone to panic. So it’s to reduce her stress really and enable her to reach her potential. I’d be happy with her getting 5/6s - she would be devastated if less than 7-9s . I wouldn’t be worrying about it in y8 tho.

Maybe have a look at Kings Maths School they do a lot of out reach for children of all ages in high school. I wished I'd known about it earlier my eldest would have loved it.

Hi @RoundTheBloch ! I have sent you a Private Message.

Have you decided where she’s going to do a levels? In my area it’s very competitive and some of the schools will only accept a child if you have an average grade of 7 or I think one school might want 8s among your top 8 GCSEs. The only reason I would tutor my daughter was if she needed a high average grade to get into a specific school at a levels. Otherwise I don’t think the benefits are worth it and making your child do a subject that she doesn’t need to do might cause resentment.

Note - This is just one area and both state schools and private schools seem to work the same way - I don’t know if everywhere is like this.

Seconding this. My lovely nephew was like this - a natural at maths in particular but could have easily drifted to an 8 when in reality he got a 9 (and exceedingly high mark on his paper!)
It was more about him feeling confident and learning about putting the work in to get a great reward. It has stood him in good stead! But he had a fantastic online tutor...I think tutors are very hit and Miss.

I would advise to go with a tutor anyways, my kids who were already quite academic benefitted a tremendous amount from this online tutoring programme (EAA Virtual Learning Academy), we signed them up for a few years ago, I believe the programme is now the reason they're able to stay on course and properly apply themselves at A Level, however, every child is different, so it really is up to you and what you believe is best for your child

Just as you would hire a professional coach to help your child develop their sports talent, if you have the means, you would do the same for their maths skills. It’s not very different, not for the sake of better exam results.

I don't think professional tutoring is necessarily the way but it sounds like your daughter would benefit from being challenged. (To help develop resilience, strong work ethics, confidence, healthy ambition, etc) Lots of online resources and books she could use to fulfil her potential and perhaps aim for a 9 as a soft target. Only anecdotal but I was also flying at school, being top of the class without doing much work at all. And then in my last of high school (at 17), I started finding maths difficult. Having never experienced academic struggles before, my reaction was to pretty much give up. I passed but achieved a lot less than expected and this followed me later in life too. How I wish my parents had 'pushed' me a little.

I've got a Y8 maths able child.
He is already bored in class, as he can do it all. There is no way I'd be tutoring him to get further ahead.
What we have done is get him puzzles - suduko, a train tracks thing, rubix cubes etc.
He also does Parallel, which is a weekly set of questions (online) that are different to straight maths questions.
He has also enjoyed in the past some of the activities on NRich.
He is a wicked strategic board game player - it is a rare day he looses a game of chess.
Basically, we've gone sideways with maths, rather than forward.
So, what would your aim of tutoring be?

For my able child I got tutoring to develop depth of skill and interest in his favourite subject. Nothing to do with exams. Clearly this is a luxury but a wonderful thing and I think equivalent to if they had a really involved and encouraging teacher (which he didn’t!)

DS.does.have some tutoring despite being top of the top set, partly just because he was being switched off by finding some lessons too easy. It's a tutor who also teaches at his school and they just have fun once a week exploring topics in more depth.

However I don't wish to hothouse him and as someone who was academic myself I do try to ensure we invest in developing other skills so he does sports too and also has plenty of downtime, he likes gaming with friends and playing board games

If a child is very bright they can probably fit in some tutoring if they wish as they are probably getting through the homework faster than others

We got a tutor for our dd in science when she was in year 9. She was predicted a 7 at the time but I felt she didn’t grasp some of the basic concepts. She’s now year 11 and although her predicted grades in the 3 sciences is still a 7, she’s much more confident. And comes out with 9s in a lot of tests. Mocks are in a couple of weeks so we’ll see what happens!

@RoundTheBloch OK, “failure” is probably a bit of an harsh choice of word, but WHY would you tutor otherwise? Only 7% of children get an 8 in GCSE maths. Between 4 and 5% get a 9. An 8 would be a blooming brilliant achievement.

Mumsnet is full of people who recommend tutoring. Think about the motivator for it. We all want our children to be successful, but the responsibility for learning needs to come from them.

I have two very academic daughters who have never been tutored and are both excelling. If they leave school with a bunch of 7, 8s and 9s I will be immensely proud. It would never cross my mind to pay someone to try and improve on that.

I did - one non academic one very academic. Essential for the former, and for the latter it was for gcse for a bit of math (her weakest subject) and English (her best). Not intense just one session a week. The one on one helped her with math for sure, and the English was more coaching in exam technique.

Personally I think you’d be utterly bonkers.

Your DD is in Y8 and early indications are she’ll get an 8 at GCSE…… in a subject she will almost certainly not take at A-level. How is that any kind of “failure”?

It will cost lots of money and take away homework time for studying for subjects they ARE really interested in. I feel there’s far more to lose than there is to gain.

If she is struggling with a particular concept or issue then it’s a different story. Give her the help she needs.

I cannot say if it is good for your child, dear OP but my certainly able child absolutely benefits from and enjoys his tutoring. He asks his tutor about topics that he finds interesting or he didn't quite catch or he simply enjoys. Also, she expands his horizons beyond what is in curiculum.

I always thought year 8 was a bit of a coasting year anyway. I would probably leave it until year 9 and assess again. I think the main thing to get across to your DD now is how important it is to apply yourself even to things you don't necessarily enjoy. She is there to learn stuff, hopefully enjoy it too but that is not the goal. No one is there with a sheet at the end of GCSEs asking if you enjoyed it. Let's be honest the goal is the highest grade she is capable of achieving but she is a while off that. She is doing everything school asks and doing well so for now, year 8, I would leave it unless her maths starts to slip.

Yes

Is the 8 predicted from sats results? So more a target.
I think an 8 is fine, but depend on if doing maths for alevel