Does your child have a tutor?

[Whatsthatonhisface]

If so, could you tell me a bit about how it works?

Do they come to your house?
Do you offer refreshments?
Do you give your tutor a heads up beforehand on the work you want to be covered so they can do planning/preparation/extension work or do you just show them the work when they get there?
Do you pay per session on the day or at the end of the month?

Thank you!

No one has a tutor for their child?

I do private maths tuition two evenings per week. Many of your questions will depend on the tutor. Personally, I have students come to my house. Some parents pay weekly in cash or by bank transfer; my preference is to pay half-termly in advance as I've been burned a few times by short notice cancellations with the expectation not to pay, but I understand that not everyone can do this. The point is that it's a regular weekly commitment during term time. Regarding preparation, it definitely works best if I know what a student wants to cover before the lesson, so I have a chance to prepare materials, but tbh I've been doing this so I long I can usually find what I need during a lesson (one reason why I WFH where everything is to hand). The important thing is that the student has given a little thought to what they would like to work on before they arrive. If there's currently no issues with schook work, fine - I'll do some revision of earlier topics or extend the current topic.

I used to travel to student houses when I first started tutoring and had no space and young kids at home, but in that case I definitely would not expect refreshments, except perhaps a glass of water.

@MathsMum3 Thank you,

Also this question for tutors too of course!

We have several for different subjects.

One lot is face to face through a centralised tutoring hub in business premises. I pay monthly for that. More structured.

The other is in their home and I pay cash in hand per session with the option of online but it is never as good as face to face.

@Whatsthatonhisface you'll need some patience I think, chances are you'll get more responses later, people who can afford a tutor are likely to be a work (unless the WFH of course). So I'd bump your thread later for more responses.

I am a specialist dyslexia tutor. So although parents obviously have their concerns, I am the one who assesses the child and discusses with the parents what is needed. So I set the program from week to week. I also do a lot of preparation, some weeks as much as the lesson itself.
My students come to me and I have my own tuition room with a vast number of resources that I can draw on as necessary. It would be impractical for me to cart loads of resources to a students home, especially if I was then going on to another student, plus I would lose a lot of time travelling through the rush-hour from house to house. But I am also in a lucky situation in that specialist dyslexia tutors aren’t too common so having students come to me is something I can ‘require’ of them. I also have T&Cs stating my expectations regarding attendance, as well as a cancellation policy.
But there are lots of tutors out there, some with teaching qualifications and some without. Many deliver tuition online these days and seem to prefer it.

If you are a potential tutor, I think the amount of ‘steer’ you have very much depends on what you are offering in the first place and who you see as your potential market. I worked for a dyslexia tuition centre for a while but found what the proprietor promised the parents was a big workload for me as a tutor, with no extra pay involved, and sometimes she would transfer students to another tutor at the drop of a hat whilst requiring me to do handover notes etc which was fair to the parents, but not really to me. So now I’m a one-woman band.

It’s worth doing some research on somewhere like First Tutors where you can see what tutors in your area are offering and how much they charge.

It varies by tutor. How old is your child? They tend to be a mix of options with people who do online sessions, come to the house or you go to theirs. You pay them in whatever form and frequency they ask for. If in your house you can offer refreshments but the main thing is providing a quiet place to work with your child away from siblings etc. In terms of what they cover, it really depends. If they're helping your child with a subject they're struggling with at school then it's helpful to know what they're covering at school and the child being able to articulate things they're finding tricky, so they can focus on that. Whereas if it's a tutor for e.g. 11+ or independent school entrance exam prep the sessions tend to be more tutor led due to their knowledge of what needs to be covered by when. Along the way they'll focus on things as they become a sticking point. They will set and expect more homework to be done. A tutor who is supplementing and supporting normal school learning may not set any homework.

All depends on the tutor.

Do they come to your house? - could be either
Do you offer refreshments? - casually offer soft drink/water/cup of tea/coffee at beginning of session
Do you pay per session on the day or at the end of the month? - most expect payment immediately before/after session. Ask about their cancellation policy.

Do you give your tutor a heads up beforehand on the work you want to be covered so they can do planning/preparation/extension work or do you just show them the work when they get there?

Again depends on the tutor and/or how you want to work, discuss it with them during initial engagement before you decide to use them. Do you want it pupil lead (they say which topics they struggle with) or tutor lead (they assess where the gaps are). If you get an "amateur" tutor (6th former/student doing it for some extra cash) it will probably be the former, an experienced tutor (teacher/ex-teacher/professional tutor) will be able to do the latter if that is what your want.

I used a tutor for my daughter for GCSEs (and one is carrying on for A levels). Both online (Skype and Zoom), both have planned the sessions without input from me, but I think they did ask DD what she wanted to focus on. One wanted payment after each session, the other invoices monthly. Both had a policy of cancellations within 24hrs needing to be paid for.

My DS had a maths tutor in Y6. She came to the house for a hour. Initially she tested him to find out where he needed extra help. And then went through the age appropriate curriculum to ensure he got it all. No input from me , I just left them to it. She also focussed on simple maths (division,
multiplication etc) with the view if you can do that well, you have more time to deal with more complex questions.

His maths ability got utterly turbocharged. It is now by far his favourite subject and it was worth every penny!

Do they come to your house? Yes
Do you offer refreshments? Yes, she usually has a cup of tea while working but sometimes says no
Do you give your tutor a heads up beforehand on the work you want to be covered so they can do planning/preparation/extension work or do you just show them the work when they get there? She sets all the work - it's GCSE English and she is a former teacher at my DCs school, so she knows the syllabus and requirements much better than I do
Do you pay per session on the day or at the end of the month? Monthly by bank transfer

10yo DD1 has one due to SEN needs. Sometimes she needs a bit longer to grasp a topic and other times she just needs it explained a different way in a quiet 1-2-1 space. For some specific topics that she gets very quickly, it allows her the opportunity to try harder questions that she either doesn't get offered in class or doesn't get to due a slower working pace. It used to be just for maths, but now she has 2 weeks of maths followed by 2 weeks of SPAG.
The tutor does a mixture of following the topics listed on the term's learning plan from DD's school's website, covering areas she knows DD needs specific help with, areas DD has voiced uncertainty about, and topics around what she's doing that may not be in the curriculum, but use the same skills. DD does 45 mins a week, we pay weekly and it is held at her house. The tutor is pretty relaxed if we need a week off as long as we give a week or two's notice (I think she has students always happy to take up an extra session if there's one going), and equally she will cancel occasionally if needed. We've found it has made a very positive difference to both confidence and attainment.

What your tutor will cover will depend on why you're employing them. Catching up due to illness will be different to SEN support, and 11+/GCSE prep is different again.

I'm a tutor. Pupils come to me. They're often back to back so it would be impractical for me to be the one to move about. I have my own tutor room which is well resourced. I'm quite flexible on payments, some pay after each session, some I invoice termly or monthly. I set out my terms and fees beforehand which states if they cancel with less than 24 hours notice, they still pay.

I run school holidays differently and parents sign up for a slot once I've told them my availability. I work a lot less that week but I'm busy enough in term time for it to balance out.

My son goes to a tutor too, I pay termly upfront and drop him off at her house where they work in her dining room. He gets a snack and a squash at hers. I only offer my pupils a glass of water usually.

We use a Tutor for my dyslexic DD and she has a garden room that she uses. We go to her once a week.

Jesus, calm down. You posted half an hour ago, people are busy.

Yes use a maths tutor at her house.

I tell her what the school is covering topic wise and she does lessons to reinforce what has been learnt. Also does gcse test papers and goes over any school tests which my DC might have struggled on.

My children had a tutor for the 11+ . They went to tutor house and I paid monthly.

DD15 gets maths tuition from a lovely local retired maths teacher

Tutor comes to us
We text weekly topics DD wants to cover
Tutor preps all work & gives "homework"
We pay weekly at end of session
We do term time only
Offer a drink

I worked as a tutor for 3 years when I was between contracts. I taught science A levels.
I went to the pupil's house, they or their parents usually got me a cup of tea/glass of water.
I was paid at the end of the lesson and used discretion if they cancelled. For instance one pupil had a disease which led to regular, unplanned hospital visits so I didn't charge for short notice cancellations. Another pupil cancelled short notice because she had a better offer so I charged that time.
My pupils were old enough to know where they were lacking in knowledge so could tell me what they wanted me to cover and their parents didn't get involved in that. We did a lot of exam questions.