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Original poster

TUTORING CHILDREN THOUGHTS....

209 replies

bijou3 · 27/02/2012 09:53

Is IQ genetic or environmental?

With so many parents opting to Tutor their children for entrance into Grammar or selective independent schools one has to wonder if Grammar schools are selecting the boroughs brightest or are they selecting the boroughs best trained?

Do parents worry about the consequences of tutoring their children for highly selective schools and the possible repercussions that may develop over time if a child is unable to keep up?

How can we as parents gauge how good a school is if most of the parents are tutoring their children?

OP posts:
JugglingWithTangentialOranges · 27/02/2012 16:08

Completely agree that kids need loads of time to play - and run around being active too !

Playing is basically how children learn

"Play is a child's work" as someone once said.

SoupDragon · 27/02/2012 16:11

I think that nurture enhances what nature has already given the child.

ReallyTired · 27/02/2012 16:46

"Play is a child's work" as someone once said.

I think that changes as the child gets older. Young children definately learn through play, but I think that gets less as the child gets older.

Depends a lot on the age of the child. Lets assume our children are awake for 14 hours day. There is plenty of time for both work and play. An hour and twenty minutes a week of tutoring still leaves plenty of time to play. Often the children enjoy good tutoring.

"I think that nurture enhances what nature has already given the child."

Completely agree

richmal · 27/02/2012 17:06

Without an education, no child will be able to pass the 11 plus. Whether they have been to a better school, been taught by their parents or had a tutor, if they pass the exam they have demonstrated they have gained that level of academic ability and so deserve that place. There is no such thing as a level playing field.

I think there is significant evidence to suggest education does increase IQ. However even if it does not, teaching a child will improve their academic ability.

seeker · 27/02/2012 18:15

Gabid- your 6 year old does 90 minutes of school work outside school time? Really?

SoupDragon · 27/02/2012 18:27

My 6 year old does fuck all school work outside of school time. Which is as it should be.

horsesforcourses1 · 27/02/2012 18:35

A mum at our school hired an IT specialist to do her 9 year old child?s project.

The worlds gone mad if you ask me !!!

stargirl1701 · 27/02/2012 18:53

There are genetic and environmental components. IQ is not fixed. Epigenitic markers on the genes activate on response to environmental factors. These chemical markers are influenced by the previous 3 generations.

Very interesting Radio 4 documentary on this subject last year. Worth listening to if it is still available.

mumzy · 27/02/2012 19:31

Having just gone through this process I would say if you wanted your dc in a super selective gs or a top indie then they need to be a grade 5 across the board ( English, maths, writing) by end of year 5 and working towards level 6 in all areas by the time they take 11+ in january of year 6. At gs which takes top 25% of pupils or less academic indie then level 4a across the board by end of year 5 and working towards level 5 in year 6. Dc from state schools do require tutoring for ss gs and top indies because the 11+ exam contains topics they would not have covered in class and they definitely don't get enough practice in essay writing and punctuation, grammar, spellings. Most state primaries will also not teach pupils beyond level 5 for maths and English as level 6 is seen as for secondary school despite the level being achievable for the top 5%. Academic private preps teach their pupils 1 year ahead of their state school counterparts and do loads more practise so a child from there will be working towards level 6 by the time they take11+. I don't think you can tutor a child beyond their capacity. When we were tutoring ds he could do work a year ahead of his actual age but not 2 years ahead as his brain has to go through further development for that to happen. Once we identified he could pass 11+ Tutoring for us meant teaching him additional stuff he needed for the exam, practising exam questions regularly, teaching and practising exam technique. Throughout the whole 6 month process he still did his after school activities, had lots of free time and it was pretty relaxed. However I know another family who are desperate for their ds to get a scholarship at the local indie and he does extra work at lunchtime, weekends and after school on top of which he also has to practise 2 instruments. IMO that's far to much.

gabid · 27/02/2012 19:54

seeker - 1/2 hour in the morning and 1/2 hour in the evening = 1 hour. Yes, that includes HW, reading and spellings.

seeker · 27/02/2012 20:16

Ypu'r post read as if you do an hour in the morning- sorry. An hour is still too much - he's 6!

gabid · 27/02/2012 20:22

Yes, we are working to capacity. As I posted earlier, he was behind in maths, doing Y1 stuff - now 6 months later, he has moved up 3 groups and is doing well. Still, he doesn't listen well in school and he doesn't work well independently - sorry, I won't leave him at the bottom.

AllPastYears · 27/02/2012 20:29

Entrance tests don't measure IQ. Yes, you need to be intelligent to do well, but nearly all kids can improve their scores with a few weeks' practice - ergo, it's not just innate ability they're measuring, nor even general education.

roundtable · 27/02/2012 20:30

I think schools should have to declare what percentage of their children are tutored and that should affect their status in relation to results attained.

It would be interesting to see if it would change the way some schools were perceived, especially inner chitty where many parents can't afford tutoring.

SoupDragon · 27/02/2012 20:36

And how would they find out that percentage? It relies on parents being honest and of a standard definition of "tutoring"

LeQueen · 27/02/2012 20:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Avoc · 27/02/2012 20:46

I have tutored since conception. Not so much in utero as in tutero (did you see what I did there :)?) My children are now in the early stages of primary school and we're currently working through interview techniques and CV-writing.

Because I am so dim, and IQ is genetic, this is likely to be of little value to them, but I try anyway because I am a misguided helicopter parent tiger mother.

ReallyTired · 27/02/2012 20:52

I don't think what gabid is doing is that outrageous. I am sure her son has plenty of time to play. I am sure he just spends less time on the Xbox/ PC/ Nindeno DS/ Wii/ TV/ Internet/ other screen device than other six years olds.

gabid is giving her ds a future. She is making sure that her six year old son grasps the basics to develop educationally. 20% of children leave primary school with an inadequate level of literacy to cope with secondary school. Sadly many of these children are condemed to a life of menial work and limited opportunities. They are completely and utterly unemployable.

I am sure that the reason that gabid pushes her son is that she wants him to be employable when he is older.

richmal · 27/02/2012 20:52

Perhaps one solution would be for grammar schools to take the same top percentage from each of their state catchment schools. Just a thought.

roundtable · 27/02/2012 21:07

Not sure soup, I'm no mathematician! It would rely on parents being honest which would be tricky.

However, with a parent that tutors, it's interesting what sort of schools in my area expect their children to be tutored and how poor and narrow the teaching is from these supposed 'top' schools.

Many of these schools are already fee paying which seems ludicrous.

racingheart · 27/02/2012 21:12

I don't understand the issue against tutoring. I don't understand why people think it's either slave driving or having a lovely childhood. It's perfectly possible to have both. My DC start with a tutor mid yr 5. They have 2-3 pieces of homework set by the tutor each week and 2-3 minutes of homework set by the school each week.

Their social life makes me weep with envy. Plenty of time for bashing each other over the head with Nerf guns as well as watching Simpsons, playing rugby, doing wheelies up and down the front street, having sleepovers, seeing every trashy kids movie local Odeon churns out etc.

The homework for the tutor eats into about 2-3 hours per week of watching Youtube videos. No sad loss.

Migsy1 · 28/02/2012 08:00

Why do people worry about not keeping up in a grammar? Surely GCSEs are the same whether they are sat in a comp or a grammar????

SoupDragon · 28/02/2012 08:10

Because the pupils in a grammar will be aiming for, say, 10A*s and will be working at that level.

seeker · 28/02/2012 08:15

And remember, certainly in Kent, the choice is not between grammar and Comprehensive- it's between grammar and High School.

Cortina · 28/02/2012 11:30

Everyone should be aiming for 10 A*s unless there's a good reason why not IMO. If you can get a B you can broadly get an A although many disagree. The grammars I know well have sets anyway. What's wrong with aiming very high?