Online tutoring

[incywincybitofa]

Owing to some phrases of a teacher who is no longer teaching anywhere my son is convinced he is rubbish at Maths. He spent a year and a bit making no progress in maths.
We moved him, and this school say he freezes in the lessons and tells them he can't do it- he isn't talented etc, they say he has missed out on a few key areas but he is catching up. So I was wondering if a tutor would help but finding a recommended one in the times we can do has proven impossible, he is seven and I want something fairly friendly to boost his skills and confidence.

He is very enthusiastic about the sciences and apparently does well
Plays chess at school
Loves investigating things
Can program a little bit
Is still convinced he can't do maths

Which has made me wonder about an online tutoring service
Can anyone share experiences of using them?

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Hello, this thread is a little old. You can find more up-to-date Mumsnetter recommendations in our round-up of the best online tutoring services (and other online learning resources). MNHQ.

I don't know about online tutoring, but this free website is really good for maths, computer programming and science.

www.khanacademy.org/

Thanks Irvine
The Khan site is brilliant but I think he needs something more interactive that will show him his maths is getting better. He doubts me.
I was looking at the Times tutoring service

Have you actually used the site?
My ds enjoy collecting badges and it shows how many % you have mastered the section etc. You get badge for completing each skill, getting right answer X times in row etc. It's very interactive. You can ask questions online as well.
My ds learned basic programming( javascript, html, css, SQL, jQuery) when he was seven.
Also partner content is great, especially science related.

The science and programming aren't the problem he knows he can do those, just wont accept he can try at Maths

Maths is the best feature on this site. You can actually learn from 1 + 1 to algebra, calculus, trigonometry etc level. My ds is in yr3 learning up to around yr6,7+ level all by himself.

Sounds like you work for them? Hope I'm wrong!

friendofafriend, ha ha! I wish I did! I don't have the brain.

I still think he needs something different- and I think that is OK for me to keep looking Irvine

incy, Of course you are! I am not forcing anybody to use anything. Sorry if I gave you that impression. I didn't mean to.

Hi Incywincy. From your post and the age of your son I completely understand that you will want a human being at the other end interacting with him to coax his inherent ability. The monologue-style websites are probably not appropriate. There are also interactive online maths tuition services such as Maths Whizz but even these do not involve one-to-one personal tutoring by a human tutor so they are probably also not ideal at the moment.

I have experience of online tutoring - I have tutored online to older pupils (year 7 to year 10) but hopefully some of my insight is relevant to a 7 yo. One of the challenges is engagement: computers can be very distracting media for a pupil, especially a young pupil. A tutor will often use an interactive white/blackboard to express ideas via the internet and it is important for the pupil to remain engaged, follow the work and feed back regularly and effectively if they don't understand. There's no doubt that the computer screen acts as a barrier to normal human interaction and it can take time for a pupil to lower any barriers they have so that real progress can be made. I would recommend that you also participate for the first few sessions and expect the rate of progress to increase over time as a relationship develops and the pupil becomes familiar with the technology (and the tutor's sense of humour).

I have come across some online tutors that I found very impressive - partly because some really good tutors are also constrained in the times-of-day and times-of-week they can tutor so it benefits both tutors and pupils. I certainly value online tutoring and I feel the pupils I have helped have made good progress.

In terms of finding a tutor, I use tutorhub though I'm not sure how well they cater for primary age. Best of luck.

We've used My Tutor Web, but for AS level maths and physics. It seems to have helped. Not sure whether it would be any good for younger students though.

Thanks both of you- your post was really informative deouynt2.
I think I shall have a look at Tutorhub
Also thanks to the poster who PMd me that was useful as well

My son is using an online tutor who was recommended to me by a friend. Like your DS, my son thinks he is bad at maths and his self-confidence really hit rock bottom. But he seems much more confident and happier now after I got him this tutor. Apparently, he likes the riddles and the fun way this tutor conducts his lessons, and that caught his interest. Let me know if you want his contact and I will pass it to you.

I know you would rather find a tutor but in the meantime Squeebles is a really fun app that definitely boosted my DC's confidence.
Do you have a local University? Sounds like either someone doing teacher training might work as a tutor and might have more flexible hours. Or a local TA?

I would say ask school for his targets - and have a look at how you interact at home and the language you use - a lot of children struggle with understanding maths language and learning a new area -

You are well placed to make a difference using small changes

There are plenty of books in the shops that can help

Manga High is a good targeted website - so he can see changes

Sounds like he needs a confidence boost rather than a tutor -

We have used Conquer Maths in the past. It isn't tutoring as such but there are tutorials for each topic, worksheets that you then record your answer on, it stores your progress and you get certificates every so often. Really worth the money.