Tester Reporting In :)
*My interest in this was based on having a very bright spark who was thoroughly demoralised by the current undermining teaching methods of a quite odd maths teacher, and OTT year 6 SATs pressure on top of problems of ill health. She has become so stressed by maths in school that she's come to hate a subject, that she has always loved and excelled in, worryingly so as it was affecting her health further. DD has already mastered the work she needs to know for SATs & more, but now feels she is "useless & stupid' and she is also very bored by repetitive learning of the same thing that she already knows well. So we were looking for confidence building and to reignite her previous love of maths by teaching her something new & stretching her abilities further.
- What did you think of the tutor and tutor matching service? Did you like it? If so, why? If not, why not?
Positives - We were also assessed by James, who telephone & spoke with both myself and my 11 year old(yr6)DD at length, whilst having us sign into the website where we could also see him and DD could do the work on the grid. He was lovely and DD had a fantastic rapport with him and she really enjoyed the assessment session she had with him, he assessed her as "exceptional" and she came away absolutely buzzing and looking forward to the lessons starting - really great start and it was so great to see here so enthusiastic again :)
Negatives - None at all with James, though the information he had, and that was repeated by others I had to contact with teething issues, was that the writing tablet Maths Doctor send out would be compatible with out MAC computer, we got closer to it working after following the MD advice to by pass the disc & just plug it in, but it wasn't accurate to write with at all & on contacting the manufacture, presuming it was just my being thick - its not MAC compatible at all - though once we knew this, we got past this pretty easily, by using either our own Graphics Tablet, or the mouse to write with, DD preferred the mouse as it was more comfortable as shes recovering from an elbow injury
*I also agree with Hamlet that the pie chart personality test is too simplified and "a load of bollocks" This is born out by the fact that we were allocated the same tutor, for similar reasons, yet had a completely different experience in that my own DD didn't gel with Holly at all, she seemed very nice, but so laid back and very hesitant with DD that
I wondered if she was recovering from a hangover I could hear that DD was getting frustrated and wasn't surprised that on completing the lesson, DD complained that she hated it and didn't want to do it again, lots of long drawn out eeerrrrms & hummmmms between questions meaning that not much was packed into this lesson - which really doesn't suit DDs punchy slightly hyper personality at all, DD also felt that Holly spoke with her as if she was a child - she is of course, but a very mature one who gels better with people who speak to her as such. So again I feel the personality test & tutor matching system could be be improved.
For DDs second lesson, she had PHILIP - who was much more suited to her personality, spoke to her as an equal & she once again came away buzzing & wanting to do it again :)
- What did you think of the online format? Did you like it? If so, why? If not, why not?
*We had some technical issues which makes this a bit difficult to fully evaluate, issues that could have been avoided if we had better info as regards what set up we needed before the start of the lessons.
We don't have a microphone on our main computer as we used Ipad for Facetime etc. so just don't need one. We are very much a MAC household & feel that, though we eventually got past this, MD do need to look into how better to serve MAC users & be much clearer in what users need to get the best performance from the site & tutors BEFORE lessons begin.
Naively I thought because James had rang us & assessed DD via the computer whilst speaking to her on the phone too, thats what would happen with the lessons - which of course wasn't the case and Holly didn't seem at all pleased to have to ring us, understandable if its her own phone bill of course, but the embarrassment & awkwardness could have been avoided with better information at the offset.
&I was also a bit put out to have follow up calls telling me to buy a microphone, quoting them as £15 on Amazon (which wouldn't have arrived quick enough anyway) or after I had complained that I wasn't happy to buy something we didn't need just to review MD, I was told I could probably buy one cheaper at about £6 close to home - again a lack of understanding of MAC computers(accessories almost always more expensive) & IMHO in the circumstances of my being a tester - pretty cheeky*
We did try to rectify this for the second lesson by digging out a PC laptop given to DD as a gift a year ago, but gathering dust as she prefers MAC too, I spent some time getting it up & running again - only to find when connection to the MD site, that the built in mic wouldn't work - though it had worked when I tested earlier
Though the MD tablet did work well with this and we found Philip to have a much better attitude to trouble shooting, in that nothing seemed to much trouble & he and DD worked out that she could hear him & reply with the chat box or pen. Though it turned out that the PC was't great, it froze & crashed, so we had to revert back to the MAC using this format of DD hearing Philip & replying using chat - which worked well - she did comment that it would have been nice to see him too though, as she could with James in the assessment, but was more than happy using chat to communicated with him and didn't feel she missed too much not having the microphone
I actually like the online format - IF it had worked better for us technically, I would have LOVED it. We live city centre, so finding & getting to a tutor are no big deal for us, but not having the hassle of inviting them into your home or having to trek out to them & being able to swap to a more suitable tutor so easily, without the embarrassment of a face to face let down, is actually pretty damned fantastic :)
- If you've had experience with face to face tutoring, how does it compare? Do you prefer it or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
No real experience of it, as I don't count, but I can see that this suits us quite well. I don't want to feel I have to invite someone into our home on days I might be feeling pretty ill & don't want to paint on a smile & be welcoming don't want to tidy up (I have chronic health problems), nor do I really want to drag us out of the house again to drop her off somewhere, even living city centre this seems just so much easier and much more accessible
- Do you think it has helped your child? If so, how?
With James & Philip, YES, definitely, she has a buzz about her having finished the sessions with James and Philip. The one SATs area DD had owned up to struggling a bit with, was remembering what was what with perimeter and area. She understands the work, just couldn't get which was which to stick in her mind, so she worried she would get these questions wrong, teaching problems at school meant she just wouldn't ask for help as the teacher was already making her feel she wasn't capable of her real level - one session with Philip and she is now very confident that she remembers it really well, and even though they covered work she knew, it was done in such a way that she still felt it exciting
- If it came up in conversation would you recommend the service to friends or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
*Yes, to PC users, yes without doubt, I would recommend it to MAC users too, but with the advice of asking in depth questions & maybe a quick trial to make sure you are happy with how it works with your own personal MAC set up.
I agree too that the rather complex pricing packages would put me off continuing, it needs to be far more flexible so that families can fit it properly around their needs. Had DD been staying in her current school, then I would have liked to been able to have a lesson maybe once a fortnight as a fun exercise to stretch her, build her confidence and to keep her fired up about maths, where the school have failed. We wouldn't need nor can afford more than that, I would struggle to afford that to be honest, but if it's keeping her buzzing, then it would be worth it
As it stands, we are hoping to get her into a new school quickly, but look likely to be home school for a short while at least, if I was more confident about the technical issues we've had been improved on and had more detailed feed back to view on what she has done each lesson (this might be available, but not with our computer set up)*
Also I think some sort of level achievement scoring system - ie, year 6 maths "perimeter and Area" - mastered, Year 9 maths ???, good etc etc would be helpful to look back on and be a good confidence booster too, DCs do love a certificate :)