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Would a tutor be of help to DS?

6 replies

raindropsonwindows · 09/08/2019 14:38

DS is just about to go into Yr3. He is young for his year and has always been at the bottom end of the normal range for hitting any developmental targets. He is at a the local primary school in a class of 30 with a few children who are "spirited" and a couple with additional needs but only a few hours of additional dedicated support. DS seems to be popular with both peers and teachers. He is very well behaved and works really hard.
Every year, I get called in a few times as there are concerns around how he is getting on. By the end of the year, he has always met expectations other than in maths where he has always been exceeding. Due to a few inconsistencies in how he seems to learn, we paid for him to be assessed by an ed psych this year who find him to be completely average (which was great news!).
When concerns were raised in spring this year, we arranged for him to spend 30mins a week with a tutor from September (no one had any spaces before then). I'm now wondering if it is really necessary. A bit of me thinks that surely it will be helpful to have some 1:1 attention and things may click a bit faster for him which will generally improve his classroom experience. But then there's the time, cost and logistics.

OP posts:
likeafishneedsabike · 23/08/2019 22:55

Sounds to me like you’d be better putting in some time with him yourself. DS1 struggles a bit with Maths (meets age expectations by the skin of his teeth) so we have been using workbooks with some excellent YouTube videos to explain the bits he gets stuck on. I’m no mathematician by any means but the resources exist and we use them together. Plus, we only do 10 minutes at a time, maybe 15 minutes if we get stuck, and this is plenty. Half an hour with a tutor might be a bit intense!

sparkla · 24/08/2019 07:43

I think the time is right for a year 3 child. My dd is going into year 5 and does an hour a week (11+ work).

VashtaNerada · 24/08/2019 07:52

It might be worth waiting a bit and seeing how he gets on with Y3 - different teacher, different content etc. This may be the year he finds his feet! If you do go for a tutor I would advise (as a teacher myself) being very honest about it and saying “We’ve decided to get him a tutor. What do you advise the tutor focuses on?”. That way parent, teacher and tutor are all on the same page and he won’t get mixed messages.

Beechview · 24/08/2019 07:56

I think for yr 3, do stuff at home.
Carry on reading lots, both you reading to him and him reading to you.
Get him on an online maths site. There are some free ones and some you pay for. We did maths factor which we found quite good for solidifying the basics.
He can do a bit every day. 10-15 mins a day will be more worthwhile than 30 mins a week with a tutor.
Get a timestable workbook so his times tables are really strong.

Watch documentaries with subtitles so he’s reading the more challenging words.
Read websites like Newsround and talk about what he’s read.
An understanding of the world will really improve his comprehensive skills, critical thinking skills and emotional intelligence.

Namenic · 24/08/2019 08:06

I’d agree with people saying putting time in yourself if you can. There are some puzzle-type books that can be fun

Halo1234 · 24/08/2019 08:14

I think it will be money and time well spent. I have just signed my 7 year old up for 90min tutoring session in an education. There will be a teacher and 4 pupils. I think class sizes are just too big. And even with the best teacher in the world they will be getting very little individual teaching time. Spend a year getting the basics right now and and he will be in a good place to move forward with the rest of his education.
You could do it yourself at home but if he is anything like my son it's hard to get them to focus and the evenings seem to run away with us and we rush to fit it in. I like the thought of have 1.5 hours in a school like setting with a teacher who knows how to show him. I think it would benefit any child. Those ahead average and behind.

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