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Will you be happy to pay £30 for 30 mins private tutor with twinkl print out

30 replies

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:29

I found this lady with good cv for creative writing. She is nice .
I am happy until I found out her homework is print out from twinkl . Now I don’t know what to think .

Another group zooming lesson is much cheaper £25 for 1 hour . And no twinkle but a proper book on amazon and then comprehension all based on this book . Once book finished then a new book next .

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Eslteacher06 · 06/02/2022 14:35

Doesn't matter what the material is, if she's a good teacher, she will provide a good depth of understanding from any material.

I can walk into a classroom with nothing or one sheet and do a 2 hour lesson and really help the learners understand. I do use books too but I've observed people teaching from a book and not stop when there's misunderstanding. That's not good either.

What is the tutor teaching?

soapboxqueen · 06/02/2022 14:37

A group session over zoom is always going to be cheaper than a 1:1 in person.

I'm not sure why you think a worksheet (wherever it is from) would be worse than a textbook since surely you are paying for the tutors time and knowledge.

As a teacher I've used textbooks (rarely), workbooks, scheme worksheets, internet worksheets and those I've created myself (sometimes literally by hand with a pencil).

Sometimes you can't find what you need in a book.

If this tutor comes with good recommendations then it wouldn't put me off.

Pimpernella · 06/02/2022 14:38

Would you prefer her to handwrite the homework sheet?

HPmagic · 06/02/2022 14:38

I pay £30 for a one hour private lesson for my daughter with an excellent teacher. She uses her own materials. I would not be happy with what you have offered.

daisyjgrey · 06/02/2022 14:39

The resource isn't important. It's how good she is as a teacher, and that it's 1:1 that matters.

SunnySomer · 06/02/2022 14:40

Depending what she is using from Twinkl it could be fine. There is some excellent material on there and some weaker stuff. I know a teacher whose IT scheme of work is on Twinkl and it’s superb. People assume it’s a lazy option but that isn’t necessarily the case.

bonfireheart · 06/02/2022 14:42

I think £30 for 30 mins is expensive regardless of the worksheets, but this is MN where I've seen people say they pay £50 for 30 mins so what do I know? DD13 tutor has written Maths books, has a YouTube channel and still only charges £20 for 1:1 tutoring for an hour.

MrsTophamHat · 06/02/2022 14:46

Completely depends on how it's being used. There is a very anti- textbook/ worksheet sentiment sometimes in education at times but the fact is that practising a skill you've just learned over and over is important. What's the difference really of her using a ready made one from twinkl or creating an pretty much identical one herself?

bonfireheart · 06/02/2022 14:47

Just saw its for creative writing...that is hard to teach from a worksheet so she is most likely using it to spark ideas in DC and building on it from there.

bonfireheart · 06/02/2022 14:48

The group zoom sounds awful tbf.

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:49

@HPmagic

I pay £30 for a one hour private lesson for my daughter with an excellent teacher. She uses her own materials. I would not be happy with what you have offered.
I didn’t like twinkl myself as there are so many better ones out there . But twinkl is free for her obviously so she may as well get the most out of it .

To be honest, there are so many topics on MN Debateing twinkl vs no twinkl in the school .

But this is paid private tuition. So I am confused and trying to digest this .

And she keeps telling me she has a foreigner kid who just got off the boat and now into a prep one of the princes went to.
( which is not our British dream really )

Maybe she telling me as she feels I am an immigrant therefor I can relate to this story automatically.

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Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:49

@bonfireheart

The group zoom sounds awful tbf.
We can’t find human in real life does 1-1 . They are hard to find . Or a long waiting list . SW LONDON .
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bonfireheart · 06/02/2022 14:52

"Just got off the boat" is offensive.

We've had luck with 1:1 online tutors via FirstTutors and MyTutor.

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:52

@bonfireheart

Just saw its for creative writing...that is hard to teach from a worksheet so she is most likely using it to spark ideas in DC and building on it from there.
For creative writing . She gives a picture . Then we fill in verb adjective nouns .. Then sentence then para etc etc .

For homework just twinkl comprehension .

This is 1-1 zooming by the way

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RamblingFar · 06/02/2022 14:53

There's a very anti-Twinkl bias in education.

Would a homework task set from a book or other source be more acceptable? Why? Homework is only valid and helpful if it reinforces what was taught. If the Twinkl sheet covers reinforcing the lesson points, then it should be just as acceptable as any other source.

There is a lot of being seen to need to reinvent the wheel in education. If a commercial resource fits the lesson aims, then there is no point reproducing it. Some lessons do do personalising and tweaking (as an aside, Twinkl actually has a tool for producing customised resources), some really dont. Sometimes it makes sense for a teacher to produce their own resources for a task, sometimes they can use their knowledge to find an ideal prepared resource. Creating everything themselves doesn't make them a good teacher, it's more likely their spending too long on the resourcing and not on making a great lesson in my experience. If the Twinkl/other resource matches the lesson aims, then great; if it's just been printed off because it's roughly about the same topic, then that's when there should be a concern.

There are different qualities of worksheets, for different purposes. Some fill in the gaps/answers sheets aren't brilliant. However, there are some tasks where the sheets can be much better/clearer. Teaching time/shapes was one I always like online resources for. Their illustrators/publishers could produce much clearer sheets than me.

(The above is all ignoring the issue that Twinkl do not permit their resources to be used commercially in the first place).

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:53

@bonfireheart

"Just got off the boat" is offensive.

We've had luck with 1:1 online tutors via FirstTutors and MyTutor.

Thank you . I will try her another 2-3 times. Then will go decide with my intuition .
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bonfireheart · 06/02/2022 14:55

As an ex-teacher I used Twinkl alongside CGP textbooks to homeschool DD during lockdown and I thought it was OK. But I do realise that's me doing it myself rather than paying someone to :)

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 14:58

@bonfireheart

As an ex-teacher I used Twinkl alongside CGP textbooks to homeschool DD during lockdown and I thought it was OK. But I do realise that's me doing it myself rather than paying someone to :)
Thanks. I bought 1000 books and trying to teach myself . But as you surely can tell, english is my first language . so I am not confident enough . I am paying for being not confident . But maths no problems for us . Not a penny spent so far .
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Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 15:00

I have 10-20 paid apps . 1000 paid books .
Huge free £ video resource cbbc ox owl.. oak academy etc
So I feel confused when I see twinkl from her.
This is just the 2nd lesson. I will observe her more in next few sessions.

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PaulGallico · 06/02/2022 15:02

We paid for my DD to have maths tuition for GCSE - paid much less than £60 per hour (I am assuming that is what you pay overall all) - We don't live in the SE but that is a ridiculous amount for a Twinkl sheet. Our tutor made and adapted resources for our DD. I think the tutor knows she is a scarce resource and is charging accordingly.

TheHoptimist · 06/02/2022 15:11

@RamblingFar

There's a very anti-Twinkl bias in education.

Would a homework task set from a book or other source be more acceptable? Why? Homework is only valid and helpful if it reinforces what was taught. If the Twinkl sheet covers reinforcing the lesson points, then it should be just as acceptable as any other source.

There is a lot of being seen to need to reinvent the wheel in education. If a commercial resource fits the lesson aims, then there is no point reproducing it. Some lessons do do personalising and tweaking (as an aside, Twinkl actually has a tool for producing customised resources), some really dont. Sometimes it makes sense for a teacher to produce their own resources for a task, sometimes they can use their knowledge to find an ideal prepared resource. Creating everything themselves doesn't make them a good teacher, it's more likely their spending too long on the resourcing and not on making a great lesson in my experience. If the Twinkl/other resource matches the lesson aims, then great; if it's just been printed off because it's roughly about the same topic, then that's when there should be a concern.

There are different qualities of worksheets, for different purposes. Some fill in the gaps/answers sheets aren't brilliant. However, there are some tasks where the sheets can be much better/clearer. Teaching time/shapes was one I always like online resources for. Their illustrators/publishers could produce much clearer sheets than me.

(The above is all ignoring the issue that Twinkl do not permit their resources to be used commercially in the first place).

Quite right to be anti Twinkle

Most of it is awful- the images where they choose 1 face shape and then add racial stereotypical features is an example.
They advertise out for experienced teachers to write resources and pay less than for an NQT. That says it all

Piapiauno · 06/02/2022 15:13

She is 75 a hour . That’s why we do 30 mins.

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Blackberrybunnet · 06/02/2022 15:13

£60 per hour is a reasonable fee - how much do you pay your plumber/electrician/mechanic? The tutor still has to prep the lesson outside of this time, and also mark and offer feedback on the twinkle homework. The tutor also has to know your child's needs to select appropriate material from twinkl. You are paying for the whole package - not just for the 30 mins tutor spends with child.

Mummyoflittledragon · 06/02/2022 15:37

If you are paying for online lessons, you don’t have to find someone local. Maybe try googling online tutors in cities 50 plus miles away. The Midlands or East Coast for example will probably be far cheaper. DD’s tutor is £30 an hour and she came highly recommended. She is excellent. I am glad I listened in as I had my questions answered. Eg Does the person engage and explain in an age appropriate way so that the concepts are grasped, put into practice and lead to progression?

WonderfulYou · 06/02/2022 15:37

The resource isn't important. It's how good she is as a teacher, and that it's 1:1 that matters.

I agree.

As a teacher most of my resources are hand done/computer done by myself as I find it easier to use.

However if someone has already done something very similar on Twinkl or Tes etc then I’d absolutely use that as why not if it serves the exact same purpose?