Should I get an English tutor for my child?

Why English is important

English Language is one of the two essential subjects that all students are expected to pass. Although Mathematics is equally important, the skills you develop in English Language are arguably ones which you will need throughout your life and can enable students to succeed and communicate successfully in their other subjects and in whatever they chose to do after school. Although some students don’t appreciate the value of studying texts in English Literature, the ability to read and interpret meaning in language is one which helps us all every day – not to mention the value of being able to escape our own busy lives into a fictional world. For these reasons, doing anything you can to help your child succeed in English is a worthwhile investment.

Reading Vs Screen time

In an ideal educational world, all students would be avid readers which would help them all be brilliant writers, but we all know that this is far from reality. Whilst many children do still have a keen appetite to read, a significant number are very reluctant to pick up a book, particularly a fiction book, and would prefer to spend time on their phones and computers. This can mean that their language skills suffer.

Having an English tutor is an excellent way of ensuring your child does not spend all of their time looking at a screen. A tutor can tailor sessions to appeal to the individual interests of the child in a way that a classroom teacher cannot; that might be stories which pique their curiosity, non-fiction texts on subjects they are engaged with, speeches by some of their heroes and articles on topics which interest them. By working individually with a child, a tutor should be able to engage their interest so that they start to enjoy developing their language skills – this might even help them enjoy their English lessons at school more!

Distractions at school

Classrooms can be a distracting environment for some students, and they may be missing vital parts of the subject content through their own behaviour or that of others; absence can also mean students miss key information which would have formed the foundation of the rest of their learning. For students who have fallen behind for whatever reason or who simply need a bit of extra support, getting an English tutor will help. A tutor can tailor sessions to suit the needs of the individual student, focusing on missing information or skills that the student needs in order to pass this exam at the necessary grade.

Working on a one-to-one basis with a tutor will mean that the tutor can guide the student as they work rather than just seeing the work (and mistakes!) later on when exercise books are collected in. This verbal feedback means misunderstandings and  gaps in knowledge can be dealt with and corrected immediately rather than relying on the student to read their teacher’s comments and act on them (which, in my experience, they don’t all do!)

Lack of marking in schools

The expectations of teachers continue to grow and sadly many of these obligations mean that taking books in frequently is impossible and not even required by some schools. Many schools use self and peer assessment to replace frequent teacher feedback but, whilst this might benefit some particularly reflective students, for most, this will never be as effective as a teacher thoroughly marking their work. What is the incentive for a child to invest time and effort in class or homework if it is not going to be marked promptly and properly?

Having a tutor can change this. The benefit of working one-to-one with a tutor is that they can give instant, helpful feedback directly to the student. This means every good thing that a student has done can be recognised and praised and any misconceptions or mistakes can be explained and corrected without the need for aggressive red pen marking. Having a tutor can help to build a child’s confidence and understanding, making them far more likely to flourish in the future.