Some advice/market research on tutoring Maths

[albachiara]

Hello,
we recently moved from England to Scotland. In England I used to teach Maths in a Sixth Form College (I'm a fully qualified Maths teacher), but I am not working at the moment, as I need to wait for the registration with GTC Scotland to come through. So I am thinking of offering some Maths tuition (for Intermediate, Higher, Adv. Higher).

I wanted to ask if anybody could give me advice on :

1. where to advertise/where would you look for a tutor? How would you pick the tutor?
   
2. what you, as a parent, would like to get from a tutor (I would guess lots of work on past papers, if it's in preparation for an exam; would you be ok if the tutor sets "lots of" homework for your child to do for the next lesson?)
   
3. what you really want to avoid, when choosing a tutor
   
4. how much money would you prepare to pay (per hour)
   
5. any additional comments that might be useful to be a good tutor, maybe from your experience with Maths tutors
   
   Thanks a lot for any suggestions!

[palomadove]

1. Word of mouth (I emailed around work) - so see if you can advertise in major workplaces near schools. Would go on recommendation and track record of getting kids good grades.
   
2. As you say. Would also want tutor to check work in child's school books to assess what areas he/she needs to work on
   
3. Would go on gut feeling assuming he/she has the right qualifications. Would expect him/her to be confident but not arrogant and that my child and I liked him/her
   
4. Going rate where we are (Wales) is about £25 an hour I believe

[CrosswordAddict]

Hi, I'm an English Tutor (seven years now) and I advertise locally in newsagents, post offices etc. Parish mag or local community newsletter is useful. Local newspaper is ok too but can cover too wide an area sometimes.
Charge £20 per hour.
Maths tutors are much sought-after in this area so you should do well.

[albachiara]

Thanks a lot for the feedback so far. It will be very useful!

[RoadArt]

I would go by word of mouth and reputation.

I would want the tutor to analyse all aspects of where my child is at maths, not just add/sub mult/div but all topics and explain how a Sats grade has been given on their current knowledge.

I would probably want one-to-one. We did a one-to-four and the tutor didnt have time to deal with all four children with different needs and was still charging £25 per hour for each child.

I would want them to start at the very basics and be sure they understood every step of the strategies/concepts they are learning. Many children can do harder maths but not really understand how they got there.

I would want lots of practical, physical hands on learning, not worksheets or computers. They can do computer work at home.

I would want to see written evidence in workbooks about what they have learnt, so that they have something to refer back to.

I would want honest feedback - ability, behaviour, attitude.

I would want someone that can relate to my child and that my child is comfortable with, in a pleasant working environment.

I think an hour can be too long, so it would have to be broken up into lots of fun games and activities. If the child is happy with the environment then they can cope with an hour.

Good luck with your adventure, I hope you get sorted.

[RoadArt]

Question re homework, it would depend on the format of the homework. If it was a maths activity then can do as part of the day then yes, but not to fill in lots of worksheets. As much as this helps a parent to see what a child can understand, it will really depend on how the child copes with these. SOme kids are happy with worksheets so probably individual choice.

I would like tutor to give me some games to play during the week that reinforces the topic(s) they have learnt.

If there is a computer programme that runs in conjunction with the lesson then maybe this as well.

I do think a child should practice a little bit every day though so yes I would probably expect something.

[albachiara]

Thanks again! From your comments it seems that for a parent getting some feedback from the tutor is very important. (that actually makes so much sense!)

Would you want/expect the tutor to show proof of his/her qualification/CRB check (or disclosure Scotland) at the first meeting, without having to ask him/her?

Would you expect the first lesson to be free?

Will you expect refreshments to be provided (for secondary school students)?

Anybody that can share what they liked/disliked about their own tutor experience?

Thanks again!

[RoadArt]

A tutor I know assesses the kids on the very very basics, even high school students, and if they dont know the basics, will not do the harder maths that their parents have sent their kids to her to do.

She covers Year 1 to Year 13 and works on each individual case purely based on their current skills and knowledge and works from there. She says there is no point teaching algebra if they cant add two numbers.

May be access to water, but no to food or anything else.
Maybe tea/coffee/water for parents who sit and wait?
If parents are paying for the hour they wont want their kids having a 15 minute food/drink break.

Regards to qualifications, sometimes the best qualified people are not the best teachers so they can be meaningless. Its best to work on reputation. You could maybe have a folder with everything in that parents can look at if they are interested.

With high school students, the expectations of tutoring will be different to primary and I only have experience of primary. People sending their older kids will have different expectations of what you should be doing. I expect they will want help for their kids to pass exams and older children will already have more experience of exam papers and worksheets, but I would still do a lot of hands-on practical learning.

[albachiara]

Thanks a lot RoadArt! I do think that assessing the student's level is important, but I don't want the parents to think that they are paying for that and not for some teaching (they might think that their child is not actually gaining anything during the assessment). I thought I could understand where the problems are by setting some homework, and then checking what the student could do on his own, and work together on what they can't do, and hopefully I will be able to spot where the problems are by asking them maths-related questions during the tutorial. Maybe this is exactly what you meant?

[Bobby65]

No advice, but my son has a maths tutor once a week, and it has really done wonders for his understanding of the subject and his confidence.
I think after school tutors can make all the difference, and I wish you the best of luck.

[albachiara]

Thank you Bobby65! I'll do my best !

[candleshoe]

I tutor verbal reasoning for grammar school entrance (8 years now!). Mum and I take over ninety pupils each year and we charge £36 an hour. We do not, and never have, advertised. All out pupils find us through good word of mouth.

Reputation is everything in this competitive market.

[candleshoe]

'our'

Oh dear reputation for good spelling has just gone down hill!

[Bink]

On your qualifications question, it would be great if you had it ready to show without parents asking - it will make parents think you are a professional who knows the protocol even if the parents are all at sea. (Analogy is the nanny who turns up for interview with all of her certificates ready to display in a neat little folder - HUGE confidence-raiser & selling-point.)

On homework, very important I'd say to find out what the child's school homework load is (and perhaps child's other commitments - music, sport, etc.), and to adapt accordingly. However carefully thought out the consolidating activities, if the family simply can't fit it in, it will be wasted.

If I were considering using a tutor, I would want the tutor to help me work out what was wanted from the tutoring - to get to a particular standard, to sort a particular problem, etc. - and, after the tutor's assessed the child/perhaps done a couple of sessions, to give an honest estimate of how long it might take to reach the target.

I had just a few weeks of tutoring as a teenager, to get me clear on some gaps/lack of understanding on the O level syllabus - it turned me from a potential fail into an easy unstressful A, in both maths and arithmetic.

[albachiara]

Good to hear that you think tutors can be really helpful! I once tutored a child for the 11+ exam (Maths and a little of non-verbal reasoning) and he passed! I was so happy! I did it for free (his mum was a dear friend), but it was so rewarding to hear that he had passed (and that he was so happy because of it!)

[CrosswordAddict]

albachiara Yes I have a CRB check. They cost about £25 I think.
I do give the primary school children a small drink of juice and a two-finger kitkat (with mum's permission).
The GCSE students I don't give anything at all.
Advice: Get plenty of reward stickers. Even the big lads of 17 who are resitting GCSE still love these.
All the best.

[Jacaqueen]

I'm looking for a maths tutor for my son at the moment and finding it rather difficult.

You are not in Falkirk/Stirling area are you?

Most tutors seem to be registered with an agency and you pay them rather than the tutor. Some agencies charge an introduction fee.

I want someone who can assess my son and then work with him to get him further. I would be happy to pay £25-£30 per hour. I would appreciate if the first meeting (assessment) was charged at a reduced fee, but wouldn't expect it to be. I would prefer that the lesson took place in my home. I would assume that homework would be set.

[albachiara]

Dear Jacaqueen,
I would like to help, but I'm not if Falkirk/Stirling (I'm around Glasgow). However, you/your son can email me anytime with any Maths questions and I'll be very happy to help this way (of course this is a free service! I love Maths! It's the best subjecct EVER). I'm not sure how you exchange email addresses through Mumsnet, though. I know this won't solve all the problems, but if you would like to try, I'll be here.
Best of luck.

Dear CrosswordAddict, I would never have thought of reward stickers for teenagers, but I guess that's a good idea! I know I would have liked them!

[sarahfreck]

Hi

I'm a tutor in Manchester. I've been tutoring for 5 1/2 years
In my experience there is no one source of advertising that provides most students. I do anything I can do for free (Yellow pages basic entry, some internet advertising etc) plus cheap adverts in newsagents windows if and when I need to. I don't think expensive advertising ( eg local paper) is worth it really. you can also register your details at local libraries. When I first started I worked for an agency but you have to give them so much per lesson so you make less profit - I don't need to use them now. Increasingly my students are coming by word of mouth, though I am still surprised at the proportion of enquiries I get via Yellow Pages and suchlike. If you get a good reputation, people will get to know you and you won't be short of work.

I collect a reference/testimonial from parents as I finish teaching each student. With older students you could maybe ask them to write something too. I keep these in a folder with my teaching certs, CRB check etc to show to parents of prospective students. I don't give any drinks or snacks. I don't offer a free teaching session but I am happy to meet and talk to parents and students for free first if they would like this in order to decide whether I can help.

I don't require a minimum number of lessons to be booked but my one big bit of advice would be:
Make it clear from the beginning that if a lesson is cancelled at short notice (within 48 hours) you will still charge for it. Otherwise you get all the frustrating "we decided to go to Granny's for tea" type phone calls!

[sarahfreck]

P.S - I agree that giving feedback to parents is highly important. I teach mainly younger children, but actually add another 10 minutes on after the hour session to talk to parents about what we've done, how well the child has worked etc. Obviously this wouldn't work for older children who come to you independently. Maybe in this case you could do some sort of written record, plus details of any homework? Sometimes supporting and helping the parents (especially for a child with any SpLD)can be as much a part of the work as the actual teaching IMO!

[albachiara]

Dear Sarahfreck,
thanks a lot for lots of good advice. I like the idea of testimonials from parents/students.