To think we have wasted our money on this tutor,

[Britishsunnygardens]

DC has been with an online maths tutor for 2 years and only achieving 2 in GCSE mocks. I asked the tutor what is the likelihood of DC achieving at 4 and he said there is hope but he will likely get a 2 or 3.

He is probably not practicing as much as he should; but he is doing ok on the other subjects so something isn’t working for DC with maths; maybe the fact is s online or the methodology the teacher is using doesn’t work for DC. I blamed myself for not being more on top of it; but maybe the tutor should have mentioned this before.

I just feel we have wasted thousands of pounds there.

why are you blaming the tutor when your sons not doing the work?
Spending money doesn’t buy the results! Work is needed too!

If it’s been two years, I would have expected regular communication and progress reports. If that wasn’t happening, I would have been asking for them. What about school reports? Surely there must have been those, plus parent evenings, where you could discuss progress.

I think both sides should have been more forthcoming about this and it sounds as though your son hasn’t been putting in the effort as much as he needs to. Or maybe maths is just real,y difficult for him.

Depends on what you mean by "wasted". We're you wanting your son to get top marks and you thought you could pay for that?

The tutor can only work with what the child they are given. If your son isn't particularly adept at Maths then maybe the tutor has saved them from an even lower grade.

And if your son isn't going to keep up with the revision and homework set then the tutor's input is limited. And that isn't the tutor's responsibility.

Arguably, the tutor should have been communicating with you about your child's progress. Was it written into the contract that you could expect progress tracking/a review of their expectations etc? Did you ever ask after your child's predicted grades? Is your child in school because schools also usually share predicted grades.

Can you explain exactly what the tutor has done wrong?

You don't buy a higher grade when you hire a tutor. What is your DS doing to improve his grade? He spends more time in maths lessons at school than he does with his tutor, what's happening there? What are his school reports like?

I really don't believe online tutors are as effective as in-person one-to-one tutoring with the right tutor. Sometimes a lack of effort can be due to a failure to understand and maybe your DS just isn't grasping the necessary concepts - that in itself will be demotivating for him. I think you need to try and find out what the problem is before you can hope to resolve it.

You do understand that your dc has to actually put the work in? A tutor won’t magically give him a better grade. Be angry at your son for wasting your money, not the tutor!

Make sure he is practising as much as he should then. You haven't said your DC's age or year group, but given it's June now, I assume he has most of a year at least, because if he was year 11 he would have done his exams, so the soonest he could be doing them is May 2027. With a tutor there's time to turn things around in a year if he tries hard.

You have let it go on for two years but not instilled good strategies to reinforce the sessions. It may be that online sessions less engaging than in-person. What year is your dc? If they are doing well in other subjects such as science there is potential to pass if they apply what they are taught.

My daughter has had a maths tutor online this year. She has homework after each session. I email before each session to tell her what to work on and ask for feedback. You only get out what you put in.

DD missed a lot of secondary school. At the start of year 11 she was predicted a 2.
i made her do sparx maths with me every single day. She was going to some lessons and getting some tutor time on top.
Really the tutor time should be to go through specific issues they don’t understand in depth, on top of that he needs to practice and practice! Maths is a big subject there is lots to learn and retain.
DD got a 5.

Your ds has been attending school for a number of years and is struggling with maths
Yet you expect an online tutor to do in two years what the school has not managed to do
Paying for tutors is pointless if the child is not going to put any effort into the subject .
However I would expect the tutor to write a termly report on your ds’s progress
I think in person tutoring is more effective for some children

Some people are just not that good at maths and you really can’t blame teachers or tutors. It is not just a case of paying and you will get a good grade.
Have you actually sat down with your son and gone through his school maths with him to get an understanding of what he can’t do?

Thank you all.

I think there are various issues

The fact that is online. I think DC needs the physical presence.

DC not practicing enough; but I genuinely think he has not grasped some concepts so finding hard when he try to do the work,

Not enough communication from tutor and feedback.

Me, not being on top of it due to work commitments and burnout last year; but that has changed so definitely being more on top of it.

Probably tutor methodology isn’t working for DC.

DC is in year 10
The tutor is a qualified teacher.

Congratulations to your daughter. How much time did you do?

Year 10

Doing well in science, english and other subjects

Just found out his school was allowing mobiles in classroom which they are stopping now.

I’m an ex teacher.

I once tutored a lad who didn’t want to put any work in. He came to the sessions but did nothing else. He failed both resits (his mum came to me after he got a 3 in the real thing).

somewhat embarrassedly (we were friends) she asked if I was ok with her trying another tutor the next year. I was very happy.

he was with that guy for another year and another two resits and he failed both of those as well (got 3 both times),

tutors are not miracle workers.

in maths the thing that makes the most difference is daily practice at the level they need (ie no point practising 2 + 2)

get your child on drfrost maths or sparks maths or whatever the school has and do 5 mins a day.

But as pp pointed out the tutor is not there to teach new material but go over weak areas and reinforce class learning. Does your dc bring to the sessions the work he is finding difficult?

So has he admitted being on his mobile and not paying attention to the work?

I have tutored before and if I thought a student was likely to get a 2 or 3, and knew they were not doing the work between sessions and the parents' didn't insist they did, then I;d tell the parents it wasn't working out and was a waste of money after a year. You need a year to really cover the material, understand their learning style and weaknesses and do your best to inspire them to get better. But if nothing has improved in 12 months, the tutor should make this clear.

Yes. I think the tutor should have been more clear and upfront.

Is it just laziness on your DC's part? He's never been diagnosed or suspected to have Dyscalculia?

Not, he has not

There was an email from school this week; from the maths teacher. He only started in year 10 there. Not sure whether DC has used mobile or not; but maths at his school isn’t great. Many parents are paying tutors

Not long. 15 minutes. I think the repetition makes a difference.
sometimes we would make note of something she could not work out to take the tutor in school.