One of my students has a parent who keeps cancelling due to the student being ill. I know that this is true but I also know that this will be detrimental to her maths. What can I do about it?
Assessing the Student’s Health 🤒
First, you should probably qualify how sick the student is exactly. Do they still go to school? Do they go out to the movies or to their friend’s house for playtime? Try to determine whether the student is consistently too sick to have a tutoring lesson. The goal is to understand if the issue is genuinely health-related or if their attitude toward tuition is somewhat passive. **Always ensure to be respectful** and avoid implying that you doubt the student’s illness.
Communicating with Parents 🗣️
If the student is engaging in other activities, you might need to discuss with the parents the negative impact that inconsistency has on progress. Often, parents don’t realize the detrimental effects of skipping tutorials. They may want to comfort their child when they’re unwell, which is understandable and done out of love. **Forcing a child to attend a maths lesson while unwell** is typically not something parents would support. However, explaining the academic consequences might change their perspective, depending on the student’s specific challenges.
Encouraging a Proactive Attitude 💪
If the student truly is too sick to attend a tutorial, you must still encourage a serious and proactive attitude. Here are some ideas:
- Suggest an extra catch-up tutorial
- If an extra tutorial is not possible, suggest the next tutorial be 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour
- Send the student worksheets to do for homework or set other homework from their book that you would have assigned if the tutorial had taken place.
- If the student is up to date and you cannot set new work without explaining it first, then assign some revision homework that is currently relevant or target a weak content area.
- This approach helps instil the attitude that **improving maths grades is serious business**, and even when they are sick, they have work to do.
- Suggest the student sees their school teacher for additional help during recess or lunch if they miss a tutorial.
- Discuss this issue with the parent to ensure they understand why consistency is important. Ask if they have any extra suggestions to handle the situation.
