A student’s parents want to stop tutoring after his exam but i think he needs to continue as we’ve only really just begun and i feel he will just forget everything and go back to how he was before.
It is probably a good idea to speak with the parents and understand what they wanted to achieve from the maths tutoring in the first place and their reasons for wanting to cancel the tuition. Perhaps they only wanted to cram some information in for this specific exam or give him a bit of a confidence boost. Although this type of goal doesn’t do much (if any) long term benefit, we must respect the client’s wishes.
Sometimes parents and/or students just don’t understand the way education works and get distracted from the big picture by small relatively insignificant events like end of term exams. Most parents want the best for their children, especially in terms of education so the problem may be that they are not fully aware of the benefit the tutoring is giving their child or the benefit it is capable of giving. In their mind the benefit may be that you came over and answered all his questions before an exam – that’s it. If you want parents to appreciate the potential of tutoring you may need to explain it to them:
- It helps to create the habit of studying and being responsible of your own grades
- It prevents students from falling behind in class when the miss school or come across a super-challenging topic
- Tutors help students develop the right learning skills that serve them across all academic endeavours and generally in life:
- managing time
- creating time schedules/plans to prepare for events like exams
- problem solving skills
- formatting and working out skills on paper
- self motivation
- etc… the list goes on!
- ultimately all these points contribute to healthy grades and a healthy confidence which serves students across the board! There is so much more to gain from tutoring than a boost in grades for some random test!
As a tutor it’s part of your job to advise clients about what is the best thing for them. If you believe tutoring over the holidays and into the next term could benefit your student, or that you have “just started” and stopping now could undo the progress made thus far; then it’s your responsibility to make this clear to the client.
Ensure you thoroughly explain your reasons for this and that it is in their best interests. Clearly present your opinion and ideas to the client. Work together with your client to come up with a solution that you are both happy with. For example, they may want to do only a single lesson every two weeks next term if tutoring is not affordable for them or if they can’t find the time for it. This way all won’t be forgotten, more progress will be made and it will be more affordable for them.
At the very least you might be able to put a plan together for the student whereby they see their teacher for help on a regular occasion and have a tutoring session with you only once per month to maintain some momentum.
