By: Charisse Bacurio, August 26, 2020
Now more than ever, in these times of pandemic, parents are starting to appreciate the value of online learning. With formal schooling getting delayed, teachers having limited resources and prevalent health threats, online tutors are a godsend. Tutors can be at the core of learning. They can introduce personalized learning methods and explain complicated concepts in a manner that is easier for your child to understand. Such one-on- one learning approaches are more conducive to learning compared to a classroom setting. Choosing an online tutor who excels in boosting your child’s learning and academic competence, enhancing their self-confidence, and developing relationships of trust and respect is imperative. If you are a parent contemplating safer yet effective learning solutions for your child, hiring an online tutor is pretty much easier. Yet, what are the essential things you should consider in choosing an online tutor? Continue reading below to learn more of these considerations and some tips you could adapt before hiring an online tutor.
Is Your Child Ready For Online Learning?
It is understood that as a parent, you want nothing but the best for your child. However, before getting yourself wet with hiring an online tutor, assess your child’s readiness. For starters, try doing this recommendation.
Weigh on Your Child’s Achievements And Shortcomings Before heading off on your search for the right online tutor, first, determine why your child needs an online tutor in the first place. Each child is special and would have their unique vulnerabilities, talents, preferences, and different facets of their learning that they consider overwhelming. Being a responsible parent entails that you learn in detail what these difficulties are because they are crucial. The easiest way of determining what support your child need is by politely asking them. Talk to them about which things appear reasonable and in which they need any assistance to learn and grow. It will allow you to assess their disposition on the idea of doing homeschool and having an online tutor. Talking to your child may also be useful as your reference about how they’ll likely treat their classes, and also their interest and readiness of the homeschool set up. After taking into consideration the thing mentioned above, the next step would be to hire an online tutor. The following are the important things to consider.
1. The Learning Style of Your Child
It’s a guiding principle in education that learning is a unique experience. Thus, in choosing an online tutor, an all-inclusive strategy doesn’t work. A teacher who is ideal for others might not function the same with your child. Such a situation may be rooted in the idea that the tutor proceeds with teaching without evaluating your child’s style of learning. It should be an essential step for the tutors so they could match their teaching strategies. It is worth asking, before working with any online tutor, what their thoughts are about learning styles. Also, never forget to inquire about whether they have ways to assess how your child learns.
2. The Online Tutor’s Qualification
In finding a professional online tutor, their qualifications should be on the top of your list. Your online mentor should present some credentials whether they’re a professional or is qualified to teach the subjects. In your search, remember that online tutors can’t give your child what they don’t have. Thus, choose one with exceptional credentials—the best if possible.
3. The Online Tutor’s Experience
The ideal online tutor must have some decent experience following his/her credentials. Teaching experience is one way of ensuring that the online tutor is eligible to assist your child. It would be best if you have a sufficient background of your prospect online tutor before pressing ahead with any arrangements.
4. The Online Tutor’s Attitude
In choosing an online tutor, you should choose those who radiate an encouraging attitude towards your child. Furthermore, an online tutor must be capable of keeping your child focused, justify complex subject matters and maintain a friendly relationship with your child. Essentially, a reliable online tutor ought to learn when to commend to guarantee that your child won’t feel disappointed. Having a discussion with the online tutor as well as getting feedback from your child’s development should help you get along with your child’s learning.
5. The Online Teacher’s Availability
Finding the best possible online tutor is a good thing but making sure that they’re always available is another thing. Since most online tutors have work from home setups, their availability is something you’ll need to bring up to them. Yet, that wouldn’t be much of a hassle with present technology. Of course, you have the advantage of using communication tools, but please understand what better serves your child and be certain that the online tutor meets such needs.
6. The Online Tutor’s Affordability
Understanding your budget for an online tutor is another consideration you should take before beginning your selection process. In the Philippines, tutors charge a price ranging from PHP 100 to PHP 500 an hour depending on levels of expertise. These prices are pure average, some Filipino tutors charge exorbitant rates per lecture, somewhere between PHP 500 to PHP 1000 an hour. That sounds like a fair average price though especially if the subjects are complex and the tutor is highly skilled.
7. The Online Tutor’s Punctuality
Most freelance tutors charge parents based on the number of hours they do classes. With every teaching moment, you’ll pay by a certain duration of time, be it 1 hour, 30 minutes etc. Your online tutor must be punctual and always be timely in starting the class and ending it with the time that has been agreed. You don’t need another tutor showing up 5 minutes late and still wrapping up before they are meant to. If that happens, you’ll end up not getting the value of your money.
8. The Online Tutor’s Character References
How would you know if our prospect online tutor is reliable or not? Ask someone who knows them personally or those who they have worked with previously. This is where character references are a must. An exemplary and effective online tutor should be able to provide you with information about someone to ask about their character for your validation. Contact information from former students, a student’s parent, or a coworker is a good starting point. If in any case, the prospect online tutor couldn’t provide you with references, you should be vigilant and choose another online tutor.
The Bottomline
Beyond the qualifications and expertise of your potential online tutor, the far more critical aspect you need to do is communicate to the mentor about your child’s struggles. After all, educating a child should not be monopolized by the teacher alone. The holistic development of your child requires collaborative efforts as well as support, and that includes you and the online tutor.
Mentioned above are points to consider in choosing an online tutor plus tips on how to succeed in doing so. Adopting these suggestions will help you transcend the challenges to continuous learning brought about by the global pandemic.
We at Chalkboard are with you towards this end. We envision on developing your child’s intellects and honing their skills so as they’ll be grounded and resilient enough to face the changing world on their own. Allow us to help.
