10 Checklists Before You Engage a Tutor

Jan 31, 2014

Every parent wants the best for their children. The same goes when it comes to selecting a tutor.

In this article, we have prepared for you the 10 checklists that you go through before hiring a tutor.

1. Decide the best tutoring time for your children

It is possible that your children already have a packed schedule; what with school homework, piano class, swimming lesson and tae-kwon-do practice. Therefore, it is important that you ensure the selected time is not at the time when your children are tired. After selecting a perfect time, you will need to double-check with the potential tutors whether your selected time is working well with their schedules.

2. Settle logistics issue – your place or tutor’s place

Some parents prefer tutors to teach their children at home. It saves more time and money since they won’t have to commute to the tutor’s house and pay for the car’s petrol. Besides, they can closely monitor the tutor and ensure that the tutor is teaching in the best conduct possible. If you choose the tutor’s place, you will have to put the relevant costs (e.g. time, money) into consideration.

3. Do research and set pricing

Another thing to do before you engage a tutor is to set the price. You might have to do some research and figure out what’s the current market price for hiring a tutor. You should also know that some tutors might charge by the hour and some, by fixed payment. After having some knowledge on your price, try to choose a tutor who can teach your children within your budget and yet, not compromising the quality of teaching.

4. Find a tutor with the best educational background or teaching experience

The tutor that you’re about to select should have a good educational background in the subjects that you select. He should have a deep passion and interest in the subjects too. The last thing you want is a half-hearted tutor to be teaching your children. You should also check whether the tutor has a relevant teaching experience. This is to ensure that the tutor is teaching the correct examination’s materials.

5. Find a tutor who is kids-friendly or comfortable around teenagers

Some parents might not take this seriously but this aspect can play some roles in the comfort and well-being of your children. It is actually important to have a person who is comfortable being around children or teenagers, who can interact well with them and can have empathy at the time when your children are not in the best mood to study. Impatient tutors might not be able to handle this kind of situations well.

6. Find a tutor who is fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and English

In high schools, several subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Physics or Chemistry are being taught in English. In order to familiarize your children with the English terms used in the subjects, it is wiser to hire a tutor who can speak both Bahasa Malaysia and English.

7. Find a tutor with the best attitude and character

You should aim, not only to find a tutor who have educational knowledge, but also someone who can set the best examples when it comes to moral and etiquette. A tutor who has a good attitude and praiseworthy characters can have a good influence on your children. In order to find the one with such characteristics, you might have to do some one-to-one interviews with the prospective tutors and see how they conduct themselves during the interviews. You should also monitor the tutor continuously throughout the tutoring sessions.

8. Find a tutor who is professional

Some might question why professionalism is needed in the tutoring service. It is actually important because, like any other service business, professionalism will ensure that your children will be given the best service that they deserve. A professional tutor will know that regardless of the bad mood or bad day he’s having, he’s there to teach and deliver the best service possible.

9. Find a tutor who can be a good mentor

A good tutor is a tutor who is not only good in teaching school subjects, but also other soft skills that build a good human being. A mentor-material tutor will not just ask your children to open their books and do practice right away, but he will also take the effort to have personal conversations at the beginning of the class. Such care and attentive attitude will increase trusts and bonds between a tutor and a tutee.

10. Find a tutor who can commit until the end of school year

Commitment is one of the keys to a successful relationship. It stays true in a tutor-tutee relationship. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to find a tutor who is able to commit to teaching for the whole school year. It will add a burden to your children if he has to re-adapt to a new tutor, in the case where the previous tutor stopped before the agreed time. Besides, you will have to do the whole searching process all over again and this process costs money and time.

Based on the ten checklists above, the process of finding a good tutor may appear to be troublesome but believe me, it will worth the hassle!

 

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Adilah

Adilah, graduated from Malaysia University and is a social activist. He focuses on various areas including education and takes notes on measure which could help in the overall pattern of studying. Recently he is registered with MyPrivateTutor Malaysia and has gained reputation in his field.

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