Time to Learn Tutoring

Some thoughts about who your tutor might be....

2011-10-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

Tutors come in a great variety of shapes and sizes. Tutors may be student teachers
who seek more experience, full time or part time tutors with specialties in a variety
of areas, classroom teachers who seek to supplement their income, retired teachers
who want to maintain some involvement in their work, university students looking
for a little extra income etc. Each variety can have good and bad tutors, so its best to
make a choice about the type of individual you might want and then judge the individual
on their merits.

Education fads turn

2011-10-18T03:11:00.000-07:00

RUPERT Murdoch's article ("Let's bring classrooms into the 21st century," 15-16/10) was a breath of fresh air pumped into this under-achieving area of Australian life.
As young teachers in the early 1970s, we were anticipating the arrival of computers in education. Our lecturers told us about individual progression in maths, science and programmed instruction where students could proceed at their own pace.
Classrooms of mixed abilities and all the problems that it caused would be a thing of the past. Teachers would work with individuals or small groups helping them to soar ahead.
Why has none of it come true? What happened? Unfortunately, this time also saw the rise of the radical Left in the teachers' unions with their 19th-century ideology.
Schools adopted every loony reform: ditching of exams, buffet-style short courses in anything you like. Standards, achievement, academic values were tossed out the window. It was do-your-own-thing: conformity was the new evil.
We are only now clawing our way out of that wretched mire and its outcomes of ignorance, illiteracy and innumeracy and we have a long way to go. Now we have computers, mostly being wasted on games or downloading screeds of guff that students hand in as their own assignment.
What a shocking waste. What a lamentable betrayal of the best we could be.

The Australian
October 18, 2011 12:00AM

Vivien C. Johnson, Macarthur, ACT

A Few Tips for Parents

2010-12-14T04:34:00.000-08:00

Always make sure that you ask the tutor feedback regarding the progress of your child at the end of each lesson.

Don't hesitate to ask the tutor to write a letter to your child's teacher or even make a phone call to your child's teacher. Irrespective of how skilled your tutor is, they only spend a very limited amount of time with your child and therefore their greatest resource will be the school teacher. Teacher's spend hours assessing, testing, watching and analysing your child's progress so make the most of the information they have to provide.

Don't forget to give a copy of the latest school report to your tutor.

Provide a notebook for the tutor to work in as the teacher might not bring one for some reason.

Show interest in what is happening. If the tutor sets homework then it is partly your responsibility to make sure that the homework actually happens - otherwise you might be wasting some money. It also encourages your child if you show genuine interest.

Get to know your tutor - set a great example to your child about inclusiveness

Funding for Aboriginal Students

2010-12-14T04:11:00.000-08:00

In November 2010, Federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, has announced $24 million in funding for projects to improve literacy and numeracy among Aboriginal students.

My School - More Questions Raised

2010-12-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

The accuracy of the Labor Government's My School Website is being seriously questioned after a Montessori School in Beechworth - one of the poorest private schools in the state, was ranked among the wealthiest schools in Australia.

With 25 per cent of its students on health care cards, the school, which has just 53 students and rents its premises, was given the third highest score within the section used to measure the socio-economic status of students' families.

Big Day for 50,000 Students

2010-12-14T03:30:00.001-08:00

50,000 Victorians students are receiving their highly anticipated VCE results today.

Desmond - A Day in the Life of....

2010-12-12T02:31:00.002-08:00

DESMOND WEBSTER, a 17-year-old, who is doing his HSC at Wilcannia Central School, in NSW's far west is the only boy in his class. It has been that way since he started year 7. Each of the girl's in his class are his cousins.

New Australian Curriculum

2010-12-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

Ministers have stopped short of giving their final approval for an Australian national curriculum, ordering further development work and adjustments to be completed by October next year (2011).

Christopher Pyne, who is the opposition education shadow minister said the curriculum had become ''another Labor mess''.

My School Delays

2010-12-04T03:04:00.000-08:00

Federal Schools Education Minister; Peter Garrett has announced that the MySchool website launch which was due this month, would be postponed until 2011 after the accounting firm Deloittes found errors in the way a particular school's income was calculated.

The Value in Tutoring

2010-11-10T01:40:00.000-08:00

It’s a fact that all children need a little help with their studies. This is simply common knowledge. Very few children can get perfect marks all of the time, it's just not possible. That is why tutoring, especially private tutoring is getting to be so popular. It's a fantastic way to help get your child's marks heading in the right direction. Think of the increased engagement and opportunities created at school, at work and in life!

Anyone who has learnt how to learn has developed an inner confidence for life and will appreciate opportunities to extend themselves and further develop their skills. While we are taught things at school, we are often not taught the most efficient way to study and therefore kids often don't know how to learn, needless to say - they don't appreciate the value of learning.

The key to successful learning is taking responsibility for learning and a good tutor will nurture this in a student. Once a child learns how to study everything will start flowing the right way.