Are you a student preparing for a major exam? A bit of specialised help in your targeted area of study could help you achieve a higher score.
Parents: is your child struggling in any academic subject? Are you considering engaging a private tutor for home study or homework help?
A simple Internet search for a home tutor will yield an overwhelming list of results. How to winnow that list down to that one perfect teacher who will meet your expectations and fulfill your needs?
Learning in the class is one of the most preferred ways to learn in Canada. This is why you find many students enrolling in schools at different levels. However, as good as this may seem, it doesn’t work for every student. While some love the interactive atmosphere that classroom learning provides, others find it boring. To some, they feel intimidated and lost, especially because they cannot interact with their teachers effectively.
The feeling of inferiority is common in a large class because the teacher cannot attend to the needs of every student on a personal level. To make up for the many shortcomings of the conventional learning system, many parents have considered the option of private tutoring.
With a private tutor, students can learn more personally, enjoy interactive sessions, and feel less inferior than they would in a large class. As good as this sounds, not everyone knows how to find the right tutor that meets their tutoring needs.
After many years of interacting with students at different levels, Superprof understands the difficulty many face while accessing the best tutor. To help simplify the process, here is a detailed guide on finding the right teacher for home tutoring.
Read on to learn how to focus your search in order to find a tutor offering exactly the help you need.
Find good private lessons here on Superprof.
What Should You Do to Find a Private Tutor Quickly?
Whether it is math tutoring or virtual learning for any of the subjects, there is something important about timing. It is not enough to find the best tutor or platform that offers online courses in Canada; you need to do so quickly. A good example is seen in a student who is preparing for math exams.
To be well prepared for the exam, such a student needs a private tutor for math tutoring quickly. In simpler terms, timing is of the essence when choosing a private tutor. All of these bring to mind a very important question - how do you find a private tutor quickly?
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Start your search now
To find the best teacher for your offline or online tutoring needs, you have to start searching for now. The earlier you start your search for a tutor, the higher the chances of finding one fast. You can speak to your colleagues, surf the internet, or walk into any learning center near you and make an inquiry.
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Be specific on what you want
When you have limited time to choose a tutor, you have to be specific about what you want. If you prefer virtual learning, you should search for a tutor who is skilled in that area. If you are fine with a private tutor coming to your home, your search should be directed towards a teacher that offers home tuition.
Still being specific, you have to determine the time, day, and hours you want to learn. Making these decisions early will help you clear things up and get started with the best tutor when you find one.
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Set a comprehensive budget
Unless you are searching for free private tutoring services, you should start planning a budget. Whether you prefer learning offline or online, private tutoring comes at a cost, and you have to factor all of it in. When planning a budget, leave room for miscellaneous expenses because it is better for the budget to be higher than lesser.
Find good private lessons here on Superprof.
Home Tutors: Asking the Right Questions
Before talking with anyone about academic assistance, you should determine exactly why you/your child needs help.
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What are your/your child's weaknesses in studying?
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What is your/your child's learning style? What are your learning strategies?
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Do you/your child have any learning disabilities?
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Are you looking for specific help on target subjects, such as chemistry and English, or long-term general learning assistance with several subjects?
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Would you/your child learn well via online learning, or would home tutoring be preferable?
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What are your expectations of any tutor you engage?
Further examination of your individual situation might be required.
Could there be problems at school that prevent you/your child fully benefiting from classroom learning?
According to one study, 48% of students in the UK report bullying is a problem in their school. A climate of fear or intimidation can prevent students from applying themselves fully.
It is of utmost importance that you discuss the possibility of any disrupting influence at school with your caregivers/your child.
Perhaps you/your child cannot ignite an interest in math and science, or has lost interest in learning English. Here, inspiration can come from a dedicated mentor who can not only expound on the subject material but make it come alive through his/her passion.
A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination and instill a love of learning – Brad Henry
Conversely, if you/your child is more advanced than your current grade level, you could sharpen your academic edge by engaging in private lessons, beyond what is currently being taught at school.
Gifted students in the general education classroom suffer a mismatch between their abilities and the pace and depth of the curriculum being taught. Such disparity can be evened out through extracurricular learning from a tutor.
Other underlying causes for you/your child not performing well in school could be lack of organization or poor time management.
In both of these cases, engaging the services of a private tutor can help arrange a schedule in which, for a part of you/your child's day, focus is given exclusively to learning.
Find good private lessons here on Superprof.
Finding the Tutor that Best Suits Your Needs
Now that you know exactly why you are looking for help and what type of supplemental instruction you require, it is time to narrow your list of potential private tutors from all of the profiles and ads you have found online.
You can highlight certified teachers who possess your desired qualifications; ones with solid experience and possibly even positive feedback from other students.
And then, you should plan your interviews.
Questions of cost, where and when the tutoring will take place, and session duration are obvious. Other queries you should consider are:
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“What is your teaching style?”
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“Can you instruct a variety of subjects?”
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“Do you offer online sessions/group sessions at lower cost?”
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“Will you provide supplemental materials
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Do you use teaching aids, like interactive whiteboard?”
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“What are your methods for working around learning disabilities like dyslexia or ADHD?”
Bear in mind that it might take some time and effort to find the best tutor for your/your child's unique situation. While many tutors demonstrate exemplary profiles – excellent credentials, plenty of experience and positive testimonials from other students s/he has previously worked with, s/he may not 'click' with you.
A one to one tutor should be more than just a knowledgeable person who visits your home once per week and expounds on a subject or two at a fair price. What you are looking for is a mentorship with someone who can light a fire of inspiration and nurture it into a lifelong love of learning.
Every good teacher has this capability, but not for every student. That is why it is so important to hold out for one on one tutoring that will benefit you or your learner.
Find good private lessons here on Superprof.
What Should You Expect from a Private Tutor on Superprof?
A student may find the best online tutoring services but not know what to expect from the tutor when the lessons eventually commences. When you hire a Superprof tutor, there is the clearing-up time. You are to get on the same stage with the tutor by outlining what you expect from them.
How do you go through this stage when you don’t even know what to expect?
The first and what appears to be the most important thing to expect from online tutoring are quality lessons. You may be a student and still subscribe to online tutoring. You may be preparing for a major test or time in your career that requires advanced knowledge. All of these point to one thing - we always employ the services of private tutors for a better understanding of a particular concept or subject.
Secondly, you expect an interactive session with the teacher every time a lesson is scheduled. The purpose of private lessons or online tutoring will be defeated if you still feel the same way you do in a conventional class. Every session with your tutor should be personalized to your learning needs. You should expect your teacher to ask you questions after every lesson. You should also have the freedom to ask questions and seek clarity in areas where there are doubts.
Your tutor should be able to teach effectively and create a system to assess how fast you are learning. When giving homework online, a good tutor should also provide you with learning materials that can help you.
Though you can expect other things from your tutor outside those discussed here, these are the most important expectations.
Is it Possible to Get Free Private Tutoring?
Interestingly, even the best of us want free things, including free online courses and private tutorials. However, while it is possible to get free online courses, you may not find a free private tutor. The reasons for the difficulty in finding free private tutoring services are not far-fetched.
The first is that many of these tutors take out time to offer their services, and they expect to be paid for the services they offer. For example, Superprof tutors charge on an hourly basis for tutoring services offered.
Another reason why it might be difficult to find free private tutoring services is because quality lessons always come at a cost. Several platforms offer beginner lessons freely where they only discuss the introductory aspect of specific courses. If you want access to the full courses, you have to pay for it,
Instead of searching for free private tutoring services, why not take online courses. You will find different places like Coursera and Udemy that offer tons of free courses. For students who do not care about certificates upon completing a task, you can go for these courses.
On a final note, Superprof is one tutoring platform that offers free one-hour lessons to new students on their first lesson. So, if you have been wondering whether you can get free private tutoring, the answer is yes with Superprof, which happens in the first hour of your first class.
Find good private tutor online here on Superprof.
Which Should You Go for - Offline Or Online Tutoring?
Many students who want private tutoring find it difficult to decide whether to choose offline or online tutoring. The global digital transformation has made it possible for everyone to access basic services from their mobile phones, including tutoring.
If you want flexible learning, then you should consider online tutoring. It may not be possible to have a tutor come over to your house at late hours. As such, if your business or schooling activities will keep you busy during the day, you can go for online lessons.
Another reason why you should consider online tutoring is because it will help you save cost. Sometimes, you will incur extra costs if you take tutoring services at the tutor’s place or a different location. On the other hand, the tutor will have to charge you an extra cost to come to your place. With online tutoring, you can save on all these costs.
However, looking at the flip side of learning, online tutoring comes with disadvantages; the most important is a distraction. Studies and surveys have it that students who learn online tend to be more distracted than those who take physical lessons.
If you get distracted easily, your best bet will be to hire a private tutor for physical lessons. Offline tutoring is most recommended for students who have a test, an external interview, or a job interview coming up. Considering that you have limited time, you will want to be as focused as possible, and that is why you need physical lessons.
How Would You Know When You Found the Perfect Tutor?
Every effort you put into finding the best tutor for any subject you want to learn is measured in your bond with the tutor. You can determine whether a tutor is a perfect match for you when you interact with them in your first session.
If you find them good enough after going through their qualifications and ascertaining their experience level, then that’s it. You have found someone you can work with and learn from for a very long term.
Have you tried any or all of these points highlighted in this article and still find it difficult to identify the best tutor? Then, it is time you consider hiring from Superprof. As a platform, we have taken away every hurdle you may experience with the quality vetting system because we have the best tutors you can’t find on any other platform.
Making Initial Contact With Private Tutors
At this point, congratulations are in order: all of your planning is ready to be put to good use. Let us now refer to the list of prospects you have previously highlighted, and draft a letter for each one.
You can start your request by stating why you've chosen to contact him/her over all of the other tutoring programs offering similar services.
Was it a particular certification that drew you to that profile? Maybe the length of experience teaching physics or tutoring math that s/he listed? Perhaps the glowing testimonials given by other tutees is what swayed you, or geographic proximity.
Declaring your reason for addressing him/her is a great attention grabber. Let's continue, now.
By no means should you write a detailed biography, but your future tutor will need to know some particulars about you/your child, such as:
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Your/your child's level of study and which subject(s) you are seeking help with.
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The reason you/your child needs a tutor - trouble with school math or reading comprehension.
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Your desired outcome of such help – passing an exam, learning French, etc.
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Your preferred method of delivery – online learning, in-home tutoring or a combination of both.
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Proposed duration of the partnership
- What skills your child needs to succeed
You can then take the opportunity to glean further details about this tutor's experience. Even though his/her profile might be complete, there is still relevant information to be mined: how students' progress is marked, or how s/he practices reinforcement techniques, for example.
You should close your request by reiterating your need for supplemental instruction, possibly stressing the urgency of your situation.
You might consider adding your phone number, for a faster response.
What Happens Next
Generally speaking, the best tutors respond to queries within 24 hours. By that time, you should already have a budget decided and a schedule to propose, in addition to all the extra questions you have prepared for your interviews.
Once those questions have been satisfactorily answered, negotiations begin.
Cost per Hour of Home Tuition
Most Superprof tutors offer their first session at zero cost.
This is an important distinction because it allows you to gauge how well you/your child's learning will progress under that tutelage with no financial burden to you.
Some tutors adjust their fees according to the subject matter and level instructed. If cost is a concern for you, please consider initially targeting only your most pressing need. Improvements in other subjects can always develop later, or even as a result of confidence building through excellence in one subject.
If you are the savings-conscious type, you might want to opt for a tutor online. Distance learning generally costs less because there is no travel time involved, something that the tutors consider when calculating fees.
Another solution to eliminating travel costs from tutoring fees would be for you/your child to visit the tutor's home or tutoring agency.
Perhaps a combination of these methods might work well for you and your chosen mentor, financially and time-wise. As with all negotiations, flexibility is the key.
Here is every information about tuition which you need to know.
Arranging a Tutoring Schedule
It is as important for you/your child as for your hired tutor to maintain a regular schedule. Here, you will benefit from being flexible.
If you anticipated tutoring services on Tuesday nights for a math session – because Wednesdays bring math exams at school, consider also leaving Wednesday evenings open so that you can discuss the test, instead.
You might also expand your availability to weekends. Weekday evenings tend to be busy for tutors of all disciplines; it would not do to lose out on potentially the most beneficial tutoring program simply because of a scheduling conflict.
The urgency and depth of your need plays a part in your tutoring schedule discussions, as does what you are seeking help with.
If you/your child needs a boost to pass a standardized test, most likely your prospective Math or Physics tutor will recommend short-term, intensive course of study requiring more than one session per week.
Here, a combination of online tutoring and one-on-one lessons in your home would work well.
If you/your child is looking for more in-depth understanding of particular subject matter(s), a more relaxed, long-term solution would be forecast.
No matter what your situation, you now have a guide to find the individualized help you need from tutors who are most qualified and ready to hone your study skills.
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Hello Superprof.CA. I subscribed to your service in September 2022, engaging ABEER Computer programing teacher to teach my sister Phyton programming. This engagement went on for only less than two months at a cost of CA$49 per month. Since this time, a monthly deduction of CA$49 has been made from my Bank account. Unfortunately, there is no place on the website to cancel subscription. Here is an official notice to you to cancel my subscription and stop the monthly deduction from my account immediately, while we discuss the almost two years ILLEGAL deductions from my account. Thank You.
Hello Babatunde, I can see our customer service team reached out already to discuss the charges with you. Please check your email. Thank you for reaching out!