Learning Leapers

The story with me and education is a complicated one, I don’t remember hating school, I actually loved primary school and just went along with it every day as children do. My eyesight was bad but as a child I wasn’t really aware that I couldn’t see the board and so the teachers didn’t know either, until it was too late. If I was at the back of the classroom, I wouldn’t be able to see what the teacher was doing and so I missed out on years of the fundamentals to learning. Unfortunately of course, teachers can’t hold the whole class back and so I never really caught up on the basics I had missed, This made progressing in certain subjects very difficult, particularly in maths because without basic maths, you can’t really go onto learn the higher level maths.

Maths

It wasn’t really until my Gcse’s arrived that the school started to take action and made it a priority that I got some extra support. This of course as a child made me panic, with such little time to learn everything and the pressure of exams coming up, I just felt like I had no hope. Now looking back I think it would have been less daunting for me if this was happening a few years before so I was prepared when the exam prep began just like everyone else. They made it clear that I needed extra help in my maths and I was put into a little group where we would go to a separate room when the main maths class was happening, so we can learn at our pace rather than the whole class. However, there was quite a few of us and it was impossible for the teacher to go at everyone’s pace and understand everyone’s individual needs and problem areas. Also, this group was mainly a group of kids who didn’t really want to learn and most of the session the teacher was spending time trying to get them to be quiet and put their head down to work. It was very distracting and I don’t really remember learning a massive deal from these sessions. I then later went onto join some after school sessions, which was an even bigger group of kids who didn’t have any interest in learning. However, I did in fact just scrap a pass in my maths GCSE with a C, so although the timing and the process wasnt perfect, that little extra bit of support i did get helped me get my maths GCSE.

Other Exams

The focus and pressure I felt with my maths meant that the subjects I thought I was confident in, I ending up failng at in my GCSE’s. For example, I have always loved writing and English, but I got a D in my English GCSE and had to resit it at college, because I didn’t really focus on revising for English as much as I did for maths because I was so stressed about failing maths and this is what the school had me focusing on any revision outside of school that I did was solely maths. I wasnt reallt worried about my english exams like i was with my maths. I think that if my basic maths were covered again with me personally when I was still at primary school, the school wouldn’t have put pressure on me at GCSE level, and I would have had a better chance at passing more of my exams naturally. My confidence was really knocked by these exams.

Why Tutoring And Not Teaching

I chose primary education because I know that its important that have children are confident in the basic level learning before anything else, otherwise education without it becomes very difficult for them later on. I decided to take the tutoring route rather than being a primary school teacher because every child learns differently, and there might be one way that  works for one child’s learning but may not for another and I know the importance of one-to-one education. With a class of 30 it can be very difficult to get a clear understanding of each child’s needs and know how each of them works best. As a personal tutor I get the time to really understand each child and help them in the areas they need extra attention with, without them feeling the pressure of the school environment or worrying about what all the other children are doing around them. I personally find that children love the whole hour being just about them and their concentration is a lot better than it would be if they were sitting there with 30 other kids and just one teacher. Also, a lot of parents tell me that they struggle to get their child to sit down and do any extra work at home for them, so sometimes having that other person who isn’t a parent or their school teacher helping them can be really effective. I know in primary school I would have really benefited from sitting with a personal tutor every week outside of school and so I’m happy that I can now make an impact on other children’s education.

Could Your Child Benefit From Tutoring?

If you are worried about your child being behind at school and the class isn’t able to go back so they can catch up, I would recommend looking at your local groups online to find them a personal tutor. They will look closely at the areas your child is a little behind in and over time your child will be on track with the rest of the class. This can massively help with your child’s confidence at school and with their learning.