- Personalization – the student is the main focus: Teachers in school have an important responsibility in managing a classroom of 20-30 students, and it’s challenging to give every student the amount of attention that they may need. Home tutoring supplements classroom learning and allows a student to be the center of attention. This allows the tutor to concentrate lessons towards the students’ needs. The student will know that they’re not neglected and can express their needs, their challenges, and their goals without judgment and knowing that their tutor is there to help.
- Priming students to learn in the classroom: Through private and home tutoring, students have an opportunity to learn concepts beforehand, making the concept/topic easier to comprehend when taught at school. The pace of school can be quick for some students and some concepts aren’t easily understood. By the time a student has begun to grasp a concept, sometimes classes are moving on to the next chapter or unit. Through home tutoring, students can learn concepts beforehand or have supplementary support when learning concepts. Home tutoring not only help students learn and understand concepts better, it also instills confidence in students. For a student who has difficulty with a concept, being in a class where a majority of the class is grasping and understand, it may be intimidating to ask for help because they feel behind. Through home tutoring and learning concepts beforehand, students can feel confident when learning in class.
- Low-pressure environment: The purpose of a tutoring session isn’t to drill students with an increased workload or a sped up pace. The purpose of tutoring is to help students grasp and understand the concepts they find challenging and to also help students get ahead in their studies. Through 1-1 tutoring, students can feel comfortable in their learning environment which is optimal to a students’ success as environmental stimuli can emotionally and cognitively affect how a student learns. In a 1-1 tutoring environment, students have more time to problem solve and to think things through. In a classroom, students may feel the pressure of “being wrong”, shy, or getting embarrassed, but in a 1-1 tutoring session, students don’t have to worry about judgment. Making mistakes is learning, and your tutor will help students endure the mistakes and turn them into lessons and eventually, into an increased confidence and raised self-esteem knowing that making mistakes is ok. This kind of communication that is promoted through a positive environment is important as it allows tutors to know what the needs of the student are, and it allows students to acknowledge their challenges without judgment.
- Encourages Self-Advocacy: In a low pressure 1-1 tutoring environment, students are encouraged to ask questions. Students are encouraged to share openly, make mistakes and take risks in a personalized tutoring session. One on one tutoring is comparable to mentorship as tutors give students guidance on how to solve problems and how to overcome academic challenges. This improves self-confidence and accountability. Students will apply the problem solving skills they’ve developed during the tutoring sessions and notice that they have developed skills to also problem solve on their own. This increases self-confidence and improves attitude. This then also introduces accountability. When a student sees improvement from working with a tutor, they are more inclined to raise their personal standards. This type of personal growth transcends academics and instills courage, determination, and self-reliance.