Tag: maths tutor Cambridge.

Daytime-tuition-the-game-changer-to-make-private-tuition-an-alternative-to-classroom-teaching

Posted on by Rachel Law

Tutoring during the daytime can be the real game-changer when considering if you could earn enough from tuition alone. Tutor My Kids, provide one-to-one tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon and Newmarket for private and school clients. We’re increasingly working with local schools and have opportunities for great teachers to teach some fabulous kids during the daytime.

Daytime work

We support schools in Cambridgeshire with a variety of teaching and tutors during the daytime, during the school day. Students have the benefit of additional teaching from our private tutors in Cambridge, Ely and surrounding areas. Sometimes these sessions of tuition are at local schools and sometimes they are in the parents/carers’ homes.

These students are having extra lessons for a variety of reasons: additional sessions to supplement their learning ahead of exams, teaching outside of the classroom because they’re unable to join mainstream classes. Often this is due to anxiety and occasionally due to behaviour. The interesting thing is that invariably the behaviour stems from poor self esteem, personally or educationally and in the vast majority of cases these children thrive in a one-to-one situation.

All our tutors in Cambridge and surrounding areas, tell us just how rewarding it is to work with these students. We change lives.

Which subjects are most in demand?

As with most of our clients, we have the most need for English, maths and science tutors in Cambridge and Ely. Generally, we recruit qualified teachers, but we also have opportunities for non-teachers who have the right experience and aptitude.

Most students are KS3 and KS4, so an understanding of the GCSE maths, English and science curricula are important. Sometimes there are gaps stemming from the primary curriculum, so primary school teachers who are able to tutor the GCSE subjects are particularly useful. In fact, increasing numbers of our primary tutors are skilling themselves up to meet this need.

What personality traits are needed?

The students we work with need warmth, encouragement and support to bring out the best in them. Some need firm boundaries and expectations set. Sometimes the anxious students are able to engage with the tuition one day but unable to do so another day, so flexibility and understanding is key to keeping the tuition going for a period of weeks or months.

How do I find out more?

Please email Rachel Law to arrange to have an informal chat on the phone to find out if this might suit you.

Maths-Gaps-Why-they-occur-and-the-problems-they-cause

Posted on by Rachel Law

I’ve never met a child without some gaps in their maths learning; it’s inevitable. How they affect a student depends on where the gaps in their knowledge are.

Why gaps in maths knowledge occur

Gaps in learning maths can occur for a huge number of reasons. Maths is hugely sequential, which means that many new concepts build upon previously taught ones – miss one and you may have problems. Missing learning can result from any number of factors: missing lessons, not grasping a concept fully before the class moves on, losing concentration, teacher absences and a host of other reasons. It’s not unusual for sight or hearing problems to be picked up part-way through a school year which means children may not have been able to see or hear the lessons well. On top of that, there have been curriculum changes.

New curricula

In 2014, the new primary school maths curriculum was introduced, which meant that (in order to move us higher up the international education rankings) pupils were expected to know more maths earlier. This means that if your child was born in 2002-2004 (and to an extent 2006-2008), there were in the thick of that and may have more gaps than younger students. These years had to get up to speed really quickly for the new year 2 and year 6 primary school SATs, which was a problem for many. I wrote about this in  2015 – Why is my child finding maths particularly hard at the moment?

Plus to compound that the new GCSEs are very different from the old ones – take a look at  What’s different about the new GCSEs and what skills are needed to succeed. These exams require a more thorough understanding of the curriculum, more skills in problem-solving and ability to retain knowledge of all the curriculum.  It’s hardly surprising there are many students struggling.

What problems are caused

Gaps in maths cause difficulty in taking on board new concepts, which can delay or pause learning in some topics. If these gaps are very early (foundation or year 1) in the curriculum, it can mimic the effects of dyscalculia – see Does my child have dyscalculia? Gaps later in the curriculum tend to have a less profound effect, but can still be problematic.

Much of the tutoring that our teachers do at Tutor My Kids, in maths, is gap filling. Whether it’s dealing with a year 3 child who’s struggling or a GCSE student who needs to simply pass their exam.

For information on maths tutoring, click here,  email Rachel or call Rachel Law on 01223 858421.

If you’re interested in becoming a tutor, please take a look at our tutor page, the kind words from our tutors and our other blogs.

 

 

 

 

How-Dyscalculia-Screening-helped-a-parent

Posted on by Rachel Law

How dyslexia screening enabled a parent to make plans to support her daughter.

What is dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is having specific difficulties with maths around size of numbers (being able to know if a number is greater than another number), being able to estimate how many counters there are in a group (subitising) and in recognising patterns (really important for learning number bonds and times tables). So, why can dyscalculia screening be useful?

In the same way that testing for dyslexia can be useful – see 4 reasons to arrange an dyslexia screening, it can give useful information to give to school so they can focus their efforts in the classroom or through their interventions for your child. It can also help you to support your child at home yourself or with a private tutor.

Recently, we had a parent approach us who was concerned that her daughter might be dyscalculic because she had always had difficulties in maths. Dyscalculia is quite rare; it’s estimated that between 3-6% of the UK population may suffer, so we discussed whether it might be dyscalculia or historical maths gaps that might be causing her current difficulties. Take a look at Does my child have dyscalculia for more information on this.

How the screening works

Mum felt that arranged a screening would allow her to know if there was an underlining issue or simply maths gaps. The screening was carried out in the comfort of her home, where her daughter was most secure by Tutor My Kids and took about an hour. The screening came back as negative, which was a huge relief to mum. But, there was still the issue to deal with of why her daughter behind.

How the screening helped this parent

Having ruled out dyscalculia, We very much thought that it was maths gaps. that were causing the issues and needed to be sorted.

Maths is a hugely sequential subject and rather like building a wall, it’s important that the foundations are secure before adding further layers.  And filling in those layers (think underpinning a subsiding house!) when they’re missing. Most children have gaps in their maths knowledge. If they’re in the very early years, this can have quite an impact on maths learning and attainment. At Tutor My Kids, we think that it’s really important to get the right tutor and this is especially true with maths tuition.

With this parent is was really important to get a primary school teacher, who had taught early years, to tutor, so the very early gaps could be filled and this girl could get her maths learning back on track.

For more information on dyscalculia screening, click the link, email Rachel or call Rachel Law on 01223 858421 for advice.

 

 

 

 

 

How-to-choose-a-good-tutoring-agency

Posted on by Rachel Law

TutorMyKids private tutor

Choosing the right tutoring agency is a combination of a number of factors – where they’re based, what they specialise in, who they recruit, what they’re like to work for and their fit with you.

Geography

Check the geography that the agency covers and, most importantly, where most of their clients are. Tutor My Kids teachers tutor in Ely, Cambridge, St Ives, Huntingdon and Newmarket.

Specialism

Does the agency specialise in certain subjects? What do they have most demand for? Most agencies will have most need of maths, science and English tutors, but will also need other tutors too.

Teaching Experience

Some agencies are very happy to take on a wide variety of tutors, other specialise in just teachers. If you’re a teacher, you may find yourself better valued in an agency, such as Tutor My Kids whose tutors are almost exclusively teachers.

Size of agency

Large agencies may have more opportunities, but you may get lost amongst the many other tutors, or it may simply feel less personal. A smaller agency is more likely to know it’s tutors and clients well and offer a more friendly service. At Tutor My Kids we think all our tutors are amazing and because we’re small get to know our tutors well.

Clients

It’s also worth asking what a typical client is for the agency? Are they largely independent school or state school – you may have a preference. We’re really lucky at Tutor My Kids as at least 60% of our clients are referred to us by other clients. This means that we tend to have like-minded clients and typically our clients want their students to have more confidence in the subject but also generally. We feel that they’re arranging tutoring for their kids for the right reasons.

What are they like to work for?

This can be hard to work out, but check out their testimonials and ask to be but in touch with existing tutors if in doubt. We’re always delighted when we get testimonials from clients and tutors. Check ours out by clicking the links. I’m also a firm believer in trusting your gut instinct when you chat to them.

Get in touch with Tutor My Kids

For more information on becoming a tutor click the link, email Rachel, or call Rachel Law on 01223 858421 for a chat.

 

 

 

Why do teachers teach? Why do tutors tutor?

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Why do teachers teach? Why do tutors tutor?

We’ve been talking to our teachers and tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket and Huntingdon recently. To those of us in education, the answers seem obvious.





There are so many teachers who are stretched to the limit by planning, reports, assessment which make the hours excessively long – with many teachers working over 60 hours a week.


Yes, teachers get long holidays – in theory, but much of these are spent planning and preparing, so most teachers tend to get, in reality, about the same holidays as an average UK employee.

So why do teachers teach and tutors tutor?

When we talk to our maths and English tutors in Cambridge, they always say the same things – HELPING CHILDREN learn. There are few things to compare with the satisfaction of seeing a child understand something – to see the light bulb go on. Sometimes this can be a quick bright flash, sometimes a slow, steady glow which becomes a bright light.


The other thing that our fantastic teachers in Cambridgeshire say is CONFIDENCE. They love to see the increase in confidence and self-esteem when they are working with children; it is just so rewarding.


I was talking to a maths tutor in Cambridge, this week. She was just buzzing with the satisfaction of seeing her student’s confidence rise as he started to understand concepts that he had previously found baffling.


Tutor My Kids is always on the look out for great qualified teachers to work as maths and English tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket and Huntingdon. We work with children from 5 to 18.

Please contact us via www.tutormykids/for-tutors for more information and details of how to get in touch to discuss how this might fit in with your existing teaching commitments.

 






My child has an NQT this year.

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My child has an NQT this year.


Parents who contact Tutor My Kids for a maths tutor in Ely or an English tutor in Cambridge are sometimes concerned that their child’s class teacher is an NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher).


They can worry that their class teacher doesn’t have the experience to teach well.


NQTs vary enormously, but the majority that I meet when teaching in schools in Cambridgeshire, are tremendously well planned and organised. They’re usually well supported by the school and make a difference straight away. 

I’ve had the great pleasure, recently, to work with an amazing NQT who is already a great teacher and will be really interesting to watch over the years as his teaching develops.


His planning is thorough and innovative; his organisation exemplary, which of course means his classroom is stimulating for his kids but also really calm because the children very clearly understand what is expected of them and when.  The routines are clearly clearly set, understood and stuck to. It’s been a real pleasure to see this and work with this class.


Tutor My Kids is always on the look out for great qualified teachers to work as English and maths tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket and Huntingdon. We work with children from 5 to 18.


Please contact us via www.tutormykids/for-tutors for more information and details of how to get in touch to discuss how this might fit in with your existing teaching commitments.




Does-my-child-have-Dyscalculia?

Posted on by Effie Herdman

Tutor My Kids Tutor working with child

Some children have difficulty in understanding maths because of gaps in their understanding; others because they have specific difficulties in grasping number concepts.

Gaps in learning can occur for all sorts of reasons – illness, lack of attention one day etc, which make it difficult for knowledge to be added to it, due to the sequential nature of maths. For example, if you know your number bonds to 10 (which combinations of 2 numbers make 10) it’s really easy to then link this to 20 (19 +1, 3 +17) and 100 (30+70). If the number bonds are missing, it’s incredibly hard to pick up the more advanced learning.
 

However, some children have specific difficulties in learning maths. There is a cluster of issues that can point to dyscalculia – a specific difficulty in learning maths:

These include difficulties in recognising patterns in maths (e.g. the end 5 and 0 digits in the 5 times table), how big a number is (e.g. £20 can be seen as smaller than £15.72 because it has fewer digits), telling the time, ability to estimate logically (can show as ‘wild’ estimates that vary hugely),strategies to solve problems that are immature (e.g. older primary children sharing using pictures or cubes when written methods would be more usual).
One key indicator can be how instantly children can say how many objects there are. (This is age dependent, but most year 5 or 6 children would be able to look at 5 counters and say that there are 5 without counting. This is called subitising.) If a child (or adult) cannot do instantly without counting them, it can be part of the cluster of behaviours that points to dyscalculia.
 
Helping children overcome missing gaps and/or dyscalculia needs specific teaching to help them link maths ideas to their written form; it is hugely helped by 1 to 1 tutoring by a maths tutor, maths teacher or school intervention.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues, please contact Rachel Law on 01223 858421 or by email hello@tutormykids.co.uk

For more information on Dyscalculia screening, click the link.

 

Gove is like Mamite

Posted on by

Gove
is like marmite.

People either love or hate him.

I can’t agree that knocking our teachers constantly has
helped the education system any, but I do support the need for our children to
be able to spell, write grammatically correct sentences and be numerate.

This term, I’ve seen some great teaching of grammar and
spelling in our local primary schools. Previously, it tends to have been taught
as an add-on, but increasingly, it’s been taught as a main focus. It’s stuff
like correct use of apostrophes – the teachers’ staff room, I’d, won’t. I’ve
lost track the number of times I’ve seen was’ent or similar. It’s about how
it’s taught – if children understand that the apostrophe is showing missing
letters and what it’s a shortening of – it’s so much easier for children to get
it right.

Punctuation can catch children out too – commas often
confuse children and sorting out ways to help them is really useful. Getting
children to work out in a sentence which is the main clause and which is added
information helps to ensure that commas are in the right place. e.g. The boy
walked along the road, towards the swimming pool.  The boy walked along the road is the main
clause; towards the swimming pool the additional information.

Many children find spelling difficult. Learning spellings
by heart is hugely useful, but more so is spelling patterns and looking at
where the difficulties lie. Are there letters we don’t sound – like
environment?

It’s great to see our children being more prepared for
the world of work.

Posted on by

Mind the
gap!

From September this year, there will be a new curriculum
in our schools.

Russell
Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned there
could be some difficulties with maths, where more advanced topics are to be
taught at a younger age.
“In maths
you need to learn the early concepts before you learn the later concepts, so
there is a problem that there will be children who have not learned the earlier
concepts before being expected to learn the more demanding ones.”
Mr Hobby said
that there would have to be “a lot of cramming in maths this year” as
whole classes are made to catch up with the new demands. “The worst thing
you can do with maths is rush ahead.”
On 1st
September, he spoke on Radio 4’s Today programme and said that children could develop
gaps in their understanding, particularly in maths due to this need to rush ahead
with new learning without being assimilated.
 At Tutor My Kids, we agree. Maths is very
sequential; children need to understand one concept before they can move onto
another.  Unless this is done, children
develop gaps in their knowledge which make it really hard, if not impossible to
move on and learn new topics. E.g. If your child doesn’t understand that the 1
in 14 is really a 10, they’re going to find it impossible to grasp
hundreds.  The good news is that maths
tuition to fill gaps is very effective in
filling these gaps and enabling your child to move on.


 If you would like to discuss any of these issues, please
contact Rachel Law through the Tutor My Kids website. www.tutormykids.co.uk

New UK Primary Curriculum from September – Why year F and year 4 children will be most affected.

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From September this year, there will be a new curriculum in
our schools. In a nutshell, they aim to take children to a more advanced
stage earlier in their school career than in recent years. 

e.g. telling the time in 5 minute increments moves from year 3 to 2, knowing times tables to 12 x 12 (previously 10 x 10) and the associated division facts by the end of year 4, not the end of year 6. In addition there are new areas introduced such as cube numbers (33) and dividing fractions. The same pattern is repeated with literacy.

The new literacy curriculum calls for a much stronger
phonics and spelling base – with specified spelling lists, again at an earlier
age than before. There is more focus on homophones (words that sound alike but
are spelt differently) e.g., wear and where. The use of dictionaries to look up
words that children have read and not understood is strongly recommended. A more
detailed knowledge of grammar is expected too, with children being taught to
understand other forms of verbs and their effect in writing– such as the perfect
and modal forms of verbs. These are not the only changes.


Those children who
are entering year 2 and year 6 is September will continue to be taught the old
curriculum and tested on it. The other year groups will be taught the new
curriculum. The biggest impact will be on the current year F and year 4 – year 1
and year 5 from September who will face the new tests with the least time to
prepare for these changes.


For more information please contact Rachel Law at Tutor My Kids
www,tutormykids.co.uk
hello@tutormykids.co.uk
01223 858123