Hi all,
I am looking for some advice from anyone who has hired a 'tutor’ for their children?
My oldest is starting CE1 in September and so far has been doing great throughout GS and CP! However, I am concerned that when he starts in CE1 he will be getting a lot more homework and I will be unable to help and support him as my French is still currently rubbish.
Hubby and I have been considering getting him a tutor who would come to the house once a week to go over any homework he has and possibly listen to him read. I wondered if anyone had done this and whether it was a good idea / beneficial?
Hubby is not sure if it is necessary as he has a English (well where we are from anyway) attitude that a tutor is unnecessary as our son is so bright and only kids who are struggling need tutors. However, my concern is that if he gets ZERO support at home he could fall behind and not reach his potential.
I must sound like a right pushy mother but I promise it is not that… it is just that he attended Reception in the UK and I used to find it so easy when he was doing stuff I could just say ‘yes fantastic’ or ‘good – but have you thought about….?’. Here in France I have to use Google Translate to understand anything before I can help him at all!!
What are your thoughts?
If you think it is a good idea does anyone know how I would go about finding a tutor? Is there a website or organisation who could help or is there a magazine which lists tutors?
I have just emailed the head teacher about this (who will also be his teacher next year) for her thoughts but no guarantee if she will get back to me before school starts!
Thanks!
Our resident 10 year old has just come out of CM1 which was paired up with CE2, and he got little to no homework, although he had some reading. He did just fine without a tutor. However, I speak good French and I’m an ex-secondary school teacher, so that’s a bonus. A tutor will ALWAYS be a benefit, if they are good and worth their money, but surely you learning alongside your son will be even better? It’s really helpful for them to know and see that you need to learn too! Plus, it’s amazing how much you learn about his world - like my French is very ‘workaday’ French now, but when he has a new topic like prehistory or the Romans, I’m learning the words he’s learning - so I know what he’s on about - like ‘silex’ is a word I’d seen on a packet in the supermarket (for firelighters) but it means ‘flint’ - so even though I can manage a novel in French, I’m learning what he needs to know - and thus I can help him out if he needs it.
You can find tutors on various sites, but places like Acadomia charge the earth and don’t give that much to the tutor. Look on Le Bon Coin under ‘Cours Particuliers’ and you’ll see lots of people listed - mind you, you’ll have to ring them up and talk to them, or email them so that might not be so easy! Soutien Scolaire is probably what you want - and look to pay about 15 - 20 euros for a good person.