Is it worth going to a tutor. Do you need a tutor at all? (Tutor's opinion). A tutor from a university is the best option for an eleventh grader

This article will be about the sore point - how not to be mistaken with the choice of a student. Soon on September 1, and the students will run to look for tutors, remembering that this year they are taking the Unified State Exam or a position at work that requires knowledge of the language is vacant. How to weed out those who leave after a few sessions?

Such students can be recognized:

1. By ad
2. Call
3. When we will meet face to face

   By ad

This is the easiest stage, when we spend the least effort in case of refusal.

1. Everything in the ad text that catches the eye and does not fit into a regular request.
   

   A special approach is required / A strict teacher is needed.

   Immediately, thoughts arise that something is wrong with the student - he jumps in class like a goat, does not listen to anything except the sounds emanating from his iPhone? I saw one of these, I no longer want to waste my own and other people's time.

   You don't need a school teacher.

   The question arises: What is bad about school? In my life I met a bunch of teachers who do not fit into the pattern of an elderly woman with a bun on her head, who teaches everyone using the grammar-translation method.

   An internship / study abroad / residence in Oxford is required.

   It is especially strange when such requirements are imposed on a preschooler's tutor. Does the parent or student want a “cool tutor” to show off? Maximum benefit for minimum money? I do not pay attention to such and similar applications, most likely, this is an extra headache.

2. If the order states that duration of classes is short: a month or six months is also a reason for me not to agree to an order. Then this period may turn out to be even less, and the money for the order will be given, and the students who were refused because there was no free time left, have already gone to other tutors.
3. Preparing for the exam in a short time... Especially if it is the Unified State Exam, and especially if they want to pass with a good score, and at school he has a grade of 4 or worse. There will be many claims and expectations on the part of parents, not everyone can explain the correlation between the complexity of the exam format and the child's real capabilities.

Call

These problems usually arise when you are not choosing the student, but the student is choosing you. When on the phone we reach the discussion of the moment “what you want from classes”, you can hear the following phrases, which should warn:

When we will meet face to face

Here it is the hardest thing for me to part with a student, because we have already spent time on each other and met personally. Refusing me in such cases is always uncomfortable, but I try to gather my will into a fist. I will work with him later.

1. Rudeness... Most often among schoolchildren or the only adored heir. They are just ill-mannered children whose parents do not teach the difference between an adult and a peer. In class, such students may refuse to complete some task, because they are not interested, in the middle of the lesson to go to eat because they want to eat, or write to a friend in WhatsAppe. I try to politely explain to the parents that I am used to a different attitude, and I advise you to write in the repeated application: “a special approach to the child is needed”. To the site administrator, I read directly that I do not know how to work with difficult children, and I will not take an order
2. Disinterest... Also, most often among schoolchildren who go to English, because their mother forced them (or the whole class is additionally engaged in him, we won't be worse than others). If a person does not want to (and especially a teenager who likes to do everything in spite of), even a lot of beads are unlikely to change anything.
3. Excessive workloadstudent. There are also schoolchildren who go to additional dances-volleyball-music-drawing-Chinese, because their parents are raising a young star from them. Such children usually come to the lesson with a desire to sleep and rest, and not to study.
4. Personal dislike... It seems like an adequate-looking character, he does everything in class, but you don't like him, that's all. It is inconvenient to say “you are not that kind” head on, so I explain the impossibility of dealing with sudden personal circumstances.

There are, perhaps, some problems that become visible only after a while, but I have not yet met serious ones. If I am not satisfied with something, I speak with the student himself, or with his parents.

These are the criteria I am trying to be guided by when choosing clients. But I don't always succeed. When I was just looking for students, I took everyone who asked, fearing that I would not find anyone later. Now I am studying with two, with whom I cannot part in any way - I have been teaching them for a long time, my parents are counting on me, my conscience torments, although, in an amicable way, it should be. But now I take the new ones according to the rule “Measure seven times - cut one!”.

Which students to avoid

An unpleasant situation, familiar to many parents: the child begins to fall behind in the school curriculum and gives poor grades. What to do? If the joint solution of homework does not change the picture in the diary, then there are already too many gaps in knowledge, and it is time to turn to a tutor for help. But you should turn to private teachers not only to improve school subjects, to prepare a child for the Olympiad or admission to a prestigious university. An individual lesson format is also very effective for developing the creative qualities of children. Ivan Ivanov, founder of the online service for finding tutors, trainers and psychologists Upstudy.ru, spoke about the advantages of individual lessons and recalled some of the pitfalls of this educational format.

Why is it needed

The problem of lack of knowledge is best "grasped" at the very beginning. A professional teacher will quickly determine where the child has gaps and get to work, and in a couple of weeks you will notice the first results: corrected grades, success on tests.

A good teacher will be able to establish contact and adapt to the characteristics of the child, his temperament, mentality and speed of perception of new information. This approach will ultimately have a beneficial effect on the quality of knowledge, the student will become more confident in the classroom.

What is worth negotiating "on the shore"

When hiring a tutor, make sure of his professionalism: ask for a portfolio and recommendations, collect reviews, ask what materials he works on. This is an absolutely normal practice, it is better to show meticulousness in this matter than then scold yourself for short-sightedness.

You know your child very well, and this will help you understand whether he will get better communication with the tutor. If in doubt, it is better to offer the teacher several trial paid lessons. If everything goes well, the child will continue to attend lessons, but if not, it will be possible to disperse without mutual claims.

Does your child need to win a music contest or write an annual A grade test? Give the tutor a specific challenge right away. Knowing what results are expected from him, he will be able to correctly build a training program. It makes sense to discuss the level of requirements in advance. An overly loyal approach can spoil the child, and overly high expectations can completely discourage him from learning.

Keep in mind that the tutor also evaluates the child to find the best format for the class, and may also agree or refuse to cooperate. One of our mathematics tutors, Pronkin Ruslan Sergeevich, notes: “It is imperative to observe the student a little - to note his inclinations, how he assimilates information, what is easier for him and what is more difficult. And after the main points have been clarified, you can make a decision on what methodology to work with a particular student, so that the lessons are useful, interesting and effective. "

An important point is the payment scheme for classes. It is clear that individual lessons are a priori more expensive than group lessons, but their cost should not be cosmic. Seeing wealthy parents willing to do anything for their child, unscrupulous tutors can set prices several times higher than average. In order not to fall for this bait, first make inquiries. Professional exchanges of tutors can help out in this matter, where hundreds of questionnaires are posted, indicating the cost of an hour of classes; it will not be difficult to calculate the average price. So that later unpleasant situations do not arise, immediately agree with the teacher how you will transfer money for the lessons: through a child, in person, or transfer to a card.

Several "but"

Individual lessons have a lot of advantages, but they also have their own nuances. The main one is that by hiring a tutor, you actually create a greenhouse environment for the child. Week after week, the teacher will methodically analyze each topic and help in solving all the questions. As a result, the child can get used to the fact that the information comes to him in a "chewed" form, and loses interest in independent study. To prevent this from happening, arrange with the tutor to constantly involve the child in dialogue and ask him to reason out loud. The conclusions that people come to themselves are always better absorbed.

Classes with a private tutor are a bit artificial situation also because the child communicates only with the teacher. Due to their age and education, the tutor will try to smooth out sharp corners and in some way go to meet the student. Lessons in small groups in this regard are closer to reality: healthy competition arises, each student is motivated to attract the attention of the teacher and get his approval.

Group lessons or private lessons?

In the vast majority of cases, individual lessons are more effective. This format of classes is ideal for hyperactive children who would be constantly distracted by every little thing in a group. The tutor quickly understands when the child's concentration is changing, and corrects the tasks right in the course of the lesson.

In a group, it is more difficult to keep track of the change in the mood of each student, but you should not write off such classes. Moreover, in some areas they are simply necessary, provided that there are no more than 2-4 people in a group. These are subjects on which discussions are welcome, for example, literature, social studies, history, philosophy. So, it is quite possible to team up with 2-3 classmates or friends of the same interests, and visit one tutor together. In this case, the lesson will cost less, and the effect will still be worthy. The main thing is to find a teacher with whom it is comfortable to work in this mode.

How to evaluate the results of classes?

There should be positive dynamics: after about a month, the grades in the child's diary should get better, and requests for help with homework should gradually fade away. If this does not happen, then the tutor was unable to complete his task. Do not wait for the situation to improve by itself, talk to the teacher and find out the reason. In general, try to call your tutor at least once every two weeks and find out how things are progressing. A teacher who is really interested in good results will willingly tell you everything.

One-to-one lessons with a teacher are a fast, effective, but not cheap way to master some skills or improve knowledge of a specific subject. Look for professional teachers, set clear tasks for them, do not forget to receive feedback from them and be sure to ask the child's opinion, then excellent results will not be long in coming.

If a student comes to class at your home, then it is very convenient for you. Indeed, in this case

you do not waste time and energy on the road,

you do not need to carry with you textbooks, notebooks, manuals and other items (umbrella, mobile phone, water, snack, etc.) necessary for the lesson, since you have everything at hand at home,

don't you care about being on time, not being late for class,

after all, you are not wasting money on travel, and that amount can range from 10% to 25% of your royalties. For example, if in my city of Ivanovo you will get to a student with a transfer, then you will spend 12 * 4 \u003d 48 rubles on the road, which is 24% of the cost of a lesson of 200 rubles.

However, every barrel of honey has its own fly in the ointment. In this situation, this means that you should take care of providing a favorable environment for training. In order for the student and you to feel comfortable, you need to pay attention to the following points.

Place of study... Better if it is a separate room. It should be clean and ventilated. No unmade beds, dirty dishes, ashtrays stuffed with butts. Quiet - there should be no working radio or TV.

If it is not possible to allocate a separate room for classes, then you can simply use a relatively isolated place with writing desk... It should not have unnecessary items, only the materials needed for this lesson, a lamp, a computer.

By the way, it’s not very good if, during your studies, water is poured somewhere in the house, cutlets are grinning in a frying pan, lids are knocking on pots, it smells of fried fish, burnt porridge or soup. We must try to avoid such distractions.

Your pets, that is, relatives or other people with whom you live. It is imperative to coordinate with them the place and time of your classes. If there are small children in the house, then someone should work with them so that they do not make noise and do not come into your room.

Your kind... It is not good if you meet a student in a dressing gown, worn house slippers, an unkempt head and unclean teeth. An office business suit and high-heeled shoes are not required at all. You just have to, as they wrote earlier in the novels, to be "tidied up". Neat clothes, neat clean shoes, neatness in everything - this is necessary and sufficient.

Time of arrival or arrival of the student... Perhaps the student will appear at your place before the appointed time, so you should be ready for his arrival in advance (20-30 minutes). If he comes early, it is perfectly acceptable to ask him to wait, especially if you are still studying with a previous student. Invite the visitor to sit down somewhere and repeat the theory given at home.

If the student is late, then five minutes after the appointed time you call him on his mobile. If he doesn't answer, call him again after another 5-10 minutes. If he does not answer again, then call your parents and ask about the situation - what is happening?

Footwear. It is still customary for us in many families to invite guests to take off their outdoor shoes in the hallway. Here you are the master of the situation. Decide for yourself what to do. The following options are possible:

The student takes off his shoes. Then you offer him slippers or home shoes, which, of course, must be clean and at least seemingly new, unkempt. But to be honest, it's not very hygienic.

If the student comes with his second shoe, that is better. However, it is not very convenient for him, because he must remember about this second shoe, wear it, and generally resembles school.

Use of shoe covers. Conveniently. The disadvantage is that in winter it is hot to your feet in street shoes in the apartment. Associated with a medical institution.

The student brings a second shoe, leaves it somewhere on the shelf, for example, in a bag, and puts it on when he comes to class. This option seems to me the most acceptable.

Food - whether to treat? You can do something light - tea, sandwich, candy. But not necessarily. Clean water during the mini-break and at the end of the lesson is quite enough and even desirable. Offer to the student and drink yourself.

By the way, about the water. It will be great if somewhere near the table at which you are studying, there is water - either in a decanter or in a plastic bottle. It is better to use disposable glasses, because then the person will not doubt that the glass is clean. Yes, and you are calmer.

Pets.If you have them, then you should find out if the student is afraid of, for example, dogs or cats, if he is allergic to pet hair. Personally, I love cats and am happy to pet and take them in my arms in any home. But the student may be uncomfortable if cat hair sticks to his clothes, or he may be frightened when a cat suddenly jumps into his lap.

To meet and see off. The first time it must be done, then - according to the situation. You should especially pay attention to this point if

the child is not very big,

it's dark outside (and in winter it gets dark already at 17 o'clock),

you live in the private sector.

The student must be brought to a stop, put in a transport and inform the parents by phone that the child is going home. Then parents will be calm for the safety of their child.

In any case, how the child will get to you and return home must be agreed with the parents in advance. The best option is when the parent brings or brings the child to you and after the lesson takes him away from you. Unfortunately, this is not always possible to implement.

These are the main points that you need to think about and take into account in advance if a student comes to study at your home.

"I stop working with children": shocking revelations from a professional tutor

In our time, tutoring is flourishing - no one sees anything shameful in inviting a person to "hold out" with a child's school curriculum, so such specialists are in great demand. And for some reason no one comes to mind that the fashion for tutors is the clearest evidence of gaping failures in the system of Russian school education.

A post in which a professional tutor in English Maria Kovina-Gorelik talks about the peculiarities of her work, relationships with children and parents, as well as her attitude towards school.

This post is dedicated to the work of a child tutor from the perspective from which I see it. It is addressed primarily to parents of schoolchildren (present and potential).

In general, children are terrible clients. If only because they, as a rule, do not study in the summer. From the seamy side, it looks disgusting: in May, a wave of recent calls throws out tutoring services on the websites of tutoring services, who are mortally tired for a year, but in need of work.

In September, my phone can receive up to three applications a day, in May the site kindly informs that 112 colleagues have responded to an interesting order before me. For a tutor, this means that all year long you need to carefully set aside some sums for the summer, but with the onset of summer it turns out that just now (and only now) he has time to go to Ikea, be like a massage, heal his teeth and do a lot more completely urgent matters. Savings melt by July. August is gloomy.

This alone is enough to make requests to take another baby aboard not seem so harmless. If you keep all your schedule busy with "kids", the summer can be more than dull.

But this is so, an economic prelude. Secrets of the profession. I'm sure many would not want to delve into this at all, but I see a certain benefit in exposing. I want people who ask me or another teacher to "do a little work" with their Katya, Vasya and Petya, "pull up a little according to the program" to understand well what they are asking for and respect someone else's work, time, schedule, refusals and motives of these bounce.

You have to understand that a tutor never works in a vacuum. He works closely with parents and school, and the child in all this gimmick takes the last place, and should - the first. Basically, this says everything, but I know that it is not clear. So I will continue.

My parents hire me as a qualified teacher and expect high professional qualities. Sensible assumptions about my professional qualities look something like this: I know the language well, I can talk about it in an interesting way, I know the methods, I am guided in the manuals, and I also know how to find an approach, interest, and, in general, do all this incomprehensible magic that will make their child finally do homework or just understand something.

Parents expect me to recognize what the problem is with their child, and help resolve this problem.

These are logical expectations and are consistent with the qualifications available. However, this is not important, it is important due to what, on what fuel, thanks to which I am able to do all this. And I know how to do this through subtle listening, seeing and understanding, which, alas, cannot be limited.

And this means, dear parents, that I will see, hear and understand a lot, not only about the link "child - English", but also about other adjacent links, for example, "child - parents", "child - school", "child - environment "," the child is himself "," the child is the level of his intellectual, emotional and mental development "," the child is his hormonal background "and so on. This means that I will see far more than what you want me to see.

If a child has alarm bells that are beyond my competence, I will see it. If the child is behind in development, I will see it. If a child is physically or emotionally drained, I will see it. And if you mistreat your child, I will see it.

Here are three real cases. I did not stay in any of these houses: in the first two cases I left on my own, in the last - they parted with me with the wording “You are too good for us” (this is not a joke, ladies and gentlemen).

1. A boy, 11 years old, was invited to improve Russian and English. The tutor, which is typical, he asked for himself, because he felt that he was lagging behind and could not cope. Lovely family, three boys, a cat recently got. The relationship is warm, the boys have a separate room, good conditions. The child studies in an elite school, and he studies there every day from 9 am to 6 pm: in the morning - compulsory lessons, in the afternoon - endless drama circles, modeling, additional physical education and other poems to the accordion. I came at 7, and we worked until 9.

After two months of classes, once a week, I took my mother to the side and said that, alas, we are not progressing, and that, in my opinion, the load should not be increased, but reduced. That is, to cancel at least me to hell. We parted amicably.

The situation is far from the most critical, but there is a complete lack of understanding of physical capabilities, norms and limitations. Mom is a psychologist by training, but for some reason she managed to overlook black circles under the eyes of her beloved son.

It is difficult for an 11-year-old to understand that there are good physiological reasons for not understanding. It cannot even enter his head that HE, YOUR MOTHER, KNOCKED UP LIKE SIDORA'S GOAT, GO TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY FOR A FULL WORKING DAY !!! And that shouldn't be so.

The final touch: the child was sent to London for spring break. Learn the language. Of course, what else to do on vacation ?! Relax? Lying at home, playing with brothers and a cat? Go to museums? For children's performances? Why, then, if you can go with strangers to an unfamiliar country, where you can move in an organized manner under the teachers and finish your studies that you have not learned in a semester. We give the child the Best Education that can only fit into him. Including any tutor he asks for.

And he will ask. More than once.

2. Hired to study with a brother (11–12) and a sister (16). In total, the family has four children, a large apartment, signs of wealth and well-being. Fashionably dressed toddlers are busy with toys. Both students speak well, although the boy is noticeably fidgeting and is constantly pushing himself, and the girl is all in nervous tics and stutters a little. In the second lesson, the boy suddenly cannot say literally anything, all his attempts are confused, he sways in his chair and repeats “I don’t know” and “I cannot do it”, like a parrot, the state is close to hysterical.

My gentle visits from different ends bring no results. I call my mom. The child, realizing that they will now discuss him, runs out of the room in tears and shouting: "I tried, but nothing worked out for me!"

I gently try to explain to my mother what is happening to her son, without using dangerous words from the field of psychology and insisting that the situation is beyond my competence as a teacher. That the child needs help (URGENT, YOUR MOTHER !!! QUALIFIED !!! PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP !!!)

She perceives it in her own way, and literally tells me the following: "I, of course, understand that you are paid to teach the language, and not to tame such subscribers." Then she puts pressure on me and manipulates in all possible ways, but since I saw some episodes of her and her father's treatment of children, I hold on firmly, knowing that I will not work in this family.

The mother leaves the room with the text: “Well, this is what you have brought. They refuse you! "

I leave the apartment under a heart-rending VOY. And I wouldn't be surprised if the belt went into action that evening.

If at least some social services worked for us, I would apply for this family. But they do not work, as well as schools and many other state and social institutions. But in Moscow there are more than 10 thousand tutors in my subject alone. How many times do we come to someone's house and see this there? And do we see?

3. They persuaded me to work out with the girl (they wanted me, they negotiated with my mother for a long time, as a result I decided to take it).

A tiny Khrushchev and inside - a picture of dead time: a carpet on the wall, an icon on the carpet, a million porcelain figures, napkins, plastic roses in a vase. The atmosphere from which you want to fly up, stripping naked and washing yourself in the rain along the way. At home, a grandmother, who, after several meetings, expounds her life in approximately the following expressions: "what time is it now," "I raised three," "35 years at school," etc.

During the lesson, the doors do not close, the grandmother goes here and there. The girl is 12 and hardly speaks. In no language. She especially does not speak when the grandmother's route runs past our table.

For an hour and a half, with a wet back, I arrange a puppet theater for the girl, funny pictures, the children's best friend and other polyphonic studies, because the girl is silent. From time to time I cling to the semblance of a spark in my eyes. I squeeze out a few hopeless words from her.

After a couple of lessons, we proceed to the innocent topic "Family", and from the confused explanations I use ticks to pull out the following: the girl has a mother, stepfather and brother with whom she does not live. About her brother, she can not decide in any way, whether he is, or whether he is not, and I, completely bewildered, have to ask again several times in all ways. different languages... Because I don't immediately understand how this is possible.

And then I understand. I understand that the girl has from her mother good computer and a plan to go to London together in March (and on this score my grandmother, who is “35 years old at school,” gives me valuable pedagogical advice: memorize a few useful expressions with her granddaughter in every class just in time for the trip).

But the mother herself is not. Mom lives with her beloved man and a new son. And the girl lives in the midst of icons and napkins with her grandmother, whose brains have moved to one side and are stuck in the post-war period.

And at home I have been trying for two weeks to somehow come to terms with the situation, although I want to yell for a long time. Call mom and yell. Put your grandmother in the hallway and yell. But I pull myself together, because I think: maybe the Lord brought me there on purpose, so that somehow? To show the girl that there are other human species? What's the difference, well, yes, through English, since it happened. Will I be able to? I have no answer to this question.

So far, the girl is afraid of absolutely any of my suggestions, which is not surprising for a person who is afraid of the sound of his own voice. And here I am whole, I have red lipstick, I smile. And I'm not afraid of anything. But after a couple of weeks, my grandmother herself calls me and says that I have an excellent technique and they are completely satisfied with everything, only the girl is too busy, so they decided to postpone the language. And I sigh with shameful relief, heavy as lead.

Your girl has no problems with English.

And she doesn't have a mom.

What the hell is English here ?! Which London?

The horror is that absolutely all these people are sure that they love their children very much. Do the best for them. And everything in their family is in order, and if not in order, then everything is still not entirely bad, and in general it is not my business. I was invited to teach English.

PLACE FOR PAUSE AND READING REFLECTIONS

A short note: I have wonderful children in my students. We work with them for a long time and productively. They have normal parents - not ideal, no, there are also nuances, but normal. However, it's not just the parents, so let's move on.

It's somehow awkward to talk about how the school has degraded over the past decades. Firstly, I did not work there and would never go, and to find fault with what I did not succeed in and did not even try is below the belt. Secondly, so much has already been said, which is sickening.

But this does not change the essence. The school does not teach anything. Suffice it to say that I have as many as three students from one specialized English school, where they have this English for 7-8 hours a week. And they need a tutor. Just think about these numbers, this is complete madness!

The eerie truth is that I cannot completely reinstall them on normal human rails, because in ten years the school has etched them inside such ruts from which you can not dig them out. And no matter how much the parents harbor hopes that I will teach them to speak, I will not teach. This can be done by ripping them out of the school's perception of reality, and this is exactly what you can try to do in the summer, that is, during the period when there is no school.

But in the summer, as I already wrote, they don't do it. Summer is sacred. Let's kill ourselves to volvulus within a year, and we will kill ourselves exponentially so that by the end of the 11th grade, to the Unified State Exam, we will crawl in a really dangerous state under the arms of tutors in all subjects, but we will not touch the summer. Just when it would be possible to make a quality breakthrough, disguising it as a pleasant pastime, with films, songs, and other human activities, etc., we will not allow even 3 hours a week to be allocated to slightly load a rested and fresh brain.

In several issued after verification control works I found incomprehensible places and asked: "And you did not come up to clarify what was meant here?" - to which the child answered me: "I made sure that it is better not to ask questions." In some there were blatant mistakes on the part of the teachers (English school, yes). But in general, if someone is not in the know, checked tests and other works are now usually not returned. Of course, why know what exactly your mistake was, your business is to know the grade and try to improve it on the next attempts. How? As you want.

They are still learning topics and retelling them in class. For example, about the Indians. As I remember now, one of the heroes of the text was called POPOKATEPETL. I remember another topic about Moscow City. Like how many meters the Federation Tower. After that, they are surprised that the children speak poorly. WHAT IS THERE TO SAY, IF THIS IS SOME CODE, ABSOLUTELY UNUSABLE FOR NORMAL HUMAN PURPOSES? !!! And what can I do with my three hours against school eight? But of course I try. And I must say that I succeed in something, albeit with great difficulty.

However, the expectations of the parents, as a rule, are smashed against the rocks in this place. Therefore, I will say it bluntly and clearly: dear friends, if you want your child to do well in a subject at school, then the safest way to achieve this is to act in parallel with the school in accordance with its guidelines, which I personally will never do, because I cannot. Organically.

If you want your child to speak at least someday (at school this, most likely, will not happen, more powerful shocks are needed here than three hours a week with a tutor), then you can hand it over to me, I will twist his brains into the necessary side, and when the school haze looses its grip, he will have the opportunity to plant further language learning on more or less sensible yeast.

This is all that I can do, because all the other “good” results are achieved either by drill and violence, or with initially different initial data.

It is impossible to make him do well at the same time in an average school with its insane requirements and ill-conceived formats, and speak fluently and fluently in English on really relevant, life topics. This equation will not converge ANYTHING.

They do not know how to think here and now.

They do not know how to use sources and reference books.

They do not know how to use the known to clarify the unknown.

They do not know how to interbreed information, draw conclusions, compare, generalize.

They don’t know at all that after “I don’t know” some actions may follow, except “sit down, two”.

The minimum difficulty leads them to a completely inoperative state (the nuances are rich and correlate with their personal characteristics: someone is mad, someone is desperately dull, someone every time feels the collapse of all hopes, someone throws all their strength to maintain the illusion of their own solvency ). At this moment, they are busy with anything other than English, and I spend time, attention, energy to breathe normal life into them.

By the way, it is inhaled ONLY after such moments, experienced differently than through pulling, appeals to conscience and other common teaching techniques.

I tune all this, like a huge harp, and then they go to school, where they upset me with this harp.

Grade 11 is worthy of a separate mention. Now I have two adorable dolls in my arms, soon release. To say that their intellectual abilities have fallen is to say nothing, and I have known them for 3 years.

Girls are like seaweed in raspberry syrup and don't know a damn thing. They yawn from monstrous fatigue, besides, they are in love and lose weight. All tables are pasted over with pieces of paper with mathematical formulas, historical facts, quotes from Pasternak and hearts of more frivolous content. They are seized by either a migraine or a stomach infection. I am insanely, insanely sorry for them.

At school, all year long they do absolutely nothing, except for runs in the form of the exam, although it is a no brainer that the test format can only be a test format, but not educational. I repeat like a mantra: "Sleep and cartoons", but they do not listen. They are completely unable to learn effectively, but they cannot do anything other than study until they are completely glazed.

Deliriously, they try to repeat the three types of conditional sentences (and repeat, by the way, not unsuccessfully, because this is an understandable pattern that you can grasp). But they are completely powerless to describe the decor of their room or a picture from the fairy tale "Cinderella", as well as to give birth to another thought of their own.

Parents enthusiastically warm up the degree of universal nerves. They ask me: "Do you think she will give up?" - "Will pass" - I confidently answer, realizing that at least someone needs to stand exactly in this field of the deranged feather grass. It would be better for the children if it were their parents, but who knows. Maybe if they could do it, there would be no need for me at all.

Feeling of total, widespread disconnect and ill health. Parents do not fulfill their functions. The school does not fulfill its functions. The tutor comes to this and tries to do something. He suffers, in fact, defeat - because with my capabilities and knowledge, with the support and tailwinds, I could achieve with these children the results that I can only dream of now.

Therefore, for the near future I will stop working with children. I'm tired to death of fighting windmills, seeing things that hurt, getting bumps for things that other people don't do. I love children. I can work with them. But with parents and school - no, and I probably will not study. I'd rather wait until these children grow up and understand what's what. Actually, it is with such people that I work at the moment with great pleasure, finding in almost every adult a child who was once tortured for a long time and difficult.

And I no longer have the strength to look at it in real time.

And a couple of recent episodes from our non-school life.

1. My daughter, returning from a walk with a new acquaintance boy, told about their conversation on educational topics: “When he found out that I was studying at home, at first he said that it was cool, and then that they were not prepared for the exam at all, they themselves think, what to do". The question is: who needs such a school?

2. Today we wrote a "ministerial" test in Russian. The text of the assignment was compiled by "very special people")) In the Russian assignment, gross mistakes in Russian. In places, the wording is so clumsy that it is not possible to complete the task with complete confidence that you understand what the author wanted to say.

I myself have been working as a tutor since 2009. I do part-time work, not work. I believe that when tutoring becomes a business, the search for students develops into a chase, and the teacher-entrepreneur simply gains more clients - it doesn't matter if they really need additional classes or not.

I took the Unified State Exam in Russian, literature, English, physics and mathematics. And I prepared for all these subjects myself (the school conducted additional - free - classes in physics and English). I passed all these subjects for 80+. That is why I am critical of tutors and tutoring.

In my opinion, tutoring has one huge disadvantage: tutoring atrophies the student's ability to self-organize. When every week a person comes to the child who thinks over the program, homework, exercises in the lesson for him, then the student simply will not need to think about managing his time. Other people do it for him.
But what happens next? A student takes the exam, enters a university, and there no one will "graze" him. Such a student does not know how to methodically prepare for exams, read the necessary literature on time, and do assignments. And it turns out that he comes to the first session with a lump of debt. Thus, the tutor is doing a disservice to his student.

If the child does not have serious difficulties in the subject, he is able to independently prepare for the exams. A person must learn to set goals and paint a strategy for achieving these goals. Otherwise, in life after school, he simply will not survive. The child should feel that it is he who is responsible for his academic performance, for the quality of knowledge assimilation. Tutors simply interrupt this sense of responsibility in the student. That is why I am annoyed by families where it is believed that once a tutor has been hired, now there is a demand for the student's results from him; that the very fact of having a tutor is the key to success.

When I see that a student is capable of doing well without me, I have a conversation with my parents and explain that tutoring is unnecessary for them. But in most cases, they treat my words with suspicion. They are calmer with a tutor.
I especially do not like the cases when parents hire a tutor with the aim of "helping with homework, mastering the program." Why, in fact, should a controlling person constantly hang over the child? Well, he does not want to study literature, well, he does not pull the top five in Russian - and God bless him! I absolutely do not understand parents who invite tutors to schoolchildren in grades 1-8. Why is there any coaching at all in the intermediate link? Let the child learn how he learns: not everyone should be excellent students!

On the other hand, there are times when additional classes are really needed. I had a girl with dyslexia, second grade ... I was tormented, tormented, but in the end I convinced my parents that they needed not a Russian tutor, but a qualified speech therapist. They obeyed, thank God! Then there was another boy with attention deficit disorder. I also passed it to a specialist with a psychological education. Because, in fact, he had no problems in the Russian language and literature. There were guys at home and externally: yes, they need control.
A tutor will not hurt during preparation for the Olympiads, for additional entrance tests. But no more. After all, even here - if the student wants to deepen his knowledge of the subject - he is able to independently get to additional information. I'm not bragging, of course, but by the end of the 9th grade I had already mastered the entire school mathematics curriculum and got to analytical geometry and linear algebra. By herself, by herself. It was just very interesting. But there was no tutor who would prepare me for the Olympiads. Therefore, there were no outstanding results.
So - my conclusion - a tutor is good only for solving point problems, but otherwise let the child learn to cope with difficulties on his own, because in adult life no one will babysit him.