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Signs Your Child Needs A Private Math Tutor

Let’s be realistic here. Hiring a private math tutor may seem extra. After all, one, as a parent, may argue that “hey we all studied through the same system and made it without a private tutor and if we made it, so shall our children.”While this may sound valid, it actually isn’t. The truth is that the world today has changed significantly. A very tangible example of that change is the strike of Covid-19 which has turned the world for pretty much everybody upside down.

Excessive days of lock down and virtual learning have proven to have dragged the learning quality and hence the marks of students from every Grade down to the ground.

It is also worth mentioning that a small portion of students still manage to perform exceptionally well in these hard times while some others are able to just keep their heads above the water line.

Most teachers, tutors and even schools are firm believers of the fact that there is a very thin line between performing just above the average and being able to hold that position.

Besides, it’s not only the underperformers who may require a private math tutor. Those who are able to outperform the rest of their class may also need to equally need a private math tutor.

Let’s see what those signs are.

“I Need HELP!”

It is frustrating to know how many parents are out there, who just do not have the right ear to hear what is being screamed by their children. Many times this goes so far to the point that the child gives up sending signals and starts to explicitly express their needs or desires.

The first and most obvious sign a parent must be taking seriously is if the child is actually telling them about their need for a private math tutor. Now let me explain.

Many times, parents misinterpret such claims. They assume that their child is coming up with excuses for their weak performance or is trying to skip homework.

Or sometimes parents may make the mistake of thinking their child is only asking for a private tutor only because they see some of their friends have this advantage.

Such misinterpretations are often the results of misinformation. Unfortunately, despite all the awareness that is being created online and through media, many parents are still not fully skilled in identifying the needs of their children.

Another similar case may be when the parents do not fully trust the claims of their child. This is mostly the case when the student is in the lower grades such as Grade 6 or Grade 7. This is because they assume their youngster is too naive to correctly assess the situation.

Unwillingness To Do Homework

Let’s be realistic here. Doing homework is never fun! It really doesn’t matter what grade you are in or what your performance is like; doing homework always feels like torture. As our children grow up in today’s schooling system, they get used to doing homework and accept it as part of their life. Not a pleasant part of their life, but a part of their lives nevertheless.

One student may skip doing some homework here and there or just not do them entirely depending on their personality and the character. However, if you see your child not attending to their homework as they usually do, it is probably a good time for you to start paying attention and digging up as to why this is happening.

There may be several reasons for this. For example, the student may have gotten into some conflict with their teachers or school authorities which leads him to act hard headed and want to show who the boss is. Such cases can easily escalate and lead to more severe actions from both the student and the school and hence must be addressed accordingly and must be addressed fast!

Or another reason for this may be that your child is getting mixed up with the wrong people in the school. It is very common nowadays for children to want to show superiority to other students in the school.

They may form groups (I don’t want to call them gangs though) and decide on taking group action such as not attending one period of the school or skipping some of their homework to show their fellow friends who the alphas or so-called cool guys are.

Your child may have wanted to join one of such groups and avoiding their homework is his entrance test. Again in such cases the issue must be addressed immediately before leading to irrational consequences.

However, more than often, the leading cause behind the students wanting to skip their homework or even lie about it is under performance. Allow me to elaborate.  It is human nature to want to keep at the safe zone where the person is aware of all the surrounding stimuli and environment.

Pushing oneself to step outside the borders of  their comfort zone is always very uncomfortable and unpleasant. This is not something we can change or blame one another for; this is hacked and crafted into our DNA.

Your child may be skipping their homework because the lesson that is supposedly being taught in school is either too difficult for him or he has not grasped the topic entirely. This often happens in mathematics, physics and chemistry where the subject relies more on problem-solving skills rather than memory.

The easiest and first diagnosis you can use to troubleshoot this issue is actually asking your child about his reasons. Now if they tell you that their math lesson is too difficult or they have too much math homework to do, it is a good sign that you need to hire a private math tutor for your child.

A Sudden Drop In Their Marks

Taking a look at Ontario’s mathematics curriculum, it is not easy to miss the fact that the topics do not move up in difficulty gradually. Basically everything is games and fun and easy up until Grade 6.

Once the student arrives at Great 6, things change dramatically; they start to face all these new concepts that are not so tangible anymore such as decimals and mathematical operations of fractions with unlike denominators.

It is also a fact that the math score of most children moving from Grade 6 onwards has been declining over the past decade. According to EQOA just 49% of the students are able to pass Grade 6 with Marks that are above the average.

This report shows that while there are many students who were able to smoothly move on from one grade to the next, the majority of students cannot do this.

Noticing a sudden drop in the math score of your child is probably another sign that your child is having trouble with the subject and needs to have a private tutor and needs them ASAP.

If left unattended, your child may not master the basics of the subject the way they need to and so carry this bag of mathematical uncertainty with them throughout the rest of their high school years and even into college and university.

Taking Too Long For Finishing Assignments

Even at Grade 1, parents have a natural sense of how much time their child would require for completing a certain task or assignment. This means that noticing if your child is taking too long or struggling with their assignments is an easy and common thing for the average parent.

This one is not to be confused with Unwillingness to Do Homework which we discussed earlier in this post. In this case the child is really trying to do what they are supposed to do but it is starting to appear more and more time consuming.

Your child may also show signs of depression or anxiety during this stage. The reason is that they are finding their performance in their assignment rather frustrating and starting to fall into the abyss of self doubt.

Read our post titled “Hiring A Private Math Tutor; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” to learn more about how self doubt will not only influence the present and future of your child academically, but also makes them vulnerable in their social life.

“This Is Too Easy”

It is a very common mistake to assume only students with poor performance are the ones in need of private math tutors. After all, a tutor comes into play when the student is in fact in need of help right? Well, WRONG!

This is how it actually works. Nobody is going to argue with the fact that students who fail to perform at an average level are in need of further sessions and assistance; however, an +A scoring student is sometimes as much in need of a private tutor.

Humans are made to be achievers. A part of our DNA is crafted and twisted in a way that creates joy when we get to touch the success we have been working for. While psychology has proven that being successful is just as addictive as a common narcotic, if gained with minimal effort, it can turn hinderous.

The truth being told, if your child is too smart for their class, chances are you need to hire a private math tutor ASAP! Being too smart is not always as fruitful as it sounds like.

Achieving good scores effortlessly, among so many other things, can lead to loss of interest in studying; especially math which is perceived as the most difficult subject by a noticeable amount of people. On the other hand, our statistics in Geniusmath show that the number of super-performers drop from one grade to another.

Keeping your child on the track is sometimes only possible by hiring a private math tutor if they are at this stage. A private tutor will change the direction your child is likely to take by providing challenges along the way.

These challenges could be working on more advanced problems related to their topic at hand, working out different more complicated solutions for the same question and teaching your child entirely new topics.

Parents must take note that hiring the wrong math tutor will damage the student. This, along with the steps parents should take in order to get the best possible math tutor for their children, are discussed in more detail in our “Steps in Choosing The Right Math Tutor For Your Child” guide.

What You Need To Know

Having said all that, we now know how crucial it is to be able to tell when your child actually requires a private math tutor. While it is not rocket science, it is not as simple as you may think either. It is not even as simple as we discussed in this article.

Every individual student is different and unique in their own way. This means that only through a well designed and tailored assessment system, one can make this crucial decision.

Hiring the right private math tutor is not only difficult and going to cost you a massive amount of money, but also have negative short and long-term effects. Head over to our article “Hiring A Private Math Tutor; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” to learn more about how things will get Ugly and out of hand if the wrong person is put to employ as a private math tutor.

Your Path to Peace of Mind

If you are eager to avoid all the headaches and make the best possible choice -which you really should, we can help you. What we do is assess your child to identify their needs and prepare an education portfolio.

Then our team will help you with their recommendations through a tailored consultation session to assist you in making the optimum decision in terms of quality, cost and results.

And all that is absolutely FREE!

Click on the Consultation & Assessment here or on links above to learn more now!