“Hire a tutor for my children? Never!” I said.
Well, that was not so long ago.
My innocence became a stubborn refusal, before becoming a reluctant admittance that:
- I cannot teach my kids myself
- My progeny did need some extra support, and
- However good schools are, they are not able to support the modern world of competitive examinations in the way that a private tutor 100% can.
Older, more-experienced mums told me that “everyone tutors”, just as they also said “you need to put his name down for schools ASAP”.
I foolishly thought these parents were trying to make others feel inadequate. Instead, they were kindly sharing invaluable wisdom, born of their own anguish as they navigated the path through school entrance exams and admissions.
So having had a change of heart, I told my son that “someone is coming over to do some Math skills with you”. I began to enjoy the feeling as his Maths skills sky-rocketed, and realised that I should never have tried to teach him myself, just as my own father should never have tried teaching me to drive.
“Parents make the worst teachers” became my new mantra and I began to pass the responsibility for my son’s academics onto someone else. Something I didn’t do, though, was admit any of this out loud. Like many other parents, the first stage of dealing with private tuition seemed to be the need to keep it under wraps.
But being able to hire private tutors was one of the most advantageous things I could do for my kids, albeit a privileged route which I wholeheartedly appreciate and recognise. Simply the peace of mind that it afforded me meant I could sleep at night knowing that their education was well-managed, in a way that no parents or school could do alone.
From Maths tips to reading recommendations, and even beginner’s Latin, the dialogue flowed easily from young educators to whom my children could relate, and they in turn imbibed this tutelage as if Harry Potter himself was offering them Butterbeer.
And these impressive young people gave us an idea of what our kids can aspire to be or do in the short and longer-term. Being the dinosaur that I am, it’s a long time since I was thinking about my career and CV-building, and it’s been an eye-opener to meet these dynamic individuals and see how much more talented and switched-on young people have to be now compared to our generation.
In hindsight, I’d be kicking myself now if I’d listened to all my inner voice against tutoring – schoolteachers included. Had I done so, I know my kids would have fared differently and they would not have made it into the school they’re in today.
It is a comfort to know that the tutors can come to our rescue should we realise that we need help again ahead of the next academic hurdle. Who knows what toll home-learning has taken on my children’s education and as the parent of two (did I say grumpy?) teenagers now, I pick my battles carefully. Trying to teach them GSCE chemistry or A Level maths myself is not going to happen. For certain I’ll be using a tutor again when the need arises.
To finish, I want to say a thank you to Cavendish Tutors, who are the agency we used throughout our 11+ and 13+ (ISEB Pre-Test) process. They were there for us when we needed them during our journey, and will be the first ones we’ll go to again for the next round of exams. I can’t recommend them highly enough, and have really enjoyed writing this recommendation for them.
And even if you’re not thinking about entrance exams, but want to help your son or daughter catch-up on all the lost learning from school closures, I strongly recommend calling Cavendish Tutors today to book in for their catch-up tutoring as well.
Wishing you the best,
A now-contented mother
