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Singapore Home Tuition Tips

Getting a home tutor (private tutor) in Singapore is not as simple as how it seems to be. Parents should always place their children's (students) academic result as top priority. If they do not engage the correct tutors, it is not only waste of money and time, but also delays to their children's improvement in their grades. Therefore, parents should not engage a home tutor just for the sake of having one, thinking that it will definitely benefit their children. We have researched and based on experience, found 7 important factors to consider when engaging a private tutor for home tuition.
  1. Passion
    Home tutors do give tuitions for the sake of earning an income, be it a part-time or full-time tutor. However, it is important to look for a home tutor who does not give private tuition just for the sake of money. Passion - is what we are looking at. A home tutor without passion, no matter how wise he may be, will not deliver his job well. A home tutor with passion for teaching will find means to convey his knowledge to the student. A human will work better at things that he has deeper interest in. A home tutor who is always secretly looking at the clock for time to pass will not have the patience to go into details with the student.
  2. Experience
    While some people think that high qualification and academic grades of the home tutor matters most, we beg to differ. It is not necessary that a tutor with the papers qualification (certifications) can teach better than others because a person who can score well in examinations may not know how to deliver his knowledge as good. We see an important need for home tutors to have experience in teaching. Good private tutors are able to enlighten the students using straightforward methods so that the students are able to comprehend the topic better. Since different people can absorb new knowledge better using different method, an experienced home tutor should be able to engage the student in multiple ways. For example, when facing a mathematics problem sum, a good tutor will be able to show the student how to solve it step by step, and also, through the use of diagrams if applicable.
  3. Familiarity with Syllabus
    Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore revises and improves on the syllabus of all subjects often to keep up with times. Therefore, it is good to engage a current school teacher as private tutor since he will have the most updated requirements for the subject. However, the cost of engaging a school teacher is much higher than normal home tutors. We would advise you to go for a school teacher if you can really afford it, on the other hand, not to worry if you cannot fork out the money. The concepts of the subjects remain the same despite changes and most tutors who have been giving tuition regularly will not have problems with helping the students.
  4. Cost
    The cost of tuition session may vary depending on individual tuition assignment due to factors such as qualification of tutors, tutors' experiences, location of tuition, number of subjects, demand for the tutors and others. For example, a home tutor with a higher paper qualification or experience may charge higher rate than other tutors. It is important for parents and students to consider carefully before seeking a home tutor. A common mistake that parents make is to lower down the cost of tuition fee. There may be home tutor of the required qualification willing to take up a much lower tuition fee, but it will definitely dampen his spirit. A person who is being shortchanged may not be able to perform as well as usual. Therefore, we advise parents to be more generous with the tuition fee as accordingly to affordability.
  5. Communication
    A good home tutor may not only know how to communicate the subject's contents to the student but also have to show good communication in non-academic aspects. It is a matter of fact that students in these days do show favoritism to teachers who can win their hearts. Students who are turned off by their home tutors may end up cursing the tutors in their mind and get distracted during the tuition session. Communication is also important when it comes to aliasing tuition time with the parents and students. A good home tutor should inform the parents and students as early as possible changes in tuition time if he cannot make it for the next session. This is why Smart Tuition Singapore has a code of conduct for all our home tutors to follow.
  6. Location
    Be it that the tuition is to be conducted at the tutor or student's house, it is good that they are staying near each other for convenience. Having a shorter distance would definitely help in reducing lateness due to the traffic.
  7. Recommendation from Smart Tuition Singapore
    Smart Tuition Singapore values the ability and ethic of home tutors. Therefore, we always seek feedbacks from parents and students to understand our home tutors. After which, we will recommend the good tutors to people who require home tuition.



Singapore Home Tuition Tips by Skai Chan,
Ex-lecturer, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West, Singapore.



You may also be interested in:
- Plan your Tuition Fees Budget
- Home Tuition in Singapore
- Private Tutor Singapore
- Singapore Education - the Past, Present and Future
- Tuition Assignments in Singapore
- Why I Cannot Get a Tutor?






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