Thinking about a maths tutor? Five questions to answer first
Tutoring can make a big difference, but it is a significant cost. Five questions that tell you what kind of help your child needs before the first session.
Many parents start looking for a maths tutor when homework turns into a battle, or when a school report mentions maths for the first time. A good tutor can make a big difference. Tutoring is a significant cost, though – often £30 to £60 an hour – so it pays to know what kind of help your child needs before the first session.
1. Is it the maths, or the question?
Some children calculate quickly and accurately but stall the moment a problem is written as a word problem. Others struggle with bare sums yet come alive when the maths is about something real. These are very different starting points, and a tutor who knows which one your child has can skip weeks of guesswork.
2. Is it a recent wobble or something that has been building?
A new topic that has not clicked yet often settles with a little practice at home. A difficulty that has been growing for a year or more usually traces back to something earlier – very often number skills – and that is where help should begin.
3. What does your child do when they get stuck?
Sit beside your child while they try a problem they find hard, and watch rather than help. Do they guess, give up, reach for a method they half remember or start drawing? How a child behaves when stuck tells you more than the answer on the page.
4. What does your child enjoy?
Children work hardest at things that feel within reach. Knowing your child's strengths – and starting from them – keeps confidence up while the harder areas get attention.
5. How will you know it is working?
Agree at the start what progress should look like after a few weeks. A clear picture of where your child is now makes that conversation with a tutor far easier, and lets you see the difference later.
Where More Mathematics fits
More Mathematics is not a tutoring company and has nothing else to sell. Our assessment gives you an independent profile of how your child thinks mathematically across the whole year-group curriculum, with clear practice to start with. Many parents use it to decide whether a tutor is needed at all – and those who go ahead share the profile so lessons start in the right place.
Start with seven questions
The free taster takes about ten minutes, needs no account and ends with one insight into how your child approaches maths.
Try the free taster