School can be difficult for children and it’s easy to fall behind, especially when they reach GCSE level. Your child might be thriving in one subject and falling behind in another and need a bit of extra support outside of the classroom to ensure they reach their full potential. In this article, we’ll be exploring some of the reasons why a child might need a private GCSE tutor and the benefits of using one.
You might start to notice changes in your child’s behaviour like when you ask how their day was and they hesitate to answer, or they are reluctant to show you their books and homework. Whatever the trigger is, teens are much more likely to hide away than ask for help, especially from their parents.
If you see your child acting differently, like heading straight to their bedroom when they get home from school when they don’t normally, or hiding their books away from view, they might be falling behind with their work and their confidence has been knocked as a result.
A private tutor can help with this by tailoring lessons specifically to the child and their needs, rather than expecting them to keep up with a large class of students. One to one online tutoring is a great way to build up confidence in a weaker subject and they will feel much better going to school and preparing for exams knowing they can work on anything they find challenging with their tutor later.
Whether they’re hiding their bags or trying to sneakily throw away their school reports, children know when they’re struggling, and often they will go to great lengths to keep it a secret from you. You might see them avoiding questions about school or getting frustrated or upset over a piece of homework that has overwhelmed them.
If hiding homework is a frequent behaviour, it could be more than just a small problem, and they might be struggling with more than just the occasional piece of homework in one subject. This is when you might start thinking ‘I need to find private tutoring near me’. Some children find it difficult to work without the guidance of a teacher and completing tasks independently is scary for them. In this situation, a tutor can increase the child’s confidence gradually to reach a point where they can work independently and have more belief in themselves.
As children progress in their academic lives, they are expected to study more subjects and submit work for specific deadlines. This should be a gradual process, but it isn’t unusual for children to reach GCSE level and feel lost in homework schedules that they simply can’t keep track of.
Deadlines might not be met, or you could find your teenager up late at night trying to finish a project that they didn’t realise needed to be in the next day. A private tutor can be beneficial here as they can help to instil better study habits into their student as well as better self-motivation and task prioritisation. This means that rather than rushing to finish a task at the last minute, there is room for slower progress and a better understanding of the subject as a whole.
It may not be a big dip in grades, but even the slightest change can be a little bit concerning. If your child consistently achieves good or even average grades, but then start to fall below that as their education progresses, it could be a good idea to contact a tutor early so there is plenty of time to improve their grades through online tuition before exam season.
Even if they are still passing the subject, they might not be aware of why their grades are slipping, eventually becoming frustrated and losing confidence and interest in the subject fully. This is particularly important at GCSE age, a lack of confidence on its own can be enough to fail exams. It’s essential to get them focused and believing that they can succeed even in their worst subject.
If your child has learning difficulties, they might find learning and keeping up with their class particularly challenging. Tutors are often trained to help children with learning difficulties, and the one-to-one online setting of the tuition would remove any pressure of trying to keep up with everyone else.
This will hopefully lead to them feeling more confident in the classroom as well as learning stress handling techniques that could stop them panicking in the future. Education is key to allowing children to grow into well-rounded adults, but not every child learns in the same way at the same pace, which is why private tuition is so important.
If you’re worried about a professional and experienced tutor in your area, with My GCSE Tutor you don’t have to be. We operate fully online so you can find the perfect tutor for your child no matter where in the country you’re based. Simply read the profiles of our qualified teachers and once you have found the one that is the best fit for your child you can book a video chat with them. Alternatively, if you have any questions about our sessions or tutors, contact us.
Disclaimer: My GCSE Tutor is a tuition company supporting students in preparation for their GCSE exams and as such is not authorised by, affiliated with, or otherwise connected with Qualifications Wales, The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (“Ofqual”) or the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (“CCEA”).