Joan is a highly experienced, qualified teacher and SEND specialist, working across GCSE English, EFL and primary IB education. Here, she shares her approach to structuring effective home tutoring sessions, from setting achievable goals to building genuine confidence and independence.

Help! How do I home tutor my child?

By Joan | Specialist SEND and English Tutor | Sherpa Tutor

Home tutoring is now a very popular way for parents to support a student's education because of the lack of help children are receiving in public schools. It's extremely helpful whether you're helping a child improve their confidence, preparing them for their GCSE’s (e.g., GCSE Combined Science), or simply keeping up with their endless piles of schoolwork.

A planned, set-out approach can make a huge difference to the student or the parents, depending on who needs the help most. The goal of home tutoring isn't just to improve grades or to give the child more confidence - it's to help develop independent learners who love to learn.

Understand the student and their needs

Every student learns in a different way. Before you start, it's important to understand the student's strengths. Are they having problems with understanding, reading, or writing? Look for areas of improvement: more work on concentration, easier books to read, and more interesting lessons. What are they interested in? Should the lessons be based on what they like? What is their learning style - do they need more visuals to understand what they are learning? Individual needs are important.

Goals need to be set that the student understands

Let the child have input into their goals: what do they want to achieve?

Start small; all goals should be achievable.

These could include:

• Improving reading comprehension.
• Building confidence.
• Preparing for examinations.
• Developing study habits that suit the child better.
• Strengthening language skills.

It's important that the goals are reviewed regularly, and the child or student is rewarded, no matter how small the achievement.

Routine - Keep it the same all the time

Routine is very important, as it sets the student up for the future. Plan GCSE English sessions at the same time each week, plan GCSE Maths on the same day each week, and make sure you create a quiet, organised learning space free from distractions. Sessions should be short in the beginning to get the student used to the learning routine. They can get longer once the child is gaining confidence.

A typical 1-hour session could include:

• 10 minutes: Review.
• 15 minutes: Introduction to a new topic.
• 20 minutes: Help with practice.
• 10 minutes: An independent activity.
• 5 minutes: Recap and homework if necessary.

Interaction

Try to avoid making sessions boring; make them fun. Encourage participation, ask questions, play games, try online quizzes, and use real-life examples. I like to do problem-and-solution exercises and encourage the child to participate with things they know about. This is a good way to make sure students are learning and, of course, understanding what is being taught.

Confidence building is essential

Many students look for home tutoring or home tutors because they have either lost confidence in the subject they are learning or cannot understand what is being asked of them. Students should always be praised when they achieve something good and not scolded if something is wrong or misunderstood. View mistakes as learning opportunities.

Resources

Try to choose materials that match the National Curriculum for the subject being taught. Practice papers, age-appropriate workbooks, educational websites, and carefully selected videos can reinforce learning without overwhelming the student. Look at the level they are learning at, not necessarily their age.

Try to get the student to work independently

An educator's job is not only to teach but also to help students become independent. A key aspect is to teach note-taking, easy ways to revise, how to check for mistakes, and how to plan their time.

Flexibility

No lesson will go exactly as planned, so spend a few minutes finding out what mood the student is in, take a minute to chat, and then adapt the lesson to the student's mood. This way you are adapting to the student's needs and will maintain progress and confidence.

Be positive

Always review what the student has learnt at the end of the lesson and talk about things that went right and things that went wrong. Set tasks for the next lesson, try to leave the student feeling happy and good about themselves, and they will be motivated for the next lesson.