One Tutor for Each Subject = Best Practice

                    Occasionally, a parent will ask Book Smart Tutors whether one of its tutors is available to teach more than one subject as part of a contemplated engagement. Such an inquiry is understandable, since the parent may be looking either to save money, limit the number of sessions, or both. A parent also may be trying to apply the ‘home room teacher’ model to a tutoring scenario, plus hold the view that a child can cope with only one tutor.

                    From personal experience, the author recalls only one instance where Reading

andArithmetic at a basic elementary level were combined in teaching two sisters. In retrospect, the arrangement proved to be far from ideal, and it prompted an examination of what is ‘best practice’ and the reasons in support.

                    British educator Michele Ledda has defined ‘education’ as follows:

              Education means teaching children things that they have no inclination whatsoever

               to learn. That is why nothing motivates children to study more than seeing teachers

               who have great respect for knowledge.

                   As a jumping off point, this quotation is important. The abilities to resourcefully impart knowledge and transform a student into a successful independent learner are the hallmarks of an excellent tutor. Excellent tutors are comfortable, confident, and they exhibit the depth and understanding of knowledge that students pick up on. Even young children are sensitive to teaching that just doesn’t measure up in terms of confidence and focus. Being less than conversant in a subject is capable of being readily detected. At all levels, it then becomes easy for a student to lose patience and vital concentration. And it wastes valuable time.

                   Because the roles of a teacher and a tutor are distinct, the latter having the enormous advantage of ‘one-on-one’ with the student in a mutual exploration of a subject makes it essential that focus centre on one tutor for one subject, with specialized knowledge and teaching methods.

                   Furthermore, switching immediately from linguistic subjects to math and sciences does not allow for a student to take time after a tutoring session to absorb the benefits of what should have been an intense learning opportunity.

                   Parents may worry that two or more tutors may tax their children’s abilities to socialize with different teachers with different styles. Book Smart Tutors, as does the author, looks upon more than one tutor in the home as opportunity for a student to learn from tutors who, while sharing fundamental goals and proficiency, may have different approaches and personalities, and more importantly, separate, specialized knowledge and the means to teach a particular area with mentoring and guidance skills to match. Whether in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, or Halifax, Book Smart and its tutors always listen carefully to student and parent on a continuous basis in order to assess and maintain compatibility.

	Robert MacFarlane is a graduate of Princeton University, and he has been associated with Book Smart Tutors Inc. for several years. He continues to tutor English in a diversity of settings at all academic levels.