#05 Maths and English - Personalised tutoring

Vishani, guest · [00:11]So to go back a bit, we would do an initial assessment, and based on the student's reading capabilities, spelling capabilities, or comprehension capabilities, we would then decide which program we would put them on. To start at the very beginning, we start off with a school readiness program, and as it already says, it's how to get ready for school. So it's your little ones, your grade noughts, so they would come in, they're going to get a tutor now, and they're going to get used to the environment, and how do you even take on an instruction. So that's basically the school readiness program. Thereafter, we have a pre-early reading and early reading program. So this will basically cover your phonics, your introduction to sounds, your introduction to blends, whether it's consonants or vowels, and more the oral and visual learning, as well as fine and gross motor development. Development. So basically, like I said, with this assessment, it will depend which program they're going to be slotted into. After the pre and early reading programs, we have the final reading program, and this goes a little step higher and teaches sight words, spelling, and introduction to comprehension, as well as English skills, and this is for the more advanced readers now. And then once they've gone through all the reading programs and they read well, so reading is not an issue, we then have a program where it's English junior and English senior. And in these programs, based on what level they're on, we teach English skills, the language, the comprehension component, the vocabulary development, the spelling, the creative writing, transactional writing, essay writing, speech writing, and basically how to deliver a speech, and literature. Basically, the English junior and senior program caters for the students who are more accomplished with the reading and basic skills and want more.

Presenter, host · [01:54]So you've got a 80-minute long class. How is that broken up, and how many children are there in a class?

Vishani, guest · [02:00]We work in very small numbers. The maximum in a class would be six. Of the eighty-minute session, we break it up into six activities, plus minus. We do computer work and written work and me time. The computer work is essentially there to reassess the child and to do a lot of work on the computer because nothing falls through the cracks with technology, as well as that it's stimulating and motivating because we are dealing with the selfie generation. And then the written work is there so that it breaks the monotony of the computer work, and it is really your black and white paper. What is put down in an organized pattern, whether it's maths or English, what is put down on the paper, are you skipping lines, what's the format, are you starting with a capital letter, are you ending in a full stop, so all the nitty gritty things that goes on paper, because that is essentially how they will be assessed. Then we have me time, where it's one-on-one time with the tutor, where they really get to know and understand what they're really struggling with. So we, that's basically how an ideal class would be. Obviously, with anomalies, if we're doing exam strategies, but basically in a class, there's six students, all six on different programs, all six doing something completely different.

Presenter, host · [03:10]They have their own personalized program.

Vishani, guest · [03:12]Yes, so they're working at their own pace, on their own personalized program, on their own grade, with their own personality and their own learning styles.

Presenter, host · [03:21]English is a lot more easy, I suppose, when it comes to having flights of fantasy, but with There are specific rules that come into it. They are formulae. You have to follow the rules when it comes to maths. So how does that class differ to, say, an English class?

Paul, guest · [03:37]The class is actually structured almost identical, especially in the primary school phase. The maths is really straightforward arithmetics and then problem-solving techniques. So problem-solving is exactly what it says it is. You've got to go and look at the scenario and see what best method to use to solve this mathematical problem, be it a complex equation or a straightforward addition or subtraction sum. The problem-solving technique could come in a form of a word sum or in just a numeric fashion, which most kids are familiar with. The whole process is you've got to practice, practice, practice those foundations. So again, six kids in the class working at a skill set that they are comfortable and capable of doing. Moving forward in that skill set as they pass through that skill set to a reasonable seventy-five percent average. So in other words, we do not move forward until they've mastered it, and then we move on to the next skill set.

Presenter, host · [04:35]How do each of those six children manage to get individual attention from the teacher?

Paul, guest · [04:41]It becomes a self-motivating process. Normally, you're going to do work that they can do, and they are learning the next skill set. So you're going to teach them for one or two minutes, and they will move forward into that and say, all right, I've now done one or two with the teacher. Now I'm going to do the next ten by myself. Then the next student comes along and says, okay, we're going to learn the next skill set, and the next twenty questions they'll do by themselves. And the drill learning that goes with that also plays an important part of the role. And if they then get it wrong, the teacher can intervene and say, let's reteach this so we get the skill mastered.

Presenter, host · [05:19]Imagine that you have a child with concentration problems in the class, and even though it's a very small class, it can still be a real distraction for the other children in the class.

Vishani, guest · [05:30]Not really, because it's a completely different environment. It's very motivating. It breaks the monotony of what school is. It's not school. It's not a teacher sitting in the front, so it really breaks the monotony of school. And the way the program is structured and the way the computer activities are facilitated, it's very rare that that happens. Kip McGrath has been doing this for forty years to put a child in a non-competitive environment where they're not doing the same thing as their peers, and they're on their own personalized, specialized program. It drives them to focus on what they're working on.

Presenter, host · [06:05]This generation of children are so plugged in, and I use the word advisedly, to their smartphones and their iPads. You can hardly get them off. Is there a problem with using computers with kids that are so computer savvy already as a teaching methodology?

Paul, guest · [06:22]We use computers to assist the learning process. It's not the ultimate teaching tool. It's very important to realize the child can use the computer with the earphones on and actually focus on the activity at hand. And that's not a bad thing. So we're using the technology to our advantage. It's there as an additional aid. It's not going to replace the teacher.

Presenter, host · [06:43]So it's not a case of me dropping off my child and they get plugged into a computer and that's it for the next 80 minutes.

Vishani, guest · [06:49]Not at all. The teachers are very hands-on, and even if they are on a computer activity, there's still a lot of engagement happening between the tutor and the child throughout the computer activity.

Presenter, host · [07:24]Do you give children who are doing extra lessons homework as well?

Vishani, guest · [07:28]It is part of the practice of our extra lessons institution. The homework we give is not punishment. It's just for the tutor to gauge that what he or she taught the student in class, the child's able to do it independently at home, and then when they come back for their next lesson, that particular piece of homework is marked, and whatever is incorrect needs to be corrected before it transcends into the next lesson. So that is basically closing the loop of that concept area. However, we do understand that students are getting tons of homework from school, and they have extra mural activities, and they have a life. So the homework we give is very manageable. It's very short, and the good news is parents do not need to mark that homework, or they do not need to help the child with the homework as well. Instructions are clearly given before they leave the lesson, and whatever is not understood is then dealt with at the next lesson. So yes, we do give homework, but we give a fair amount of homework.

Presenter, host · [08:23]Very glad to hear that homework is a good thing then.

Paul, guest · [08:26]Homework definitely has a very important role. From a schooling perspective, it's very important that homework is not there to teach a new skill. It's there to reinforce the skill that they've learned in class. Unfortunately, what does happen in this day and age is the child misses school, and now he's got to teach himself this skill, and that becomes demotivating for the child. If you're giving homework, give homework that they can do. They can use it as a motivation tool.