Tutors

[donnashuggy]

I don't know if this is true but I hear a lot about it

For the record my children have never had a tutor, not because I was unwilling, it was offered to them.

I hear stories about children that were tutored heavily in years 11 and 12 and it helped them. But I have heard stories about tutors writing their essays and the list goes on.

My question is, does it create more university dropouts because these students are not really capable of doing the work themselves? Or is that a myth? Am I able to exclude Asian students from the example, as I know someone is bound to mention that they are also heavily tutored and have good success rates of continuing at uni.

[just_me_karen]

Do you still sell Kumon?

I've had experience with it...it's mostly rote, repetitive, indoctrination. It doesn't teach children how to think, just how to do...so when they NEED to think, ie when a new concept is introduced, they get stuck. Thinking children will transfer and adapt the skills to the new concept.

Donna, only a bad tutor would do the work for the child and I'm pretty sure most parents would be dissatisfied with that. Besides, cheating won't help them pass their HSC.

A lot of kids get their essays done online these days. Uni students do it for a few dollars...but schools now test for plagiarism.

[*crikey*mate*]

No, I nolonger own a KUMON franchise.

LOL, if that is your experience and opinion of KUMON, then I say, you have no idea what you are talking about.

but that's OK, you're often wrong.

[just_me_karen]

No I'm not. And I'm right about this, too. It's books filled with endless, repetitive addition (for example) and doesn't teach the concept at all...without understanding the concept behind a task, children can't grasp new and harder concepts. Plus, look at the teachers they employ...not even qualified or educated, in many instances.

[*crikey*mate*]

employ?

unqualified?

LOL

keep going.....

[**meep**]

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@just_me_karen wrote:
No I'm not. And I'm right about this, too. It's books filled with endless, repetitive addition (for example) and doesn't teach the concept at all...without understanding the concept behind a task, children can't grasp new and harder concepts. Plus, look at the teachers they employ...not even qualified or educated, in many instances.

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That surprises me.  It is not the feedback I have been getting.  I have never used the Centre myself, my daughter has never received any tutoring (apart maths from her dad) but as I said, I know someone who teaches there and quite a few of my daughter's friends attend it a couple of times a week.   Not sure about the teachers being uneducated in many instances ?????

[*crikey*mate*]

Meep, she is WRONG

Selection Criteria

The minimum qualification we expect from our Instructors is to hold an undergraduate degree in any discipline. We have successful Instructors from backgrounds such as teaching, medicine, science, psychology, law, engineering, accounting and business.

All of our Instructors must demonstrate proficiency in both mathematics and English. This is to ensure they are able to provide sound instructional guidance to students and implement the Kumon programme with confidence.

Your Role

[freakiness]

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@**meep** wrote:

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@just_me_karen wrote:
No I'm not. And I'm right about this, too. It's books filled with endless, repetitive addition (for example) and doesn't teach the concept at all...without understanding the concept behind a task, children can't grasp new and harder concepts. Plus, look at the teachers they employ...not even qualified or educated, in many instances.

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That surprises me.  It is not the feedback I have been getting.  I have never used the Centre myself, my daughter has never received any tutoring (apart maths from her dad) but as I said, I know someone who teaches there and quite a few of my daughter's friends attend it a couple of times a week.   Not sure about the teachers being uneducated in many instances ?????

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There are good and bad tutors, probably mostly good but we get to hear about the bad as they peeve people off so they make a noise about it.  

My kids started learning a neww math method first until we moved away from that school. I always wished that method went mainstream but no such luck.  I'm not a fan of 12 times tables and over complicating problems. The method used at the first school made maths fun and easy.  It was so long ago I've forgotten most of the principles.

[mtnlane]

There is a huge gulf between 'expectation' and 'actuality' of the qualifications of 'Instructors' and it appears that 'expect' is used purely in a marketing sense Karen.

The 'suitability quiz' certainly does not preclude those not holding an undergraduate degree from becoming a franchisee or an instructor!

It's books filled with endless, repetitive addition (for example) and doesn't teach the concept at all...without understanding the concept behind a task, children can't grasp new and harder concepts.

That description accords with my experience of it - rather like learning the times tables by rote.

[cherry*135]

A lot of kids get their essays done online these days.

 I doubt that.

Uni students do it for a few dollars...but schools now test for plagiarism

If a uni student pays someone to write a essay for them, that is cheating but it is not plagiarism. The essay is newly written for that student. A good one costs more than a few dollars also.

Schools and Uni's have tested for plagiarism for several years. Uni's have a program they can feed suspect essays through to check for paragraphs,or whole essays that have been plagiarised. Some people try and re-use a friends essay from a previous year.

[*crikey*mate*]

LOL