Group Tuition or Private One-To-One Classes in Qatar?
A big question that often comes with private tuition is whether private one-to-one tuition is the best way forward – or is group tuition the way to go? More parents in than ever are paying for private tuition in Qatar to top up their children’s education, to ensure they can compete with their peers and secure a better future.
today’s world is all about competition; young people competing for better jobs, businesses competing for better reviews and recognition, children competing for better grades and the list goes on. Education is the best place to start; by giving a child the best possible education we are giving them the best possible start in life and making that competition easier to attain.
Private tuition is something parents consider for many reasons including:
- Extra help understanding school topics
- Exam preparation
- learn something new
- boost a child’s self-esteem
- increase confidence
- catch-up on schoolwork
When thinking about whether to opt for a one-to-one tutor or group tuition for your child, there are plenty of pros and cons that can be argued for each but the answer is simple. One-to-one tuition gets better results, but coupled with some group tuition could be the perfect solution.
What is one-to-one tuition?
This style of tuition is essentially when a child has the full attention of a tutor in that the lesson involves just the child and the tutor. These lessons are normally conducted in a home, either the child’s or the tutor’s, and can be as often as once or twice a week.
The benefits of one-to-one tuition
The benefits of one-to-one tuition are endless, but the fact that your child will have the full attention of his private tutor is probably the most prominent. This also leads to a stronger relationship with the tutor, whereby your child will be able to build up trust and feel more comfortable when attending his private classes. Other benefits include:
- More focused attention for your child
- Personalized teaching for your child’s needs
- Reinforces knowledge learned in school
- Your child can study at his/her own pace
- No Travelling.The tutor will often come to your home so traveling is eliminated saving time for other activities
- Flexibility with lesson scheduling
- More emotional support
- Customized lesson and exam preparation
What is group tuition?
Group tuition is defined as a tutor working with a certain number of students, which can typically be two to six students for small group tuition. The tutor focusses on teaching the students so that they have time to interact with the others, as well as working at their own pace. Group tuition usually takes place in a tuition center classroom.
The benefits of group tuition
Group tuition has many benefits that are sometimes overlooked. Your child will have the opportunity to interact with other students and meet new people, which means they will be able to hear other peoples’ opinions and listen to questions they may not have thought of themselves. The focus of the lesson will not solely be on your child, so they may have more time to digest certain pieces of information. Other benefits include:
- Usually more affordable than one-to-one tuition
- Tuition centers will provide well-researched materials for the lesson
- Tutors are often full-time workers, who are committed to teaching
- Group tuition is usually at a center with better equipment
- Children are able to share their knowledge or problems with each other
- Encourages interaction and enhances social skills
- Children can make new friends
- Encourages friendly competition
- Offers a livelier environment for more enjoyable learning
How effective is mixing one-to-one and group tuition?
The general rule is the smaller the group the better, so one-to-one tuition has a higher impact than a group lesson would. Saying that small group tuition does offer some advantages that cannot be gained in a one-to-one lesson.
By having weekly or twice-weekly one-to-one lessons, and adding a once or twice-monthly group lesson, you will be ensuring your child is one step ahead; gaining the advantages of both types of tuition. In this way, it breaks up a certain monotony to their style of learning and increases their chances of future success.
How do I find the right tutor for my child in Qatar?
As we have seen, one-to-one and group tuition are both effective, so understanding your child’s needs will be the most important factor when making a decision on a tutor. All children have individual needs, which you should consider when choosing a tutor. Some questions you may ask when thinking about the right tutor for your child are:
- What recommendations do they come with?
- Are they qualified enough?
- Do they have the time?
- Are they able to travel?
- Can they work around your schedule?
- Will they be compatible with your child?
- Do they prepare their own lessons?
- Do they have the right material or follow a curriculum?
London Academy Qatar can help you to answer all these questions and more when selecting a tutor for your child. In addition to finding the perfect tutor for your child in Qatar, be it home-based, at the tutor’s home or online.
It can be argued that the choice of one-to-one or group tuition also depends largely on the type of lesson your child will be taking. For example, if your child needs extra tutoring in MATHS or ENGLISH, maybe one-to-one tuition would be the best option as they will have the full attention needed for them to concentrate on core information. Music, Arts & Crafts or IT lessons, however, may benefit greater from students directly, or indirectly, encouraging and motivating each other.
Conclusion
In many ways, it is for the parent to decide which structure better suits their child. A positive conclusion would, therefore, be for children to continue with their one-to-one lessons, and integrate a group tuition lesson once or twice-monthly so they can have the best of both worlds. Your child will then have the opportunity to build a good relationship with their tutor, with the added benefit of experiencing other student’s opinions from a group lesson.
