When people look at my blog, most are tempted to engage my services. I received many queries everyday and most of them are valid concerns. Here are the top 3 most commonly-asked questions about my tuition class:
How can you guarantee results?
The truth is ‘I can’t’.
There are too many factors involved. To tell the truth, I used to naively think I can. However, after six months into giving tuition, I realised that I can’t.
I can raise the motivation of your child. I can teach him all the orthodox methods in learning. I can even set up homework systems to ensure he completes his tuition homework.
However, I am not with the child 24/7. I can only influence the child during the two-hour session. The fact is that the child forms most of his habits and values at home. I cannot change that.
I can promise you that your child will enjoy my tuition. I can promise that I can make learning fun for your child. I can promise that your child will see learning in a different light when he attends my tuition.
You can expect regular updates from me and how your child is doing according to my analysis. You can expect recommended strategies to apply at home for your child.
On your side, you need to grow values like resilience, self-control and integrity in your child. Only with these values, my tuition will be life-changing to your child.
Along the same line, some parents were concerned that they are going to pay a few hundred dollars per month in exchange for a service that is not guaranteed.
For your benefit, I am just telling the plain truth up front. I will try my best to motivate your child and grow self-discipline in your child, but I cannot guarantee that your child will be transformed overnight.
The younger your child starts tuition with me, the easier I can mould the child. When a child is younger, his values are not firmly formed yet and it is easier to influence the growth of his values.
Let me ask you a question. What is the worst case scenario if I should fail to meet your expectations?
It would be just one month of tuition fee.
But, what if I can influence your child and you let go of such an opportunity?
It would be the loss of the service of a good private tutor to help your child reach greater heights.
Weigh them and you will see which one is a bigger loss.
My son is not motivated, will he change after he attends your lessons?
I get this question a lot too. To jump start a cold engine, you need to warm it up first. The beginning is definitely difficult and tedious. I use mainly extrinsic rewards to jump start the motivation in the beginning. Then I transit into intrinsic rewards down the road.
To get to the intrinsic motivation part, it is a very long process.
In my tuition classes, I have not failed to motivate any student before. However, their motivation growth are not the same. Some have grown to become very motivated and self-directed in a very short period of time. Some are growing at a slower pace, but they are getting there. Improving even by a bit is also a victory, isn’t it?
My motivation strategy basically works in three dimensions:
- autonomy on their revision
- visual feedback on their level of mastery of the subject
- learning with a purpose
What differentiates you from your competitors?
If you are reading my blog, you will instinctively know how good I am.
How many private tutors maintain a blog and share their methods?
I share nearly all my techniques in my blog and all my resources in my newsletter. However, it is very not easy to copy what I do exactly.
This is my calling and this is my meaning in life. I teach not because I can. I teach because I must.
If you know me personally, you will know that I had my success in the corporate world. However, that was not my calling.
My calling is to help children love learning.
In my free time, I read about
- child psychology (how children think)
- game theory (what makes gaming addictive)
- children's motivation
- learning and pedagogy
- habits/values creation
- deliberate practice
I incorporate some of the above into my tuition class to make learning more systematic and effective. My lessons are created at a macro level with a final goal and then are translated into individual lessons for each tuition session.
It is time consuming and a lot of work. But, my students love my lessons and they are very reluctant to miss my tuition class.
Lastly, the greatest differentiating factor and your child will feel it:
I teach from my heart.
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Note: My Saturday slots are all taken up and there are only 2 available slots on Tuesday left. Drop me an email if you are interested about the Tuesday slot. Cheers!
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