6 Questions to Ask Any Secondary Science Tutor Before Your Child's First Session

An efficient secondary science tutor is someone who needs to be thoughtfully chosen along the lines of more than merely knowing the subject. With the rigorous and wide-ranging curriculum in Singapore, especially leading to highly competitive tests, parents of the children have to be tactical.

By posing the right questions, the methodology of the science tutor will be in line with the needs and objectives of the student. The following five areas cover the six most important questions to ask before committing to a first session of secondary science tuition.

1. How Will You Diagnose My Child's Current Science Knowledge?

A great tutor does not simply teach; they first diagnose the student's specific knowledge profile. They should detail how they will test the student's current grasp of core science concepts across the different science disciplines. This initial diagnostic reveals the precise areas requiring immediate attention.

It is crucial to ensure that the strategy used in secondary science tutoring takes into account the fact that students have different learning styles, learning pace and existing background learning, as early as the lower secondary level. The plan must be dynamic and capable of addressing the student's needs, and not necessarily making the student pass through a fixed set of lessons. This is the key to successful long-term learning because it provides flexibility.

The diagnostic session that our team at Epsilon Education will carry out is to identify all the conceptual gaps that will enable us to build a plan that is very personalised and specific to each individual student.

2. How Will You Structure Lessons Around My Child's Specific Strong and Weak Topics?

Parents should enquire directly about the strategy for managing a student's existing skill set. Knowing the curriculum is only the beginning; applying that knowledge means having a systematic approach for tackling the student's strong and weak topics within each module, whether it is combined science or triple science.

For instance, a student excelling in Biology but struggling with physics calculations requires a carefully weighted schedule. A detailed response on time allocation must help students gain maximum benefit from every hour paid for. This efficient, targeted focus is how we maximise time spent during tuition.

These imbalances are exactly what our services target, so that the lessons are hyper-niche on areas that will produce the most overall grade improvement and catalyse an outcome-oriented learning process.

3. What Is Your System for Tracking Progress and Providing Feedback?

Enquire with the tutor about how they keep track of results in a consistent way. This will contain information about the effectiveness of the different teaching methods. The parent is supposed to receive frequent reports of what the student has learnt, student performance and what they are going to learn in the next couple of weeks.

The most effective systems are the ones that combine the formal assessment outcomes with the observation of the increasing level of critical thinking in the student. The tutor must be prepared to change the focus in case the student is having a poor understanding of the syllabus at hand, and the lesson plan should always be adjusted according to the student's requirements.

We have a system of regular, comprehensive progress reports, which enable the parents to witness concrete outcomes and get a picture of the logic behind the further course of their child in the academic process.

4. What Are Your Academic Qualifications and Track Record in Teaching the Singapore Curriculum?

When it comes to the educational qualification of the tutor, negotiation is not an option. This also encompasses tertiary qualifications, teaching certifications, and, preferably, in the past, experience in directly teaching the Singapore science syllabus. High-quality teaching depends on deep subject mastery, but it is also crucial to have analysis expertise.

Moreover, parents should also demand the demonstration of success, including testimonials or a reliable track record of students passing high-stakes national exams. By visiting a reputable tuition centre, you are assured of tutors who are qualified and familiar with the examination vagaries.

Our teachers are highly qualified and experienced with enormous knowledge on the local curriculum and have had a history of success, thus your child is guaranteed professional and knowledgeable advice.

5. What Is The Optimal Class Size and Format (Group vs. Private) for My Child?

The nature of the class, i.e. one-to-one or small group, will be critical in regard to concentration and involvement of the student. You should ask what the average size of the class is because the few students in the classes will generally imply that you will have more individual attention, which is a requirement in complex science tuition in Singapore.

Understanding the format is crucial when selecting a tuition centre in Singapore. Parents should carefully weigh the benefits of group tuition, which can foster collaborative learning, against the completely dedicated environment offered by private tuition, to decide on the right setting for their tuition classes.

Our services offer the synergistic benefits of both worlds, providing the motivation found in small-group settings paired with the in-depth, high degree of individual tailoring usually associated with private learning.

Final Thoughts

Answering these five questions, which run through diagnosis techniques to methods of teaching, will help parents make an informed choice regarding the science education of their child. The right tutor is in the form of an academic partner who not only helps the student to get the material but also to acquire the required critical thinking and examination skills. 

At Epsilon Education, we are sure about the precision-based approach to the learning process, where every student is viewed as an individual with unique needs. The combination of effective lesson planning and narrow teaching is highly successful and helps your child to receive the advantages and benefits of small-group and one-on-one tutoring with an emphasis on the issues that should be resolved in a short period. Contact us now and make an appointment to start rolling towards academic excellence.