There have been numerous instances where parents will request for Chemistry tuition trial classes for their child and then make up their minds on whether to sign up their child for that a particular tuition class. There are currently two perspectives towards viewing “trial classes at the moment”
Different types of Chemistry trial classes in Singapore
One form of trial class is conducted by employing a private Chemistry tutor for a single or up to a double session to determine the competency and rapport of the tutor with the student. The idea is to avoid “stepping on landmines” should the tutor turn out to be an unsuitable for the student and only finding out after several months of Chemistry tuition classes, which will turn out to be both a waste of money and the student’s time.
The second form of trial class is resembles the first, but the difference is that the first one or two lessons will be taught for free, and these lessons are meant for the Chemistry tutor to showcase his ability to teach and build connection with the student, otherwise parents should not obliged to pay for the lessons should the student find that he or she have not learnt much from these lessons.
Fortunately, most parents today also believe that the second form of trial class is an unfair practice towards tutors as payment should be made for the tutor’s time nonetheless. This greatly undermines and discriminates against tutors and breeds distrust in the tuition community in general. Also, having just two lessons are not sufficient for students to have an accurate gauge whether they have actually benefitted from the lessons since the improvements are only visible only after at least a month or two worth of lessons. Hence, we will only look at the first form for this article.
- Experience of Chemistry tutors counts
A Chemistry tutor who first join the tuition sector will have come to the appointed tuition classes more prepared and accommodating to parents and students since they have some level of uncertainty in the tutor’s aptitude and subject matter knowledge to properly conduct the lessons. This helps to create a positive and supportive environment for tutors to grow as the number of students they start to receive increases.
As the Chemistry tutor starts to improve in his teaching and become more experienced in the delivery of the lessons, parents will be more likely to skip trial classes altogether as he or she is able to show a successful track record of helping the students get better at the subject in terms of exam grades.
- Highlighting your long term interest in being a Chemistry tutor
Highlighting at the start of each conversation with parents of your intention to stay in this line of work for a long time will reveal your dedication and commitment as a Chemistry tutor. This will help your case in building up your tuition career as someone who is there to stay with the students throughout their learning journey instead of just a transactional service to earn a living off of the students.
As a dedicated Chemistry tutor, you will be expected to customise your lesson plan for the individual needs of students instead of implementing a singular teaching style for the child. That will make it no different from a Chemistry school teacher who has to use such an approach since there are 30 to 40 students to manage in class, and you will lose your edge as a Chemistry tutor which is not desirable in the long run.
- Short-term Chemistry tuition is beneficial for some students
Parents may have heard of this type of tuition that is conducted as a “crash course” for students, especially before the exams. These are marketed as intensive classes which aims to cram as much content as possible into each session. These Chemistry tuition classes may be beneficial for students who are just aiming to pass a major exam, usually the end of year or national examinations such as ‘O’ or ‘A’ levels. This varies from the trial classes that are mentioned previously. Exam techniques and strategies form the bulk of such classes on top of some teaching of the fundamentals of the subject of Chemistry.