Our Empire expands! Stellenbosch, Paarl and Somerset West have all recently become new Penguin Tutoring outposts, with latest franchisee Suzanne van der Merwe in charge. Get in touch with her at suzanne@penguintutoring.co.za for any tutoring queries relating specifically to the beautiful Winelands region.
Archive for July, 2009
Such was valued client Charmaine Kelly’s surprise when she found that her son Alexander had been spending his Friday afternoon writing notes for an Afrikaans test, which was only due the following Tuesday! Alexander has had just five lessons with Penguin tutor, Megan Reeves, but Charmaine is already seeing strong improvements in his marks, in his confidence and (clearly) in his attitude! Motivating our learners to take such responsibility for their own work is a huge part of what Penguin tutors strive for! Keep inspiring, guys!
In another response by Joseph Liebenberg, in much the same way as Megan Reeves finds the benefits of tutoring, he also shared his thoughts on what inspires him. Joseph is studying a B Com LLB and has tutored over 160 hours with us.
“The opportunity to use private tutoring services is an opportunity reserved for only a privileged few students, often separated from other students by the financial circumstances of the parents, and importantly the sacrifices made by those parents. Often, in our modern society whilst parents work hard to create these privileged circumstances, the time available to parents for their children is diminished. This is unfortunately a situation that many South African parents are confronted with, leaving them insufficient time to sit down and become an active part of their child’s school life.
The ultimate goal with regard to private tutoring is to improve academic performance, this is uncontroversial. However, the ways in which academic performance are improved, as well as the reasons therefore, are not as clear cut as the ultimate goal. As discussed above, there is no doubt that time spent tutoring a child personally is the most productive way to improve academic performance, but this is not always a viable option. However, this cause and effect relationship of more time equaling better marks is not that simple.
As a tutor, the one to two hours spent a week with any student should be time spent as productively as possible, including work given that should be done outside of lesson time, assessments in some form, and feedback to the parents. However, a tutor provides far more than simply the time that a parent cannot.
A tutor has the opportunity to be a role model, one that is personable and approachable, beyond the simple questions of Active and Passive in Afrikaans or the issues that underpinned the Cold War in History. I am only 22 years of age, which makes me far closer in age to many of the teenage students I have tutored than their parents – and whilst my parents and I will argue this fact too, times have changed! I feel that the world is not as simple as it used to be. There are societal gaps that many of the current youth simply slip into, and may never climb out of. I feel it is crucial as a tutor, holding that power of being a peer to many of the students to use this to build up a student’s confidence, on top of simply academic performance.
Confidence is what prevents a student slipping into the gaps, and confidence is probably the most important tool that school should equip a student with, but often this doesn’t happen, and this is a gap that a tutor truly can help with. Confidence can be built up directly by a tutor. For example by being a peer to the student that the student can bounce ideas off for their future, and return a relatable, objective opinion – that a student is far more likely to accept than their parent’s opinion that often seems far removed simply because of the opinion being of their parents. Indirectly, improving academic performance builds confidence in that subject, and if you speak to many successful people, they will tell you that confidence has a habit of spilling over to all areas of ones life. Thus, even simply achieving the core goal of improving academic performance can have the effect of improving one’s confidence.
I believe that confidence is the best gift that a parent can give their children; it leads to happy, successful student that will make positive decisions moving forward in life. As a tutor, I feel that bringing this element into the tutoring environment is what makes a tutor a successful one, and this is what can be expected from Penguin Tutoring.”
Thanks Joseph, you’re an absolute asset to our team.
There are few things as rewarding as getting great feedback from our parents and tutors about the day to day happenings of how the learners are benefitting. We do our best to keep our clients’ comments up to date on our Comment Page, but I have two good stories to share today.
Megan Reeves is one of our Class Act tutors, having tutored over 300 hours with us, since joining the team two and a half years ago.
She recently gave us feedback on her experiences working as a tutor:
“My name is Megan. I have been working for the Penguin Tutoring Company for over two years. I love my job and I am passionate about the subjects that I tutor. In the one-on-one lessons that I have with my learners I am able to develop a close relationship with them. This close relatioinship allows for me to better recognise the pupil’s strengths and weaknesses, and so I am able to devise a teaching method best suited to their needs. I am a twenty year old student and my youth allows for me to better relate to my learners. It was a short time ago that I was in school and facing difficulties similar to theirs. Therefore I can understand the difference a tutor can make in one’s life. Sometimes all a learner needs to help them improve their marks is for someone to take the time to explain their school work to them at a level that they can understand and to re-instill their sense of confidence that is often lacking due to poor results. In my work I strive to be that “someone” for my learners.”
Megan, as well as our extensive team of tutors are willing to help make a difference in your life. If you’re a parent, feel free to contact us, or if you’re a student, and think you can add value to a school learner’s academic experience, sign up today.
