Would you get a tutor in this situation (bad MS/HS English teachers)?
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Anonymous
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9th grade DD, who is a smart honors student, has had two terrible English teachers in a row (9th and 8th grade - both with frequent absences, almost weekly, and phone it in the rest of the time), end of 6th grade and all of 7th was Covid even though the teachers were fine. The terrible teachers are easy graders and DD gets A's, probably to disguise their lack of teaching.
For a variety of reasons we don't want to leave the school (plus no guarantees of a good teacher if we leave.) So would you get a private English tutor in this case? DD is very worried that she is not being properly prepared for college and beyond by these do-nothing teachers. DD is a strong reader and reads regularly for fun, but does not feel like she is getting proper writing instruction. We don't even really know what else she should be learning that she is not. WWYD? |
Anonymous
| You say “leave the school”—is this a private school? |
Anonymous
No, its public. I meant that we could leave for private in 10th grade but for a variety of reasons don't want to (mainly her friends and a school EC that she really enjoys.) |
Anonymous
| Yes I would. In fact, I have. |
Anonymous
Meaning, get a private tutor. I understand if you are on tight budget, why you may need to poll, but if you are not? This is a pretty low risk investment in your kid’s education. |
Anonymous
| Can anyone explain how a writing tutor works? How often do you see them, do you hand something in each time, and how much do they cost? |
Anonymous
| Yes |
Anonymous
OP here. I guess I just don’t really know what we need? Will the tutor know? I basically need her to shore up writing and grammar and…I have no idea what else has been missed. While DD loves to read, she may need reading comp help too, especially non-fiction but honestly how would we know? I’m going to look into it. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| Yes, if you are concerned. We have tutors in several subjects, why not, especially if the school system pays for it. |
Anonymous
Bwhahaha. School system is not paying for it. |
Anonymous
Our school system is paying for it. We are not. |
Anonymous
| Do a correspondence course. Cheaper than a tutor and more structured. There are a number of these for homeschoolers; get ideas from the homeschool forum. JHU-CTY also offers some. |
Anonymous
| I’m not sure whether a good one exists - but I might try to find a good academic summer program that focuses on writing, if you can afford it. For example Exeter has a summer program. I’m not sure if it’s any good or not, but might be worth a shot if it doesn’t break your bank account. |
Anonymous
| OP here - thanks for all these great ideas, especially the homeschool course and summer program ideas. DD is smart and motivated so I think those options could potentially work. |
Anonymous
OP, it sounds like you got the advice you needed. You and your DD are wise to recognize that students in classes with frequently absent teachers often don't get the instruction they deserve. It's an ugly secret of public education, documented in studies showing lower performance for students of teachers with poor attendance. I wish I had understood this when my kids were younger and had teachers who were experiencing issues that prevented them from being in the classroom regularly. I'm not judging the absences, but those years set my kids back and I should have done more to fill in the blanks. |