Seasons Greetings

Hi everyone!!

Its a little surreal to imagine that in the blink of an eye..a year has come..and that it will be gone in a little less than 12 hours.

In this year, some of us faced the mountains that were our exams, competitions, work, new beginnings, hardships and new experiences. I can only hope that as we look back, that we can appreciate the lessons that these experiences have taught us.

Like a speeding train, another year is about to dawn upon us. In this year, we can only look forward to(and not bemoan) more of such experiences that life throws at us. The alternative would be somber and saddening, and as I always tell my friends, since we have only 1 life to live, we might as well choose to be happy about it.(and all the variety that comes along) .

I wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and a fantastic new year ahead filled with optimism and hope and opportunities for you and your loved ones.

Lester Lee

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing one and all a merry christmas! Stay sober and drive safely!

Cheers!

2008: The Year in Review

Much of 2008 was spent working with Elvin on the website. It was a busy time for some of us. Lester spent one semester studying in Ireland on an exchange programme. Adeline did her internship in the later part of the year. 

We organised two classes during the year. The first of which was the P6 maths tuition class. When the first lesson began in January, there were only two students! However, the number of students gradually grew. We had a third student in Feb, and by Mar, we had a total of nine students! I wish I could say that everything was smooth-sailing, but it was not. As the months passed, some of the students discontinued the tuition for a number of reasons. 

One such student was called Benjamin. He was a bright student and I always felt that he really didn't need tuition for maths at all. He had however, some difficulty in the topic of Rate & Speed. When I worked with the class on that topic, I could see that he was a fast learner and he improved a lot. Soon, I could see that he had no problems handling that topic, and he left shortly after that! I wasn't sad to see him go though, because I knew that he really didn't need tuition at all, and he could make better use of his time on his own.

There was another student called Raudha, who left because her mum had found a private tutor for her. It's fine with me too because different students learn differently. 

Then there were students like Grace, Natalie and Mitchell, who (I believe) left because their parents weren't seeing any improvements in their maths. It is for these students that I spend many sleepless nights wondering, what could I have done better for them? I hope they did well in their PSLE.

I eventually ended the tuition class with six students. The pictures below, were taken on the last lesson, just before they sat for their maths exam.

I was delighted to learn that Ken (extreme left in the group shot) and Alysia (second girl from the right) scored A stars for maths. And Jie Ting (extreme right) and Jaron (wearing black) scored A's. I am very happy for them and I hope that they continue to do well as they embark on secondary school life.

We also organised a second class for sec 4 additional maths in June. Unfortunately, the response for the class wasn't good and, to save on rent, we ended up changing the venue of the class to a private residence instead.

Although we are operating as a tuition agency, ultimately, we aim to establish Quality Tuitions as a tuition centre as well. The experiences gained in organising the two classes this year have proved to be valuable in providing for future classes.

Beginning tuition in December. A headstart? Or too early?

Nowadays, I observe that more and more parents want their children to begin tuition in December. When I was still giving one-to-one tuition in 2006 and 2007, many parents asked if I could start tutoring their children in December before school starts.

Many people like to ask: are parents robbing their children of valuable play time? Is it totally necessary to begin tuition in a month when children should be happily playing and enjoying themselves? Shouldn't the kids deserve to have fun (or at least deserve a break) after one academic year of studying?

When I was in primary school. I always loved the holidays because it meant freedom from the academic stress of school work. 

Is there really a need to begin tuition in December? For me, I feel that it depends on how weak a student is in a subject and the student's pace of learning.

The students I tutored during the Dec holidays were weak in various subjects. Yet, they always go on to show improvement in the subsequent academic year. Introducing the coming year's syllabus in advance also increases their confidence in the subject when they go back to school.

When I was in secondary school, there were some subjects in which I started tuition in December and one of them was for O Level physics, just before beginning sec 4. It was a group tuition and I would go for lessons with three other classmates, once a week for one hour. We chose to start our tuition in December because we did not fare very well in the sec 3 exams.  My friends scored in the range of 50 plus. I failed with a 40 plus score and had to resit the exam-during the holidays. 

Our teacher, Mr Foo, shortened the lessons from one and a half hours to one hour because he didn't want to make the lessons too intensive. During these weekly lessons, he would do two things. Firstly, he would revise with us the sec 3 curriculum, so that we can consolidate our learning and revisit the topics that we were weak at. Secondly, he also began teaching the first few topics of the sec 4 syllabus so that we can go back to school in January, with a decent idea of what is to come. The headstart we received was invaluable because when school started, we found ourselves able to understand what the teacher was teaching, and also, much of what was taught had a look of familiarity. Our grades gradually improved and we all scored A's for our O Level.

I scored A's for all the subjects in which my tuition commenced in December (A Maths was the other subjects). However, there's no conclusive correlation to link the scoring of good grades with commencing tuition in December, because I also scored A's for other subjects in which I didn't even have tuition.

Therefore, in summary, I feel that tuition during the holidays should only be arranged if it is absolutely necessary-if a student is particularly weak in a subject. For students who have no problems coping with their academic workload, a stress-free holiday period should be just reward.

Somethings about me!

Heyz this is Lester here. Just thought I'd post a lil' bit about myself and what I can offer to my classes at Quality Ttuitions.

I am a 23 year old undergraduate who is fortunate enough to be studying a subject that has always facinated and intrigued me--AIRCRAFT--i.e. Aerospace Engineering. To me, life is all about chasing your dreams and having fun in the process!! I study when I need to..but play even harder when it's time!! To this end..I am an avid wakeboarder and an outdoor enthusiast who simply can't get enough of the sun, sand, sea..(you bet it's holiday time now=)

but enough of my musings..on the more serious aspect of tuitions, next year will be my 6th year of conducting tuitions. I first started giving tuitions(A Level Math) on a one-to-one basis immediately after JC as a means to supplement my NS allowance and to save up money for University. As a practicing engineering student especially, I always mention that Physics and Mathematics are my bread and butter, and I especially love teaching mathematics as I find it is one of the easier subjects for me to motivate and drive my students to excel in.

At Quality Tuitions, I now conduct the Additional Mathematics Classes and from the positive feedback and marked improvements from the students of my first batch(who took their O Levels this year), I am looking forward to receiving good news(VERY) come end January when the O Level results are released and guiding another batch of students towards an A1s in Add. Math.

Competition amongst tuition centres

We're almost midway into December. It is a time when parents and students contemplate academic plans for the coming year, and tuition centres are advertising aggressively for their 2009 classes. Already, I have received flyers at my door from several tuition centres. Some of them boast teachers from top schools like Raffles Girls or Catholic High. The banners have been popping up around my neighbourhood as well. Each advertising for tuition classes.

On Wednesday, I noticed that 2 flyers have been pasted in the lift lobby of my flat. The kind of flyers that have little phone numbers at the bottom you can peel off. When I came back from lunch one hour later, one of the flyers has been ripped off. And I doubt it's because of over-enthusiastic response! At least they have one left, I thought to myself. (Just in case you are wondering, no, I didn't do it!)

Today morning, I exited the lift, and the remaining flyer was gone too (again, I didn't do it!). I was initially inclined to think that it was removed by the cleaners from town council. But when I looked up and saw another outdated notice still intact, I highly doubted that the tuition advertisements were removed by the cleaners!

There are at least 5 tuition centres in the immediate vicinity of my block. So yup...tis the season when competition is high!

Benefits of private tuition

Is private tuition always the answer? Maybe yes, maybe no. But in a country where more than 90% of students have tuition in one form or another, you can't deny that there has to be some benefits when it comes to private tutoring.

During my primary and secondary school years, I had my experiences as a student of private tuition. In university, my involvement in private tuition changes because now, I'm the tutor.

Hence, I have had my fair share of experiences, both as a student and as a tutor. And from these experiences, I'd like to share with you some of the benefits of private tutoring:

1. Comfortable pace of learning

With private tutoring, a student can learn at his/her own pace. Different students learn at different rates. In school, some teachers work with a class size of 30 (or more), and this makes individualized attention difficult. The problem is compounded when teachers are constrained by time, to follow a lesson plan closely. With private tutoring, weaker students can be afforded with adequate time to learn a subject.

2. Confidence

One of the important factors of achieving good grades is confidence. Confidence is acquired through constant practice. For students less independent, that can be developed with the guidance of a tutor. With private tuition, important academic concepts can be reinforced. This strengthens learning and helps instill confidence in students. One of the best tutors I had was Mr Foo, a retired physics teacher who kindly volunteered to tutor myself and three sec 4 classmates privately. His method of teaching gave us so much confidence in the subject and the four of us went on to score As.

3. Having your questions answered

Sometimes a student is afraid of asking questions in class. They do not want to embarrass themselves because they fear that people might think of their questions as unintelligent. Sometimes they just feel bad for disrupting the lesson. When I had a private tutor, I always clarrified my doubts. I wasn't even afraid of asking questions I thought were stupid.

4. Help in schoolwork

A private tutor can help you with your school work. As a student, I always asked my tutor for help on homework questions which I have difficulty solving. And as a tutor, I always encourage my students to ask me any homework questions that they may encounter difficulty solving. Students however, should not over-rely on their tutor to solve every single problem.

About Me

My name is Benedict and I started Quality Tuitions in June 2007. Within a few months, I had two new members, Lester and Adeline, who joined the team. Although we are a tuition agency, we also conducted a weekly P6 mathematics tuition class this year.

I put forward the idea of extending our web presence into the blogosphere because I wanted to create a more direct channel of communication with our customers. 

Whether you're a student in the middle of secondary school life, a parent concerned for your child's studies or a tutor looking for assignments, I'll try my best to ensure that the content of most blog entries is something that you can relate to. Occasionally, I will blog about current/controversial events or my own personal experience. 

Currently, I am 23 years old, and I'm an undergraduate in NTU. I like playing football, watching movies and I enjoy reading.

If you have any comments or just wanna say hi, you can email me directly at benedict@qualitytuitions.com.sg