Good communication skills are vital if you are to be a successful primary tutor. You need to have strong communication skills with both the parents and also the student you are tutoring. You will need to be able to relate to the student at their level and to show interest in what they say and do. Find out about the interests of the student so that you can relate to them and can show interest at what they do out of school as well as their academic studies. Show that you are actually interested them as a person and not just as a student you are tutoring for 1 hour a week. A good primary tutor will also have a sense of humour.
One of the key skills a good primary tutor will need is to be able to assess the level their students are working at very quickly. Through these assessments a good primary tutor will also be able to find out how the student learns. Activities that are visual, auditory and practical will help you to find out what sort of learner your student is. You can then use their strengths to help tutor them in the subject you are teaching. The student will gain in confidence as your relationship develops. If you communicate clearly and concisely at the assessed level they are working at you will quickly see progress in results.
The enlightened primary tutor will take a genuine interest in trying to help and make sure that their students have a clear understanding of their learn objectives. It will be obvious to your student if you are genuinely interested in them as a person. If they respect you as their tutor then you will be surprised how your results will improve and this will be because they will have the desire to please. This is clearly the case with primary school children.
Parents will also develop a trusting and professional relationship with you their child's tutor and the positive relationship between student and the tutor will prove beneficial. Your reputation as a good primary tutor will develop and you will be taking on more clients before you know it!
You need to know whether your student is making the desired progress. Be clear about your teaching objectives. It is important to make sure that the parents know and understand what you are teaching. It will help you if you give the parents some understanding as to how they can help at home.
Make sure that you have completed the appropriate assessments. It is important to establish precisely where the student is in their learning. There are likely to be stages of development that the student may have missed out on. It may be necessary to go back some way to find out if there are gaps in their learning. If you do find any such areas then you will need to remedy the problem before further moves forward are made. Good primary tutors will explain this to parents and constantly keep matters under review through activities to make sure that learning is being reinforced and understood. Don't forget that what your student may be able to do for you on one day they may forget or not be able to apply in their school work or in a different context. Ongoing practice of skills learned is necessary to ensure understanding. Pay close attention to these important steps and you will be well on the way to being a good primary tutor.
Good primary tutors will discuss with the parents if they would like homework produced as well as any that may be required from the school. This may be an issue that needs careful handling. If school homework is an issue at home the parents may want you to help the student with their school homework rather than endure negative sentiments about completing homework at home. If your student has extra homework from you then ensure that this is known about by the parents and always give feedback to both the student and their parents. Take these tips on board and you will become a good primary tutor with a client base that is well deserved.

Clarissa Kyriakos writes for Chichester Primary Tutors http://www.chichesterprimarytutors.co.uk/ where you can find out all you need to know about organising after school lessons and Specific Learning Difficulties for your primary school aged pupil. Arrange private tuition http://www.chichesterprimarytutors.co.uk/charges/ and have your 10th lesson free. Introduce new customers for special offers!