The online tutoring market is large and mostly unregulated, marketing pages tend to sound similar regardless of actual quality. Here's a concrete checklist of questions worth asking any provider, including us, before committing.
Method and Structure
- What specific method do you teach, and can you describe it without jargon? A vague answer here ("we make maths fun!") is a warning sign. A specific, describable sequence is a good one.
- Are lessons live and one-to-one, or pre-recorded and group-based? These are fundamentally different products, both can have a place, but they're not interchangeable, and marketing sometimes blurs the distinction.
- What happens when a concept doesn't land the first time? A real answer describes a fallback approach. A vague answer suggests the lesson is more scripted than adaptive.
Consistency and Continuity
- Will my child have the same teacher every session? Continuity matters significantly for pacing accuracy and for a child's comfort, particularly for a child with a learning difference or maths anxiety.
- How do you track progress across sessions? Ask specifically what gets recorded and reviewed, not just whether "progress reports" exist as a marketing bullet point.
Pacing and Individualisation
- How do you decide when a child is ready to move to the next concept? Listen for a description of genuine mastery assessment, not a fixed weekly schedule applied regardless of the individual child.
- What if my child needs to go slower, or faster, than average? A quality provider should describe genuine flexibility here, not a one-size curriculum pace.
Learning Differences
- Do you have specific experience with dyscalculia or dyslexia? Ask for a concrete description of how the approach adapts for these children, not just a yes.
- Is structured, multisensory teaching used by default, or only if requested? The best answer is that it's woven through the standard approach for every child, since it tends to help everyone, not offered only as a special add-on.
Trial and Fit
- Can we try a real lesson before committing? A genuine trial class, not a sales call disguised as one, is the single best way to judge fit directly.
Conclusion
A good online maths tutor should be able to answer every one of these questions specifically and concretely, not with marketing language. If a provider can't describe their method, their pacing philosophy, or their approach to learning differences in real detail, that's worth noting before committing.
Book a trial class with us and ask us every one of these questions directly.
Sources
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), on quality indicators in individualised maths instruction.
- National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), on evaluating tutoring providers for children with learning differences.