Types of tuition available for PSLE English

Are you looking for help for your child’s upcoming PSLE English? 

You have come to the right place! 

English Language has evolved to be a very important language as it opens up many opportunities in life. 

Why? You may ask so. 

First and foremost, it opens up the opportunity of communication. 

With English being our lingua franca, our common language, English helps to break down communication barriers within Singaporeans. 

It also allows us to communicate with foreigners or people of different ethnicities. Beyond Singapore, English is also commonly used worldwide! 

Not only so, English opens up opportunities for a better education. Education in Singapore is based on English language. 

This means that mastering English language gives you a headstart on excelling in school! 

Last but not least, it opens up many job opportunities. English is the language of science, computers, business and many other industries. 

To land a good job in the future, you cannot go without mastering English! 

With that being said, it is essential for all Singaporean students to build a strong foundation and eventually, to master English language.

The PSLE English language is designed to assess candidates’ English abilities in writing, language use and comprehension, listening comprehension and oral communication. 

PSLE English Examination Format

With many confusing exceptions, rules and contradictions in English language, it is definitely not easy to master English Language. Moreover, the many components of PSLE English language and its heavy content makes it jarring for a 12 years old student to cope. 

But, do not worry! With numerous tuition options available, there is plenty of help to support and assist your child to secure a strong foundation for his/her English language. 

In this article, I will be sharing 4 types of tuition available to help your child in excelling his/her PSLE English language. 

Home tuition 

First, let’s start off with Home tuition, one of the most popular tuition options. 

Home tuition, also known as private tuition, is when your child engages in a 1-1 session with a tutor at the comfort of your home. According to the academic needs of your child, the tutors will then cater the lessons to improve your child’s English language capabilities! 

Pros of home tuition:

•Learn at his/her own pace. As not all students learn at the same pace, Home tuition allows your child to follow his/her own pace and learn comfortably according to his/her academic strengths.

•Individualised attention from tutor. With 1-1 sessions, lessons are specially catered to your child’s needs with a dedicated tutor’s individualised attention. 

•Convenience. Have tuition comfortably and conveniently at the comfort of your home. 

•Flexible. Tuition timing and schedule are flexible and can be arranged with tutors.

•Affordable tuition rates. Tuition rates start from $25/hour. Click here for home tuition rates in Singapore. 

Cons of home tuition: 

•Difficulties in finding a suitable tutor. Not all private tutors are experienced and well-equipped with useful materials. However, with the help of a tuition agency, you can verify the qualifications of the tutor and find a suitable and qualified tutor. 

•Lack of incentive to self-learn. With home tuition, some students may feel less needs to independently pursue learning and knowledge. 

Where then can you find a reliable and experienced home tutor? 

With trusted home tuition agencies like SmileTutor, you can request for a tutor with no agency fee! With more than 50,000 tutors in SmileTutor’s database, you can find a qualified and suitable tutor ranging from part time tutors, full time tutors to Ex-MOE/MOE teachers for your child in less than 24 hours! 

Tuition Centers

Next up, if home tuition is not suitable for your child, tuition centers are also a popular tuition option! Tuition centers are usually held in a smaller group as compared to classes in school. Tuition centers usually provide their own unique notes and worksheets to their students. Many tuition centers also have programmes catered specially for PSLE English. 

Pros of Tuition centers: 

•Smaller class size. Students can feel more comfortable voicing out to discuss and ask questions during tuition with a smaller class size. 

•Positive peer influence. Students can influence and motivate one another as they study and learn together in tuition. 

•Useful study materials. Most tuition centers provide updated and useful notes and worksheets for their students. 

Cons of Tuition centers: 

•Inflexible schedule. With tuition centers’ fixed schedule, your child will have to work their timetable around it instead. 

•Inconvenience. Students have to travel down to tuition centers on a weekly basis. However, if your center is located near your neighbourhood, it will not take long to travel there. 

•Don’t learn at his/her own pace. Even in a smaller class, students might have different learning paces and your child might lack behind if placed in an unsuitable class. 

With over 1000 tuition centers in Singapore (2020), you can definitely source for a suitable English tuition center for your child! To find a suitable tuition center for your child, click here to see the 10 best primary school English tuition available! 

Online courses

Other than the previous tuition options, online courses can also be helpful for your child! 

Online courses provide your child with English learning materials such as videos and practice papers online.

These courses allow students to review and rematch lessons on topics that they do not understand or are weaker at. These online courses are reviewed on their own time on their own target basis and your child can engage in these learning materials in their free time. 

Pros of online courses: 

•Learn at his/her own pace. These online courses are reviewed on their own time on their own target basis and your child can catch up on weaker topics at their own time without lagging behind academically. 

•Affordable prices. Prices for online courses are very affordable and some platforms even offer free of charge online courses.

•Convenience. Your child can learn conveniently at your homes at a flexible timing. 

Cons of online courses: 

•One-way learning. Students will not be able to approach for help nor engage in any discussions. Hence, online courses may be insufficient to help your child. 

•Learning is not catered to one student. As these online courses are catered for a large group of people, these materials may not be helpful specifically to your child. 

Platforms such as Superstar Teacher, 88 Tuition and many others offer your child many online courses catered for PSLE English!  

Intensive PSLE preparation classes 

Last but not least, many private tutors and tuition centers also offer Intensive PSLE preparation classes which can be extremely helpful to your child! 

Intensive PSLE preparation classes are offered by some private tutors or tuition centers where your child will go through a series of intensive revision classes in preparation for PSLE English exams. 

These intensive classes are suitable when nearing PSLE where your child will need to revise and be well-prepared before sitting for their papers. 

Pros of Intensive PSLE preparation classes:

•Catered specifically for PSLE. These classes are specifically catered for PSLE students and hence, content covered and materials given will be crucial to your child’s preparation for PSLE. 

•Assist in your child’s revision. These classes help to clear any last minute doubts and get your child ready to sit for his/her PSLE paper. 

Cons of Intensive PSLE preparation classes: 

•Insufficient to go for it alone. These programmes are only for revisions and preparation nearing PSLE dates. To ensure that your child does well in school consistently, other forms of tuition are still needed.

Examples of these intensive preparation programmes are Eduedge’s Intensive PSLE preparation courses, The Learning Board’s PSLE online intensive courses, Learning Journey’s PSLE English Tuition preparation courses and many others! These classes usually happen closer to the PSLE examinations. 

Conclusion 

These are the 4 types of tuition available for PSLE English! In deciding the tuition for your child, you want to choose the tuition that is most suitable for your child and you might even combine a few of these options to give your child the help he/she needs! 

I hope this article has been helpful in helping you explore your tuition options for your child.  

Here are some related articles you might like to read:

Understanding Different Types of PSLE English Comprehension Questions

Learn English Through Movies And Films- A Complete Guide