A good maths tutor needs strong subject knowledge, but they also need to explain clearly, identify gaps and help your child work independently. The best fit is someone who understands your child’s curriculum and responds patiently when an explanation does not make sense.
At All Out Education, we believe parents should look closely at how a tutor teaches. Academic achievements are useful evidence of subject knowledge. However, your child needs someone who can turn that knowledge into explanations they understand and skills they can use without help.
Here is what we recommend checking before booking, during an introductory lesson and as tutoring continues.
Look for Someone Who Can Explain Maths in Different Ways
A tutor should have more than one way to explain a concept. If your child does not understand the first explanation, repeating the same words may not resolve the difficulty.
Depending on the topic, a tutor might use a diagram, physical materials, a simpler example or an everyday situation before returning to the symbols on the page.
Read our latest blog: How to Prepare for Your First Maths Tutoring Session
Ask How They Respond When a Learner Gets Stuck
During your first conversation, ask, “What do you do when a child does not understand your explanation?”
Look for a specific answer. The tutor should describe how they investigate the difficulty and adjust their teaching. For example, they might check an earlier skill or ask the learner to explain the step that feels confusing.
We value tutors who remain curious about a mistake. An incorrect answer can reveal exactly where the learner needs support.
Check Their Experience With Your Child’s Grade and Curriculum
Ask whether the tutor has taught your child’s grade and understands the relevant curriculum and assessment requirements. Depending on the school, this may involve CAPS, IEB or Cambridge.
Curriculum familiarity helps the tutor select suitable questions, understand assessment expectations and keep support relevant to schoolwork.
Ask About Current Teaching Experience
A tutor’s experience should relate to the work your child needs help with. Someone confident teaching primary-school number skills may have different strengths from someone specialising in advanced exam preparation.
Useful questions include:
- Which grades and curricula do you currently teach?
- Have you helped learners with these particular topics?
- How do you stay familiar with current assessment requirements?
- How will you use my child’s schoolbooks and recent tests?
Recent experience is helpful, but age alone does not tell you whether a tutor understands the curriculum. Ask for practical examples of their work.
Weigh Qualifications Alongside Teaching Ability
Qualifications help establish subject knowledge. Their relevance depends on the level being taught, so check that the tutor has an appropriate background for your child’s needs.
For us, qualifications are part of the assessment. We also want evidence that the tutor can explain, listen, plan and adapt.
A Younger Tutor Can Be a Good Match
A university student or recent school leaver may relate well to a learner and remember the demands of school exams. However, they still need secure subject knowledge, preparation and an appropriate approach to working with children.
An experienced teacher may offer a broad range of explanations and a strong understanding of common misconceptions. They should also demonstrate that they can adjust to your child’s pace.
We would avoid choosing entirely by degree level, age or school marks. A strong academic record does not prevent someone from being an empathetic teacher, and having struggled at school does not automatically make someone a good tutor. Judge the teaching directly.
Choose a Tutor Who Investigates the Cause of Mistakes
A useful tutor looks beyond the incorrect answer. They try to establish whether the learner misunderstood a concept, lost track of a calculation, misread the question or rushed under pressure.
For example, a child struggling with algebra may have an earlier gap in fractions or negative numbers. More practice on the current worksheet may not help until that underlying difficulty is addressed.
Expect an Initial Assessment
The tutor should review relevant schoolwork and give your child opportunities to attempt questions independently. This can help reveal what they understand and where support is needed.
An assessment does not need to feel like a high-pressure examination. It can involve discussion, short activities and carefully chosen questions.
Ask how the findings will influence the lesson plan. You should receive a clearer explanation than simply, “Your child is weak at maths.”
Look for Patience and Respect
A learner needs to feel comfortable admitting that they do not understand. If they are afraid of being judged, they may nod through an explanation while remaining confused.
We look for tutors who give children time to think, respond respectfully to errors and avoid describing difficult work as something they should find “obvious.”
Ask About Supporting Anxious Learners
Ask the tutor to describe how they have supported a child who felt nervous about maths. A useful answer may include building trust, starting with manageable questions and gradually increasing independent work.
The tutor should help the learner experience progress without promising to remove anxiety or guarantee a particular mark.
A Case Study: Making Factorisation Visible
One Grade 9 learner, whom we will call Sipho, struggled with algebraic factorisation. He could remember the instruction to find two numbers that multiply to the constant term and add to the coefficient of x, but he did not understand why the method worked.
During assessments, he became anxious and guessed at signs and numbers. He began describing himself as someone whose brain was not suited to maths.
Changing the Explanation
The tutor moved away from repeating the rule and introduced algebra tiles. These represented an x-squared term, x terms and individual units.
Using the example x² + 5x + 6, they arranged one x-squared tile, five x tiles and six unit tiles into a rectangle.
The rectangle’s sides represented x + 2 and x + 3. Sipho could then connect the physical arrangement with the factorised expression: (x + 2)(x + 3).
This gave him a reason for the two numbers. Their product supplied the six units, while their contributions together supplied the five x terms.
What Changed
Sipho began to view the problem as finding the sides of a rectangle. The tutor then connected that understanding to written calculations and checked that he could attempt similar questions independently.
By the end of the term, his factorisation assessment results had improved from 38% to 68%. His confidence also increased.
This was one learner’s outcome. It illustrates the value of changing an explanation when a memorised procedure is not enough. Visual materials are one useful tool, and a good tutor checks whether they genuinely improve understanding.
What Should You Watch for During a Trial Lesson?
If a trial or introductory lesson is available, use it to assess the interaction between your child and the tutor. Confirm any fee and booking conditions beforehand.
Your Child Participates Actively
The learner should have opportunities to write, explain and attempt questions. The tutor may demonstrate a new method, but should then check whether the child can use it.
We prefer lessons where the learner does most of the problem-solving. A participation ratio can be a useful reminder, but parents do not need to time every minute. The important question is whether your child is thinking and working.
Mistakes Lead to Useful Discussion
Watch how the tutor responds to an incorrect answer. Asking, “What made you choose that operation?” can reveal more than immediately erasing the work.
A good tutor helps the child locate the error and try again, providing enough support to make the next attempt productive.
The Tutor Checks Understanding
“Does that make sense?” is not enough on its own. A hesitant learner may say yes because they feel embarrassed.
Look for follow-up questions, a similar problem to attempt or an invitation to explain the method in their own words.
The Pace Responds to the Learner
A prepared lesson plan is useful, but the tutor should adjust when the session reveals an unexpected gap. Continuing through a worksheet the child cannot access is unlikely to help.
The tutor should also notice when concentration drops and consider a change of activity, a simpler step or a short break.
Which Tutor Behaviours Are Warning Signs?
Consider discussing your concerns or looking for another tutor if you repeatedly observe:
- The tutor completing most of the work while your child watches.
- Long explanations without checking independent understanding.
- Impatient or dismissive responses to questions.
- Blaming every difficulty on a lack of effort.
- Ignoring clear foundational gaps.
- Frequent lateness, distractions or unexplained cancellations.
After the lesson, ask your child, “Did you feel comfortable making mistakes and asking questions?” Their answer matters.
You can also ask what they learned, without turning the conversation into another test. Some children need several sessions to become comfortable, so consider the tutor’s approach alongside your child’s initial reaction.
Expect a Clear Learning Plan and Useful Feedback
Once the tutor has assessed your child, they should explain the priorities and how progress will be reviewed.
Specific Learning Goals
A useful short-term goal might be completing a set of fraction questions independently or explaining how to rearrange an equation.
Longer-term goals may include improved assessment performance, but these should be agreed targets rather than guaranteed results.
Meaningful Progress Updates
Feedback should tell you what your child worked on, what they could do independently and what remains difficult.
For example, “She can now find equivalent fractions, but still needs practice choosing a common denominator” gives you more information than “She did well today.”
Manageable Practice Between Lessons
The tutor should recommend focused practice that reinforces the lesson and fits around schoolwork. Tasks can progress from familiar questions to mixed problems as understanding develops.
Ask what your child should do when they get stuck. They should be able to flag a difficult question for discussion rather than spend an evening becoming increasingly frustrated.
How All Out Education Approaches Maths Support
At All Out Education, Jacqueline Kemp’s approach focuses on identifying learning gaps, explaining concepts clearly and helping learners develop independent confidence.
We use the learner’s schoolwork and curriculum requirements to guide support, while making time to revisit earlier concepts where needed. We also consider their pace, confidence and response to different explanations.
Our published maths offering focuses on Grades 1 to 9. Individual and group options, online lessons and in-person arrangements can be discussed when enquiring. Confirm current availability, lesson locations and any introductory assessment arrangements directly.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Maths Tutor
- What experience do you have with my child’s grade and curriculum?
- How will you identify the cause of their difficulties?
- What do you do when your first explanation does not work?
- How will you check that my child can solve questions independently?
- What feedback will I receive?
- How much practice will you recommend between sessions?
- When will we review progress and lesson frequency?
- What are the fees, cancellation terms and relevant tutor checks?
Look for clear answers supported by examples. The right tutor should combine subject knowledge with patience, preparation and a willingness to adapt.
Visit All Out Education’s maths tutoring page to discuss your child’s grade, current difficulties and preferred lesson format. We can help you consider suitable support and current availability in Centurion.