Tutor Doctor is supporting families through Facebook

Tutor Doctor franchisee, Sarah French, is dedicated to helping families with home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operating within the Parry Sound area near Toronto, Canada, ex teacher and Tutor Doctor franchisee, Sarah French, has been working hard to support families with home-schooling throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Usually the tutoring franchise offers one-to-one sessions in person, but due to social distancing restrictions, these have been temporarily cancelled. Tutor Doctor uses an online system called Bramble to offer online tutoring in the interim, but Sarah has also been finding new ways to support parents who may be struggling with home-teaching during this time.

Turning to social media, Sarah created a Facebook group that allows parents to ask questions about home-schooling and share advice. Sarah said the group, which amassed 76 members in May, is “an opportunity to share resources, tips, tricks, things like that.”

She added “we talk about organisational things – a lot of people are really struggling with how (to) manage all of that. You tend to share what works for you.”

Sarah believes that helping children to develop stronger time management skills has been key during the lockdown. She encourages parents to create a family calendar, outlining what work everyone has to do and when in order to keep track of study schedules.

But with warmer weather arriving, and the temptation of summer holidays growing ever stronger, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep children focussed on their work.

One suggestion that Sarah had was to keep children focussed with positive motivators. “I like to call it the carrot at the end of the stick, (but) you have to be careful that the kids aren’t just rushing through the work to get to that goal,”

She also suggests giving students frequent breaks to give their minds a little rest throughout the day. She encourages parents not to worry if there is unfinished work at the end of the day and that they must remember the unprecedented situation many families are in right now.

“It's OK if it doesn't get done,” Sarah said. “We're doing the best we can with what we have right now, and no two situations are the same and nobody's perfect.”

If you are interested in following in Sarah’s footsteps and want to help tutor those who may need a little extra support, you can find more information about setting up a Tutor Doctor franchise on its Point Franchise profile page.