Sarina Bhalla

My preferred way of starting with someone completely new is to have a short meeting (unpaid, of course) to understand the child's strengths and weaknesses, along with their learning style. This way, I can tailor my teaching to suit them. I also like to do this so that they know me, and are comfortable to share any issues they have with the content more freely without fear of judgement. In the past, I have also spoken to the parents, to understand if there are any past issues that need to be addressed before the teaching commences.

I normally will start with a quick overview of exercises, and asking what the student feels the least confident in. Either this, or I will ask what the child was studying last week to retain the skill. Then I will ask them to talk me through the exercise we are doing and I will help at this point to fill in any gaps in knowledge. And from here, we go through questions until they have fully mastered it.

I am flexible in the style I use to teach. I can speak more, or I can use visual elements to help the child, as I understand many children are visual learners, and also that it can be slightly harder to get points across online.

To give you an idea, I have stayed teaching a child for around 1 and a half years, who had brain damage. He significantly improved and I couldn't be prouder of him.

If any references are required, I will happily send one over!