Not every student learns at the same pace, and thats something that you tend to pick up throughout your tutoring journey. Some students pick up topics quickly, others need explainations, practice, and revision to understand it at the same level, and thats ok.

What ive noticed is that impatience is damaging to the students progress. The moment a tutor rushes or shows even slight frustration and the student notices, it would deeply affect their abilitiy to stay postivie, focused and learn. The student could second guess themselves, get nervous, stop asking questions, heavily affecting their ability to progress within the session. However when a student feels comfortable, ready to learn and relaxed, they are way more able to get the most out of the lesson. It’s the tutors job to create this environment for them.

Being patient also forces you to be a better tutor. If the same explaination for a topic doesnt click with the student, changing your strategy becomes very important. You have to look for an analogy, break it up into smaller stops, connect or compare it to a similar topic/situation, you have to figure out a way to help them understand. This ability to adapt to your student cant really be taught, its something you pick up as a tutor when you are actively making sure that you are educating your student to the best of your ability.

Theres also something in it fo rthe studnet beyond just understanding the material. WHen they see that you are genuinely willing to work with them through their struggles and not give up, they push harder, they gain motivation as opposed to simply giving up. That persistance is more valuable as a long term still applying to anything they want to learn in the future.

Patience in tutoring isnt a passive method of teaching, its an active choice to meet someones needs. To slow down when it matters, adapt when something isnt working, and stay present even when the progress is slow.

Lishai Rubinstein