On the whole, it's not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it.Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.And this year, as always,the Easter holidays will be peak time  for tutor demand. "My husband and I tried to tutor her at home,but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen.We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting exams for different boards . On the whole we think one-two-one tuition works best and it is worth the money.In our case,Preeta is a bit like an elder sister to Zarreen and that's the most important,"says Ashan Sabri from London, whose daughter Zarreen,18,is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. In fact,Preeta Datta is only six years older than her pupil and she is happy to provide extra tuition through mobile phone."Maybe Zarreen will call me two or three times a week with a question about biology or chemistry, and that's fine to me,"says Datta. The real question is:does tutoring do any good?  "It's not the magic bullet,"says Professor Judith Ireson.'It's still up to the child to do the learning.If he or she isn't interested,then sending them to a private tutor won't do any good."  In which case,surely it's time to break open the Champagne ?Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell,head of the Rowans School. "While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn't English,we don't encourage it for the others,"says Tyrrell."With the level of education they get here,children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. Besides, our biggest worry is that they might just get in with the help of last-minute tutoring,but,once they actually get to that school,they won't be able to manage."  It's a point worth considering.After all,who would want their child to stay at the bottom of the class? What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?_.
Critical Uncertain Supportive Uninterested