The Clara James Approach to learning
When it comes to learning we are all individuals.
The past 20+ years have taught me that no matter our learning style if the child is engaged and relaxed they are more likely to learn.
If we just keep giving them the same resources, varied over and over again, all we are doing is giving them one place in their brains to find the information. However, by giving them a variety of resources we can make it more interesting, more relevant, and help them to create multiple memories so that when they need to recall the information, they have more places they can go to in order to find it.
If we can boost their confidence as well as their knowledge we will make their life and ours easier.
For 20 years now I've been fascinated by different learning styles: ASD, Dyslexia, ADHD. The purpose of this podcast is to share my findings with you, so that maybe what I've learned will be of help to you too.
Episodes
101 episodes
Why Setting Boundaries Makes You a Better Tutor
When we first start tutoring, most of us say yes to everything.One more lesson. One more family. One more evening. One more Saturday morning.After all, we became tutors because we want to help.But over time, without clear b...
"But They Knew It Yesterday!" – Why Children Sometimes Forget What They've Learned
One of the questions I'm asked most often by parents is:"They understood it yesterday... so why have they forgotten it today?"It can feel frustrating.As parents, we naturally wonder whether they were concentrating,...
Don't listen to the negative voices that tell you not to have a go
When I first started tutoring I had so many voices inside my head telling me I was a fraud and that I shouldn't be doing this. For years, I dreaded going to a new family because I was sure that this was the family who was going to d...
A Tutoring Chat & Coffee: The Legal Side of Tutoring – What You Actually Need to Get Started
If I wanted to start tutoring now, what would I need to know?The legal bit, I guess.I think this is possibly the bit that stops people from getting started in becoming tutors in case they get it wrong or just don't do something an...
What if the problem isn't the child - A tutoring chat
Sometimes, when a child is struggling at school, the first assumption we make is that the problem lies with the child.Perhaps they're not trying hard enough.Perhaps they're not naturally academic.Perhaps they just need to w...
Is It Really Laziness... Or Is Something Else Going On?
Is It Really Laziness... Or Is Something Else Going On?"They're just being lazy."It's a phrase many parents, teachers and tutors have heard.Sometimes we've even said it ourselves.But what if what lo...
Tutoring chat and a coffee: 5 cheap ideas I have used to grow my tutoring business
Over the years I have paid for mentors, attended numerous courses and read hundreds of books about how to market my business. Some of the ideas have been gold dust. Some have just been just been wrong for my personality type and the business I ...
What Your Child Really Means When They Say "I Hate Maths"
"I hate maths."It's a sentence many parents hear.Sometimes it's English.Sometimes it's science.Sometimes it's school altogether.Our instinct is often to reassure them."But you don't hate maths.""...
Joining a movement and not just a franchise
When I first decided to franchise the business it was about sharing our systems and resources, but I felt misaligned with it. It felt like I'd got the paint out of the cupboard, but not yet painted the picture. Gradually I realised ...
Coffee and a Tutoring Chat: The importance of relationships
I think that when we start tutoring one of our biggest assets that we often over look is our ability to build relationships. Personally, I think this is so much more powerful that any marketing could ever be.It starts long before we star...
Coffee and a tutoring chat: The battle of the homework!
Homework is a battle in many (may be most) households and I don't think it's about laziness, I think it's more emotional than that. Kids are often tired at the end of the day and their motivation is done. But they have to come home ...
When You Feel Called to Build Something Bigger - A tutoring Chat
There comes a point in many businesses where you have a choice.You can continue doing what you've always done.Or you can listen to that quiet feeling telling you there might be something bigger you're meant to build.<...
Tutoring Chat & Coffee: What I've learned in 20+ years about working with children
In this episode, I share my journey into supporting neurodiverse children and how it all began with a concern about my own daughter over 20 years ago.After being told by a school that dyslexia was simply "an excuse for laziness", I becam...
Tutoring chat and a chat: Why do some bright children stop believing in themselves
I think the short answer is that confusion, comparison, pressure or misunderstanding can take even very capable children start to doubt themselves. Over time the story in their mind changes from "I can't do this yet" to "I'm just not that cleve...
A Tutoring chat and a coffee - Every Child Is Already on a Journey
Every Child Is Already on a Journey – Our Job Is to Meet Them Where They AreWhen a child walks through our door for their first tutoring lesson, they aren't starting their educational journey.They're joining us somewhere al...
Tutoring chat and a coffee: How do I know if my child needs extra help?
If your child is consistently anxious, resistant, stuck, falling behind, or beginning to lose confidence it is worth paying attention. Support doesn't need to wait until it's a crisis, but I think ultimately follow your gut instinct as a parent...
Why is my child struggling when I know they're bright?
Sometimes being bright and finding learning difficult aren't opposites. A child can be intelligent, thoughtful, kind and full of potential, but still struggle if the teaching style, pace or environment does not work for them.And sometime...
Tutoring is a journey of highs and lows - but they will all be worth it
When I sat down to record this I hadn't intended to talk you out of tutoring and that is not my goal, but after a conversation in a Facebook Group the other day it became evident of how many people are selling "the dream" the false elution that...
Coffee and a tutoring chat: How long should a tutoring session be
One of the questions I'm asked most often is..."How often should my child have tutoring?"The honest answer?There isn't one.Every family is different.Some children thrive with weekly lessons.
Follow your values when you start tutoring
Sometimes the opportunities we say "no" to shape our future just as much as the ones we say "yes" to.Years ago, when Clara James was still in its early days, someone very kindly offered to buy me a tutoring franchise.They genuinel...
What memories will you leave with the children that you work with?
I wonder if we all have one teacher we'll never forget.For me, there are two.One taught me a lesson I'll never forget for all the wrong reasons.At primary school, we had to write a story about penguins. Once we'd wri...
A chat about tutoring and a coffee: Customer service
Our reputation is so important when we start tutoring. I believe it starts so long before we find our first student by being helpful.At the end of the day we are all very ego-centric, it is a quality that seems to make us human. So, we n...
Coffee and a Tutoring Chat: Working with the child in front of you today
I think we sometimes come to a lesson with preconceived ideas.This was something I learned as a child when every teacher that had encountered my brother would point out that I'm not as clever as him...There is also the danger that...
We don't just share best practice. We create it together: Building the Clara James Franchise
I've been thinking a lot recently about how ideas travel.In many organisations, someone at the top has a great idea.That idea gets passed down through layers of management.By the time it reaches the people actually doing th...
A Tutoring chat and a coffee - Getting your first students
Putting yourself out there as a tutor takes a lot of commitment. Always in the back of your mind knowing that no- one may be interested. Each day you put one foot in front of the other and keep going in the belief that today will be the ...