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Stay At Home Mum

My Son Came Home Crying His Eyes Out

Just before the school holidays ended, my eldest boy jumped in my car after school and just burst into tears….  As his brother was with him, I knew better than to ask him what was wrong in the car…. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.  It was a long five-minute drive home hearing him sob quietly in the back seat.

When you have a child on the spectrum, you know how they tick and what will work when you need them to talk to you.  When we got home, I took him aside, found a nice quiet spot where we wouldn’t be interrupted by sticky beaks (ie his younger brother), sat down, and I held his hands in mine until he was ready to talk.  It took awhile.

"Mummmmmm’…… his bottom lip quivered.   ‘You’re going to be mad….’ Oh God, I was thinking to myself, what has he done!

‘I only got 60% on my maths test’…..He broke down and wailed…

I had to kinda hide my grin… I wasn’t mad, I never get mad at school results.  You see, I want my kids to do great at school, but I value their mental health first and foremost.  But this was obviously affecting him so badly he was a mess.

I knew he needed help – help I couldn’t give him.  I have TRIED sooo hard on many occasions to teach my kids maths.  I love math – it is so logical.  But knowing how to do maths in your head, and actually having to explain it to a child is a whole other thing……  Plus I have zero patience….  Yes, I have lost my shit trying to teach my kids math.  Guilty.

He just needed a bit of help to get him back up to speed.  He understood most of the concepts of maths, just not how to put it together as a whole. Not only would this be good for his school grades, most of all, it will give him confidence.

I needed outside help, someone who would be patient, but firm.  It had to be online (because I live rurally – I can’t expect someone to tackle my driveway to get here).  They had to be reputable and stick to the syllabus… but most of all, they have to be kind.

Where I Found the Perfect Person To Help Him

I approached Cluey Learning.  It had amazing reviews online and really focused on matching the right tutor to the right child.  And I’m not being precious about ‘My Kid’, but he really does need someone that understands ASD, his learning style and how to get the best out of him.  They really understand the pressure that is on kids to try and keep up with the rest of the class. Plus it is one-on-one.  Other tutoring services in the past we have used had multiple students at the same time, and that didn’t work for us…. We needed that personalisation. We also wanted that privacy that one-on-one tutoring offers as my son is really shy with people he doesn’t know.

All Cluey Learning’s tutors are qualified and have a track record of helping their students to achieve their learning goals.  The tutors aren’t just superbly qualified, they also offer a holistic view of the student’s progress so the students know exactly what has been covered, what requires revision and what will be covered in the next lesson.

How My Son’s First Lesson Went

Before the lesson, Cluey called me to find about my son, his strengths, his weaknesses, his personality.  What makes him tick.  They did this to ensure they matched him to the perfect Tutor for him.  The fact he was on the spectrum was no problem at all.

We were matched with a lovely fellow called Dale.  He was patient and encouraging, but most importantly, he pushed his limits (in a good way!).  When my son blitzed through the first part, he automatically stepped up the lesson to find out where the problem lay.  Then he went through it via a ‘Learning by Play’ manner.  My son loves maps and treasure hunts – and Dale used this way to make the learning fun.  As he finished his lesson early, Dale then asked him about other problems he was having with Maths, and he went through them, things like Fractions (urghhhh) and Times Tables.

My Take on the Lesson

I love how they fitted the perfect Tutor to my son, I loved the interactiveness and the positivity.  My son didn’t feel ‘defeated’ at the end of the lesson, he felt ’empowered’.  I even learned a thing or two (it has been a long long time since I’ve done fractions!).

The one-on-one learning is such a good fit for us, we aren’t waiting for other kids to finish or for the teacher to ‘come back’ after they have finished with someone else.

About Cluey

Cluey offer one-on-one online tutoring for kids aged from 8-18 in grades 3-12.

They don’t just Tutor for Maths….they also cover English and Chemistry.

My son’s biggest maths challenge was statistics and probability.  Gah I remember having trouble with that myself at school!  It can be really tough to get your head around it all. So when I go onto the Cluey website, I chose the state we are in (Queensland), and then what subject we are having trouble in (Maths), then what aspect of Math is the trouble – and Statistics is right there!  Best thing is – they tell you how many lessons that program will take – so for my son, it says that on average it will take 4 – 8 sessions to get him up to speed on that topic!

I like that as I know there are goals in mind that they can work towards.  This also makes it affordable for parents that can’t afford ongoing tutoring fees, but they can concentrate on a particular problem, and know exactly what they will be in for.

They Scheduled Lessons That Worked for Me

Another thing I really liked is that they would work around my schedule…. I’m a busy Mum, like all of you are.  I need the lesson to work around karate, my work, music lessons etc.  And they do that.  Phew.