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My son’s rebbi called me to introduce himself & said I should expect homework each night to take about half an hour, many parents opt to hire a tutor he added. At parent’s orientation, another rebbi also mentioned the benefits of having a tutor doing homework with a boy. The cost per 1/2 hr. session for a tutor varies between $20-$50, nearly a second tuition. Is this a sustainable standard for large frum families? Is there no better way forward?
If a large portion of the students need tutoring, then there is something wrong with the way the rebbe is teaching
I’ve heard of this too. Is this Yeshivah a for profit institution? Bc the one I know about is.
Alot of schools are doing this.
In any normal school there is a large range of abilities in each class. Either the Rebbe can aim at the top, middle or bottom thirds of the class, leaving the others bored or lost. Or the parents can take the slack by either learning with their son themselves to keep them up to class standard, or if they can’t/won’t, by hiring a rebbe.
You can’t expect miracles of your class Rebbe. There is no way he can give a shiur for all levels. Unless more than a third to half of the boys need extra tuition, I would say this is perfectly reasonable.
Of course in a kehilla which has several schools, if your child would have needed extra help, there is always a possibility to send to a less prestigious school where the child will manage with the class. So basically you’ve got to sacrifice either time (learn with your son), or money (hire tutor), or kovod (send to non-top school).
Nobody’s forcing you to hire a tutor. You can do your son’s homework with him yourself.
If the rebbe sees the benefit of hiring an outside tutor, he shouldn’t point it out? It’s your choice whether or not to hire someone, based on how much your particular child will benefit, and your finances.
Gavriel – thanks for the explanation of why the school/s are doing this. This time of year, it’s important to be melamed zchus on others, and the best way to do that is if you know the reason why something is done.
And your explanation makes sense. Thank you!
A large volume of homework is a sign that the school or the teacher is not doing the job they’re supposed to do.
usually a tutor is someone who gives assistance with the learning, but it sounds like the rebbe was just recommending someone to oversee the homework or chazara. There is a huge price difference, and needing a tutor for homework implies that all these boys need help with the material. Did he mean that they would all need tutoring or did he just think children would balk less if an outsider was chazering with them?
When i was in yeshiva, the school grouped us by ability. There was an elite shiur, a middle of tje road shiur and a needs help shiur. If the school isn’t big enough, then it’s the rebbe’s job and responsibility to not take the easy road and focus on one group ( usually the best students). It’s not impossible. For decades children in different age groups werr successfully educatex in one room schoilhouses. It’s not fair to add to the financial burden of already stressed parents
To my knowledge the only good explanation for giving homework at all after these kids have already put in so many hours in school is so that the parent is a part of the education and aware of what their child is learning. If this homework is being done with a tutor then what is the point? The parent is just as involved as he is with work being done in the classroom. With older boys though it is a good idea to hire someone to learn with them individually once or twice a week as a rebbe has to many boys in the class to be able to properly teach all of them gemara skills. There’s nothing like one on one learning for that.
Gamanit – awesome post! I agree wholeheartedly. It’s a nice time you find out if your kid had questions he was embarrassed to ask or how well he is doing.
Meno is dead right.
Maybe not all the boys need tutors, but the Rebbeim don’t want those that do to feel bad.
Or maybe, the fathers are really meant to learn with their sons, but they are not all capable of doing so.
Gamanit – good points, but I’m not sure I agree with your first point. I don’t think that’s necessarily the point of homework. I think the point is that the kids need to review outside of the classroom.
Your point about one-on-one learning is a good one, and I imagine that might be what’s going on here. I was assuming that we were talking about an older kid.
But tutors are for kids who would benefit from learning outside the class, sometimes simply because they already finished their regular schoolwork.
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