Matr Online One-To-One Maths Tuition

My eldest is now in year 6 and he loves maths. It’s something that comes naturally to him, unlike me and embarrassingly I’ve been struggling to keep up with him. I know as a KS1 teacher it’s important to teach the correct way of working out in maths and I’m not always sure what that is in year 6. The methods have changed since I was taught at school and even since my teacher training. Not wanting to confuse him, but at the same time wanting to foster that love for maths I had been looking for something that could help challenge him in a way I am not confident in doing. Then I heard of Matr, an online maths tutor for KS2. Kyle has been trying the sessions out for a few weeks now and it’s working well. I know he is getting the extra maths that he wants, he feels challenged and I know he is being taught it all the correct way. 

Matr is an online one-to-one maths tuition programme for children aged 7-11, personalised to their level. Prior to the first session, Kyle took a short ‘test’ to establish his Maths needs with the questions progressing in difficulty. There are three levels and Kyle was placed in the challenging programme, as I expected.

For those less confident in maths, and needing a confidence boost or some extra support Matr is also an excellent way of providing this in a visual, engaging way.

Your child will have the same tutor in order for them to build up a relationship and keep the continuity that is important for an online Maths tutor. Each tutor that Matr uses must pass an online teacher-training qualification and safe guarding programmes. Martr also analyse every session to track and improve tutor performance. There are two different choices of lesson times, 25-minute lessons or 50-minute lessons. With the 25-minute option best suited for children in lower KS2 (7-8 year olds) Kyle had a 50 minute session, but you could decide on a session length based on your own child.

Kyle has now had two lessons and has really enjoyed them. They have been on Ordering and comparing numbers up to 10 million and rounding very large numbers. His next session is on adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers. On your child’s profile you can see their previous and future lessons so you know what they have covered and what to expect. You also receive a report on how they have done, which includes a bit about their attitude and engagement during the session.

Each session follows the same routine. First connecting your headphones and doing a sound check, making sure you will be able to hear the tutor and that the tutor will be able to hear you. Followed by a warm up activity which the child does on their own. Then when the tutor arrives they make sure the child can hear and explains what they will be covering in the session. Kyle quickly relaxed into each session and I could hear him chatting away and answering the Maths problems.

As the lesson progressed, I checked on Kyle and watched for a while. I could tell he was enjoying the opportunity to do Maths with a subject specialist and show what he could do. If Kyle did need any support it was given in a supportive way encouraging him to figure it out for himself.  He had the chance to edit his work and the online Maths tutor was able to add smiley faces and stickers to the screen as a way of encouragement. 

There is no doubt that online tutoring is a convenient way of doing it. As Kyle had his headphones on he could hear without being distracted by the background noise of the house. All that is needed is the computer and headphones, no other space is taken up like it would be with a more conventional home method of tutoring and you don’t have to have anyone else in your home. Being able to pick a time to suit us was also a real plus for the programme. 

The Matr programme has a few different payment options from £9.25 a week and currently, there is a Head- Start promotion where you can get your money back if you are not completely satisfied. So whether your child needs a boost or is looking for a challenge I would recommend you have a look at Matr and discover how you can support your child in Maths.