What a good first lesson looks like

Once you have chosen a teacher, the first class sets the tone for everything after it. It helps to know what to expect, so you can tell a slow start from a poor fit.

What a good first lesson usually includes

1. 1Finding the starting pointA good teacher spends part of the first class working out what your child already knows — a few questions, a short exercise, a look at recent schoolwork. Teaching from the wrong starting point wastes weeks.
2. 2Some real teachingEven in a first class, your child should leave having understood something new or cleared up something that was confusing.
3. 3A plan for the next few weeksBy the end, the teacher should be able to say roughly what they will cover first and why.
4. 4A word with youA few minutes at the end to tell you what they noticed, and to agree how you will hear about progress from here on.

Before the lesson

• Share the recent term test or the topics your child finds hardest.
• Agree the fee, the length of a class, and how missed classes are handled — before, not after.
• Have the textbook, past work and a notebook ready.

Our first-lesson checklist puts all of this on one page you can print.

Signs worth a second look

• The class is spent entirely on the teacher’s standard material, with no attempt to find your child’s level.
• Your child cannot say anything they learned.
• The fee or the arrangements change after the class from what was agreed before it.
• Anything that makes you or your child uncomfortable. Trust that.

Give it a fair chance

One lesson rarely changes a grade. Judge the first class on whether the teacher understood your child and had a plan, then give it three or four weeks before deciding. If it is not working, it is fine to try someone else — your request’s other replies are still there to compare.