For us, that challenge has been our son’s cancer treatment and subsequent bone marrow transplant. For over a year, his immune system has been compromised, meaning months in hospital or at home isolation and a slow, careful recovery at home.

When a traditional classroom setting is suddenly off-limits, the pressure to maintain normalcy and prevent huge educational gaps feels immense. I remember looking at his untouched book bag and feeling a knot of panic: How is he going to keep up?

That’s when we discovered the true, life-changing benefits of online learning with the right tutor.

This isn’t just about homework or academic success; it’s about providing a safe, consistent lifeline to quality education when everything else is chaotic. It’s about giving children back a sense of purpose and confidence when their world has shrunk to a hospital room.

We found our educational superhero in Karen Lander, The Top Cat Tutor, and her one-to-one online sessions have been the consistent highlight of Toby’s recovery journey. If your child’s learning has been disrupted by long-term illness, medical needs, or anxiety, here is why online tutoring services, especially with someone as supportive as Karen, are the practical solution your family deserves.

This is a guest post written by Nikki Knight, the parent of a Top Cat Tutor tutee. Her son was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2022 when he was 4 years old. He then relapsed 5 months after completing treatment and needed to have a bone marrow transplant. Nikki blogs about her family’s experiences at www.unicornsdinosaursandme.com.

Learning from the Hospital Bed: The Ultimate Flexibility

The first and most critical advantage for families like ours is location independence and flexibility. When your child’s health dictates their schedule, education has to follow suit. We’ve logged into sessions with Karen at three different hospitals in three different counties, at home, at a grandparents’ house, and at a Young Lives V Cancer home from home. All you need is a laptop or tablet, along with a stable internet connection.

This flexibility meant that there was more consistency, and it was easy to fit in with busy schedules. In our case, our son was not able to attend school, but wasn’t in the hospital all the time. At first, he was in the hospital and was having teachers see him there, but then he was discharged to a home from home. Here, he did have a few lessons when we went back to the hospital for appointments or for visits to the schoolroom. After that, he was at home for a couple of months, where there was no hospital education. After that, he went back to the hospital, but this time it was a completely different hospital that he’d never been to before. After 6 weeks there, he was discharged back to the original for an additional 8 weeks. At both hospitals, he was having some hospital schooling. After discharge, we finally went back home, where hospital teachers came out to see him. Throughout all of this, he has seen a conveyor belt of different teachers with different styles who all needed time to get to know him. The one constant has been Karen.

Why Online Tuition is Crucial for Immune-Compromised Kids

Let’s talk about germs. When a child, especially one post-transplant like my son, has a severely compromised immune system, the traditional classroom setting is simply too dangerous. Online tuition immediately solves this safety risk.

It allows him to learn from the safest environment possible—his hospital room or his quiet, sterilised space at home. We didn’t have to worry about the winter colds or the hundred new germs he’d meet at school.

This removes a massive layer of parental stress. It means he can continue his education with a personalised learning experience but without the physical or emotional risk, ensuring continuity and consistency.

The Ability to Go at Your Child’s Own Pace (Even After a Rough Night)

Hospital life is dictated by machines, check-ups, and energy levels that swing wildly day to day. A scheduled school day is impossible. This is where Top Cat Tutor shines.

Karen designs her lessons to be incredibly bespoke. If he had a bad night or if the doctors just finished a check-up and he’s tired, we simply tell Karen. She immediately adapts the lesson plan to the student’s specific needs, perhaps focusing on a short, engaging game instead of a long writing task.

The power to set his own pace and reschedule appointments with minimal fuss means learning is never another source of exhaustion or stress. It is a genuine, therapeutic distraction.

The Top 5 Reasons Top Cat Tutor is a Lifeline for Medically Homebound Kids

When searching for one-on-one tutoring, you need someone who understands that missed school days are about more than missed lessons—they’re about emotional fallout, anxiety, and learning gaps. Here’s why Karen’s approach works brilliantly for children with medical or other special needs:

1. Bespoke, Personalised Learning

Karen’s approach is Bespoke 1:2:1 Online Tuition. She doesn’t use a one-size-fits-all programme. She actively works to fill the specific knowledge gaps left by long absences, ensuring the curriculum directly addresses the child’s educational needs, whether it’s reinforcing phonics or catching up on multiplication methods. As she is such a good tutor and she is not bound by the traditional education framework, she can tailor her online lessons to suit the learning style and interests of each individual child.

2. Building Confidence, Not Pressure

For a child who feels “behind,” the thought of returning to a competitive classroom can be terrifying. Karen creates a safe, low-pressure environment where children feel secure enough to ask questions. This focus on building confidence is just as important as academic progress.

3. The Teacher-Parent-Tutor Connection

Karen is an experienced and qualified primary teacher. This expertise means she understands the National Curriculum (although she is not bound by it) and can communicate effectively with the school to keep them in the loop. But more importantly, she communicates brilliantly with us, the parents, providing clear monthly reports that keep us up to date with his progress without adding to our burden.

4. A Sense of Normalcy and Routine

In the midst of medical chaos—endless tests, scans, and treatments—the structured, familiar face of Karen on the screen provides a comforting routine. For 30 minutes, he is just a student working on a topic he loves while practising his key English and Maths skills (without even realising it), not a patient. This small dose of normalcy is invaluable for his emotional well-being and our family’s morale.

5. Support for Additional Needs

We know that long-term illness, medication, and the sheer trauma of treatment can lead to concentration difficulties or anxiety. Karen is especially experienced at supporting the child’s needs with unique learning styles, including those with anxiety or neurodivergence. This compassionate, informed approach ensures that the tuition works with the challenges children are facing, not against them.

Practical Tips for Maximising the Benefits of Online Tuition

If you’re ready to start the online education journey, whether it’s with The Top Cat Tutor or online teachers, here are my top, practical tips for making the logistics work during a health crisis:

1. Prioritise Comfort Over Classroom: Don’t stress about a perfect desk setup. If your child is comfortable on the sofa, propped up in bed, or nestled in their favourite hospital chair, that is the perfect learning environment.
2. Communicate Everything (Seriously): Be honest with your tutor about your child’s energy levels that day. If he is exhausted from a procedure, we let Karen know, and she turns the session into a lighter, review-based check-in. This flexibility is one of the core benefits of online tuition.
3. Use it as a Parent Break: Hospital life is relentless. While he is safely engaged with Karen for half an hour, I can use that time to grab a coffee, make a private phone call, or just take a much-needed breath. It’s a structured, guilt-free break you desperately need (and deserve).
4. Embrace the Technology: Ensure the Zoom link is ready five minutes early. If your child struggles with fine motor skills or tiredness, having the tutor use interactive tools like virtual whiteboards, screen sharing or different types of virtual visual aids to allow them to drag-and-drop answers or annotate on screen makes a huge difference.

A Supportive Bridge Back to Learning

When we first faced our son’s long school absence, I felt entirely alone, worried that his academic future was slipping away. But online teaching and the patient, expert support from Karen at Top Cat Tutorhas provided a sturdy bridge.

It’s more than education; it’s a therapeutic and supportive environment. It’s a constant reminder to your child that they are capable, they are seen, and that their learning journey continues, no matter where they are or how they feel that day.

If your family is navigating long-term illness or school absence, I wholeheartedly recommend exploring online classes to find that crucial support that respects your unique situation.

Your Turn!

Has your family used online tutoring platforms during a difficult time? What was the biggest benefit you noticed in your child’s learning or confidence? Share your experience in the comments below—it helps all of us know we’re not alone!

The post The Benefits of Online Tuition: Our Lifeboat for Hospital Stays appeared first on Karen Lander - The Top Cat Tutor.

Where does undervaluing of education come from?

As with everything, to understand it we have to look at the history (my favourite subject!)  Let’s go back to the late nineteenth century when schooling became compulsory for children aged 5-13. 

When elementary education became compulsory in 1880, and free in 1892 to educate “the masses”, the teaching profession as we know it today came into existence. 

Prior to this time, children who went to school, or received an education via a private tutor, were from families who could afford to pay for their child’s education.  I say children, I mean boys.  Middle- and upper-class families who paid to educate their daughters were rare, and even if girls did receive an education, it was often very restricted compared to their brothers’. The teachers/tutors they would have had were mostly (if not exclusively) men.  Because education was elite.  It wasn’t available to everyone.  It wasn’t about masses of children, but developing the select few.

Working class families needed income and children were sent out to earn their keep from a young age.  School was not part of their world.

Unlike other professions developing at the time as a result of the Industrial Revolution, such as medicine and the law, which came with high status and a high salary to match because they dealt with important things like life and death and dealing with criminals, which were only open to men (women were unable to attend university to train in these professions), teaching was not accorded the same status.

Why?  Because it was working with children.  And working-class children at that.  Children = women’s work.  Women’s work = caring and menial – less important than the life and death, saving society from criminals work of the men. Women’s work = we don’t need to pay them as much as the men.  The younger the children, the more menial the work is perceived to be.  Of course, there were male teachers too, but because teaching was an option for women, it was afforded a lower social status. 

And we are still living under the consequences of this patriarchal belief system 130+ years later. 

How this impacts what tutors charge today

Many, if not most tutors today come from a teaching background.  According to government research (which I normally take with a big pinch of salt, but it seems about right in this case) 75.5% of teachers in the UK are female (even higher in primary schools).  However, only 38% of headteachers in state secondary schools are female.  Women are at the chalkface; men are in positions of power.

Following these statistics through to their logical conclusion, a large proportion of private tutors will be female. 

We come into tuition from a profession which is chronically underfunded, which has one of the highest rates of unpaid overtime, who work some of the longest hours for some of the worst pay in any OECD country (www.neu.org.uk), where “doing it for the children” is used to justify overwork and underpay in the form of toxic positivity.

This becomes ingrained into us.  It is normal.  It is how it is.  It comes with the job.  We stop even noticing that we are undercharging and working for free because it is so normal to us it is practically invisible.

We also think we can’t charge as much as other service providers because “it’s for children”.  We are a caring profession.  If you charge well you stop being caring. You are greedy, cruel and unkind.

Or so we are conditioned to think.

Why what we think about what we “should” charge is nonsense.

It’s nonsense, btw.  I charge well (compared to most tutors).  It doesn’t make me cruel or heartless or greedy.  The amount I care is not reduced by how much I charge. In fact, I am able to help more vulnerable children and support charities, organisations and ethical businesses as a result of charging well for my service, because now I can afford to.  If anything, charging well has enabled me to show I care more, not less.

It’s time to challenge this chronic undervaluing (in all senses of the word) of caring professions such as tuition.  As educators, we know how vital education is.  Any problem society faces, from obesity to climate change, the key to making things better is always education.  Education is the key to moving out of poverty, better physical and mental health, financial security…  The list goes on about how and why education is absolutely fundamental to society.  It is as important as the life and death work of doctors, and the law and order of lawyers and barristers.

Yet because education is about children, and a predominantly female workforce, and those “menial”, wishy-washy, “feminine” traits of caring and nurturing young minds, it is not valued by the holders of power (the patriarchy).  This trickles down to society; insidiously, subtly over many years.  It is so ingrained it becomes deeply embedded in our beliefs about our own value.

Teaching is not something anyone can do.  It requires training, deep understanding of how people learn, and skill in applying this appropriately.  It is a very highly skilled job. 

How to start shifting your mindset around charging for tuition

1. Charge appropriately for your qualifications, skill and experience. If you have undertaken training to develop your practise and skills, you have invested in yourself.  This needs to be reflected in your price.  Charge appropriately for your qualifications, skill and experience.  The more qualified, skilled and experienced you are, the higher your fees. It has nothing to do with where you live, what age or subject you teach, or what gender you identify as. Charge appropriately for your qualifications, skill and experience and this starts to raise us, and our profession, up.
2. Recognise that you are worthy and deserve to be paid appropriately for your service. I tutor because I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of education and love supporting children in their learning – giving them opportunities and a brighter future.  But not at the expense of my wellbeing – physical, mental and financial.  I can’t support them properly if my needs are not being met.  It’s basic Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but the system only wants us to apply it “to the children”. 

Just because the service we provide is for children, it doesn’t mean we should charge less than for services for adults. This comes from the toxic positivity of “doing it for the children”.  What this phrase actually means is, “do everything you can for the children, at all costs to yourself.  The child is more important than you in every way.”  This is not true and dangerous.  The most important person in a classroom?  A qualified teacher. 

Charging well and being caring are not mutually exclusive

Caring professions are essential (as the pandemic and recent strike action highlights), and women are drawn to them, yet because of the patriarchal conditioning around this type of work which really took hold during the Industrial Revolution, women continue to be undervalued and receive lower pay.

And when we become tutors, either self-employed or via an agency, we don’t appear to be questioning the chronically low hourly rates, compared to other professions which require equally qualified and highly-skilled people to do them well; or the amount of work we do for free through the normality of charging by the hour (read why I don’t charge by the hour here). By continuing to work in this way we continually undervalue ourselves and our profession, perpetuating the problem.

By charging well for my service I’m saying:

This service is important

This service delivers life-changing transformations

This service requires a high level of training and skill

I deserve to be paid well for my qualifications, skill and experience, regardless of my gender.

I’m going to finish with a quote from Phillipa Perry, psychotherapist and author, taken from the podcast “The Kindness Economy by Mary Portas”:

“It’s culturally implanted that we [women] do the caring and we need to change the culture… I think caring should be as valued as a trait, in men, and in women, as much as being able to add up is.”

For more information about mindset for tutors, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The post Why what we charge in the tuition industry is a feminist issue appeared first on Karen Lander - The Top Cat Tutor.

In a parent consultation recently, the issue of giving praise to children came up.  Praise is good, right?  All children love praise!  They won’t achieve anything without it.

When I was training to be a teacher back in the noughties, everything was based around praise.  Praise for sitting still and listening, praise for writing the date, praise for answering a question right, praise for answering a question wrong, praise for not hitting that child, praise for saying sorry for hitting that child… 

I vividly remember being told never to tell a child they had got something wrong.  To say something like “good try, but not quite”. 

After a few years at the chalkface, it becomes clear that these strategies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.  Praise only works when it is used sparingly and honestly.  Praising a child every five minutes for things that don’t necessarily deserve it can lead to apathy and lack of motivation.

The Problem with Praise

For children lacking in confidence, such as many of the children I work with, it can be tempting to over-praise to raise their self-esteem.  You may say that their picture or writing, or whatever it is, is the “best you’ve ever seen” or that it is “amazing”.  However, research suggests that this language has the opposite effect.  If you say or imply something is “perfect” or “incredibly good” (when it isn’t) children know what you are saying is not true and as a result, are less likely to choose a more challenging activity afterwards compared to children who were told it was just “good”, (“Mind Over Money”, Claudia Hammond, 2016, p153-154). By over-praising, we are setting standards that children feel are too high and creating a fear of failure because they don’t believe they can achieve the same level again in the future.

Research by Professor Carole Dweck, who has pioneered thinking around mindset, shows that praise is more effective when it is given for effort or the way a task is approached, rather than results (getting answers right).  She found that repeatedly telling a child they are “clever” (even if they are) can result in them staying within their comfort zone and not wanting to challenge themselves.

Praise in Tuition

To return to my consultation with a parent, she mentioned that at school, praise was a little too forthcoming and results-driven, which had led to exactly the situation found by Dewck’s research.  My tutee thought the work they did was good (when it wasn’t always good) and they were resisting challenging themselves.  Having worked with me for a few months now, we can both see that the child is thinking more carefully about their work, putting more effort into it, and spending longer on it.  They are willing to try new things that will challenge them and move their learning forward.  They are also more receptive to making mistakes and correcting them.  This is because I don’t NOT praise, but I don’t OVER-praise, and I praise for effort and approach, not just results. 

If a child I’m working with has done something well, I will tell them; if it is truly amazing, I will tell them and we will celebrate that – but if it isn’t, I won’t claim it is, but will help them work out how to improve it.  If they have found something difficult, but have tried hard, overcome frustrations, or asked for help I will give praise, because this helps build their confidence and willingness to keep trying and challenging themselves more in the future. 

To go back to my training days and being told not to tell and child they got something wrong but to say something like “good try, but not quite”, well, I’ve dropped the “good try, but” bit if it wasn’t a good try.  If the child is clearly not thinking hard enough, or has rushed, or has shown no understanding of the question or task, it is not necessarily a “good” try.  The praise I give is appropriate and based on effort and approach, not just results.   The impact that has on the child’s confidence and learning is clear to see.

Do contact me to discuss how I can help support you with your child’s learning.

The post Giving Praise to Children appeared first on Karen Lander - The Top Cat Tutor.

This was a common question at parent’s evening when I was teaching, and something I’m asked regularly by the parents I work with now as a tutor.

My suggestions are below.  Other than the first one which is the most important thing you can do to help your child with their learning, the rest are in no particular order.

Read

Reading is the most important thing children can do to help their learning along.  To find out more, have a read of my blog about the importance of reading here. It doesn’t matter what you read – books (fiction and/or non-fiction), comics, magazines, websites, computer games, instruction manuals, menus, shopping lists, cereal boxes…. just read!  It is the key to everything.

Your child listening to other people read is also fine.  It is important for children to listen to stories as much as reading them themselves.  Hearing someone else reading fluently helps them understand word pronunciation, rhythm, and expression.  It also helps them understand what is going on because they are not having to worry about “decoding” the words (turning the letters into sounds).  If you are confident reading yourself, then sharing a story at bedtime is an enjoyable experience for both of you.  If you don’t feel confident reading yourself, then audiobooks are also fantastic.  Don’t stop your child from listening to stories once they can read independently either.  Everyone loves listening to a story – even adults!

It’s OK for children to re-read stories they enjoy.  I’m an avid re-reader.  Familiarity develops confidence and enjoyment.  You also notice new things with each reading.  It’s also OK for them to sometimes read something “too easy”.  A variety of difficulty is important.  If they are always reading something that is a bit of a challenge, then reading becomes hard work and they no longer enjoy it.  After a “heavy” book about something serious, I usually choose a funny easy-read after it. 

Reading doesn’t have to be expensive either.  I’m a huge advocate of libraries.  They are free to join and are also now able to start running free events again.  You can also borrow audiobooks from them.  I used to love Saturday morning visits to the library as a child.  Books for free – what’s not to like?!

Times Tables

Recall of times tables is an important skill because it is so helpful across many areas of maths, such as fractions, percentages, and area.  It is a life skill. The children who struggle with maths invariably don’t have a solid recall of times tables.

There is a formal times tables test in Year 4 (which has been put on hold during Covid but will probably re-appear) and in Year 5 and 6 understanding of fractions, percentages, etc is made so much easier if children have good times table knowledge.

Don’t just learn them in order:

Eg 1X2, 2X2, 3X2, etc.

Do mix them up:

Eg 5X2, 8X2, 2X2, etc.

When we need to use times tables to access other areas of maths, it will be at random.  Eg a rectangle that is 5cmX12cm to find the area.  If we have to start at 1X12 and work though, it wastes a lot of time.  We need to just be able to recall 5X12 = 60.

Don’t just learn the answers:

Eg 2, 4, 6, 8…

Do say the question:

Eg 1X2=2.

Children who can only recite the answers in order have no access to what that number refers to and therefore really struggle to answer times table questions or apply them to other areas because they only know half of it.  They have to count up on their fingers to find out “how many 2s make 12” for example.  This is frustrating for them and wastes time. Say the whole times table out loud: “two times six is 12”.

Don’t learn the tables one at a time: 

Eg, the 2s, then the 3s, then the 4s etc.

Do learn the associated facts:

Multiplication is commutative (it doesn’t matter which way round the numbers are on either side of the X).  So, if you know 4X5 = 20, you automatically then know that 5X4 = 20.  This means that there is no need to learn the 12 times table because if you know the others, you automatically know the 12s.  There are only 21 times table questions you need to actually learn – the rest you know because you’ve learnt it the other way round! 

It’s also important to know that the opposite of multiplying is dividing, so learning the division facts alongside helps enormously when applying facts to other areas of maths.  So, if we are learning that 3X4 =12, we also learn that 4X3 = 12, and 12÷4 = 3 and 12÷3=4.  That’s 4 facts for the price of 1!

Do use what you know to help you with what you don’t:

If you know your 2 times table, then double it to find the 4s.  Double that to find the 8s.  Double the 3s to find the 6s, double that to find the 12s.  Alternatively, halve the 12s to find the 6s, etc. 

Also, your child may know up to 5X something but is stuck on 7X something.  Go back to 5X and count on 2 sets to find 7 times.  So many children start from the beginning and work up. Instead, start from what they know.  They probably know 10X but find 9X hard.  Start at 10X and take away one set and you have 9X. So much quicker than counting up from 1X.

Don’t worry too much about speed:

There has always been a big emphasis on recalling times tables facts at speed.  The Year 4 test does require questions to be answered at speed.  Whilst this can be helpful, especially when using the facts to help with other areas of maths so that you can carry on with the actual problem at hand and not end up bogged down in an extra task of working out 7X6 for example, it is not the bee-all-and-end-all.  There is a move in primary education now towards slower recall because speed can create anxiety.  Not everyone’s brain works quickly, and the time pressure causes many children’s brains to shut down (and adult’s – I’ve always suffered with “maths brain”.  I need time to think).  It’s OK to have to work it out, using a time-efficient strategy (such as the ones described above). 

There are so many fun ways to learn times tables.  Have posters up (children enjoy making their own), find songs and dances online, or download or have a CD to play in the car.  Use flashcards, or find games online (there are LOADS – Google “times table games”).

Praise effort not getting things right:

The children I work with who lack confidence in their learning all have one thing in common – fear of mistakes.  This is the biggest factor holding them back.  Before they can make progress academically, they need to reach the point where they are comfortable making mistakes.  Because making mistakes is how we learn.  Mistakes are fundamental and must be celebrated.  It’s OK to get something wrong, so long as we tried, and learn from the mistake so that we can iron it out in the future.  We need to practise things.  In our world of instant gratification and short attention spans children can find it difficult if they don’t understand something, or can’t do something, straight away. 

However, nobody ever achieved anything without trying.  Behind “successful” people there is a background of hard graft, failure, and perseverance.  It is effort, practise, and learning from our mistakes that needs to be recognised and praised, more than getting something right.  For example, a child may be struggling to work out a maths question. They have tried to solve it but got the wrong answer.  A great response would be something like: “Well done for trying that.  We have learnt that that isn’t the answer so let’s try another way.”  As the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Each way that didn’t work, was part of his path to learning what did work.

Have fun:

We learn best when things are enjoyable.  If your child is tired after school and needs some downtime, then this isn’t the best time to practise spellings, times tables, or reading.  Find a time when they are rested and ready to learn for homework tasks.  If it’s not happening that day, don’t force it.  There’s always tomorrow.

We learn all the time from life in general.  Get your child involved in the housework (pairing up socks is a great maths activity for younger children), cooking, shopping, etc.  They love it and it doesn’t feel like a chore to them!  There is maths and English to be practised all around us just from doing day-to-day things. 

Go to the library, museum, park, a walk in the woods…  Your child will be soaking up all sorts of information, such as: learning to cross the road safely; how to behave in public; finding out about cultures from the past and present; different plants and animals; how keeping fit helps us feel good, to name just a few.  I learnt where places are in the country by watching the football results on a Saturday afternoon (“Mum, where’s Bolton?”) and I also remember sounding out the word “fog” when watching the weather forecast.  Learning can happen anywhere, anytime.

If your child needs further help with their schoolwork, do get in touch to see how I can help.

The post What Can I Do To Help My Child With Their Learning? appeared first on Karen Lander - The Top Cat Tutor.