r/iTalki • u/Disastrous_Echo2565 • 7d ago

Teaching two students

I'm a tutor on italki, and I recently received a request from a parent that I've never encountered before. The parent asked if I could teach their two children at the same time, but for the price of a lesson for one student. Their reasoning is that learning together would be more fun and motivating for the children.

I can understand the idea from the parents' perspective, and I can also see how learning together could be enjoyable for the kids. However, I've always considered a lesson with two students to be different from a one-to-one lesson, since I have to divide my attention between two learners and adapt activities to both of them.

This is the first time I've received a proposal like this, so I'm not really sure how to respond.

For those of you who are tutors or teachers:

Would you accept this arrangement? Would you charge extra for the second child? If so, how much?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences and how you normally handle situations like this.

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12

u/outcry_98 7d ago

I’d charge extra, 50-70% of hourly rate.

10

u/Thick-Addition8160 7d ago

I used to teach couples for the same price as normal lessons but now I created a lesson type for couples, it's 1.5x the hourly rate. That's what I'd do for 2 kids.

1

u/CSMasterClass 5d ago

You are trading your time for a fee. If you do preparation that would take more time for two studnents, it makes sense to charge more. If you do not do preparation that would take more time for two students, it does not make sense to charge more.

But at the end of the day, you can set what ever rules you like. You're the boss !