The Clara James Approach to learning

When a Child Won't Do the Work — Have We Asked Why?

What happens when a child doesn't understand something but doesn't feel confident enough to ask for help?

In this episode, I reflect on two recent conversations that got me thinking about children's confidence, communication and the expectations we sometimes place on them.

I share the story of a child whose whiteboard pen stopped working during a lesson, and how something seemingly insignificant became a much bigger emotional challenge.

We also explore why children who are struggling can sometimes appear to be refusing to work, how misunderstandings between adults and children can escalate, and the opportunities we have as tutors to approach learning differently.

This isn't about criticising teachers. It's about recognising the pressures of a busy classroom and the advantages we have when working with children individually.

Because sometimes, before we can help a child move forward, we need to understand what's stopping them.

Sometimes the lesson needs to change, not the child.

Earlier today I unexpectedly had an hour free and, rather than doing something particularly sensible with it, I decided to go Live on Facebook. 

Nobody joined me...

So I spent about 15 minutes happily talking to myself about how Clara James started, where it's got to, and where I hope it's going.

And afterwards I thought actually, that's a story I've never really told properly here.

So that's what today's episode is. There's nothing I'm trying to sell you. I just want to tell you the story behind Clara James.

I was asked recently what I understand about educating children with autism and ADHD.

And my immediate thought was:

I don't want to know how to teach “a child with ADHD”. I want to know how to teach the child sitting in front of me.

Of course training matters. Understanding autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other forms of neurodivergence gives us knowledge, strategies and a much bigger toolkit.

But a diagnosis doesn't introduce us to the child.

Around 20 years ago, I went into my daughter's school because I thought she might be mildly dyslexic. I was essentially told dyslexia was an excuse for laziness.

Around the same time, I volunteered in a classroom with children with ADHD where the approach was largely shouting, control and demanding discipline.

Thankfully, we've moved on enormously since then.

But I sometimes wonder whether there's another trap we need to avoid:

“I've done a course on ADHD, so I know how to teach children with ADHD.”

To me, that's a little like saying:

“I've worked with a child who has freckles, so I know how to support children with freckles.”

We're missing the most important bit.

The individual.

Two autistic children aren't the same.

Two children with ADHD aren't the same.

Two dyslexic children aren't the same.

One child might thrive with games; another might hate them. One might struggle to write but have incredible ideas verbally. One might need movement; another might need calm and predictability.

Training should give us more possibilities to consider, not more assumptions to make.

At Clara James, that's what being SEND-informed means to me.

Have the knowledge.

Build the toolkit.

But then get to know the person sitting in front of you.

And if something isn't working, don't automatically ask how we can make the child fit the lesson.

Sometimes we need to recognise that the lesson needs to change, not the child.

This one is perhaps for parents as much as it is fore tutors.

If you are doing creative writing with someone, having the inspiration is often the hard part especially if it's not something that they can relate to.

In this very short chat I talk about a game I have used many times over the years which generally seems appreciated when it comes to the inspiration to get going.

Let mw know what you think

I've just come off a really interesting conversation with another tutor, and I'm not going to talk about her circumstances because that's her business, not mine. But the conversation reminded me of something.

When we talk about growing a tutoring business, I think we sometimes jump far too quickly to how we're going to grow it before we've decided what we're actually trying to build.

The fact that two people can both say “I want to grow my tutoring business” and mean completely different things.

One might want five more students and an extra £500 a month.

Another might want to stop working evenings.

Another wants to employ tutors.

Another wants to build something they could eventually step away from.

Another might want tutoring to replace their salary.

Another loves tutoring 20 children a week and doesn't actually want a team at all.

Another wants the support and infrastructure of a franchise.

None of those is automatically the right answer.

Before you decide whether you need Facebook ads, another tutor, a franchise, a course, a new website or anything else, work out what you're actually trying to build.

14+ years ago when I started the business I made so many mistakes. I had NO idea what I was doing!

My first mistake was that in my mind I was doing something that would fail, so I kept it quiet so that no one would find out about it when it did!

Ultimately that plan did fail and people found out about it and it took off and went from strength to strength.

My next mistake was that I never dreamed this would grow beyond one or two students so I kept all the information inside my head which just created issues when I did start to take on more and more students.

I've now created a couple of books: 1 for logging my hours, 1 for logging new student information. They're not fancy or flash, but they have saved me hours by keeping all my information compiled into one place.

Another mistake was my pricing. When I first started I priced myself at £10/hr including travel to people's homes, resources, preparation, etc (one family even used it as babysitting for the child I was working with and the younger daughter as the mum would head straight out the door and catch the train into London, reassuring me that the babysitter would be there before I left!) 

But by undervaluing myself I was undermining my experience, degree, courses I'd taken etc which people probably presumed you got what you paid for when actually I was pouring my heart and soul into building this, so that it didn't fail and people couldn't wouldn't judge me.

I think one of the things that I am still working on today is how I present myself to myself and others. I am an expert at saying I am "just a tutor". Is there such a thing!

But actually I own a tutoring business that has roughly 12 other tutors working with me. I have written 2 books (not the two mentioned earlier but one on becoming a tutor and one on learning styles), I have created courses, the business is now seeking its first franchisees, we are getting our tutor training accredited to give credibility to the franchisees, but also to those who don't want to work under our business model but still want that reassurance as they get started.

Confidence doesn't grow overnight. It's not a decision that you can go to bed tonight and think, I need to be more confident and wake up tomorrow and be that new person. But you can work on it day by day and keep those around you that will support you in this and cheer you on.

Finally, change from listening to the voice that asks you: "should you get a proper job?" or "who are you to do that!" to the voice that says "give it a go, because you never know what might happen if you do..." 

I was chatting to someone this morning and she mentioned that she thought that all tutors were teachers.

I've had/ and still have some amazing teachers work with me. I've had others that I couldn't recommend.
I have tutors who work with me who are civil servants, teaching assistants, teachers, retired engineers, the list goes on. 

But what they have in common is their willingness to learn what support works best for that child, to recognise when they need to explain something differently because what they've just said didn't work, someone who recognises that today's plan needs to go out the window because the child sat in front of you in this instance needs confidence more than they need a challenge.

It's a testament to that shared belief that I want to carry forward and build the Clara James Franchise on, not necessarily top qualifications from the most prestigious universities.

I know some people will disagree with this, but I hope others will have a similar attitude and belief that we start with confidence and the child sat in front of us in that instant.

If you are in any way curious about the franchise, or know someone who might be. Please do pass this on

I've just had a lesson with someone working on the times tables. As we started I had a quick chat with the mum about how we can help: simples games to help with remembering them, giving support, but also, possibly most importantly the order in which we support them.

I'd thought I'd share my thoughts here. I hope it helps

(I actually condensed some of my ideas and the games I play into a book on Amazon. This is the link if you are at all interested: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DM6CB6LV )

Who Are You?

When I started tutoring fourteen and a half years ago, I certainly didn’t imagine that one day I would be running a tutoring business with a team of tutors, developing a franchise and thinking quite so deeply about what makes somebody good at this job.

Over those years, I’ve worked with a lot of children, spoken to a lot of parents and worked alongside a lot of tutors.

And one thing I have become increasingly convinced of is this:

Knowing a subject doesn’t automatically make somebody a great tutor.

Of course, subject knowledge matters. If you are helping a child with algebra, you need to understand algebra. If you’re supporting a GCSE student with Macbeth, you need to know the text.

But tutoring is about what happens when that knowledge meets the individual child sitting in front of you.

And that requires something more.