I have been a vivid follower of tutoring solutions as a parent and as someone interested in providing better opportunities for children. I believe the American school system, especially in the early years, does not offer challenging opportunities for kids to learn. US is ranked 38th in the Pisa test, which is an international assessment test for maths. Knowing these deficiencies, I have always been exploring additional learning opportunities for my young kids, not overburdening them but enough to enrich their knowledge.
My daughter had trouble during the early years of kindergarten, and as a working parent with time constraints, I decided to enroll her in a tutoring program. I enrolled her for weekly math and language classes, which included one day of class (one hr) and homework for the remaining six days. I started seeing improvement in my daughter’s performance within four weeks, and within a couple of months, she was above the expected standard. I attribute this to the routine, practice, and the challenging opportunities that were presented to her.
Due to COVID, her tutoring class was shifted to the online system where one teacher was teaching three to four students at any given time. While this was going fine initially, I soon realized that my child’s interest was coming down, which reflected in her performance too.
I started searching online for solutions and tried demo classes other online tutoring solutions to support my daughter’s academic needs. I soon realized that the online experience was good and, at most times, better than face to face, and below are some inferences that I made based on my research and experience.
- One on One: One on one learning in the online model is a great experience as the child gets much-needed attention. One one one learning in most online solutions are much affordable compared to the regular face to face tutoring.
- Online Content: Having a child-friendly online content is very important. Students should be able to write and type (more like a whiteboard). A comprehensive online system involving online assessment, online practice sessions makes for excellent student experience.
- Homework and Practice: Reinforcement of concepts will help kids in retaining their knowledge, and home and practice sessions work as a great reinforces. I have seen that weekly homework had a great impact on my child’s performance.
Others factors to be considered
Convenience
Online tutoring also provides great convenience, as I can see what my daughter is learning right in front of my eyes. While I don’t believe in involving during the session, it is a great convenience compared to dropping my daughter off and picking after an hour. During extreme weather conditions, it becomes more challenging.
Demo Classes
Most of the online tutoring providers offer DEMO classes. Demo classes will provide great insight into your future experience. Hence, spend time, and review the technology experience, tutor knowledge, and understand how it works. Ensure that the service meets your child’s educational needs.
International Tutors
Many online turoing providers work with international tutors. While this is not necessarily a major issue, you should spend some time during the first sessions to ensure your child is comfortable with the tutors and communication and teaching style differs in many countries,
To summarise, online tutoring is a great solution provided you select the right provider and the tutor. I hope my experience shared here will be of some assistance to parents exploring online tutoring for their kids.