I Understand Your Concerns About Online Tutoring
When I tell parents I tutor online, some are excited and ready to sign up, but others are very hesitant. I have found that there are two main reasons parents are wary of online lessons:
1) They think the tutor needs to be sitting next to their child in order for the session to be effective.
2) Their child had a bad experience with online learning during the pandemic.
I totally understand! Please let me explain the reasons I think you’ll actually prefer online tutoring.
1. Online Tutoring is Very Effective
When I first started tutoring online a few years before Covid hit, I questioned whether it would be as good as in-person tutoring. However, I quickly discovered that it can actually be even better than sitting next to a student.
When I used to tutor in-person, I would try to see the students’ book or their written work, which required looking across the table at the upside-down print or craning to look over their arm and shoulder. I also couldn’t snatch their paper or textbook from them and start writing on it. That would be ridiculous. Plus, I couldn’t see their facial expressions well while they were looking down or sitting beside me. Were they understanding or confused?
With online tutoring, all of these issues are resolved. We are looking straight at each other and can both see the work on the screen. We can both write on it. A student can read a passage out loud, and if they mispronounce a word, I can circle it or divide it into syllables for them to sound out. If they are doing a math problem, I can have them work through it on the shared screen and use a different color to circle a negative sign they forgot to bring down or other error. If they are writing an essay, I can see it as they are typing, and I can mark anything that needs revision.
2. Online Tutoring Utilizes Superior Resources
When I had to switch all of my students to online tutoring during the pandemic, I worried about how I could effectively teach them through a screen without using the big bag of supplies I used to haul around for my in-person sessions. I discovered awesome online resources that are customizable and FUN for students. I have subscriptions to create customized computer games to review sight words, math facts, spelling, etc. and a library of over 800 leveled reading books and comprehension quizzes. Students can always find a book at their level that interests them. We can also use online tools for math to graph, create geometric figures, etc. Honestly, if I were to meet with a student in-person, I would still use these online tools. But why meet in-person when there are other great reasons for your child to meet with me online?
3. Online Tutoring is More Comfortable
Students enjoy working with me from the comfort of their own homes. They can change into comfy clothes, sit in their favorite chair, and eat a snack. They don’t have to go to a strange home, tutoring center, or public meeting place with potentially distracting odors, sounds, allergens, pets, etc. When I went into students’ homes, I met with them in an open area like a dining room. There were often other family members coming in and out, banging around in the kitchen, talking, watching TV nearby, etc. When we meet online, students can go into an office or bedroom and shut the door for fewer distractions.
4. Online Tutoring is More Convenient
You don’t have to clean your home to host me, deal with traffic to meet with me, or pay for gas. You can be getting home-related work done while your child is tutored, instead of sitting in a waiting room or car. Your child can even tutor online when they are away from home. Although it’s not as ideal, I have tutored kids while they are in a Costco shopping cart, hotel room, car while riding somewhere, parent’s workplace, and waiting room. Life happens. Parents work, or there are siblings who need to go to practice or the orthodontist, and tutoring can still go on as long as they have a mobile device and Wifi or a hotspot.
5. Online Tutoring is Safer
You don’t have to drive in scary weather, worry about the safety of your child, or be concerned about passing/receiving germs if one of us is a little bit sick.
6. Online Tutoring is as Engaging as In-Person Tutoring
I know online school was awful for some kids. One of my own children has ADHD and found it almost impossible to focus during “live” classes because microphones had to stay muted. It was so different from being in the classroom with the other kids and the teacher (who might ask a question or circulate from desk to desk to keep the students engaged). My child tuned out.
With online tutoring, it’s just the two of us. Microphones and videos are on at all times, we are in continuous discussion, and the student is actively doing their work. There is no tuning-out. If they start to fade, I recognize it right away and can change things up to re-engage them.
Kids enjoy playing online games, writing on the screen, and making choices about activities and books.
And we can definitely still build relationships. I tutor sisters who refer to me as “bestie Lara.” Kids love to introduce me to their pets (and meet my dog who is usually lounging on the bed behind me), show me their favorite toys or where their Elf on the Shelf showed up that morning, etc.
One funny 13-year-old showed up to our summer sessions wearing what she called her “math glasses.” They are actually swimming goggles with pink lenses (to give her a rose-colored summer math experience). She cracks me up!
7. Students Can Work With Any Tutor, Anywhere
We don’t have to live in the same part of town or even the same part of the world. I live in Colorado, but I have worked with students in China, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Canada in real-time.
Also, if your child needs help in a subject I don’t teach, I can recommend other tutors. If you’re open to online tutoring, it allows me to recommend tutors from anywhere (and not just locals) who might be a great fit for your child. I’m in a professional group of over 11,000 tutors, worldwide and have a good referral list.
Are You Willing to Give it a Shot?
Even after I explain all of the above to parents, some are still skeptical. I encourage them to do one session with me. I’ve never had a family not sign up for ongoing sessions after they try an online session.
One of the most hesitant parents was a mom of a 6-year-old girl with one of the most extreme cases of ADHD I’d seen in 20 years of teaching. She thought the only way tutoring would be effective is if I was sitting next to her daughter in-person.
However, the student loved our first session, tutored for over a year in reading to get up to grade level, and her mom gave me a 5-star review on Google. Please contact me if you’re interested in giving online tutoring a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how this method can not only be more comfortable, safe, and convenient than in-person tutoring, but it can also be even more effective.
