Online Tutoring……can it work?

 Online tutoring services can be confusing mazes to navigate.  Why even try to wander through the maze, you may ask.  Well, most parents find that eventually we reach a crossroad in our children’s education.  We are faced with either learning new material, or at best re-learning long forgotten formulae and concepts if we wish to continue home schooling.  It is at this crossroad that many of us find that the lure of sending our children back into the public schools becomes very attractive.  When the kids hit subjects levels such Algebra, Calculus, and Physics we find that letting the state teach them is the easier road to take.   It is sad that Algebra and Physics occur at the high school level.  Just when the public schools reach their highest level of insanity, we reach our limit of comprehension.  Just when our kids need to NOT be in public school, do we look to public school to teach those subjects that we no longer feel confident teaching.  But wait, there are alternatives; tutoring being one of them.

 Classical tutoring, involving the tutor coming to your home or your kids going to the tutor’s home, is wonderful but expensive.  At $20 - $55 per hour per child, your pocketbook can quickly be turned wrong side out.  For that reason, many parents are looking to the Internet for a better solution... 

... The Internet offers perhaps the best solution just by virtue of its own nature.  The Internet is accessible (most families already are connected to cyberspace).  The Internet is in your own home; no more traveling to a tutor’s home in a blizzard.  No need to scrape ice, fight traffic downtown, or spend an hour commuting—one-way.  The Internet brings the tutor to you.  By bringing a small group of kids together without commuting, the Internet can offer more affordable tutoring than face-to-face options.  While some Online tutoring services charge a high hourly rate, there are a few more affordable ones available.  And last, the Internet brings kids and tutors from around the country or even world together.  The opportunity to meet kids from across the country and exchange news is an invaluable learning tool in itself.

 Colleges are actively recruiting kids who have been home schooled through high school.  Home-schooled kids are more likely to complete college, which improves the college’s stats and helps in money raising efforts.  Home schooled kids know self-discipline, how to study, how to find help.  Home-schooled kids understand what it takes to compete in the real world. Having experience with computers, like online tutoring, give our children extra skill that will help them in their college education.

 When your children need help, remember that there are viable, valuable, affordable resources available.  High school subjects should not have to include: Peer Groups, Smoking is Cool, Drugs are Better, or Russian Roulette.

Susan Harding  Home School Mom  Online Learning Professional susan@thelearninglighthouse.com    http://www.thelearninglighthouse.com/