Online Tutoring: A Boon to Homeschooling Families

What is Online Tutoring?

Online tutoring is one of the fastest growing educational venues in the United States. Tutor.com, one of the biggest online tutoring services in the country assists an amazing 3000+ students a day through their system, and they are only one among many prodivers.

Online tutoring differs from traditional tutoring in that students receive assistance from tutors in an online format, making use of the newest technologies. No longer is tutoring restricted to in person help, it can now be instantly accessed at any time by anyone through the internet.

There are various forms of online tutoring. Some, such as Brainfuse, offer online tutoring in a regimented format, where students log on for predeveloped teaching sessions to supplement their regular education. Other services, such as Tutor.com’s Live Homework Help program, offer students the ability to talk with a tutor about specific problems that they are having with homework, classwork, projects, etc. Each company has their own different methods in how they tutor students.

Advantages of Online Tutoring

Online tutoring has many advantages over more traditional tutoring. For example, online tutoring can be far less expensive than hiring a traditional tutor. Many libraries and other public institutions even offer free access to online tutoring services, meaning that students can get outside help at no cost whatsoever!

Online tutoring is also much faster than traditional tutoring. Students need no longer find a tutor themselves, arrange for personal meetings and prearranged times. With many online tutoring services you are able to log on instantly to the online tutoring site and start getting help immediately, with no wait times!

Flexibility is another major advantage of online tutoring. You are able to pick and choose what styles of tutoring best suit you. The internet is a huge place, and there are many different online tutoring services to choose from in a variety of styles and types.

Online Tutoring for Homeschooling Families

For a variety of different reasons, homeschooling is becoming a more popular choice for many families in the United States. While of course in a homeschooling situation the primary teachers are most often the parents, outside assistance can often be very beneficial, especially as the child grows older and coursework becomes more advanced.

While we usually think of tutoring as being centered on the student, online tutoring can also be used with great success by parents. As an online tutor myself, one of my favorite things to see is parents of children logging on, seeking to better understand material so that they can better help their children in learning. This is an excellent use of online tutoring services, and one that can be especially helpful in homeschooling situations where the student is not enrolled in a traditional educational institution.

That is of course not to say that online tutoring cannot also be beneficial in working directly with students. Not being in a school, the options for homeschooling students can often seem rather limited. Online tutoring offers up a whole new world of opportunity for the homeschooling student seeking help with their homework, far easier and at oftentimes much less cost than a traditional tutor would cost.

Enrolling students in online tutoring programs can also allow students to take learning lessons in a different environment than a normal homeschooling course, giving the student variety as well as allowing the student to work directly with professional educators while still in the comfort of their own home.

Finding Online Tutoring Services

There are many different online tutoring services available on the world wide web. Some of these are good, some of these aren’t so good, and some are mediocre. It can often be difficult to know which services are good for your child and which aren’t.

An excellent way to begin your search for an online tutoring service is to contact your local library. Many libraries offer free access to different online tutoring services, and oftentimes these services can be accessed from your very own home. Even if your local library does not work with an online tutoring company, they can often give excellent recommendations to good online tutors.

The internet is of course the primary source of information on these online tutoring companies. However, not every company is a quality company. Here are some things to look for when choosing an online tutoring service for your homeschooled child:

• What tutoring methods do they use? Are they an instant access homework help service, or do they offer personalized lessons, etc.

• What qualifications do their tutors have? Different tutoring services require different levels of education, experience and certification of their tutors.

• How long has the company been around? While certainly not the only indicator, the longer a company has been in business the more likely they are a quality organization

• Price. Obviously if you are going to be paying for a tutoring service, you want to make sure you choose a service that you can afford.

Online tutoring can be a great help to you and your homeschooling family. Take a little time to learn more about it, and learn about what tutoring options are available to you and your family. With the new world of online tutoring the sky is the limit, and you can find it an abundant resource for you and your children.