Should We Turn to Free Tutoring

Should We Turn to Free Tutoring Free Online Tutoring in the UK ChaptersThe Actors of Free Online TutoringPrivate tutoring through tutoring sitesFree Tutoring and Educational Support AssociationsFree Tutoring Resources: An Alternative to Private Tutors?Learning to read or succeeding in a test is not easy for everyone. It’s not infrequent for children to have difficulties in school. This is stressful for the teachers, but of course for the parents as well.Does this apply to you?Does your child have difficulty understanding the subject matter?Is doing their homework a constant struggle?What are the solutions?More and more parents are turning towards tutoring services and homework helpers. From elementary school to A-Levels, private tutors can help turn around a struggling student.Learning how to do revision, to improve and delve into the subject matter: these are the goals of any individualized tutoring classes.But among the various options - home tutoring, online tutoring, tutoring apps - there are a few that stand out to help students having di fficulties without spending too much money and allowing your child to progress.Whether free math tutoring, remedial science and engineering or help with chemistry homework - it’s up to you to find the formula that works best for your child.Free Tutoring and Educational Support AssociationsAnother option for those without a lot of money is tutoring associations for low-income families and various educational support programs at school and elsewhere.Sometimes, parents are unable to work with their children - either because they don’t have the education, or because their jobs don’t leave them the time - and can’t help them with their homework every day.Fortunately, there are volunteer associations dedicated to giving these children a chance. The homework helper doesn’t get paid - they are often retired teachers or academics working in the field who want to give back to the community by volunteering.After-school tutoring and library homework help sessionsSome schools offer an after-school tutoring program or homework sessions in-school, either with their own personnel or working with a tutoring association (see below.)Another place that offers homework help - often in homework sessions or study groups at a set time each day - are local libraries. They also serve as a resource centre for things such as ebooks or audiobooks on each subject. Check your local Council website for library locations and schools offering homework sessions to see if you can find a tutoring centre near you.Many libraries offer tutoring programs, making resources such as computers and documentation available to low-income children. Photo credit: City of Seattle Community Tech on Visual HuntNationwide tutoring programsThere are various associations and foundations dedicated to providing tutoring for children with learning difficulties or from underprivileged households. These are generally school programs who work with specific schools rather than from tutoring centres, giving on-th e-spot help in classrooms and offering one-on-one or small-group learning sessions after school to foster academic success. Some also offer to mentor children seeking to pursue an academic career, offering advice and career exploration, help with applications and encouragement.Some of them are:TutorFairThe Access ProjectAction TutoringHow Useful are Tutoring Apps for Extra School Support?It’s a fair question.Just as there are numerous learning websites, a number of apps have been developed to help children progress in various school subjects while having fun.It’s important to realise that smartphones are a common tool for today’s youth. They access them daily and, indeed, some teachers integrate apps and other smartphone tools into their classes.So why not turn to smartphone apps to help your child in school?Many of the apps are quite affordable, being either:Entirely freeFree for a certain amount of levels or without certain featuresCost under £5.00 for unlimited useThey hav e the advantage of speaking a language children respond to and capturing their attention with games and fun graphics.Education apps can help children master difficult concepts. Photo credit: flickingerbrad on VisualHunt.comCheck for those that have been developed not just by programmers and graphic designers, but with teachers as well. That way, you will have something user-friendly, with an engaging design that will also cover material relevant to your child’s classes, whether reading and writing, math and science.With such an incentive to learn, it’s obvious that apps are capable of helping children learn and improve their grades.However, they cannot replace lessons with a live person who can answer questions, see where your child’s weaknesses are and tailor their lessons to their individual needs. But they do offer courses accessible anywhere, anytime, with games and quizzes that will make learning fun.There are education apps for every level.Free Tutoring Resources: An Alt ernative to Private Tutors?Though educational websites and apps can definitely help your child improve their grades, are they enough for a student experiencing huge learning difficulties?One of the most important aspects of free tutoring, whether in live online classes, through revision websites or learning game apps, is that you have to organise yourself (or your child) properly.It’s important that parents follow what the child is doing, can track their progress and give them encouragement.Additionally, children are not often capable of imposing a learning rhythm on themselves. But it is proven that tutoring apps are only effective if they are used regularly and the child keeps at it.It’s important to find the right app - one that is adapted to the student and their needs - and set certain times aside, several times a week, to play and learn where the parent is available to answer questions and help with the exercises.The logical question, of course, is whether a physical tutor is even necessary for real progress to be made.It is.Deciding whether or not to get a private tutor is much more critical than it may appear at first.One-on-one tutoring is still the most effective way to help children with learning difficulties. Photo credit: US Department of Education on VisualhuntIndependent learning requires an amazing amount of discipline and autonomy. Having a teacher at hand is useful not just for motivation and to encourage certain learning habits, but also to give you feedback on your learning curve and to answer questions if need be. A teacher will guide their students depending on their needs and learning style and explain things in a different way if they don’t understand immediately. An app or website will present things in a certain way and not all children will respond to it.This doesn’t mean that websites and apps are useless. But they should be seen as a complementary tool to help stimulate the student and motivate them to learn trigonometry or geometry outside of any private tutoring lessons they might need.In short, free online tutoring - in writing, math/reading games; on YouTube, for engineering courses and quizzes or calculus 1 revision sheets are useful for students needing to bring up their grade a little, but who generally don’t have trouble learning.But if a specific subject - or all - is truly proving problematic for your child, choose one-on-one tutoring, whether a paid certified teacher through websites such as Superprof or a free volunteer-based program. The games and quizzes can still play a part in the learning process by motivating your child, but the real progress will be with their teacher.