When COVID-19 moved most of our lives to virtual environments in March 2020, we scrambled like everyone else. Quickly we had to put our services online and offer virtual tutoring. And we were worried.
But it turns out, being online with our kids was amazing.
Our team had to adapt. And truthfully, we had no idea what it would be like to offer virtual tutoring. Like the kids we served, we were accustomed to in-person learning and instruction.
It was a completely different experience for kids to work one-on-one with their tutor instead of in a large virtual room with many other students. They were able to build a personal relationship with our coaches.
But the magic actually happened when we didn’t have to travel to see our students anymore. And we could see them more frequently.
So instead of sessions that we usually held once per week, it turned out we could see them for shorter sessions two or three times a week! We had time for two 45-minute virtual tutoring sessions or three 30-minute sessions. We were no longer bound by commutes or trying to fit time into busy schedules.
We could see a difference in how kids approached their work. They were happier and less overwhelmed. They looked forward to school. And this meant they performed better and earned higher grades.
We also realized that this approach would not have worked prior to the pandemic when there was still a huge amount of “paper flow” (hard copy papers that needed sorting, filing and hole punching). Now, almost every assignment is turned in online which has been a benefit for most students who struggle with organization. We’ve been able to help them set up systems for digital files, use tools like Google Keep to track their to do’s and calendar upcoming tests, quizzes and projects. These things are done perfectly well online.
We also discovered that every child we coached needed support with executive functioning. Even kids who didn’t previously have issues with these skills were challenged because of the new online dynamic at school.
We knew we had to serve kids in a different way to meet their needs. We could no longer solely be a tutoring company. Instead, we wanted to infuse organization (especially digital), time management, and study habits into everything we do so your kids can reach their goals and be successful.
So that’s why we now believe virtual tutoring is helping. Our kids are best served online because we can see them more frequently and we know that executive function support is best done online. The personal connection with the student and coach makes all the difference.