Online Tutoring for my kids, with MyTutor

For a while now, I’ve considered looking into some form of tutoring for my children. Not because they were in dire need of something because they were falling behind. But because I thought they could do with the extra educational knowledge. It just so happened, that MyTutor got in touch and I was quite excited to delve into to the online tutoring options they provided. 

Online tutoring for my children

Instead of having the online tutoring lessons for myself, which was an option. I chose to have my two middle children to have the experience. My tween son, Jacob was having a little hiccup in the Maths department and my teenage daughter was revising for her GCSE Biology exam. I could see them both having little moments of frustrations and panic, so I think MyTutor’s timing to get in touch, was perfect. 

The aspect I really liked about the MyTutor service was that, as a parent, you can book a one on one session with the tutor you have chosen. This part of the service is free and it gives you peace of mind that you’ve chosen the right tutor for either your needs or your children. 

MyTutor is available for children aged as young as 8 years old to 80+. There is no upper age limit cap! So if you’re starting a new career, or trying to gain a new qualification and need a little help? MyTutor could be just what you need!

How does online tutoring work?

If you are curious about how online tutoring works, then it’s quite simple. It is all done over video chat and the tutor can scrawl and jot things down onto the screen throughout the lesson, such as; numeracy examples and equations. So, the test screen you’re on is like a virtual whiteboard – which is pretty cool! So whatever the tutor writes onto the board, you can see – it’s great when they’re helping to explain something in more detail. The student is also able to save the whole lesson for future reference, which is also a very cool part of studying online with MyTutor.

The two requirements are to have a headset and a webcam. You are also able to test your settings to make sure there will be no technical issues once you start your lesson. A really helpful aspect of MyTutor! You are able to make sure your internet connection speed, microphone and webcam all work before you begin your lesson. 

The Tutor I chose for my children was called Joshua and he came highly recommended both on the MyTutor website and through reviews he had on his profile. He also had a lot of knowledge in the areas my children needed which was GCSE Biology & KS2/3 Maths. 

Our lessons were booked in for once per week and they lasted 1 hr per lesson. We planned them so they were back-to-back, which worked well for both us and our chosen tutor. 

Is using online tutoring safe?

I’ll be honest, I did wonder this myself before signing my children up for their lessons. But all of the tutors on MyTutor are 100% vetted before being accepted as a tutor on the platform. Which is a really nice piece of reassurance. You’d expect nothing less, let’s be honest! But these, it’s just nice to be reassured that everything is perfectly safe to put your child onto. 

You are also able to opt-out of using the webcam if your child doesn’t feel comfortable. You, as the parent are also able to download the video lesson for up to 24 hrs following the lesson just to make sure what was said between the tutor and the child if you are at all worried. It’s a shame this is ‘a thing’ but it’s also nice that it’s there, again for our own piece of mind. But it’s also a handy thing to have access too if the child needs to go over any of the topics that were covered. 

Of course, you can be present for each of your child’s lessons. I hovered around in the background, pottering about the house, but also trying to not be a distraction. Which is also a nice aspect of studying online with MyTutor.

What were are overall thoughts? 

The children really enjoyed their online tutoring sessions. Jacob came away with more maths knowledge that boosted his numeracy confidence. He struggled, for a long time, with maths anxiety, so seeing him shine in that category made me so happy. Watching him finally be confident in a subject that has been a hurdle for him was amazing. 

Ellie also increased her GCSE biology knowledge ahead of her first GCSE Biology exam. Joshua gave her more information on the subject, some she knew already and other parts of the topic she wasn’t aware of yet. This gave her a slight advantage when it came to her exam. So, she flourished in her tutoring lessons, too. 

Joshua checked in with me every week, before the kid’s lessons and asked for any updates or changes in what they needed to learn. This was so helpful and allowed him to structure his lessons around the kid’s educational requirements.

As a whole, you have a much wider choice of online tutors to choose from. Ours was based in Cambridge and overall, the site is really easy to use and navigate around. They are all selected from the top universities, all achieved A & A* results and have gained degrees in an array of topics. There will always be a tutor qualified in the field that you need, or that your child needs. 

Would we keep using MyTutor?

We would, yes.  There is this taboo that if your child is having tutoring lessons then they must be behind in a subject. This isn’t always the case. Sometimes it’s just nice to bring yourself up to speed on a subject, to excel in a topic that you enjoy and to give yourself the best possible chance to succeed. This is what I want for my children and if have goals, then a little extra educational know-how won’t do them any harm. 

I am 100% all for online tutoring and tutoring in any form. Just, for us? Having the option to have an online tutor worked really well for us. It was easy to fit in around our busy family life and our tutors work schedule. The lessons cost around £20 per lesson and well worth the money. 

Would you consider taking lessons with MyTutor?

Disclosure: My children were provided with a collection of online tutoring lessons in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own