My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers. Find qualified tutors in your area today!
- Parent Guest Blogs
- Career Blogs
- Education Guest Blogs
- Travel Guest Blogs
- Tutoring Blogs
- 365 Family Friendly Jokes
- 180 School Jokes
Top 10 May Pages / May Hashtag of the Day / May Guest Blogs
Every child deserves to develop at their own pace and the direction of interests, and tutoring is designed to help them to achieve their best. For centuries, traditional or in-home tutoring has been the only option available even for royal families. Today, digital technologies enable us to teach and learn online. Knowledge of any kind has never been so affordable and easy to get like now. Does it mean that online tutoring is going to substitute the traditional one? Absolutely not. They are unique in their own way. Traditional tutoring is winning when it comes to hand-on skills, while online tutoring is naturally more suitable for online knowledge, like where to make a website or create graphics is needed. Here is a list of pros and cons for both in-home and online tutoring to help you choose what best fits your child’s needs.
In-home tutoring
Advantages of in-home tutoring
Tutor’s personality. In-home tutoring enables parents to get to know the tutor in person, watch them in the process, see what kind of personality the tutor has, and how well they meet your child’s needs. What you need is an attentive, flexible, and creative tutor who can build a trusted relationship with your child, uplift them, and guide them to the top results.
Face-to-face interaction. In-person communication enables a tutor to read the child’s verbal signals and body language and (if they are qualified enough) to modify their teaching style according to the child’s mood (bored, confused, tired, agitated, or stressed).
No technology required. You don’t have to buy any new devices to support the process. Usually, a notebook and a pen (as well as a good mood) are sufficient.
Less to no distractions. As the tutor is present in the room, they have full control over the situation. They can easily eliminate distractions, encourage, and help the child to focus on the process entirely.
Disadvantages of in-home tutoring
Geographic limits. Looking for a tutor or a student, you are limited to the area you live in. Sometimes it is hard to find the right tutor in some exotic niche if you live in a small town.
Commuting issue. The student and the tutor usually don’t live in the same house. This means one of them will have to travel to the location where the lesson takes place. If it’s the tutor who travels, this will increase the tutoring cost. If it’s your child, make sure that you can walk or drive them to your tutor’s home. Inclement weather? No tutoring accordingly.
Higher cost. In-home private lessons are usually more expensive than online tutoring because the charge must cover the commuting time and costs, as well as the cost of utilities and other materials.
Online tutoring
Advantages of online tutoring
Convenience. Online tutoring can be done in any part of the world, at any time of the day and from the comfort of your home. You don’t have to skip the lesson when you travel or when certain health-related restrictions oblige you to stay home.
Time-saving. No commuting means tons of time saved for more exciting knowledge.
Wider scope of courses. The internet erases geographic boundaries meaning that you can find tutors or courses literally from any part of the world and for any knowledge ever existing.
Price. The cost is usually lower if compared with traditional tutoring for the same kind, of course. However, some really cool and popular online training courses come at a hefty price.
Disadvantages of online tutoring
Dependence on technology. Besides quality internet, for online tutoring, you will need a powerful computer (or a tablet) with a webcam and a headset. Any issues with electricity, internet, or devices put your tutoring on hold.
Easy to get distracted. The tutor can’t fully control the situation near their student and prevent their attention from being stolen by distractors, which can be anything from bad internet connection to social media. This can lead to forming unhealthy study habits in a child.
The tutor’s background is a question. Sometimes it is challenging (if not impossible) to check the tutor’s expertise. Even if it is verified, it says nothing about the tutor’s teaching style.
As you can see, online tutoring and in-home tutoring aren’t interchangeable. You can find the best tutoring option only by evaluating all the factors and being attentive to your child’s needs.