Summers are a great time for kids. It’s their time of freedom to do things they love, hang out with friends, and spend more time with their family. It’s a time for adventure, pool parties, and trips.
As exciting as summer can be for your child, it has its downsides, too — summer learning loss.
All time away from studying can result in losing academic skills and knowledge that they’ve amassed over the school year.
Summer learning loss can greatly affect their upcoming school year, and they may fall behind their classmates. However, making your child spend all summer studying is a fast-track way to make them upset with you.
How do you balance fun and education over the summer? You can greatly benefit from the online summer tutor programs to strike a perfect balance between fun and education for your child.
There are a wide variety of summer tutor programs available online. They can help teach upcoming school subjects, review lessons from the previous year, and hone study skills.
Some programs offer fun summer courses like game development, robotics, 3D design, and video editing.
Best of all, online learning allows for greater schedule flexibility. Combined with the program’s light summer schedules, your kids have enough time to enjoy their break from school while continuing to learn and stretch their minds.
Following are the top 5 online summer tutor programs you can check out for your child:
Learn To Be
Why I Recommend It: Free online tutoring program with proven positive results
Pros
- Free or pay-what-you-can model
- Available tutoring for K-12 students
- One-on-one online tutorial sessions
- Good track record of test score improvement
- PSAT and SAT prep help
Cons
- The tutor vetting process is not as strict as others
- Courses are limited to general K-12 classes, test preparation, and ESL
Learn To Be is an excellent summer tutoring program for anyone looking for personalized study plans but working with a tight budget.
The program is a non-profit service that operates on a “choose if you can pay” model — essentially offers its amazing tutoring services for free!
You can choose to pay nothing and focus on your other financial responsibilities, or you can pay as much as you can, up to a maximum of $30 per month, for all the help the program offers.
Despite its free services, the program still offers high-quality, one-on-one tutoring for all basic K 12 subjects, including math, science, reading, English, and even test prep for standardized tests. Best of all, they have repeatedly proven how their services have helped numerous students raise their test scores and GPAs!
Tutoring Rocks
Why I Recommend It: It offers three summer tutor programs that don’t take up the whole summer.
Pros
- All summer tutor programs are online
- Three kinds of summer tutor programs
- Available tutoring for K-12 students
- Light learning load for students
Cons
- Set a schedule for classes
- Courses are limited to general K-12 classes, study skills, and chemistry prep.
Tutoring Rocks is my top recommendation for parents and guardians with children who are reluctant to use their summer days studying. That’s because all their summer tutor programs have set schedules that are light and very limited — making them a perfect accompaniment for fun summer shenanigans.
Tutoring Rocks’ weekly online tutoring is scheduled for a few hours of one-on-one tutoring each week, running from June to July. Meanwhile, their study skills course is for three consecutive days in August for three hours each day. While their chemistry prep course may sound intimidating, it is only for one hour a week between June and July.
The set tutoring schedules give you and your kids more freedom for camping, hiking, beach, or other out-of-town trips.
Central Park Tutors
Why I Recommend It: Perfect for parents of children with special learning needs
Pros
- Offers tutoring on basic academic subjects, test prep help, foreign language, and more
- Run by teachers and scholars
- Employs tutors with master’s degrees or higher
- Offers special tutoring for students with dyslexia and ADHD
Cons
- One of the pricier tutor programs at $110
- Learning opportunities beyond the school curriculum are mostly in-person
If your child struggles with learning difficulties, Central Park Tutors might be the perfect online summer tutor program for them. The tutoring company offers academic coaching for K-12 students.
However, Central Parks Tutors has differentiated itself from its peers by specializing in tutoring kids with dyslexia, ADHD, and similar disorders. Their tutors use specific methods, like the Orton Gillingham teaching method and the Wilson multisensory reading systems, to help students with special needs succeed academically.
You pay a premium price for premium tutoring services with Central Park Tutors. Despite their name, they accept students from anywhere, not just New York.
Students who sign up for Central Park Tutors’ summer programs will enjoy academic assistance and mentorship from professionals. All of their tutors have at least a master’s degree or higher from a recognized university, with many having experience working with special needs students.
iAchieve Learning
Why I Recommend It: Offers flexible tutorial schedule options based on student’s learning needs
Pros
- One-on-one tutoring sessions
- Flexible tutoring schedules
- SAT and ACT prep
- Summer music lessons
Cons
- Courses are limited to general academic subjects and music
iAchieve Learning is a pretty straightforward, no-nonsense tutoring service. But that’s exactly why it earned my approval and is one of my top recommendations. iAchieve Learning is perfect for parents and children looking for flexible tutoring.
They offer three kinds of summer tutor programs, each with flexible schedules based on how much help your child needs. Their Leisurely Learner, with its 10 hours of tutoring and once-weekly sessions, is ideal for students who are performing well and just need a little help to prevent summer learning loss.
iAchieve Learning also offers an Academic Achiever program, which is 20 hours with twice-weekly sessions, and their Summer Scholar program, which runs for 30 hours and meets three times a week.
Juni
Why I Recommend It: Courses cover a wide range of subjects, including interesting and high-level topics that can pique your child’s interests
Pros
- Three types of tutoring formats based on budget and learning needs
- Highly diverse and fun courses, including programming, investing, and more
- One-on-one, tailored classes
- Vetted instructors from top U.S. universities
- Project-based coursework
Cons
- Priciest option on the list, with private classes starting at $275
Not every kid can be persuaded to take supplementary or refresher lessons during the summer. It is their school break, after all. If your kid is more stubborn and refuses to do regular academic work this summer, you might want to check out Juni.
Juni offers a wide variety of online courses for kids and teens alike. While they offer the usual K-12 subject help, they also have a lot of specialized classes that may catch your kid’s interest.
These include classes on artificial intelligence, robotics, coding and programming, video editing, game development, finance, and so much more!
However, Juni operates differently from your usual tutorial services. Although they have exclusive one-on-one, tailored courses, they come with premium subscription prices.
They also have an extensive 400+ library of self-guided courses available at around $30 monthly and short group boot camps.
A Perfectly Balanced Summer
It’s never too early to start considering your options for summer tutor programs. The five I listed above are just my favorites — there are many more out there if my recommendations don’t work for you and your child.
Having a short list of options and discussing your plans with your child will help them understand your intentions and reassure them they will still get the exciting (or relaxing) summer they want and need.
Online summer tutor programs are the best way to ensure a perfectly balanced summer. In my experience, my kids were able to refresh their school lessons and prepare for the coming school year without taking away from their much-needed summer break.
FAQs
How do I tutor over the summer?
You can become an excellent summer tutor by following these tips:
Make sure you grasp the subjects or specific topics (such as a programming language) you want to teach over the summer.
Maintain constant and regular communication with your students to get to know them.
Choose the perfect learning platform or environment.
Be flexible in the schedule to ensure you don’t get exhausted and don’t end up tiring the students in their summer holidays.
Is summer tutoring a good idea?
Yes! Summer tutoring is a good idea. It helps you to earn significant money during the holidays. Moreover, teaching is a great way of refreshing your memory and skills.
Do people tutor in the summer?
Yes, a lot of people tutor in the summer. Summer is the perfect time for students and many people on their summer break to start teaching. If you are a parent looking for a summer tutor for your child, you can easily find one.
References
https://student-tutor.com/blog/case-summer-tutoring/
https://www.verywellfamily.com/best-online-tutoring-services-5073743#toc-best-for-math-tutoring-mathnasium
https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/best-online-tutoring-services
https://talentnook.com/blog/5-reasons-your-child-should-enroll-in-an-academic-summer-program
https://centralparktutors.com/subject/executive-functioning/
https://www.tutoringrocks.com/services/summer/
https://iachievelearning.com/summer-tutoring/
https://junilearning.com/?format=all
https://junilearning.com/courses/?courses=54&format=all
https://help.learntobe.org/article/68-what-subjects-can-i-get-help-in
https://www.learntobe.org