Once upon a time, in a pre-pandemic world, I would drive all over the Greater Los Angeles area to meet with students.  I would schedule back to back families and I would try my best to group students by areas, but often still I found myself spending some significant time stuck in the car (argh, Los Angeles traffic!).  

As more and more families demanded my service, my rate went up and up.  It never felt good turning families down, but I simply could not make it to all of the homes requesting my service. 

Well, fast forward and now with Covid destroying so much, 99% of tutoring has moved to online.  And while I was hesitant at first, it has been going very well. 

With online tutoring, I am able to serve even more families.  More importantly, it works seamlessly for the students.  The whiteboard technology and ability to share screens can allow me to work faster and smoother.  Within seconds I can pull up examples and share exactly what my student needs to see.  They can also share their screens, where I can tap into precisely what they are working on for school. 

Is it a perfect world?  Well, no, not quite.  I don’t exactly support students being in front of screens for 12 hours a day.  I think in many cases it is nice to be in person, and when Covid has subsided, I do plan on a hybrid model where I see some families online and some in person.

But meanwhile, online tutoring has been phenomenal and it has worked out for all but one of my students (a seven year old who was working on reading skills, and we just really needed to do it face to  face, masked and distanced).  

Another pro?  I have been able to help students from across the United States.