The Tutor.com Blog

The best way to go into a weekend is to read stories from happy kids who are getting the help that they need to succeed from an expert tutor. Enjoy!

OMG!!!! I LOVED MY TUTOR!!!! I’ve been trying to learn that lesson for two weeks! TWO WEEKS, and somebody going and explaining it in 15 min is amazing! They went over my questions and conserns! My tutor just helped me probly get a  B on my test tomorrow if not better!!!

omo (oh my oreo!) i loved her sooo much! she is a blast you really need to keep her around and give her a raise, promotion, and/or vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved the tutor! When I took a quiz on this subject, my teacher was amazed at how many students put the wrong answer…..but I got the right one!

I was very suprised that my library provided this when I saw it on a sign in my library.  I would recommend though that other people could see this!!!

Margaret T is the roots of my tree of learning!

I can’t get enough of tutor.com.  I’ve been using it since 7th grade, and now as a sophomore in high school i still use it! Amazing service!

Jenny K was beyond excellent.  She was extremely patient with me and had a positive attitude.  I couldn’t have asked for a better tutor.   my experience could not be matched.  Even though i only knew her for 10-15minutes, she still made an impact on my life.  I shall never forget her and her first word,”welcome, how may I help you”.  I am definitely going to ace all my tests and get hundreds across the board.   she is a great example of a hero (a future topic for an essay).  She deserves all the community service she can get.  She is, yes she is, making a difference in the community.  she may not be doing physical labor but is doing mental labor which is far beyond harder.  I cant wait until i have another question.  Thank-you!

Its like having my earth science teacher with me! It makes things more clearly for me! I thought i would have to save the question for tomorrow but im glad she could help me! i feel much smarter!

We virtual school our children, and sometime we need just a little extra help. Having this resource available is a true advantage to myself and my children.

I had an “F” in algebra but since I’ve been using your cite my grade is now a “c” yaaaa me. Thanks to all the tutors that help me.  I really appreciate your help.

In honor of April being both Mathematics Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child, we’d like to share with you some quotes from students using our free military program who have received help from our expert math tutors.

Enjoy!

• I think April was very good i will be back every day and this was helping me alot this is better than Video Games! - 9th grader, U.S. Army Family
  
• I like having this because, if your parent or older sibling is busy or away, you are able to use this. I also like how it is cool…! – 6th grader, U.S. Navy Family
  
• I love that this service is offered to military children! It helps so much and I really appreciate it. It helps to know that if I get stuck I can just log on here and get help, as opposed to waiting in line to talk to a teacher who kind of skims through it. The tutors make sure you really know the material and understand how to get the answer – 10th grader, U.S. Army Family
• Thanks so much for this service. My dad usually helps me with math and because he is gone I was a little lost. Thanks again. – 7th grader, U.S. Air Force Family
• This program really hekps me get my schoolwork done. I really enjoy all the support from the tutors. Thank you so much! – 6th grader, U.S. Marine Corps Family
  
• I love this place! it makes everything so easy on here.Last time i was here i learned how to add and subtract mixed numbers,then on Wednesday when i took my math test i got 99%that is really going to bring my grades up.Again i really love this place! 5th grader, U.S. Army Family
  
• This program is awesome.  It think it’s great the AF has offered this to its family members.  We’ve used the program twice and the tutors we’ve had have been awesome!!  Thanks so much!!! – 4th grader, U.S. Air Force Family
  
• It was the first time I used this and let me tell you it will not be the last. I can now get homework help from home and not get out of the flow or feel awkward with a tutor. i thank whoever started and initiated this program. – 12th grader, U.S. Army Family

photo credit: Satoru Kikuchi

Here are just some of the (unedited) comments from students in the past week who had questions about their algebra homework, tests, quizzes and assignments.

• thanks to tutor.com, since im in my second year of algebra II, this year tutor.com helped me rise from a D to an A- for my 1st semester compairing to last year’s…THANK YOU TUTOR.COM, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICES - 11th grade student, California
• Awesome tutors.  This program has really helped me a lot.  Thank you for all that you do. – College student, U.S. Air Force
• i have been struggling in Alg. 2 for most of the semester and since i have all core classes right now i`m not ellegible for tutoring… But since i found this site and have had help reviewing i have made two 100 on tests. thanks so much for putting this site out here cause i would prob fail without it! – 9th grade student, Alabama
• Jill was very helpful and no matter how many queaastions i asked her she was still kind and helped me. Also she didnt just tell me the answer she helped me figure it out on my own. this was super helpful! – 7th grade student, U.S. Air Force

• thanks for the help! it was really, well for lack of a better word, helpful! – 10th grade student, Intel Corporate Benefits program

• I loved my tutor, Susan. She was really helpful and quick to respond. She explained how to handle the square roots in problems and clarified concepts my teacher didn’t bother to explain in class. It was a HUGE help. I’m glad this service is offered- please continue with it! :] – 10th grade student, Illinois
• I cannot thank this service enough! It’s awesome and I’m really glad that this is available! I have a quiz tomorrow, and I haven’t really been understanding these concepts and a friend reccomended this service to me awhile ago, and I have used it before and I will use it for a long time to come. I am really happy and now I just have to ace that quiz! - 7th grade student, Florida
• This is a great program for those of us who are trying to finish our degrees onlie and need assistance.  THANKS – Adult learner, USMC
• If I went on to this website the second i needed help instead of going to google or ask.com, i woul accomplish so much more throughout the day; I expect myself to take advantage of this efficacious service. – 10th grade student, Arlington
• I cannot thank this service enough! It’s awesome and I’m really glad that this is available! I have a quiz tomorrow, and I haven’t really been understanding these concepts and a friend reccomended this service to me awhile ago, and I have used it before and I will use it for a long time to come. I am really happy and now I just have to ace that quiz! – Parent of a 9th grader, Alabama

thanks for the help! it was really, well for lack of a better word, helpful!

Nothing makes the day brighter than opening your inbox and finding an email like this:

Dear Tutor.com,

When my Dad deployed to Iraq for 6 months, my grades began to drop increasingly. I cared about them so much. I had no one to get help from. Now, after a search on Google, and finding Tutor.com, I now not only see my grades in the A`s and B`s, but see a Tutor that is there just for me, helping me, and making me confident. I am so fortunate that you have the Military Program, it means a lot to me, and it means a lot to my Dad. You guys are the best!

Regards,
R.

Find out more  about Tutor.com for military families.

It’s been rainy, snowy and gray near our NYC office, but reading student comments brightens even the dreariest of days. Here are the latest comments from students in military families.

• I got my B’s to A’s thanks Fort Campbell!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Your team of tutors is making me realize i have nothing to fear in chemistry, tonight Gil G was an absolute life saver without her i would have failed miserably.  Thank you so so so so much for offering this to military families!!!!
• My teacher recommended this as part of his assignments from now on. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more military kids online soon.
• Without tutor.com I would be so lost in my science class. Now thanks to tutor.com my grades are improving.
• it helps me greatly in my classes and I feel proud
• This is a great program, everything starts to make sense when the tutor is explaining it, I am actually understanding math now!
• This is the best military benefit I’ve gotten so far, thanks!
• I love this website!  Before I got a C on my report card for math, and now I have a B+!
• This was helpful and I am sure I have A+ work now!! This is really useful, I am going to tell ALL my military friends about it!
• awesome site! the tutors are really nice and encouraging and it helps me complete my homework and go to class knowing what the teacher is talking about

Find out how you can get Tutor.com for your family!

We had such a great time at Camp Pendleton at our event to introduce Tutor.com to the Marines! We can’t wait to go to Norfolk, VA and visit Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and meet everyone there!  Join us?

In honor of our upcoming trip, we wanted to share some great comments from Navy students who have used the service.

• WHOA!! This tutor helped me soo much. At first I was afraid, I was petrified, I thought I would fail precalculus without you by my side, but then my mom forced me to sign up for this + now my 84 is going to shoot up into the 100+ area – plus he didn’t get mad when I asked stupid questions. I’m going to ace this test – YEAH BABY!
• This is possibly the best thing since sliced bread. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
• I’m extremly happy that they’ve created a program such as this one! It makes me feel more motivated now than before to do my homework and study for all my tests! The tutors are of tremendous help and I truly hope this program never shuts down, it is extremly helpful and I will definatly recommend it to all my friends at school.
• this is the first time I have ever used a program like this and this has been great.  the tutor did a great job and I plan to use this thing all the time.  one of the things I like is that you can review what is done to see the “path” on how the answer was derived.  I am taking this chem class for college and it is overwhelming, so this is a really a great resource; I feel like I have a shot at passing.  Thanks again for this opportunity to succeed.

Do you have a Tutor.com story to share?

Just in time to get excited for our presentation at Camp Pendleton at the Mainside Library at 3:30 Pacific Time on February 11th,  (all are invited!), we wanted to share some of the recent (unedited) comments from USMC students who have used the free, online tutoring service available to military families and their dependents.

• “This is a great helping tool if you need help with anything. I would recommend this site.” —6^th grade student
• “i dont have to worry about failing history anymore because of this great program and great tutors. Thanks!” –10^th grade student
• “I use this service daily. It helps me so much. Thank you for supporting me as a military wife with this program. I wouldn’t able to afford it if I had to pay out of pocket. What a blessing!”– Marine Corps spouse
• “This was amazing and helped me on my math a lot.”—7^th grade student
• “My daughter & I both needed help on the problem and it turned out to be plain as day and she really made us think about the problem and focus.” —Parent of 5^th grade student
• “Thanks for having this service when our family is separated at this time due to deployments and training. My father is unable to help one-on-one.”—6^th grade student
• “I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 11 years and this is by far the best thing that I could have used for schooling. Its quick, efficient, and very helpful to those that are deficient or just need help in these areas. this was an absolute great idea.”–Marine Corps service member
• “I am so happy I got help. My parents didn’t know what to do or where to look for the answers. the tutors are so nice and very helpful. Thanks so much for the help!”–6^th grader
• “It helps alot when I’m just not quite sure if I’m the right path. It’s just like having a real life tutor with me!!! Thanks!!!! —5^th grade student
• “i love this tutor website! I’ve been getting A’s in math and its all thanks to these tutors that explain it so detailed!”–8^th grade student

For more information on the online tutoring benefit for military families, please visit www.tutor.com/military

You may have seen the official Department of Defense release,  Deborah Mullen‘s tweet, or the articles on Military.com and family bloggers, but hopefully you have heard (and are spreading the word!) about Tutor.com for Military Families.

So, what are the students saying?

• I love the teachers I have had, and the one I just had. They explain stuff that other teacher dont have time to. They help me answer my questions, and understand them all at the same time. I already told my friends about this site! Im so happy my mom found this for me. 

• Most useful tool. I sometimes need a “kick start” or a boost in confidence and this was the perfect tool to use. The tutor was very helpful and assisted me in a manner that was easy to understand and get ge where I needed to go. “I’ll Be Back”!!!

• great tutor!!! this session went by so fast. i got my question done and i dont have to worry about failing history anymore because of this great program and great tutors like Fahad M. he is awesome! Thanks!

• I am impressed, i think my tutor Jenny R is very good. The service is quick. Thank you very much for the help, it heps a lot; especillay for people who live overseas who don’t have access to direct tutoring.

• This is quickly becoming my new favorite website! There’s no way I’d understand or pass Algebra II without tutor.com, thank you so much!!! 

• you guys are the best…. thanks for serving the troops…. we serve you proud. The tutors are great.

• it was awesome! she made me understand in 2 minutes what i didn’t in class all year. Thanks

Have you tried Tutor.com yet? Tell us about your experience!

Quick Help on the Fast Track

For this accelerated student with a busy schedule, Tutor.com offers exactly what she needs—when she needs it.

It’s 4:00 p.m. and Kennedy is at her friend Jenna’s house studying advanced Algebra. Music plays low in the background and they have just stumbled on an equation neither of them is sure how to attack. Thankfully Kennedy, 12, has turned her neighborhood on to the benefits of online tutoring service Tutor.com, and after a few clicks, an online tutor is walking the students through the sticking point of the problem.

Kennedy is one of the more than three million students in the U .S. who are taking advanced classes or have been promoted a grade. When the seventh-grader tested out of her math class, she was placed into a more challenging freshman Algebra class. And while this jump allows Kennedy access to a faster track to learning, it presents challenges for her mother, Angela.

“I had a lot of reservations about letting Kennedy move that far ahead that quickly,” says Angela. “Part of it was because they were going so fast. I worried that if she struggled, I wouldn’t be able to help her keep up.”

Even if finding the vertex of a parabola happens to be fresh in a parent’s mind, the bigger hurdle can be finding time in the parent’s and student’s schedules for homework help. This is where services like Tutor.com can play a pivotal role for academically gifted and perpetually busy students like Kennedy.

“After school I almost always have basketball, church groups, or something like that. When I come home, I get my chores done and then do my homework but I usually don’t go to bed until around 10:00 p.m.,” says Kennedy. “It’s nice to have Tutor.com because when I am struggling, I can log on and work through a problem anytime.”

Advancing Over the Hurdles

Kennedy’s mom Angela heard about Tutor.com through a friend and immediately set up an account for her daughter. “I told her, ‘Here’s your account. Try it out and see what you think,’” says Angela.

When Kennedy’s first homework assignment of the school year came back from her advanced Algebra class, it wasn’t good. Out of six problems, Kennedy got one right—it was a big letdown for a kid who is always being praised for her good grades.

It was then that Kennedy first accessed her account. She logged on and was quickly assigned to a knowledgeable algebra tutor, who walked Kennedy through the basics of the online tools before launching into that day’s homework.

“They asked me if I understood the problem at all, or if I was just stuck at one part. I explained to the tutor what I didn’t get about it before they walked through the whole problem with me on the whiteboard,” Kennedy says.

Home Is Where the Help Is

While Angela believes that emotionally and socially Kennedy should be with kids her own age, she doesn’t want to hold her daughter back.

“Math is an area where she wants to be challenged, so as a parent, it’s my job to make sure that she’s really building on that without pushing her forward too fast. Tutor.com has been a great tool for us in that regard. It’s very important that Kennedy is really being taught, not just memorizing things and leaping ahead.”

And since math knowledge builds on itself, Angela is certain that without Tutor.com, Kennedy wouldn’t be accelerating properly. Angela says Kennedy’s other option, in-person tutoring, could not have filled in the space for them.

“We were paying $45 an hour, once a week, to an in-person tutor and the results were good—but that service was based on when the tutor was available, not necessarily when Kennedy needed him,” says Angela. “Using Tutor.com has allowed me to take a deep breath and say, ‘Okay, that’s one less thing I have to drive her to, worry about, pay a lot for and schedule.’ Now it’s all right there for her whenever she needs it.”

How one brother and sister duo from New Jersey uses Tutor.com to excel in school

Few kids are as close as Ymani, an eighth grader from Maplewood, NJ, and her brother Kalvary, a sixth grader. On any given day, the two can be found in each other’s rooms listening to music, playing on their Xbox or just hanging out. “They’re constantly with each other,” says their mom Shaunice. “They’re constantly interacting, versus one person being in one room and the other in another.”

Getting help with geometry, English and more
Over the last year, the siblings have grown accustomed to a new shared activity: logging onto Tutor.com. On any given evening, Ymani can likely be found doing geometry problems on the whiteboard. If she has a test coming up, she usually logs on every day that week for about 30 minutes each time. “I use it mostly for math,” she says. “Last year, we were learning the Pythagorean theorem, and the Tutor.com tutors were able to give me strategy that they didn’t really teach in school. That helped a lot.”

Kalvary, meanwhile, has made use of the English tutors in order to improve his reading comprehension. “When I was reading a book, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, they helped me understand some of the terms in the book that I didn’t understand,” he says. Kalvary admits that sometimes he’ll ask the tutors for a word’s definition instead of going to the dictionary. He recently asked them to explain the word “archaic.” “They can really take the time to explain a word to me in normal words, whereas sometimes the dictionary is more confusing,” he says.

A solution that fits the whole family’s needs
Shaunice and her husband Kevin found Tutor.com when looking for an alternative to an in-person tutoring group Ymani was enrolled in, which had limited availability and required lots of driving back and forth. The parents-of-two, however, wanted to be sure Tutor.com would complement both of their kids’ learning styles.

Shaunice was fairly sure that Ymani would like the instant messaging and virtual whiteboard format offered by Tutor.com. “My daughter prefers a computer experience, because there isn’t the embarrassment of being in a class setting where if you don’t get something, you don’t necessarily want to ask questions,” says Shaunice, “because she doesn’t want to seem like she doesn’t understand the material.”

As for Kalvary, who was already taking advanced classes and getting ready to take the SATs in the hopes of qualifying for a special Johns Hopkins University advisory program for exceptional students under age 13, access to advanced help was important. “Kalvary’s a really smart kid, so I wanted to make sure that he was challenged.”

After trying Tutor.com, both kids were immediately hooked. “We really liked it,” says Ymani. “Sometimes I think it’s easier talking online than in person. If I don’t get something, I go on Tutor.com. If I’m bored at times I’ll go on to study—to re-learn things so I can keep it in my memory. Or sometimes I go on because I’m stuck and stressed and just can’t get something.”

Kalvary, meanwhile, found he enjoyed using the site to review and re-learn what he was learning at school. Lately, he’s been logging on about three times a week. The site recently helped him figure out how to convert fractions into percentages—a trick he’s been known to employ when telling his family what percentage of a pizza pie has been eaten.

“I go on if I’m feeling stressed, and it helps me understand things more,” he says. “Now, when friends call me because they don’t get something on the homework, I tell them ‘Go to Tutor.com!’”

Mom and dad are also happy because Tutor.com has given them a way to create more family time. “It’s taken the frustration out so that I know that they can go ahead and do their homework—and all I have to do is check it, versus re-teaching,” Shaunice says. “It’s just so convenient.”

Check out this fun tag cloud created from our favorite student quotes since the new school year began.

Enjoy!

We were thrilled to announce the launch of the new Learning Suite, and students have been connecting to tutors all day. We not only expanded our products, but we added lots of new “stuff” to our classroom and thousands of resources that they can use 24/7.

I can talk about it all day, but rather than listening to me go on, how about hearing it from the students?

Enjoy the (unedited) comments that students left after their session in our new Live Homework Help^® classroom:

• i think the part where we get to talk about which problem u have before loging on to a tutor really helps. tutor.com has gotten way better. woot!

• Thank you soo much for putting this new service . It is much more easier than the old one. And I am getting my homework done faster. I bet I will be using it everday. It soo cool!!!

• I really like this new look. It makes typing and drawing easier. It also looks really cooll

• Esteban C!!!nice nice nice and uses a lot offf winky faces lol nice guy good job!!!

• great I love the new tutor.com classroom and everything was clear. great job on the updates!

• I love how the classroom changed!its great!thanks alot!

• The changes u people did were cool!!!awesome!!!

• i love the new class room so very much and the best part was the tutor. he was very pationte and very good explaner i even think that hhe was the head tutor of this program. sorry about my spelling erros. thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• I LOVE THE NEW CLASSROOM AND WEBSITE LAYOUT!

• I love the new format!

• love this!!! I will continue to use this sevice!! I just LOVE THE NEW LAYOUT/DESIGN. ITS SO COOL AND MAKES IT FUN TO LEARN

• I really like the new layout, espicially the graph paper option!

• cool! I like the new design!