The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Perfect Online English Teacher for Kids
With all the choices out there, it can be difficult to find the perfect online English teacher for your child. So here’s a four-step roadmap to help you identify the right person.
1. Get Your Kids Excited About Online Lessons
Before you introduce any teachers to your child, you’ll want to get them interested in online tutoring.
At the very least, you’ll want to get them used to talking to people over the internet (e.g. friends and relatives) if they aren’t already familiar with it.
You also want to make sure that your kids know that online English lessons won’t be a chore, but something fun they’ll do a couple times a week that won’t interfere with their playtime.
What works even better is if you or an older sibling take online English lessons while your kids are around. On multiple occasions, we’ve seen young children become interested in online English lessons after seeing a family member talking to a tutor and having fun.
After all, they look up to you and want to try everything that you do. So be their role model!
Anyways, now that you’ve sparked your child’s interest, how do you find a teacher that’ll keep them hooked?
2. Use A Checklist
While shopping for teachers and online schools, we recommend you use a checklist that covers basic aspects of tutoring services. Here’s ours:
⬚ How long is each lesson? Younger children do better with shorter lessons.
⬚ Can parents participate? We highly recommend attending the first few lessons with your child to help them stay focused.
⬚ What age range does the school teach? It’s usually more effective for children 0-5 years old to take lessons with schools or tutors that specialize in teaching young children.
⬚ What learning materials are used? Does the school provide those or do you have to do it yourself?
⬚ Are there teachers who speak your language? For younger kids, it’s helpful to have bilingual teachers who can communicate with them in their native tongue.
Depending on your needs, you may also want to check the following:
⬚ What devices can classes be taken on?
⬚ Can siblings take lessons together?
⬚ Are there offline activities to complement online learning?
⬚ Have any teachers worked with children with special needs before?
3. Try Out 2-3 Teachers, But No More Than That
Let your child try out two to three teachers to get a taste for who they like best. But make sure you don’t sign up for more than that, as your child might get tired and lose interest.
So, be sure to do some research beforehand and pick two or three of the most promising teachers to try out. In addition to reading reviews and ratings, you can also see if the teacher has posted a video introducing themselves.
If you’re already taking online English lessons and have a tutor who you like, you can ask if they’d be willing to teach your child as well. If it happens that they prefer not to teach kids, they’ll still be able to recommend other tutors who do.
4. Help the Teacher Help You
Realistically speaking, you won’t find a perfect teacher who has a perfect first class with your child. However, you will find the teacher who has the greatest potential to be just the right person for them.
In order to help them become “the right person” in the shortest period of time, you should share what you know about your child with them. Here are some things the teacher would appreciate knowing:
- Your child’s interests and hobbies: Is your child fascinated by trains? Do they love a certain superhero or pop singer? Do they like baseball, Chinese food, or elephants? Make a list and send it to the teacher, with links if it helps.
- How your child learns: From your experience potty-training your child or teaching them to ride a bike, you probably have a good idea of how they learn. Do they prefer verbal or visual explanations? Are they hands-on learners?
- How to motivate your child: Do they like compliments, rewards (e.g. smiley face stickers) or high-fives? Are they motivated by competition?
No one knows your child as well as you do. Sharing some of these “secrets” with the teacher will help them connect more easily with your child, making lessons more fun and effective from Day One.
Finally, ask the teacher if there are any ways you can help them. There’s no better way to establish rapport with the teacher by asking, “What can I do to support your work?” or a simple “How can I help you?”
What Are You Waiting For?
You’re now ready to start looking for the perfect teacher for your kids.
While you’re shopping around, check out Engoo! We’re a 24/7 online tutoring platform that serves students ages two and up. And you don’t have to worry about anything:
- Our lessons are 25 minutes long, the perfect length for kids.
- We have our own lesson materials that’ll keep kids of all ages happy. Your child doesn’t even have to know the alphabet as our kids materials start with just that. (If you don’t believe us, check out this girl singing along to the alphabet song in our first lesson!)
- We also have plenty of tutors with experience with kids. You can find them by searching with keywords like “love kids,” “early childhood education,” “secondary education,” “education major,” “preschool,” “teenagers,” “kids,” and “mom” or “dad” (to find tutors who are parents themselves).
You’ll also get one free lesson when you sign up, so why not give it a try?
Please note that parents are recommended to participate in lessons with children under 12 for the first month.
