When you're a child in a military family, or a parent for that matter, education is a constant source of stress and can be a big challenge. Military families move, frequently, it's part of the deal, and they must keep up with and adapt to the different requirements of different teachers in each school. After all, no two school curriculums are exactly alike. And when a mom or dad deploys, the other must assume the sole role of homework helper. And needless to say, if both parents deploy, it's an even greater challenge for the child.
But the Defense Department now offers military families access to free, online, 24-hour tutoring at Tutor.com. The site offers professional tutors who can assist with homework, studying and test preparation. Services are available to students of any age - from kindergartners to high school seniors - with help offered in more than 16 subjects.
The new service, which was rolled out at a ceremony at Camp Pendleton's Patrick J. Carney Library earlier this year, offers experts in traditional subjects like math, science, social studies and English for all levels, as well as assistance for adults with U.S. Citizenship exams, resume writing, job interview preparation and job searching. The program also has bilingual Spanish tutors for certain subjects. All active-duty service members and their families are eligible, as are reserve Marines, National Guard members, and DoD civilian employees and their families if they are in a deployed status.
Pamela McBride , a mom, military wife, author, and blogger, recently blogged about how Tutor.com has really helped her son. "When my 17-year-old, high school, distinguished honor student in his senior year, was having problems with his summer AP Calculus packet that was due on the first day of school, there wasn't a darn thing I could do to help …except let my mom instincts kick in and find him someone who could. I said, 'Let's log on to Tutor.com.' Before I knew it he was writing the problem on the interactive whiteboard and the tutor was asking him questions to assess where to start. Within minutes they were chatting like old friends, solved the first problem and went on to the next."
Tutor.com founder and CEO George Cigale, who lives 45 minutes from West Point, was invited recently to speak to the parents and students at West Point Middle School. Afterward, he wrote about his connection to the military and how much he thinks Tutor.com is making a difference.
"Being able to speak with parents and children directly, show them how to use the service, and answer their questions is priceless," he wrote. "Their faces light up immediately as they get to that aha! moment ' that there's an expert subject tutor standing by ALL the time, waiting to help me when I need help! I did get to hike around the beautiful campus. Several cadets ran by on the trail, finishing their sweaty afternoon work out. Wanted to let them know where to turn if they get stuck on their Calculus or Physics studies that night, but I'll catch them on the next visit."
Tutor.com is not totally new to the military; it actually debuted about four years ago at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, according to Marines.mil. 'It was such a success there that it was brought up to Headquarters Marine Corps to be funded for use across the Marine Corps and military,' Timothy Larsen, director of Marine and Family Services, Headquarters Marine Corps, told the online Marine publication. 'It's a great way to support the service members and their families."
