Our goal is to make learning fun, whether your child is working on school assignments, improving academic skills generally or engaging in social skills practice. Research studies have shown that peer tutoring has been effective to increase both academic and social emotional skills.⁽¹⁾ We expect that working with a peer will be fun and motivating, and your child will gain self confidence, improved skillsets and develop a meaningful connection. Studies have shown that when tutors are provided training, 1:1 peer tutoring can be as effective as professional group tutoring.⁽²⁾

Instead of having families sign up for tutoring slots (with the potential for a different tutor-tutee pairing each week), we take the extra effort to match families with a regular peer volunteer with the hope that they will develop a great relationship over time. This is because studies have shown that individualized tutoring programs where the same tutor/mentor work together throughout a program to foster familiarity and better results.⁽¹⁾ Pairings are made based on areas of the desired areas of engagement, age, any gender preferences as well as other factors.

The promise of peer tutoring models has been proposed as a blueprint for launching broadly across the U.S. public school system. Some have proposed a tiered model, with high school serving as tutors/mentors in elementary schools and college students in middle schools, and 2- and 4-year college graduates in high schools via AmeriCorps.⁽⁴⁾

We are 501(c)(3) organization and 100% volunteer run. We receive donations from the community that provide the resources we need to help maintain the program. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, you can find information at “Get Involved.”

Parents are always welcome to ask for a different tutor if the pairing is not a good fit. Of course, there is also no obligation to continue the program if the child or family is not happy with the session. To date, the overwhelming majority of our families, have opted to continue with their initially assigned peer volunteer.

If your child is very young, they may not sit for an hour session. Some younger kids opt for just half an hour of academic tutoring. Some parents also sit and help guide their child during the session if necessary to ensure full engagement to help facilitate as needed. Generally, we advise that a child is able to participate in our program if they can sit and participate in an online learning environment.

We have also found that sessions go well when the initial session to build rapport with the peer volunteer. They will engage in getting to know each other conversation and play games to build trust before diving into any academic work. Our volunteers are also encouraged to break up the learning with online games or chat. Many of our volunteers are experienced tutors who have provided tutoring for other organizations so they are able to adapt to working with children with different learning styles and abilities.

⁽¹⁾ Kraft, M. A., & Falken, G. T. (2021). A blueprint for scaling tutoring and mentoring across public schools. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-21.

⁽²⁾ Fremouw, W.J. and Feindler, E. L. Peer versus professional teaching models for study skills training. J. of Counseling Psych., 1978, 25:6, 576–580.

See The Case for 1:1 Remote Peer Learning Models in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities to see the research supporting peer to peer interactions to bolster academic and social-emotional skills.

The commitment is one hour a week at a time you are available. Because the sessions are done online, there is no need for travel time and it is a great way to volunteer and give to the community while not wasting a lot of precious time. Some volunteers meet with their families only on weekends. You can control the schedule and we seek to match you with a child who is able to meet at the same time. Of course, if you love the program, you can be a volunteer to more than one child. Because transitioning peer volunteers can be hard and is an emotional and time investment for the family and child, we ask that you commit to volunteering for at least a semester. We hope that once you build a relationship with your child, you will want to stay on. Therefore, we ask that you sign up only if you think you can commit to providing tutoring for a minimum of 6 months (excluding holidays).

Although many of our volunteers have experience, it is not absolutely necessary. We will help onboard and train you and the critical skillsets you need is patience, kindness and compassion.

Life and school are not predictable and the families are generally very understanding as long as you provide advance notice. You can ask the family if they are able to reschedule the session at a time you are available or we have backup volunteers that can fill in as needed if rescheduling or just skipping the session is not desirable.

Yes, we have a set of training information and a list of both math and ELA resources that we will provide you. We also provide IXL.com logins if the child/tutee does not have specific materials for you to work with. We will make sure you are onboarded and trained before the session. Of course, you can reach out with questions or assistance at any time.

Yes, we can certify service hours that are worked. In addition, the organization is proud to announce that it is a Certifying Organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Volunteers now have the privilege of earning this award by volunteering at Inspired to Learn. Eligibility and awards tiers are described on the PVSA website.