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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1 Is online tutoring really effective?

    Thanks to today’s technologies, online tutoring is as effective as conventional face-to-face tutoring. During the past 18 years, GrowingStars.com has helped thousands of students achieve tremendous grade improvements. The Growing Stars proprietary shared whiteboard and the ability to talk through the headset over the internet combine to give the student an experience equivalent to sitting next to the teacher. Online tutoring is no longer new; it has been proven for more than a decade.

  • 2 Do you hire teachers from overseas? Do they have accents?

    Yes, our qualified online tutors are from India. That is how we are able to provide high-quality tutoring at affordable prices. We hire only tutors with excellent communication abilities and strong subject knowledge. We put them on the job only when we are convinced that they can understand the students, and the students can understand them. In case a teacher does not work out for a student, we immediately facilitate a change of tutor

  • 3 How does your tutoring methodology work?

    A child’s areas of strengths and weaknesses will be assessed by conducting an initial test and subsequent periodic tests. Based on the evaluation results, the student’s Education Manager will put together a personalized approach that is tailored to strengthen the areas that need improvement. The tutor and the Education Manager work as a team to bring up each student’s grades and test scores. Parental involvement is a key part of our tutoring program.

  • 4 What grade levels do you tutor?

    Growing Stars Inc. currently helps children from grades 1 through 12 and many college subjects.

  • 5 How many hours of tutoring are recommended per month?

    Most children need two hours of one-on-one tutoring per week. In addition, two hours of computer-aided learning and test taking (without teacher interaction) per month is recommended. However, if a child’s Education Manager finds that extra hours are needed, the child will be advised accordingly to take additional lessons. If a student is already doing well and needs occasional help only, the Education Manager will recommend fewer hours.

  • 6 What is a shared electronic whiteboard?

    An electronic whiteboard is a white rectangular area on a computer screen, on which we can write or draw using a digital pencil. A digital writing pad is a tablet the size of a mouse pad. A digital pencil is a mouse the size and shape of a pen. Together, these three devices are used to simulate the experience of writing with a pencil.

  • 7 How will the tutoring benefit children?

    The tutoring service is intended to supplement (not substitute) classroom learning. It will considerably improve the knowledge level of any participating student. An average learner will be elevated to an excellent level, a below average learner will be brought up to an average level, and an excellent learner will be challenged to higher levels of excellence and outstanding performance.

  • 8 How do you intend to do this?

    A child’s areas of strengths and weaknesses will be assessed by conducting an initial test and subsequent periodic tests. Based on the evaluation results, the student’s Education Manager will put together a personalized curriculum that is tailor-made to strengthen the areas that need improvement. The expectations of a grade level will be set based on the recommended standards in various states (like the California Standards Syllabus for the State of California).

  • 9 What equipment do we need?

    All you need is:
    A PC (with at least  a 1 GHz processor & a 1 GB RAM), running on Windows 7/8/10 Or an Apple Mac OS X 10.10 or higher.

    A sound-card

    One USB port

    Broadband Internet connection.

    A headset/microphone combo

    A digital writing pad

  • 10 What is expected from parents?

    Parents are expected to provide a distraction-free environment for their children. Parents must know their children’s schedules, and ensure that they log on to the Growing Stars website 5 to 10 minutes in advance, and wait for the teacher to join the session. The teacher also will log on at the scheduled time, and will automatically be connected to the child at the start time.

  • 11 How do we report progress?

    We email parents a detailed monthly progress report for their students. We also hold regular parent-tutor conferences every 30 to 45 days. The parents are free to contact the student’s Educational Manager any time to discuss their students’ needs.

  • 12 What is a parent website?

    A parent portal is a website for parents of enrolled students. Each parent will be given a username and password for logging onto this website. Information relevant to the parents, such as student progress reports and general guidelines, will be posted on this website.