One the most asked questions by homeschooling parents is how to assist a middle school-high school student in higher math and science. The question is normally answered by a curriculum suggestion. That is the logical answer and the proper curriculum is the best place to start. However, what if you are using the best curriculum for your child yet she still runs into a glitch or needs added assistance? Changing curriculum will not be the solution. So what is? Normally the answer would be tutoring. Since that opens you up to the search for a tutor and the high cost of a tutor when maybe your student only needed help in one area of her math, is there another solution? Yes, there is! The answer is Virtual Nerd.
Now, it may make me a nerd to be so excited about Virtual Nerd but nerd is the new cool anyway, right? When I was first given the opportunity to review Virtual Nerd I was not excited. I had reviewed plenty of math curricula and frankly was not looking forward to another online math curriculum to add to the mix. I know…bad attitude…just sharing the dark part of my heart here. When I looked over the Virtual Nerd site I was relieved to find it was EXACTLY what I was looking for! It was not a curriculum it was real help for students studying pre-algebra, algebra, algebra 2, and physics! At any time you can access a tutor to help your child in the area she needs. A student and look through topics to find the exact area she needs an explanation in within the math level she is studying.
For instance, my daughter is taking pre-algebra this year, and she struggled with the geometry concepts presented in her curriculum. All she had to do was go to the site, click on pre-algebra, and then the topic she needed help with and boom she found the help she needed. The help comes in the form of a male or female teacher explaining the concepts in a video. My daughter could watch it as many times as needed or skip over what she understood to get to what she did not. Navigation of the site was easy. The explanations are clear and well formatted. You basically have access to high quality tutorial videos taught by friendly and clear teachers at the click of a mouse. It was a major relief for both my daughter and me. She normally does not have many problems in math but the few times she did Virtual Nerd came to the rescue.
Pricing? That is always something to take in consideration. With Virtual Nerd you have the option of 24 hour access for $5.00, one week for $19, one month for $49 (recurring) or a three month subscription for $129. While Virtual Nerd does not claim to replace a teacher or tutor, it is the place to come first for high quality explanation and low cost. My daughter only needed help in one area and Virtual Nerd helped her. If she needs help again in the future I would rather pay $5.00 for 24 hours than $25 an hour or more for a tutor. With Virtual Nerd adding in pre-calculus, calculus and chemistry in the next year, I know I will be back for her and for my son when he hits middle school. It was like having access to my math brain husband in a video rather than through text messages while he is in a business meeting…lol. Can you tell I’m excited about this?
(Online access provided in exchange for an objective and fair review. My thoughts may not represent those of Virtual Nerd.)