A Mom’s Review of Learner.com: An Online Math Tutoring Platform

The New Online Math Tutoring Platform that Personalizes the Learning Experience

Learner is a newer platform made specifically for tutoring math students. They are known for having a unique learning interface and careful selection of tutors for each student. And their program led to my daughter’s recent breakthrough in Geometry. Here’s how…

A little backstory

This whole journey started when my daughter began to struggle in math—more than ever before. She attends a magnet high school that specializes in the arts. She is gifted with art. But she was failing in her Geometry class.

Art just comes so naturally for her. Math and science are more difficult for her—but when school was in person, she always managed to keep up just fine. With all her schoolwork and materials online now, it’s become that much more challenging.

COVID has really put a damper on her math education. She’s always done fairly well in math, but trying to learn from a computer has made it tricky for her to fully grasp new concepts. She started out with Algebra 1 last year and was having a good experience, but as the school year neared the end and we all went into lockdown, they ended up getting rid of the final exam.

And then this year just started things off on the wrong foot in Geometry. Of course, I suspect the fact that it’s online is playing a big part in that. She is comfortable with her teacher, but doesn’t have the ability to get 1-on-1 help with him like she would’ve been able to last year.

Why we started the search for a tutor

She and I were especially worried that, if things didn’t change, she would lose her standing with this school and have to attend the regular, local public school. Since her school is specialized and competitive to get into, she has to keep up with certain standards to stay at the there. Before discovering Learner, we were just beginning the 3rd quarter. She needs at least a C in the last two quarters of the year if she is to stay enrolled.

I suggested finding some kind of math tutoring program. In general, my daughter was open to the idea. She knows she’s struggling, she wants to stay at her school, and she’s ready to get some help. Her experience in math at the end of last year and this entire year seem to have really been hurt by the pandemic and online schooling. And maybe humbled her to this pint of being ready to accept whatever help it takes.

Why we decided on Learner

As I mentioned, online learning was part of the initial problem. But, right now, our only math tutoring options are online. So I knew that we would need something unique and as personal as possible.

I came across Learner, and after comparing to our other options, decided to move forward with them for a handful of reasons.

1-on-1 learning with a carefully-selected math tutor

Part of her problem was not being able to meet with the teacher and get help—without a whole classroom-full of students present. I knew we wanted something that felt more personable for her. 

I discovered that Learner carefully selects the tutor for each student—based not only on their particular math struggles, but also on their personality and learning style. That was definitely a selling point for me, as our daughter can be quite sensitive, at times, and this whole math struggle has been really stressful for her.

A unique, user-friendly platform

Again, because online schooling has proven to be difficult, the fact that the platform is unique stood out to me. The website explains that it’s easy to use, and works across various devices.

It also allows for tutor and student to collaborate together on problems—which is important for her math understanding. She needs more than just someone telling her how something works. She needs to work through it with them, before she can fully understand it.

Learner also records each lesson so the student can review it later. That point stood out to us. She takes notes during class, but since she can’t actually go back and hear how the teacher explained things, her notes are often no help.

Feedback that keeps everyone in the loop

I knew I wanted to be somewhat involved in her progress. Learner gives constant feedback with each session through their platform. They track the progress and the areas that need improvement. And they send this feedback to both student and parent, so we can all be on the same page.

Our experience

Equipped with this info about Learner’s tutoring approach, and having compared to the alternatives, we were ready to take the plunge and give it a try.

Getting started

To get started with Learner, I gave them a call and explained the situation. I spent about 30 minutes chatting with the academic coach. I described my concern, my daughter’s situation, and some of her academic strengths in art and weaknesses. And they asked lots of questions so they could get the full picture.

After assessing the circumstances, we agreed that the tutor needs to be someone who is nurturing, to accommodate our daughter’s sensitivity. They then spelled out their process for me. They pointed out that this is a rigorous program, and it takes work. They explained that it might take a few sessions for her and her tutor to get in a good groove. And that the tutor and Learner program as a whole needed to understand her gaps, and learning style so they could best structure the learning process for her.

I appreciated that they were so upfront and honest with me about the fact that this isn’t just a quick fix. I had expected that, but I know some tutoring programs make it seem like they just snap their fingers, and suddenly the student is a math wiz. But Learner seemed like they would patiently walk her through step by step, even through the rough patches.

The process

As we’ve gotten going, we’ve seen that things have worked out exactly how Learner said they would. Her first tutoring session was a little bumpy and left her feeling a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I encouraged her to give it a bit more time to see if things smooth out.

At the second session, she kind of broke through that wall of embarrassment and hesitance. By the third session, she really started to get into the groove of it all.

Since then, we have been meeting 3 times a week. And I’ve noticed my daughter has started to actually get excited about her tutoring appointments—because she is showing some significant progress.

Our experience with The math tutor

My daughter’s tutor really seems to understand her. After getting past the rocky start, they’ve actually kind of hit it off. I’m glad Learner took the time to understand her unique personality, challenges, and circumstance so they could choose the best tutor for her. As far as I can tell, they made the right choice.

Success with Learner

She is doing so much better in Geometry now. She’s not overwhelmed by her classes anymore. The concepts are really starting to click for her, and her grades on assignments have been going up. In fact, she got a 95 on her most recent quiz! We were so thrilled, we had a little family party to celebrate. Overall, I would recommend Learner to any student or parent in need of math assistance. They’ll take the time to listen, understand your unique situation, and empower you to make progress. They’ll also work with you on problems, and give consistent feedback, so you always know how you’re doing and how you can continue to improve.

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