If you have school-aged kids, you already know that childcare doesn’t end with daycare graduation. When your kids are not in school or participating in clubs or sports, the inevitable “Mom, I’m bored” declaration rears its ugly head. And, of course, it always seems to happen while you’re at the office or working from home. So, what’s a parent to do?
The good news is that numerous tools now offer access to virtual, live classes and activities designed to keep kids engaged, entertained, and informed while gaining essential life-skills beyond traditional education. However, as with many things in the online world, the quality can vary. And given that we’re talking about children here, it’s especially critical to do your due diligence when selecting an extracurricular programs. Consider these five questions to help you settle on the best options –
1. Are the classes a waste of money, or do they serve a real purpose?
Remember when your substitute teacher would roll a TV into your classroom, so everyone could spend two hours zoning out with a movie? That’s not what this experience should be about. Explore the programs you’re considering to get to the heart of their mission. Are they asking you to pay for pointless videos that may or may not be age-appropriate, or for trivial tic-tac-toe games that’ll lose your kid’s attention real fast? Pass!
Or, has the platform cultivated a community of vetted educational providers who offer courses that cater to your child’s interests and provide invaluable life skills? Topics like coding, college prep, music, social and emotional skills, finances (yes, even 14-year-olds can learn about tax returns and budgeting!), STEM, and beyond—now that’s worth your hard-earned dollars.
2. Does the website offer a wide range of topics and plenty of courses?
Before you start signing up your kids and taking back control of your workday, first make sure the website’s “marketplace” offers courses that span a variety of topics—like all the ones listed above, all in one place. Why is this important? No more managing different accounts or having to research varied providers. No more logistical nightmares!
And say your kid loves a specific teacher or class format (like a one-time event or a multi-session course); when they’re ready for something new, your one log-in should lead to countless more opportunities. Ah, the beauty of streamlining.
3. Who is teaching the courses and activities?
Okay, this one’s a non-negotiable! The person on the other end of the computer, interacting with your child, has to have been thoroughly vetted. And that goes for both the individual teachers and the organizations they represent. Ask about safety standards. Google their credentials. See if the platform partners only with reputable content providers and companies—like GamesU, YoungGates, Finhive, or Signet Education—who hire professionals.
Signet Education, for example, has helped 90% of its students gain acceptance into their top college or university choices. Both GamesU and YoungGates hire instructors who possess both a background in computer science and previous teaching experience. Finhive is a renowned women-owned business that helps young adults develop financial skills early on. Imagine having access to all these vendors in one place, and knowing that whatever your student is learning, it’s well worth it? That’s what you’re looking for.
4. Are there reviews?
The one thing all the best hotels, restaurants, summer camps, and so on have in common are positive testimonials. In this case, reviews from other parents can tell you a lot about the quality of a website and its educational offerings. Poke around to find a handful of quotes (with actual names!) on the platform you’re considering.
There are actually two things you’re looking for here: Reviews about the site that houses all the courses, and also reviews about the content providers themselves. Say you’re registering your 11-year-old son or daughter for online Spanish classes through a company called Lingo Plaza. Check out their website and social channels too! If you find comments from other parents raving about the course, bingo—word-of-mouth is priceless. (And by the way, Lingo Plaza is, indeed, fantastic.)
5. How’s the customer service?
Whenever you need assistance regarding an online purchase, there’s nothing worse than… Bueller? Bueller? There’s no “Contact Us” page. No email address you can write to. No face of the company, or a quick bio about the founder. For a busy working mom who values responsiveness just as much as quality, it’s beyond frustrating when you just want to talk to someone. And not a robot, a real person!
So, your homework here: Make sure, before handing over your credit card details, that the platform offers an email address or form you can fill out should you have any questions. Better yet, see if there’s a write-up about the owner and why he or she created this marketplace. Now you have an actual name of someone, and you can trust this tool is going to do great things for you and your kid.
One more thing!
You may think your employer only offers benefits that apply to your daycare-aged children, but a growing number of organizations are starting to include perks for employees’ school-aged children. Inquire with your HR department about possible discounts or reimbursements on virtual classes for kids. Maybe you have unlimited access to a marketplace of courses, or can receive a certain percentage off of select activities. It’s worth checking!
About Carleen Haylett
Carleen Haylett is the CEO of EnrichedHQ. In 2020, single mother and technology leader Carleen Haylett witnessed pandemic-driven gaps in the U.S. educational space when her fifth-grade son began to thrive with homeschooling. The schoolwork was manageable, but the lack of affordable virtual extracurricular programs available, which would stimulate his development as a student preparing for middle and high school, was a shock. Torn between motherhood and her career, corporate pressure mounted, she left her job. She founded EnrichedHQ to solve the logistical nightmare of finding and managing options for kids who no longer need day care or a sitter, bridging childcare through high school. Leveraging her 20+ years in technology development, product management, and sales, she developed a platform that offers virtual extracurricular programs for middle and high school age children that enrich and prepare them for life. Working parents are able to find an immediate remedy for this common parental stressor through their employers. EnrichedHQ handles all the logistics, letting parents easily find, book, schedule, and pay for multiple virtual programs for multiple children across multiple providers. Both corporations and parents benefit from EnrichedHQ’s commitment. Visit https://enrichedhq.com/
