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Has a new way of explaining something ever changed things for your child?

Andrei has spent more than 15 years teaching chemistry and math, and he has a PhD in the subject most students dread.

Here is the advice he'd give his younger self: ask questions, make mistakes, and take your time really understanding the fundamentals. That's also how he teaches. One concept at a time, broken into steps a student can actually follow, until it clicks.

Math, science and chemistry, online from Toronto.

Andrei Nikolaev | Math, Science and Chemistry tutor in Toronto Browse Andrei's profile and intro video to explore their teaching style, background, and unique qualities as a tutor!

"Is online tutoring as good as in person?" Most parents want to know, and until recently the honest answer was "we think so."

Now there is actual evidence. Randomised trials, thousands of kids, tutoring by video call only. The short version: it worked, and where it didn't, the screen wasn't the reason.

What decides it is in the slides. Sources in the first comment.

It's strange to sit with the fact that AI is the worst it will ever be.

Every month it gets better at the things tutoring is made of. Explaining a concept ten different ways. Generating unlimited practice questions. Catching a mistake the second it happens. Answering a homework question at 11pm on a Sunday. It would be naive to think that doesn't disrupt our industry. It will.

But we keep coming back to the same place: a great tutor was never an answer generator.

The hard parts of tutoring aren't informational, they're relational. Trust. Accountability. Knowing when a kid needs to be pushed and when they need to be left alone. Noticing that the math isn't the problem, the confidence is. Those are much harder problems, and they don't look close to solved.

When a parent hires a tutor, they aren't really buying explanations. They're buying some confidence that their kid is going to be okay.

There's a paradox in here too. If every student has an AI tutor, basic academic help becomes abundant. Abundance makes the scarce thing more valuable, not less. That pushes demand toward excellent human tutors rather than away from them.

Calculators didn't end math education. They changed what we expect people to do with math.

AI does something similar to tutoring. The tutor who only transfers information is in trouble. The tutor who understands a student, teaches well, motivates them, and knows when to push gets more valuable, not less.

That's the bet we're making.

Tutoring works, just not the way it gets sold.

Eight slides on what forty years of research actually found, including the part where the industry's favourite statistic turns out to be from 1984.

AI can write your kid's essay. It can solve the math problem. It can explain the concept in 10 different ways.

And yet somehow, more students than ever feel behind.

Here's what AI is genuinely great at: instant answers, endless patience, available at 3am.

Here's what it hasn't figured out yet: noticing when a student is nodding but not actually getting it. Knowing when to slow down because something's clearly off. Asking the right question at the right moment that makes everything click.

Learning isn't just information transfer. It's a relationship.

The best tutors don't just explain things — they read the room. They notice the hesitation before a student speaks. They build the kind of trust that makes a kid say "wait, can you go back to that part?"

AI is a tool. A really impressive one.

But a human who genuinely cares about your child's understanding? That's something different.

Let your kid sleep in this spring break.

Seriously.

They've been up at 6am since September. They've juggled assignments, exams, friendship drama, and the general exhaustion of just being a teenager in school.

They don't need a productivity plan this week.

They need to sleep until noon, eat cereal on the couch, and not think about quadratic equations for a few days.

Rest is part of learning. A burnt-out student doesn't absorb anything anyway.

So this spring break — let them recharge. 💙

The school stuff will still be there when they get back.

Meet Karen — one of TutorLyft's most experienced tutors 🌟

Over 10 years tutoring. 6 years of private homeschooling. Trilingual in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. A Bachelor of Education and a teaching style she describes as knowing "when, where, and how to push."

She covers Math, Science, and English from elementary through Grade 12 — and offers academic consulting on top of that.

Here's what a parent said about working with her:

"Knowledgeable, but most of all, patient. She tailors learning accordingly after assessing what a student needs."

That's the kind of tutor you don't just find — you feel lucky to have found.

Whether your child needs foundational support, a confidence boost, or someone who can meet them in more than one language, Karen brings the kind of depth and warmth that makes a real difference.

See her full profile → tutorlyft.com/tutors/karen-ng-hyatt

Karen Ng-Hyatt | Math, Science and English tutor in Burnaby Browse Karen's profile and intro video to explore their teaching style, background, and unique qualities as a tutor!