Frequently-Asked Questions

What sort of feedback can I expect from you?

• We will send you an email summary of every contact with your child (though these are likely to be fairly short with the mini-sessions);

I've heard horror stories about kids and online contacts...

• We certainly agree that you should keep tabs on who your child is associating with online!
• See our "About Us" page, which has personal information as well as professional qualifications
• Contact us to get the phone numbers for the pastors at our church. We've been at this church for ten years, and they can vouch for us.
• During our sessions your child can record our conversations for you (we'll show how);
• We would be happy to have you sit in on our sessions - you can either have the computer send the audio to its speakers, or you can use your own headset or speakers on a second computer. Note, too, that the participants in the session can be anywhere connected to the internet.

How much does it cost?

• Not much, considering the years of experience we're bringing to the table (you knew we would say that);
• Scheduled sessions: from $19.50 to $33 per hour (read more...)
• Mini sessions: from no-extra-charge-per-mini-session (with a Scheduled plan or the $45/mo unlimited Mini-Session Plan) to $2.50 per mini-session with no monthly expense (read more.)

What sort of contract must I sign?

• We don't do contracts that saddle your family with a year's worth of monthly payments;
• Instead, we agree to reserve time for your child, and you agree that there will be a monthly charge for this until you tell us otherwise;
• If your child uses less time to the extent that you would have saved money by being on a different plan, for the next month we'll shift you to the plan that better matches your useage;

What about Christians in public schools?

• We recognize that there are plenty of God-fearing people out there who disagree with us about homeschooling and send their children to public schools. We are certainly not calling their faith, their love for their children, or their standing before God into question, but would be happy to discuss the issue with them if they wish.
• It would seem particularly important for such students to have at least some contact with vocal Christian biology teachers, to counter the godless assertions of the textbooks and some classroom teachers.

What about secular homeschoolers?

• We're serious about our faith, and it influences everything we do.
• We also recognize that your children are YOUR responsibility, and we speak to them under your authority and in accordance with your instructions;
• When we teach, we can give voice to our faith or we can present a less vocal version (it peeks out, or course, but we don't need to 'push' anything);
• We reserve the right to speak of Christ if we honestly believe the Lord is requiring us to do so (that, too, is an authority thing: He outranks everyone);
• If we discuss anything substantial along these lines we will let you know;
• We recognize that you may choose to discontinue our services at that point;
• Should that be your choice we will certainly refund anything you've paid for that session and any future sessions.

Privacy Policy

• We don't give out your contact information to anyone;
• We don't let anyone other than the two of us see your child's records;
• We don't store your credit card information complete anywhere (it's divided and stored in separate states);
• We don't share things with your child which are told us in confidence by the parent;
• IF AND ONLY IF WE HAVE PERMISSION FROM THE PARENT, we won't share things with the parent which are told us in confidence by the child;
• We recognize our subordinate position under your authority, so we don't take this issue lightly or presume upon it without specificially addressing it with you;
• We see some parents as righteously withholding this permission to better discharge their child-rearing responsibilities by obtaining relevant information obtained by a tutor;
• We see other parents as righteously granting this permission to better discharge their child-rearing responsibilities by providing the child with an adult listener who will call them towards responsible behavior (and we bring Biblical principles into every decision we make... though we don't always need to cite chapter and verse);
• We see ourselves as fellow-sojourners with parents and students towards the goal of living godly lives - as such, we love to give a godly answer when folks ask what they should do.
• BUT WE'RE NOT TRAINED AS COUNSELORS and make no claims to be qualified by job title or by the state. You're paying for a tutor, but other issues outside of the subject matter occasionally intrude and impact the student's education (we're in the same position as any other teacher).
• If we do not have permission from the parent to maintain confidence with the child, we tell the child up front so as to preserve trust (if he or she told us something in confidence which we passed on to you, any future teaching would be difficult);
• If we have a reasonable suspicion of an abuse situation, we will certainly pass on our information to the appropriate authorities (same as any schoolteacher);
• We will comply with legal requirements or court orders to release records (same as any other company).

Recordings Policy

• The audio portion of our sessions may be recorded by us for training purposes;
• From time to time we may ask for permission to use portions of a recording as an example to be played from our website;
• We will certainly obtain permission from you before adding any such portions to our website;
• We will certainly offer a week's services for such use.
• You have our permission and encouragement to record the sessions onto your computer (we'll show you how);
• You may use these recordings for your personal use or to play for an acquaintance who may be interested in our services;
• We do not give permission for you to pass the file on to a competitor who might use it on a website;
• We do not give permission for your son or daughter to post such recordings or portions of them on a social website without specific permission from us (if we made a particularly good joke, we might enjoy having it published, but we want to be careful);

Extra Session Policy

• If you want an extra session, it is billed at the equivalent hourly rate (see Scheduled Sessions);
• If your extra sessions are such that it would have saved you money if you had been on the next-larger plan, we'll shift you to it and credit you for what you've paid already that month;

Vacation / Emergency Policy

• If you wish to take a break from tutorial sessions, let us know a week in advance and we'll suspend your payments for the time period you specify;
• If you're in the midst of a family emergency, let us know and we'll work with you: the last thing you need is to worry about tutorial sessions if the child is in the emergency room or you have to take the family out of town for the loss of a relative.

Never-Scheduled Session Policy

• If you schedule fewer sessions in a month than you've paid for, such that it would have saved you money if you had been on the next-smaller plan, we'll shift you to it for next month to save you money;

Missed Session Policy

• We will email you and your child the day before a session;
• We will email you and your child just before a session starts (giving the link to the whiteboard site);
• If we're ready for the session and your child does not show, we bill for the whole session;
• If you cancel within four hours of the session, we bill for half of the session (that is, you can pick up a half-hour's session later at no additional cost);
• If you cancel more than four hours before the session, we reschedule the session at no additional cost;
• If your student is ready for the session and we're not, we will apologize profusely, reschedule the session, and:
• Credit your card with the cost of the session that evening;
• Give you an extra session later at no charge; or
• Reduce the cost of your next month's service by one session's charge.
• If you're running late, we'll certainly try to accommodate your change in schedule;
• Please let us know by phone or email as soon as possible;
• we can extend your child's session unless we need to work with another student immediately after your normally-scheduled time.

Refund Policy

• We want you to be satisfied with the product we offer;
• We are offering tutorial services, which involve us delivering content information and training over the internet;
• We ARE responsible for delivering a good product, as that is within our means to control;
• We require that any refund request be based on our performance, not on term-end grades:
• While we expect improvement in school, we are NOT responsible for how your child performs as that is outside of our means to control (we guarantee what we produce, not what your child produces);
• We encourage you to listen in to our sessions (you can do so either through the computer's speakers, or at another computer - we'll show you how);
• We encourage your child to record our sessions for your review at a later date;
• If you don't think we delivered a good product (teaching, training, and professional conduct) for the most recent session, we will certainly refund your money for that session and for the portion of the month that remains for monthly plans);
• If a week has gone by or the next session has begun (whichever time period is longer), we assume that you were satisfied with the product we delivered - refunds for more than one session are not given unless we've conducted more than one in a week.
• Constructive criticism is welcome: if you listen in or listen to a recording and have some suggestions or concerns which don't rise to the level of requesting a refund, please let us know and we'll seek to implement your suggestions.