The dose the research asks for, at a price a family can hold.
Tutoring works, and the research is equally clear about the dose: three or more sessions a week, which almost nobody buys. Level Up runs five days a week for $49 a month.
Level Up meets all twelve. A private tutor meets four, and is partway on four.
Should I get my child a math tutor or an online math program?
For a child who is behind because of gaps from earlier grades, Level Up gives the daily practice that closes them, for about 90% less than tutoring. Research says tutoring works when it happens three or more times a week. At about $50 an hour, that is around $600 a month. Level Up finds the missing skills and practices them five days a week for $49 a month. A tutor is the better choice when your child will only work with an adult beside them. You can also use both: Level Up every day, and a tutor for the questions that need a person.
Twelve things to check in any K-8 math program
| What decides whether it works | Level Up | A private tutor |
|---|---|---|
| Try it before you paySee the whole thing, and your child’s report, while you can still change your mind | Every plan opens with 7 days free, then stays refundable in full for 30 days after the first charge.You read the report, and watch the first skills clear, with the decision still open. | The first session is billed at the hourly rate, like every session after it. |
| Names the missing skills | The report names them, one by one, in plain language. A grade level is not a diagnosis: the children we assess are missing about 200 specific skills on average. | A good tutor works it out, usually across the first two or three sessions, which you pay for at the hourly rate. |
| Goes back to earlier gradesGoes back to earlier grades on its own when the gap is older | When your child keeps getting stuck on a skill, practice steps back to the earlier skill it builds on.A 5th grader stuck on fractions is often missing a piece of 3rd grade. The assessment finds those earlier skills and puts them on your child’s board, with no “remedial” label, and during practice Level Up opens the earlier skill with a worked example and works on that foundation first. | Yes, when the tutor spots it. Noticing this is exactly what a good tutor is for. |
| Proven, not counted | A skill clears only when your child has solved the harder versions too, consistently. Proven, not counted, so it does not come undone in November. | Entirely down to the tutor. Some check properly before moving on; some move on when the hour ends. |
| Progress never taken away | Progress only moves forward. A wrong answer is information about what to practice next, never a penalty, and missing a day costs nothing. | Nothing is scored, so there is nothing to lose. This is one of the quiet advantages of a person over software. |
| Brings skills back before they fade | Everything not revisited is forgotten. Level Up resurfaces a skill on the day it is most likely to slip, and stretches the gap wider as it gets solid. | A weekly hour moves on to the next thing. Revisiting old ground costs another hour. |
| No points, streaks, leaderboards | None of it. No leaderboards, no points, no comparison with other children. The only comparison is to where your child was last week. | None, unless the tutor brings their own reward chart. |
| A goal and a reward at homeA goal your child chose, and a reward that means something at home | You and your child agree a Quest: a size, from about two weeks to a school-year milestone, and a real reward you both name.Level Up sizes the target from what your child can actually reach, progress counts only skills genuinely mastered, and you both sign it. | You can always promise your child something for sticking at it. Nothing in the arrangement sizes that goal or tells either of you when it has been reached. |
| Covers all of K-8 | Every Common Core standard from kindergarten through 8th grade, and one subscription covers the whole range. | Whatever the tutor can teach, which at this level is usually plenty. |
| Works without you beside them | Yes. The next session is already built from the last one, so there is nothing for you to set up, choose or supervise. | For the hour they are there, yes. For the other six days, no. |
| See every problem attempted | Every problem attempted, solved or not, how long each one took, and what was mastered this week against last. Evidence of learning, not minutes logged. | You get a verbal update at pickup, and whatever the tutor chooses to mention. |
| A dose you can sustain | About 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for one monthly price no matter how much your child uses it. | Once a week is what most budgets allow. The research puts the gains at three or more sessions a week. |
| Level Up is ahead on eight of the twelve, level on four (goes back to earlier grades, progress never taken away, no points, streaks, leaderboards and covers all of k-8). | ||
What each one costs
A month of Level Up costs about what one hour of private tutoring does.
How the free trial works
- 7 days free. A card is collected at signup and nothing is charged that day.
- The assessment and your child’s report both happen inside those 7 days.
- When the trial ends the plan starts at $49 a month, $196 every 6 months, or $294 a year, unless you cancel first.
- $29 a month for each additional child ($116 every 6 months, $174 a year). One trial covers every child on the account.
- 30-day money-back guarantee on your first charge, on any plan.
This is what you get on day one, before any charge.
The assessment happens inside the 7 free days. When it finishes, a report like this is built for your child. This one is real, with the child’s name changed.
Scrolls inside the frame. The full report opens below.
Math became much less of a struggle.
Level Up parentThey want to do math almost every day because they want to make progress toward their quest rewards. I can see that they are learning and becoming more confident, but also that doing math has become much less of a struggle. For me, that’s probably the biggest thing.
LauraMother of a fourth and an eighth grader, American International School
The tutoring that works is three sessions a week. Fewer than 2 in 100 children get it.
At about $50 an hour, three sessions a week is around $600 a month. Level Up gives your child practice five days a week for $49 a month: about 90% less than tutoring.
Four things the research agrees on. Level Up does all four.
Tutoring works
Across 96 randomized trials, tutoring raised achievement by about a third of a standard deviation (Nickow, Oreopoulos and Quan, 2024, American Educational Research Journal).
Level Up: daily practice gives your child that frequency, at a price a family can keep paying.
Frequency matters
Researchers set the bar for high-quality tutoring at three or more sessions a week, kept up over time. Fewer than 2 in 100 US children get tutoring at that level (USC Schaeffer Center, Rapaport and Silver, 2023).
Level Up: practice five days a week, about 30 minutes a day.
Practice spread over time
Practice spread over days is remembered far longer than the same practice done at once (Cepeda and colleagues, 2006, Psychological Bulletin, 317 experiments).
Level Up: a daily warm-up brings skills back when they are most likely to slip.
Mastery before moving on
Moving on only after a skill is shown raised exam results by about half a standard deviation (Kulik, Kulik and Bangert-Drowns, 1990, Review of Educational Research).
Level Up: a skill counts only when your child has proven it, including on the harder problems.
A school year of tutoring against a school year of Level Up.
About 3½ months of extra learning in a school year
About 108 sessions in a school year, at about one skill per session.
About 8 months of extra learning in a school year
At the pace we measure, a child masters about 258 missing skills in the same school year. That is more than twice the learning, for about 90% less.
A private tutor may be better if your child...
- Your child will not work without an adult sitting beside them.
- You need help with this week’s homework or a specific school assignment.
Otherwise, Level Up is ahead of a private tutor on 8 of the 12 areas that help kids become proficient in math, and level on the four a private tutor meets.
Level Up and a private tutor, answered.
How much does a math tutor cost?
About $50 an hour is a typical US rate for private math tutoring. Published averages run from about $35 to $60. One hour a week is around $200 a month. Three sessions a week, the frequency the research supports, is around $600 a month.
How often should a child see a math tutor?
Researchers set the bar for high-quality tutoring at three or more sessions a week, kept up over time. One hour a week helps with homework, but it is rarely enough to close gaps from earlier grades.
Is an online math program as good as a tutor?
They do different jobs. A tutor can talk a problem through, answer any question and keep a reluctant child going. Level Up finds the exact skills your child is missing, practices them five days a week, and proves each one before moving on. For gaps from earlier grades, steady daily practice is the part a weekly tutor cannot give.
Can we use a tutor and Level Up together?
Yes. Level Up does the daily practice and shows which skills are missing, so the tutor’s hour can go to the questions that need a person.
What does Level Up do that a tutor usually does not?
Level Up starts with an assessment that finds the missing skills from earlier grades. Then your child practices five days a week, sees a worked solution after every wrong answer, and does a daily warm-up that brings mastered skills back before they fade. You see every session on the parent dashboard.
When is a tutor the better choice?
When your child will only work with an adult beside them, or when your child needs help with this week’s homework. Level Up works on the skills underneath, not on a specific assignment.
Can Level Up help before a test?
Yes. The assessment finds the missing skills in one sitting, and practice on them starts right away, five days a week. In the same weeks, a weekly tutor sees your child only a few times.
How much does Level Up cost?
$49 a month for the first child and $29 for each additional child, with a 7-day free trial that includes the assessment and the report. Nothing is charged on the first day, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.