Short answer: To help our kids do well in school.

Longer answer: Every parent we contacted places his or her children’s education and future success in their top 5 life priorities, yet many parents feel they don’t have enough resources at their disposal to ensure their kids will do well. Even top students need a little extra coaching (or self-tutoring) from time to time. The only problem is that kids and parents don’t always know where to turn for help. Now they will.

Nearly two-thirds of parents want to help their kids with homework, but no longer remember enough to do so – or at least not in all subject areas. When my eldest was in Grade 8, she called me as I was driving home to ask, “What’s the equation of a slope?” Luckily I remembered – but that was Grade 8 math. Even still, when I told this story at work the next day, few were able to rattle off the answer. As for Grade 12 Calculus – let’s just say the answers were far slower in coming.

This site – which is a FREE site – will give both parents and teens (Grades 7 – 12) step-by-step instruction on how to solve problems in all subject areas.

Yes, but few that actually help. On average teens waste about 45 minutes each and every time they surf the net trying to find information to help them with their homework. Why?

1. Teens may not always enter in the best key words to help them start their search. As a result, they don’t find what they need in the first few pages of returned search results. Or they check out a site, find that it does not serve their purpose, but in the process are attracted by a banner ad. Next thing you know, they have hopped, skipped and jumped through several sites – and the homework remains untouched. It happens to adults at work each and every day, so it’s hard to admonish kids for being tempted in the same manner.
   
2. Worse, teens get discouraged because, although they diligently try to find useful information, what they come up with either is not grade appropriate, or does not really suit their needs. Or does not answer the question fully enough to help them (or their parents) solve the homework question of the hour.

The rest of the questions in the section are ones that our teachers have created for the students to use for practice purposes. Our teen panel members have told us that even the math whizzes appreciate extra practice questions once exam time rolls around.

We’ll need a total of $10 million to get the rest of the site up and going, which is only a few dollars from every family with children living at home. $30 - $35 from every family with teens would cover it. Although the full site requires a substantial investment, each section can be brought to fruition for a far smaller amount. This, of course, is our way of saying that any and all donations will be gratefully received – and the sooner we are able to get sufficient funds, the sooner we can launch the site.

Our goal: To have the site launched by Fall 2007. If 50,000 families donate $100 or more over the next two months, then we’ll be able to get the outside investment we need for the balance. This will make the Fall 2007 date a reality. So please, be generous, and tell as many people about this site as possible. And if your company would make a good sponsor, please share this information with them, or call Fatih Guven at 416-424-4233.

I know that most of you will be happy to donate for the sheer purpose of helping to launch a site that will help your kids – and may save you thousands of dollars over the years in tutoring fees. But, it’s nice to know that doing the right things can also carry a reward. Right? Right!

Although this is a free site, and parts of it are operated as a Not-For-Profit company, we are not a registered charity. The intent is to make a profit overall so that we can continue to enrich the site for our kids. As a result, you will not receive a tax donation for your contribution. However, all donations will be properly recorded (obviously) and, once the site is up and running profitably (within 2 years of launch is the anticipated timing for that) you will participate in a 10% share of the net profits being set aside for this purpose, for the first five years of the site. For each of the five years post launch, your annual cheque amount will be in direct proportion to the amount you have donated. A letter to this effect will be issued to all who contribute. Think about the Trivial Pursuit success story and how the people who helped out in the early days reaped rewards down the road.

We also have an on-line Donor Appreciation Wall where your name and city will be listed, if you wish, according to your donation level.

I know that the phrase “trust me” no longer carries the same weight that it did when people viewed their word as their bond. We still do – and we’re asking you to take a leap of faith. If you donate to the site, you will have the option of receiving regular site updates. We will also give you a special access code to see the site as it evolves. The only challenge is that you won’t be able to see that programming is in progress until the section is complete and content starts to get loaded. You would also be welcome to visit our offices, or those of our key programming partner, as often as you like (but if you show up daily, be warned that you may get put to work:? !).

Again, there is a lot you can do – and, as mentioned, we would be very grateful for any and all the time and energy you can lend us. One way to help is by getting word out about what we’re doing and encouraging others to donate as mentioned above.

If you’re a teacher, please click here to see how you can help out with the content development (and get compensated for your time down the road).