Kid Teach Kid

Kid Teach Kid is a free online learning platform where students teach students. The homepage describes it as "a nationally recognized online peer-learning platform and a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2020," and its stated mission is to provide "high quality academic classes and learning opportunities to all students (K-12), taught by their high achieving peers." Classes, recorded courses and question help are all offered free. The organization's address, given in the site's structured data, is in Houston, Texas.

For a learner, that means live classes in the summer, a library of recorded courses to work through at any time, and a place to send questions to student mentors. For a teenager with a strong record in math, science or debate, it is also a place to teach: the site calls itself "an ideal training ground" for its student instructors to build communication and leadership skills.

How the platform works

The homepage sets out four parts.

Free live online classes. Kid Teach Kid runs a live online camp every summer. The page describes a camp built around a "Meta Skill" theme, aimed at skills that matter in high school life. It says all instructors "are among the top students at their high school," that every subject has its own curriculum, and that classes come with detailed Q&A sessions and extensive class resources. Recordings of the 2023 summer camp classes are posted, and the menu holds resource pages for each camp from 2020 to 2023.

The course library. Kid Teach Kid turns its strongest live classes into pre-recorded courses "to give our students the opportunity to refresh their learning and solidify their understanding." Students study at their own pace, with video lessons and the instructor's notes.

Question answering. A "Student Question Dashboard" collects questions from students, and the site says it aims to answer each one within 24 hours. The form accepts screenshots and video links, and answers come from student mentors in the community.

Educational events. Kid Teach Kid also runs events where top students teach their best study tips and guest speakers give talks. The menu lists a 2024 "Uncover AI 4 Students" event, a Women Thrive in STEM event, a 2020 SmartHacks hackathon with session recordings, a summer camp math contest with problems, rules and results, a 2021 Rising Star Program, and a public health advocacy program.

What the course library covers

The homepage lists the courses in the library, and they lean heavily toward academic competitions and test prep for middle and high school students.

• Competition math. Algebra, geometry, number theory, and counting and probability, each aimed at the AMC; an AMC10/12 test strategy course; Contest Math Level 1, for the AMC8, AMC10 and MATHCOUNTS; Contest Math Level 2, running "from mid AMC10 level to around mid AIME level"; and Number Sense, on mental math speed.
• Science. An introduction to competitive physics aimed at the F=ma exam and focused on kinematics; a chemistry course on the principles behind phenomena such as global warming and colored fire; a biology course spread over four weeks on biochemistry and molecular biology, human physiology, plant physiology and microbiology, with test-taking strategies for the USA Biology Olympiad Open Exam and Science Olympiad; and public health, focused on epidemiology and the Science Olympiad Disease Detectives event.
• Computer science. Java Coding, which tries to cover a year of introductory computer science in four weeks; USACO Bronze and USACO Silver, both in Java; and an introduction to machine learning.
• Test prep and math foundations. ACT Test Prep, one section a week, taught by an ACT perfect scorer; an introductory SAT Math course of two sessions; and Precalculus, which assumes Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II.
• Humanities. Essay writing (expository and persuasive), creative writing (building a longer piece of fiction), Animated Vocabulary taught through short animated videos, world geography by region, and Greek and Roman mythology.

The homepage counts 42 courses offered, 1,560 students reached, 5,326 monthly users and 41,838 monthly page visits.

Who teaches

Instructors are high school students and recent graduates. The About page lists the team with short biographies: officers for outreach, technology, operations and education, a group of "Elite Instructors," and younger "Rising Star" mentors. The biographies are heavy with competition results (AIME and USAJMO qualifiers, USACO divisions, Science Olympiad national medals, USA Biology Olympiad finalists, debate state qualifiers), and several alumni instructors have gone on to MIT, Harvard, Cornell and NYU. The two co-founders are listed among the alumni, and one alumna's biography says she has been part of Kid Teach Kid since its beginnings in 2020.

This is the core of the model. A student working toward the AMC or the USABO is taught by someone a few years older who has just sat the same exam, and the homepage frames the benefit both ways: "We understand our peers' struggles, as we can relate to the same experience".

What students and parents say

The homepage carries a long list of short testimonials. One student writes, "I like how you thoroughly taught us how to improve our score on the AMC test. I have taken AMC for 2 years now, and the class helped me with strategies I could use." Another says, "The techniques taught are exactly what come up on the test. Explained very well. Homework is very valuable!" A chemistry student writes that "The content was very well designed, and it made me enjoy chemistry more," and a parent says, "We have really enjoyed the math classes Isabella, Rich, Andy and Stephanie have presented." Others mention challenging homework, problems "arranged in increasing difficulty," and that "recordings are available for students review needs."

Funding and recognition

The menu includes a donation page, and the homepage says Kid Teach Kid has received a Google Grants award, a Dow Gives Grants award, a Blackbaud Giving Fund grant from Samsung, a Giving Fund grant from Accenture and an educational donation from BASF, and that it has been featured in eSchool News.

Who it suits

Kid Teach Kid suits motivated middle and high school students who want free help with academic competitions and tests: AMC and AIME math, USACO programming, the USA Biology Olympiad, Science Olympiad events, the F=ma physics exam, and the ACT and SAT. The recorded library lets a student work at any time of year, and the question dashboard gives a route to help between courses. Families who cannot pay for competition coaching get classes taught by students with strong results, at no cost. It also suits teenagers who want to teach, since the platform exists partly to give them that experience.

It fits less well for younger children who need foundational lessons, as almost all of the library is aimed at contest-level or high school material despite the K-12 mission. Live teaching happens mainly in the summer camp, so a student wanting weekly classes during the school year will mostly be working from recordings. And the teachers are students rather than certified educators, which is the point of the model but worth knowing before relying on it as a main course of study.