Are you looking for a Qkids review? But you may wonder if it is a scam.
Online education is a promising career path. Working from home can be a game changer in many ways, including for yourself, but you can also positively impact the lives of others.
But is Qkids a reputable service? Is this the right company to help you achieve your goal?
As a disclaimer, I’m not affiliated with Qkids. It means I’m not paid to write this review. So you can rest assured that you will get an honest and unbiased review from me.
At the end of this review, I’ll also tell you the best alternative to Qkids that has enabled me to make a full-time passive income online.
Table of Contents
What Is Qkids?
Qkids is a Chinese-language website that offers English lessons for children and teens in China.
Teachers in the United States and Canada who work from home can stay in touch with their students through a virtual classroom equipped with a whiteboard, animations, games, characters, pre-planned lessons (which save teachers from having to create their own lessons), and a video chat window.
Qkids is a young company that launched in 2015, but has quickly risen to become a leading and respected e-learning platform for children, teens, and adults.
More than 600,000 Chinese first and second grade students are currently being taught English by these teachers.
I could cite more quotes from their website, but that’s probably not why you are here: to learn about the company.
The real question is whether or not you can make money with Qkids and have fun doing it.
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
How Does QKids Work?
You must be employed by a company before you can sign up for a digital learning environment. To get started, you need,
- Your resume.
- Degree
- Teaching licence or credentials for English classes.
- Availability.
- A screenshot showing that your PC meets the minimum requirements.
- Short one to two minute introductory video introducing yourself, your hometown, your educational background, and your experience working with or teaching children. You will also be asked to read a children’s story to get a feel for your presentation style.
Qkids requirements
- You live in the United States or Canada and speak English as your first language.
- Bachelor of Arts.
- English teaching certificates or a teaching license (TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, ESL).
- Outgoing personality who is comfortable in a virtual classroom.
- Digital Literacy.
- Preferably have previous teaching experience or experience working with children.
- Available to teach a minimum of 12 classes per week (6 hours).
- Technical requirements include a computer with a stable internet connection and sufficient audio/video capacity.
The Qkids Application Process
The Qkids registration process involves about 7 steps. We’ll give you an overview of what needs to be done before you can teach with Qkids:
1. Submit all required documents
Include your computer specifications, teacher availability (minimum 6 hours per week), and resume with your application.
2. Initial Screening
Qkids asks you to briefly introduce yourself as part of the application process. Describe your current location, your previous work with children, and your educational and professional background.
Next, tell a fairy tale for children. Be engaging and open-minded when telling your story.
3. Demo Interview 1 & 2
Qkids provides a lesson plan for the first sample interview. You will be responsible for teaching this lesson to a Qkids staff member, so it is important that you take the time to read through the material and prepare it fully. Take into consideration that the staff member will be a young child.
Even though the demonstration lesson is simple, it is still important that you are well prepared.
4. Background Check
You must agree to and pass a background check, just like any other online English teaching company.
5. Trial Classes
Trial classes consist of two full lessons, and you will be given a lesson plan similar to the one used in the demonstration sessions. Before your trial lessons with Qkids, study these lesson plans to make sure you are well prepared.
An important point is that you will be fully compensated for your time spent teaching these sample courses. Qkids is unique in that we pay applicants during the recruitment process.
6. Contract
Signing a contract with Qkids is the final stage of the recruitment process. You have 6 months to complete the contract.
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
Working For Qkids
Qkids is different from other online tutoring services like VIPKid, Tutor.com, DadaABC and Chegg. They will not work with individual students, but with a small group of no more than four.
Another difference – and to the delight of most educators – is that teachers no longer have to worry about lesson preparation themselves.
Prepared lessons include visual elements such as animations and slides, as well as digital substitutes for physical materials. The materials are reviewed by you, but you are not responsible for creating your own lessons.
Qkids Hours
Unlike forum-style tutoring sites like Course Hero, Qkids’ lessons are less varied.
Classes are either very early in the morning or very late in the evening because Beijing has a different time zone. In North America, it is very unusual to have to get up as early as 3am, but this time of day varies greatly from region to region.
The start of classes each semester is based on…
7 days a week (AM – EST):
5:40AM – 6:10AM, 6:20AM – 6:50AM, 7:00AM – 7:30AM, 7:40AM – 8:10AM
Plus Friday and Saturday (PM – EST):
7:40PM – 8:10PM, 8:20PM – 8:50PM, 9:00PM – 9:30PM, 9:40PM – 10:10PM, 10:20PM – 10:50PM
Additional summer hours from June to August:
Sunday – Thursday (PM-EST):
8:40PM – 9:10PM, 9:20PM – 9:50PM, 10:00PM – 10:30PM, 10:40PM – 11:10PM, 11:20PM – 11:50PM
Qkids Camp Experience
Working online and from home has its advantages, but also its downsides. It’s not often that you meet other people (in person) who understand how you feel.
Qkids has organized summer and winter camps to facilitate face-to-face contact between educators and their students.
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
Qkids Pay
Canadian educators will appreciate that their monthly payments are always made in U.S. dollars. They earn $8 per half hour of teaching ($16 per hour) or, in Canadian dollars, $16,000 per hour.
Pay is set weekly and can reach $20/hour ($10 per class) with the help of bonuses and incentives for good attendance and quality of work.
Of course, there are no perks, such as vacation pay, for independent contractors. You must also take care of your own tax obligations.
Qkids Reviews
Is there any truth to the claims about the effectiveness of online education?
Qkid’s reviews are almost unanimously positive. I do not want to paint an unrealistic picture of Qkids, but I have read maybe a hundred reviews (out of the two or three hundred) and the vast majority look like this. You can also read feedback from educators who did not enjoy their time here.
A common misunderstanding underlies many of the “not so good” ratings.
Since you are not hired by Qkids as an “employee”, you are not subject to the labour laws of any state or province.
So the relationship between you (the seller) and the customer (the buyer) is that of seller and buyer (Qkids).
Qkids has market power because it is better able to set prices based on supply and demand. By accepting the order, you agree to these terms.
The same thing happens with large companies like Walmart. Walmart is usually larger than the company that manufactures its goods, and therefore has greater bargaining power over the latter.
Walmart has the power to set the terms (such as minimum quantities or delivery dates). The vendor has little real room to negotiate, other than to agree or disagree.
One of the challenges of freelancing is that the customer rarely has the upper hand in negotiations; this is one of the reasons why so many workers in this field eventually decide to go freelance.
Many of the complaints about Qkid are due to clients having the wrong understanding of the dynamic between contractorand client.
In general, such a high percentage of positive reviews is unusual (unless they are all fraudulent, which I highly doubt).
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
Is QKids a Scam or Legit?
Making money on the Internet is becoming more common, but many people still find the concept daunting. Despite my best efforts, I can not help but feel that it’s all window dressing.
There has to be a caveat, right?
Besides, there are plenty of obvious scams on the Internet that promise quick money.
Qkids, fortunately, is not one of them. When it comes to working from home to make money, Qkids and the e-learning industry are prime examples.
But that does not mean they hire everyone; after all, no company is perfect. In any case, Qkids can have your full trust because it is completely legit.
Who Is QKids For?
For dynamic ESL teachers who can engage and entertain their students, QKids is the place to be.
You, the reader, probably already have experience working with kids and know what it takes to grab their attention, make them laugh, and make the material relevant to their lives.
If you’d like to work from home with your children but are concerned about their safety, QKids is a good option.
A person whose goal is to do their own thing, make passive money, and eventually escape the rat race might find this too limiting and too comparable to traditional employment.
You should aim for online passive income if having more free time is a priority along with financial gain. You will not succeed if you do not learn how to use digital tools to teach and support others.
QKids lacks the passive income opportunity that is the main incentive for new business owners in the online world (myself included).
But. If you’re looking for a more structured path than that of an entrepreneur, QKids (for those who’ll be employed) offers just that.
Also, most people would rather use the safety net of a company (like QKids) than strike out on their own. In this economy, there are many more employees than entrepreneurs.
The flexibility of freelancing with the security of a steady paycheck is an ideal offer you can find at QKids. In other words, it’s a fantastic way to get started in the digital world.
However, your earning potential is limited. That’s not a problem per se, but time is of the essence here. A day’s work can only fill so much time.
However, if you’re having trouble getting recruited by Qkids, you can try your luck elsewhere.
And if you’re not sure and just need some extra cash, you can take surveys at Survey Junkie or use Swagbucks to get paid for watching videos, visiting websites, and switching search engines.
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
Pros of Qkids
- Permanent and assigned work. Unlike freelance tutoring, you are not constantly competing for students (this has a drawback, which I’ll get to in a moment).
- Qkids pays a decent “salary” for a work-from-home job.
- Virtual classrooms are more than just a chat application. There are numerous tools, visual aids, and games that make learning more enjoyable for both students and teachers.
- Qkids has a referral program where you can earn $100 for every teacher you refer to Qkids who is hired.
- Unlike some other e-learning platforms, Qkids does not require you to purchase a large number of props.
Cons of Qkids
- Tuition is only available to residents of the United States and Canada. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, both of which have English as a first language, could also benefit from Qkids.
- As a morning person, the hours would be ideal for me, but for many others they are not.
- The hiring process becomes more competitive as you do not have to compete for (or compete for) students.
- There is no potential for passive income. (To be fair, the downside is greater stability and security)
Qkids Review: Final Verdict
If you meet the requirements, Qkids is a good choice.
While no company is without flaws, few offer as much praise in addition to competitive pay for a remote position.
For me, as a parent, being a teacher is one of the most important things we can do.
However, opportunities to earn money from home are few and far between.
Working from home is beneficial simply because of the financial savings. Add to that the fact that you don’t have to commute to the office, nor do you’ve to deal with office politics… It’s not hard to see why working from home or starting an online business is becoming increasingly popular.
You can set your own working hours. So if you want to start early, you can use your mornings and afternoons for other activities.
If you can’t get up that early or just don’t want to work for someone else, you’ll have to start your own business.
Let me tell you the best online business to start in the next section.
Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative
Best Alternative of Qkids to Make Passive Income
If you want to make a stable and secure stream of passive income, I would suggest you start an affiliate marketing business online.
Affiliate Marketing is perfect for anyone who is new to online business.
In fact, of all the online business models I’ve tried, affiliate marketing is the easiest and most rewarding so far.
In affiliate marketing, you can actually run your business almost with zero cost and achieve a steady and sustainable passive income to pay for your bills. You don’t need any initial capital and can even do it as a side hustle.
And if you really want to learn affiliate marketing and build a business from scratch, I’d recommend you to get started with the most reputable platform for affiliate marketing: Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate is an all-in-one platform for building your affiliate marketing business from scratch. It offers you a free account (including a free website) with comprehensive training on SEO (free traffic methods), which enables you to get started with affiliate marketing right away without paying a penny.
But How Much Can You Earn with Wealthy Affiliate?
A 21-year old student from Wealthy Affiliate was able to earn $7,395 in just 1 week, which means he made more than $1k a day…all while using free traffic methods.
Wealthy Affiliate has existed for 15 years and there are many success stories in the past decade.
To give you more examples, here are some of the other inspiring success stories of Wealthy Affiliate members.
Where to Join Wealthy Affiliate?
Wealthy Affiliate has a very simple pricing scheme. It has free and premium membership.
If you want to feel about Wealthy Affiliate, you can sign up for the free starter membership here (no credit card required). You can select to be a free member with no time limit.
And as a starter member, you can get instant access to the community, live chat, over 500 training modules, 2 classrooms, networking, commenting, 1 free website, access to the keyword tool.
You can enjoy all these values without paying a penny.
So I strongly recommend you to register a free account and see it yourself.