Homework Help in Elementary School: Options and Costs

As of: September 27, 2026. The prices come from the providers' websites on that day. All sources are linked in the text and listed at the end.

It is 5:30 p.m., you come home from work, and the notebook lies half filled out on the table. You are not alone: according to the Federal Statistical Office (in German), in 2020 both parents were employed in 67 percent of couple families with children under eleven. A father writes in a parenting forum about his afternoon with a first grader: "I have to rush to get her, feed her, do her homework and get her to bed, and it is a rush." (Reddit, r/daddit, 2026) That is a single voice, but it describes how tight time often is.

This article sorts through the options: what they cost, what is free, and what you can deduct from your taxes. It does not replace advice from the teacher or from a tax advisor and the tax office.

Homework help in elementary school: options and costs

How we compared

• Basis: the starting prices and conditions the providers state on their own websites, retrieved on 09/27/2026.
• "From" prices: They apply only under the stated conditions and can differ by location.
• No tests of our own: We have not tried the offers ourselves.
• Our own product: Gennady is our own product. It is not in the table but in a separate paragraph further down.

What this means (our own calculation based on the providers' figures): At Schülerhilfe, 4 lessons at EUR 8.76 add up to EUR 35.04 per school week. At GoStudent, the two price examples come to EUR 144.04 per month (4 sessions at EUR 36.01) or EUR 240 per month (12 sessions at EUR 20). How school holidays and illness are billed is set by the respective contract. For context: A Bertelsmann study found for the 2014/15 school year that, across all school types, parents paid EUR 87 per month (in German) on average for paid tutoring. That is over ten years old.

The low hourly prices are tied to long contracts. What to look for regarding term, cancellation, and withdrawal is in our article Tutoring in elementary school: when it makes sense and what it costs.

Which help fits which situation?

This matching is our own compilation, not a test. It is a suggestion you can adapt to your child.

For more on the question of how much help is right, see Should parents help with homework?.

What is included in all-day care

Since August 2026, first graders have a legal right to all-day education and care, and from the 2029/2030 school year it applies to grades 1 to 4. The entitlement covers eight hours on five days, and school hours are counted toward it. According to the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs (in German), the offerings include homework help and supplementary classes, among other things. What this looks like locally differs between the states.

What it costs: For services in day care facilities such as after-school care (Hort), fees may be charged under § 90 SGB VIII (in German). They must be tiered, for example by income, number of children, and daily hours of care. On request, the fee is waived if it cannot reasonably be expected of you. By law, it can never reasonably be expected if, for example, you receive Bürgergeld (basic income support), child supplement (Kinderzuschlag), or housing benefit (Wohngeld). How this is regulated for the open all-day school in your state, you can find out from the school or the municipality.

What it does not automatically cover: A research overview on the specialist portal ganztag-entwickeln.de (in German) cites findings that one third of children often have to finish their homework at home despite all-day offerings. So ask the facility what homework time looks like, how many children are in the group, and who supervises them. Everything else on the topic is in our article All-day care from 2026.

Free options

• Homework help in all-day care: see above, depending on the local fee rule or waived.
• Learning support from the education package: Children who receive Bürgergeld or social assistance, or whose parents receive child supplement or housing benefit, are in principle entitled to benefits from the education package, according to the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (in German). This includes learning support, that is, tutoring paid for by the authority. A key requirement is that there are no comparable offerings at school, and you need to submit a separate application. The teacher has to confirm the need for support (in German).
• Reading mentoring: At the LESEMENTOR Bundesverband (in German), volunteers accompany a child one-on-one, and teachers select the children. Ask at school whether it works with an association.
• Family and relatives: According to a Forsa survey for the tutoring provider Studienkreis (in German), up to about grade 10, parents or other family members help in half of the cases. The client itself sells tutoring.
• Free practice app: ANTON states in its App Store description that all content is free and ad-free. We compare more apps with prices in the article Learning apps for elementary school and in the guide Learning apps and tutoring compared. Which homework apps show the solution and which give hints first is compared in Homework App for Elementary School: Solver or Explainer?.

What is tax deductible?

In short: Child care costs can be deductible as special expenses under the stated conditions. Under § 10 paragraph 1 number 5 of the Income Tax Act (EStG), tutoring does not count as child care costs. That is stated in the law and in a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance.

• The rule: Under § 10 paragraph 1 number 5 EStG (in German), 80 percent of the expenses for services to care for a child under 14 who belongs to your household are deductible, up to EUR 4,800 per child and calendar year. Expenses for instruction, for teaching special skills, and for sports and other leisure activities are not included. The requirement is an invoice and payment to the service provider's bank account.
• Homework supervision: The BMF letter of March 14, 2012 (in German) names, among the care that can be considered, after-school care centers and "supervising the child while doing their homework" (our translation).
• Tutoring: In the same letter, "expenses for instruction (e.g. school fees, tutoring, or foreign language lessons)" (our translation) are listed among the costs that are not taken into account.
• Mixed fees: If the parent fee for afternoon care at school covers more than homework supervision, the portions for tutoring, courses, or meals are not taken into account. According to the letter, a deduction is only possible if the fees are itemized.

The letter dates from 2012. We have not checked whether anything was changed later. Ask the facility for an invoice with an itemized breakdown, and if in doubt, ask the tax office or a tax advisor. This is not tax advice.

When you are not home in the afternoon: what helps in practice

These ideas are suggestions to try, not rules.

• Ask about the path, not just the result: Instead of "Did you do your homework?" try "Which task was the trickiest today?" That shifts the focus from checking to understanding.
• Short and targeted instead of long: If you only have 15 minutes in the evening, ask to see one task your child can explain and one where they got stuck. You will find more ideas in the guide Homework without stress.
• Talk to the teacher: If homework does not get finished in the afternoon, that is information for the teacher. Ask how much time they plan for it and what they recommend for gaps.
• Combine: A mix often fits: care for structure, a practice or explainer aid for the moment a task gets stuck, and you in the evening for the conversation.

Gennady is our own product and starts with today's task: Your child photographs the worksheet, Gennady reads the task aloud, explains the method step by step, and checks your child's answer. If the answer is wrong, there are hints first; Gennady shows the correct solution for comparison only on the third try for tasks from the worksheet. A question typed in freely without a worksheet gets a direct answer from Gennady. An app replaces neither care nor a tutor who works on a gap over weeks. You can try Gennady free for 7 days, then subscribe through the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

Help with today's task

Gennady reads the task aloud, explains the method step by step, and checks your child's answer. If the answer is wrong, there are hints first; the correct solution for comparison comes only on the third try. Try it free for 7 days.

Open in the App Store

Sources

• Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office): In 67% of families with younger children, both parents are employed, press release (2022, data from 2020). destatis.de
• Reddit r/daddit: Post on the daily organization of two working parents (2026). reddit.com
• Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth): The All-Day Care Funding Act (as of 09/27/2026). recht-auf-ganztag.de
• Bundesministerium der Justiz (Federal Ministry of Justice): § 90 SGB VIII, flat-rate cost sharing (as of 09/27/2026). gesetze-im-internet.de
• Specialist portal ganztag-entwickeln.de: Homework in schools with all-day offerings (as of 09/27/2026). ganztag-entwickeln.de
• Schülerhilfe: Tutoring for elementary school, prices and conditions (as of 09/27/2026). schuelerhilfe.de
• Studienkreis: Prices and offerings (as of 09/27/2026). studienkreis.de
• GoStudent: Membership prices (as of 09/27/2026). gostudent.org
• sofatutor: Price list (as of 09/27/2026). sofatutor.com
• sofatutor GmbH: sofatutor, App Store description (as of 09/24/2026). apps.apple.com
• solocode GmbH: ANTON, App Store description (as of 09/27/2026). apps.apple.com
• LESEMENTOR Bundesverband: Become a reading mentor (as of 09/27/2026). mentor-bundesverband.de
• Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs): Benefits of the education package (as of 09/27/2026). bmas.de
• Bundesverband Legasthenie und Dyskalkulie (Federal Association for Dyslexia and Dyscalculia): Cost coverage for therapy and support (as of 09/27/2026). bvl-legasthenie.de
• Studienkreis: Forsa survey "Support with learning", press release (2024). studienkreis.de
• Bertelsmann Stiftung, Klaus Klemm and Nicole Hollenbach-Biele: Tutoring in Germany. Extent, effect, costs (2016). bertelsmann-stiftung.de, PDF
• Bundesministerium der Justiz (Federal Ministry of Justice): § 10 EStG, special expenses (as of 10/06/2026). gesetze-im-internet.de
• Bundesministerium der Finanzen (Federal Ministry of Finance): Tax treatment of child care costs from the 2012 assessment period onward, application letter of 03/14/2012 (copy from the IHK). ihk.de, PDF