Pictures Are For Babies makes a conscious choice to pair each student with a tutor rather than relying on automated scoring. The decision is grounded in decades of research showing that human interaction plays a critical role in learning, especially for beginners. A tutor doesn’t just verify answers. They provide encouragement, clarify confusion, and model how skilled readers think. The presence of a human turns literacy into a social act, not just a technical skill.
Unlike traditional programs, Pictures Are For Babies handles all the instructional planning. This makes it possible for any literate adult to become an effective tutor, whether it's a parent, volunteer, older sibling, or classroom aide. A student can be paired with multiple tutors, allowing for more flexibility and the ability to close gaps in support by relying on volunteers or school staff.
The tutor system is designed to be simple and effective. While some amount of training is required, it requires no technical expertise, no knowledge of linguistic terminology, and no training in literacy instruction. Those are all handled by the scheduling system and by the pedagogy.
Some offerings in the space have tried to automate the tutor's role. While computers and voice recognition might make it possible to verify the answers to decoding and spelling tasks, no known system can verify answers to more complex tasks involving reading comprehension or writing. No computer system, no matter how advanced, can replace the social and emotional support that a caring tutor provides.
In addition to the pedagogical benefits, the tutor system makes it much easier to develop the program and to offer it at a more affordable price. More time is spent on creating high-quality exercises and none on chasing after technological trends that are unlikely to yield meaningful utility beyond the most basic tasks.