Imagine the day when your child comes home with a smile and an A or a B instead of slamming the door when you ask how the test went. Our individualized tutoring program can help your student on the path to classroom success and renewed confidence. With the ability to master new concepts and polish up the old ones, they can develop a lifelong love of learning. Our goal is not just an A this semester, but to give them skills that carry over into their lives.

When a parent sees their child or teenager struggling over homework or angling to get out of a test, it’s easy to brush it off as a passing moment and not one that calls for the assistance of a tutor. All too often, though, the struggles are a sign of an underlying issue – inability to organize all of the things in a busy life, failure to manage time to meet the workload or maybe it’s just that they don’t know how to study.

Where do we start?

When parents call us, the first thing we do is talk about the student’s needs. With our shared knowledge, we develop a tutoring plan that is individualized to get your student on track whether they need remediation, maintenance skills or enrichment tutoring. Our tutoring is individualized to each student’s needs. We adjust as we progress, knowing that needs and situations change.

How do you choose your tutors?

We hire only experienced tutors, primarily college grads, and do complete background checks. We want individuals with good character and strong empathy, who have taught or tutored before. They must possess a strong knowledge of learning styles, subject areas and an ability to teach accordingly.

We do our best to match personalities and look for shared interests when we pair up student and tutor. But we know sometimes, despite our best efforts, personalities don’t mesh and we are not afraid to change tutors if we see a continuing issue. We just ask that parents give the match a chance to grow, and if it doesn’t seem to be working, let us know.

We are proud of the relationships between our tutors and students and find that many of our students stay in touch well after their official time together has ended. Some tutors have proudly attended graduations and weddings and become mentors for life, knowing that they helped a student achieve success beyond the classroom.

How do you develop a plan for my student?

We teach more than test-taking or subject-specific skills. We focus on study strategies, organizational skills and time management – habits that are particularly important for all students. We can also engage students in role-playing that helps them better advocate for themselves.

We don’t just target one problem or subject, we cover the big picture teaching study skills. Learning what works for them will help them not only in this particular class but in all their classes now and going forward into college. While a specific subject may be the trouble spot of the moment, experience tells us that the breakdown might have root causes like study habits or rushing through the material. Maybe the child has a learning disability that the parent is aware of but is unsure of what to do or perhaps it’s an undiagnosed problem. Sometimes the answer is as simple as helping a student learn how to memorize the background material or rules of the subject so that when they don’t have their notes in front of them they can still recall what they need to know.

Our tutors work with your child at your home or a local library where they can stay focused on the tasks at hand. They get to know your child on a personal level, talking about what motivates them, observing their body language, and, most importantly, fully assessing their skills and learning styles. Do they do better reading instructions silently or reading them out-loud? Do they retain information better from writing it down, seeing it on a computer, or moving around while repeating the information?

Our tutors will review the results after the teacher puts a grade on a project or test. That enables them to tailor future sessions and teaches the students to learn from their mistakes – and, hopefully, not make the same one twice. And while they may give them extra work, the tutors are careful not to overload their students.

Everyone learns differently; in a classroom as large as many are today it is hard for teachers to fine-tune their style to reach every student. It may just be that they need someone to explain the topic differently or use an alternate method to get a point across. Frequently, our tutors confer with the student’s teacher to discuss what is going on in class. Often that leads to more in-class support or the teacher providing supplemental materials.

Part of the beauty of using our tutors is that they are not the child’s parents. We find that they often say the same things parents are saying – but because they are not their parents, the students will listen. That gets the parents out of being the “nag” about homework and enables two-way communication that may be impeded at home. Students can ask questions via email between meetings and tutors often check up on progress as well and text them reminders to keep them on track.

Please contact us for information about your child’s specific needs. We are here to tutor them for the future.  Call today 858.454.4421 or use our convenient online form.