So, you are interested in our personalized tutoring program but want to know if it’s the best option and what the registration process is like. First and foremost, schedule a free appointment! Everyone these days is on the run, making time a rare commodity, for that reason, scheduling a visit to our center is key. This will avoid any unnecessary wait time and would guarantee the chance to speak with either a program coordinator or instructor. Plus, you can book your appointment right on your phone without having to give us a call!
The Initial Visit
Seeing parents like yourself with the motivation to provide their child the opportunity to remediate and/or enhance their education is inspiring. You will be greeted by a program coordinator, after which we will discuss your child’s academic situation and what has led you to seek our help. We have many programs, each one pertaining to a certain subject area, age group, and/or need. However, here we will be focusing on our personalized tutoring program.
Our personalized tutoring program is for parents seeking enhancement or remediation in Math and ELA (reading & writing) and is offered in a private setting (K-8) and group setting (3-8). Students in K-2 are placed in a private setting because it is critical that they receive uninterrupted and concentrated support to build foundational reading and numeracy skills.
The Assessment
After deciding to go ahead with personalized tutoring as your preferred choice, the next step in the process is our adaptive, computer-based assessment. Each student undergoes a comprehensive diagnostic that evaluates your child’s strengths and weaknesses at the sub-skill level. For example, students taking the Math assessment will be tested on:
- Numbers and Operations
- Algebra and Algebraic Thinking
- Measurement and Data
- Geometry
On the other hand, students taking the ELA assessment will be tested on:
- Phonics*
- Phonological Awareness*
- High-Frequency Words*
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension in Literature
- Comprehension in Informational Text
*Depending on a student’s grade and ability level, some students will not be tested in these foundational areas.
Furthermore, as your child progresses through the assessment he or she will notice questions change in difficulty. Your child will find that some questions will be easy, hard, or just right. Because our assessments are adaptive, this is a natural part of the process. Question difficulty becomes progressively easier or harder depending on whether the questions are answered correctly or incorrectly. This is what allows us to pinpoint your child’s academic standing at every sub-skill relative to their grade level, which may or may not be the same across sub-skills.
The assessment takes an average of 1-1.5 hours to complete, but of course varies by student. Students who rush through the exam, which is indicated by a flag on their report, will be required to retake the exam, and students are thoroughly briefed on this beforehand. The key here is that the assessment is determining where exactly and in which sub skill your child’s knowledge is limited to, and thus is crucial that your child is well rested, fed, and focused on this day.
There are NO “good” or “bad” results
The concept of getting bad, good, or excellent results is nonexistent. When it comes to the assessment and eventually designing their learning plan (more on that soon), in our instructor’s eyes, getting results that show that your child is either above skill level or below is all that matters. Students performing below grade level are worked with just as much as students above level. The key here is for the results to be accurate and representative of their current math and reading & writing skills. That said, taking this assessment requires your child’s utmost concentration, as each answer is sensitive to its analysis in determining your child’s overall performance.
Below is a sample report of a 5th grade math report:
- Current Grade Level: 5th grade
- Numbers & Operations: 4th grade
- Algebra & Algebraic Thinking: Early 5th grade
- Measurement & Data: 3rd grade
- Geometry: 2nd grade
Believe it or not, this report is possible and having such variety across sub-skills is not uncommon! With results like these, we are able to see that this student really needs remediation in Measurement & Data and Geometry, has some catching up to do in Numbers & Operations, and is on level for Algebra & Algebraic Thinking and thus requires the least amount of attention at this time. Because we can target student skills so precisely, they are able to learn what they need to learn in order to get back on track.
Scheduling
After thoroughly going over your child’s overall performance on the assessment, where he or she currently stands, and how we will be developing their very own learning plan, we then discuss scheduling. Group and private classes are conveniently offered Mondays through Fridays from 3PM to 8PM, and on Saturdays from 11AM to 5PM. By default, each session is 1 hour long, but 2 hour sessions are also offered (this will depend on availability). Thus, you can decide which days and at which time you would like your child to attend each tutoring session. However, we encourage parents to enroll as early as possible to guarantee availability for their desired day and time.
Students can be scheduled for tutoring as little as 1X per week (private) and 2X week (group) and up to 5X per week to work on their individualized learning plans with their instructors in ELA & Math. Of course, the program coordinator would recommend the ideal number of times per week your child should be expected to come in based on their assessment(s), but ultimately it is all up to each parent’s schedule and budget. Furthermore, discounted combo packages are available for students in a group setting who are looking to remediate or enhance both math & ELA.
Who will work with my child?
Teachers, tutors, and instructors are all synonymous at our center, as we are all educators with one motive in mind: making sure to bring the best out of your child by giving them the best quality education. Our tutors bring a diverse set of skills and knowledge to our center and therefore your child, coming from a variety of academic backgrounds and equipped with the tools to teach in fun and exciting ways. The same teacher(s) will work with your child weekly. If you’d like to learn more about our instructors, feel free to check out our teacher bios!
The First Day
The first day may be intimidating for all of us, and we know that. So what do we do differently? To ease the transition into an unknown environment, especially for someone who hasn’t received tutoring of any kind before, we give students some time to first settle in and work on an artistic cover designed for their own learning plan, making their learning experience even more personalized. They also have a little chat with their instructors so that they can each get to know one another a bit better and be on the same page about their learning goals.
However, there is something else happening that we think is even more important. During this time in the class, your child will have the opportunity to observe surrounding students and instructors working in unison on a common goal. Seeing how all students are on task, productively working to complete and, help-complete assigned lessons, your child will soon acknowledge that attending classes here is for their very own betterment. Our classrooms are also designed with subtle colors that further welcome concentration and engagement.
Overall
With increasingly challenging curricula, more frequent testing, and larger class sizes, students are not receiving the individualized attention needed to really grasp the content in order to apply foundational knowledge to more abstract concepts. As a result, education gaps are widening with some students falling behind, others just staying afloat, and a handful of whom are not feeling challenged enough. The solution is our personalized tutoring program, which focuses on the needs of the individual student to help remediate or accelerate their learning. With the support of our qualified instructors and program coordinators, your child can see a path to success exciting and most importantly, personal.
