OT - Sylvan Learning Centers

[AnnaS]

First my sister-in-law is going through the same exact thing - she finally has a tutor.

If you have two (okay five - lol) minutes, read my experience.

I took my daughter to Sylvan three years ago. My daughter is the youngest of my three children (older ones are boys). She is also a "late" child - October - you hear that a lot too. When she was in pre-school (3 yr. old), I noticed a little speech problem (cannot help but compare with siblings). Teachers said, she is young and shy, did I mention lazy? let's wait. Pre-K (4 now) same school, no improvement, my friend recommended having her tested by the Board of Ed which I did - she did have a slight speech problem, also had a bad underbite (I was disappointed that the pre-school had not recommended this). (I won't get into the work she had done with ortho). What I am getting to, when we realized by end of second grade that she had a reading problem, I wondered if it was me and her, waited too long - I did not blame the school, we know what they are capable of. Third child, girl, spoiled, I did not spend as much time with homework, running around with older brothers. She was shy and had the speech problem. Anyway - middle year of second grade we got a tutor, end of second grade her teacher recommend holding her back. It was very hard to do and I did not. I went to Sylvan. Very expensive but I was willing to try anything to bring her up to her level.

What I did not like. One teacher for a group of kids (4 or 5) - different ages, different lessons (I think about three years ago it came to about $ 67 an hour). Not one on one. Price for one on one - mortgage your house. You have to sign/commit to x amount of hours which comes to thousands. I also did not like that some kids went in for two-hour sessions (they had a long drive) and parents would go shopping or leave the waiting area for the two hours (I sat there). When one hour passed, the child was sent out to the waiting room - when you have a young one, they do not understand the time that has passed and they waited outside for parent to pick up not realizing that Sylvan would switch teacher/table for the next hour lesson. (I brought it up to Sylvan and to a parent who came back and their child was sitting in the room for almost an hour and missed out on second hour). I did not like the fact that a very young child sat in room with strangers while parent thought she was safe inside and the tutors inside had no clue that child was there for another hour - lack of communication.

Regarless, after many months my daughter did not improve much. She started third grade and her teacher picked up on her reading immediately and asked to speak to me. She sat through that year and in the end, I decided to hold her back (she could of gone to fourth since you need to fail both Math and Reading). It was the best thing for her. Please I am not saying to hold her back, this is my story and My Recommendation to you is you can get a private tutor, one on one, twice a week and still spend less money than Sylvan. She is young. As everyone has suggested read, read and read- I would also suggest just in case you take the wait and see route - do you know of any high school or college student close by. Less money and she can come two or three times a week to help with homework and go over class work. More patience sometimes with tutor than a parent. I currently have a little "genuis" high school girl (who was in my son's class for 8 years) who comes weekly all year round (yes, sometimes even holidays) just to keep her on her toes. She listens to her more than to me and they giggle here and there which is fine.

Good luck and as long as you are aware and stay on top of it, she will be fine.

 

[buzz2400]

My ds struggled in school since kindergarten. He is now in 7th grade. He was retained in the first grade. He has been in all the "special classes". My father insisted that we try Sylvan Learning Center. I was against it. Sylvan is a big waste of money. They test your child and then start him two to three grades lower then what he tested at. That way he is always "improving" and thus the guarantee. He has been tested for learning disabilities but nothing ever came of it. I have tried and tried to get through to the school that something is wrong but they won't listen. I have finally taken over "schooling" for him. The teachers tell me that it is not my job to do this but I am finding that the school system does not care about individuals. My advice to you is don't rely on the school to teach your child. Go over everything with your child at night to make sure she has an understanding. My ds will always struggle in school but I am just making sure that he gets the basic knowledge that he needs to get by in life.

 

[btass]

but then the teacher turned around and complained about how slow this class is in math. There are about 3 brains in her class and that is it, the rest lag behind, my dd included.

I have to tell you that the statment above worries me. Why would a teacher complain that her class is slow in math and not slow down and find out why and correct the situation. If she has 3 kids that are doing ok, (with average class size probably around 25) than there is a problem and she needs to look at what can be done to review and reinforce the math that the children have learned so far. That way the class as a whole will have more confidence and be more on "grade level". Talk to the other parents if you can (I know it's hard if you work outside the home, I do and I haven't met many other parents) and see what they say about how the math is going for their kids. If it seems the same for them, take the gang and talk to the teacher about reviewing.

About the reading: My DS 6 is repeating K for a number of reasons but I was told by many parents that most children are just starting to read with very basic comprehesion of small words at age 6. My son's friend Alexa is in first grade (she is three days older than him) and started reading the end of last August/begining of September. My son read his first whole book "The Cat Sat on the Mat" just before christmas. It was recommended by Alexa's Mommy because the letters are big so they are very distinct words and the words are mostly three letters so they are easy ones.

Boy, this is getting long but I have one more thing to say, and I am sure you already know this one!

The more you praise your daughter for her hard work and determination to succeed, the more she will want to work and succeed.

OK, one more thing, if she likes Disney as much as you do, get Disney books out of the library for her to read!

 

[ceecee]

I ordered Hooked on Phonics when my daughter was 4. She is now in third grade and reads at 5th grade level. Maybe just luck, she isn't getting her math facts like she should, so I just ordered Hooked on Math. Sam's Club has Hooked on Phonics for $148 or 198.00 instead of $249.00. Just keep enjoying reading, we always thought that was fun and so it was easy to do. We stopped having fun with math and now it has turned into a struggle. She tests gifted in all other areas. What is SCORE? that was mentioned in the above post.

 

[littleeyz]

I have been reading all of the posts and they have very good advice, but I just wanted to add one thing . . .
I am a pediatric optometrist and would like to suggest to all parents who have children with "learning" problems, please do not forget a comprehensive visual assessment by a PEDIATRIC OPTOMETRIST. Several areas of the visual system, including eye teaming, focusing problems, and visual processing problems can contribute to deficits in reading, math, spelling, and other academic areas. Seeing "20/20" is not enough. A qualified optometrist can evaluate the entire visual system to make sure no stone is left unturned.

15-20% of children have an undiagnosed visual development problem that goes undetected and hampers academic achievement. An evaluation is usually covered by major medical insurance (NOT routine vision benefits).

Just a suggestion . . .

 

[zumbergc]

Just a couple of comments. I was going to work as a tutor for the sylvan learning center. They were only going to pay me $9/hour to work with 2-3 students at a time, for math. I think thats crazy! I would think it would be 1 on one attention if your paying that much money. I really didn't think I could help 3 kids at once, and really feel I was helping each one, because if your 1 person your really only paying lots of attention to one child at a time.
I have a masters in EE and was looking for some part time work. They let people with masters in certain fields do the math help, so no teaching background required, although I think they are more picky about the reading teachers they hire.
They pay nothing to the workers and the parents pay a fortune. I sat an observed for about 20 minutes. One teacher. I will say, she was a college student. So definetely stop by the local college, look for tutoring signs, or post one, that you want help in what area. The 3 kids she had were all doing different things. She seemed to give certain kids more attention, some kids you know did not want to be there, and she seemed to not give them very much attention. These kids were probably in junior high, but I would not be paying $50 an hour for that. ALthough I'm thinking they might have been high school because one of the kids was tired since he worked late the night before.
If your problem is in reading, or what ever the problem is. You might benefit from going over to the high school. Talk to a teacher (whichever subject) your needing help in. Math, reading, science? Or approach there honor society, they should have something like that. Then try to find a tutor that way. I bet you can get a good recomendation from a teacher, ask for 3-5 names, and call and talk with the kids, and see how it works. You probably can get them $10 and hour, who knows. Also, you might want to ask around in your neighborhood.

You might get a good deal. Some high schools require their students to so many volunteer hours. I went to a private, catholic school. We had to do 20 or 40 hours a quarter or semester, to pass our religion classes, and if you didn't pass the religion class, you didn't get to pass into the next "grade". I can't remember exactly which one it is. So, call around and maybe you can find a free tutor that way. Of course you still want to ask for references from a teacher to get a good tutor.

There could be retired teachers, or people excellent in a particular field. My mom use to tutor our neighbor. My mom use to be a teacher and then she got an engineering degree so she wasn't teching anymore, but was still a good tutor.
My mom told my neighbor she was pretty sure her daughter had dislexia, as she would goof up on certain things that indicated it. The mom either waited, or the school didn't follow thru, because it was almost 2 years later that she was diagnosed with dislexia (sp?). I'm not sure if she was smart enough to get by, and it wasn't until later that it was caught or what the situation was, but I think my neighbor would have been better off to have help sooner.

Plus, ask your school if they have any tutoring programs at all. At work they have people volunteer at the local schools to help 1 day a week, I think in the morning, maybe they have afternoons?


Good luck, it might be more affordable to do the private tutor, but you will have to do some leg work finding someone.
Connie

 

[pediatric-rnp]

I can sympathize with you, having a currently 17 yr old son who has struggled with math since grade 4. We looked into Sylvan, but I wasn't overly impressed, and decided to go the local tutor route. We've been through 3 local tutors, and currently have a gem I wouldn't trade for the world! Two of the previous tutors were young teachers, recommended by the school my son was in, who ended up charging high rates, and who often came late/left early. Finally through word of mouth 5 yrs ago, I found a retired teacher in town who is excellent, and who my DS is very comfortable with. He has even recommended her to some of his friends. From my experience, I would suggest if you decide to get a tutor, make sure you get some recommendations from parents, as well as the school. The teacher may be very good in school, however how they work out in your home may be very different.

At this point, my son is keeping up with his class - he gets C's to low B's. He is shy and doesn't like to ask questions in class - so it is reassuring to him to have someone to go to who will review the work one on one with him, and answer his questions.

Good luck in your decision - it is always heartwrenching to watch your child struggle.