OT- Tell me about Sylvan

[trayletha]

Can anyone tell me about their experiences positive or negative with Sylvan Learning Centers? DD is in danger of failing phonics and can't seem to complete seat work in class, and the number of hours homework takes to finish is going to drive me to drink - so please tell me what you know about Sylvan or Huntington or any tutoring program.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

I am sorry you are going thru this. My MIL is in the education field and when we asked her about tutoring for DD she warned us about Sylvan and the like. They are run by business people not educators. I would ask your child's teacher who or where they would recommend.

 

[jstbcuz]

I know there are those on this board that object to Sylvan, but I have nothing but good things to say about it.

My daughter used to spend hours a night doing homework, and wouldnt answer questions in school because she didnt want to seem stupid. I tried everything possible..........from summer school, to after school programs, to extra help with the teacher and nothing seemed to work. Finally, my MIL who is a teacher also encouraged us to try Sylvan even tho she had no prior knowledge other than what she saw on the TV commercial.

So at the end of 6th grade, I went andhad her tested. When I went back for the results, I was devastated. She was at a second grade level in vocabulary, her comprehension was low, etc. They can tell what skills they are missing from this test, and thats what they work on from the earliest level. She too was low in math. So we started going 4 hours every Sat. since we dont live in the same town as Sylvan. She would go 2 for math and 2 for reading. We did this all school year and when summer would come around she would go 8 hours a week..........4 hours for math and 4 for reading. She never once complained about missing a party or having to get up and go. We did this for 2 years.

They work on the skills that they missed somewhere along the lines, and you have to master that skill so many times with a certain percentage before you are allowed to move on. That way they know you have retained the skill.

We stopped going this past July after 2 years. She is on grade level with her reading and math. She still has some problems with comprehension because she isnt a fluent reader and has to really take time to sound some things out. But I couldnt be happier with the results. Now I do have to say that I think the teachers there have a lot to do with it. My DD had 3 that she got to be very good friends with and those are the ones that she had teach her. There were others she wasnt as fond of and didnt have them unless one of the others was going to be gone. So I do think that the teachers play a huge role in it. I also think that whether the child wants help or not plays a big part of it. My DD was tired of struggling, and really wanted to be sucessful.

It is expensive............but in my opinion it is totally worth it. I guess our thoughts were bottom line: if we try and it doesnt help, we can move on and try something another option, but if we didnt try and it could have helped...........it wasnt fair to our DD.

Hope I've helped you with some insight. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Snow Shoe]

We have had both good and bad experiences with Sylvin. First, all of our children have been out of school for many years so some things may have changed, but I dought it.

Our local Sylvin was first owned by a husband & wife teachers. They opened it because of their son was having problems and they felt that Sylvin would be of help to him. So for many years they operated the Silvan center and staffed it with very good teachers. Yes it was a "business", but they looked at from a teacher/educator point of view.

Enter our youngest child which had reading problems in the second grade. Well she went to Sylvin, and in a very short time she was reading on and above grade level. We continued with Sylvin for several years. Great experiences, loved Sylvin, etc.......

Fifth grade math.....I have nightmares about it. Lets try Sylvin again, it worked the first time, why not again!! Well since our last visit, the husban & wife owners sold out to a person that owned 20 different Sylvin centers in multipul states. It now HAD BECOME A "BUSINESS". It was a disaster many times over. The "teachers" if that's waht you want to call them, were horrable. We paid many thousands of $$ for nothing!

I realize that you can't judge one Sylvin by another, but I would ask for references good and bad from them. Talk to people that use them. Is there a local BBB you can talk to about them? If I had to do it over again for the second go around, I would try and find a teacher/tutor that woud work with my child first.

 

[kimberh]

My son was tutored my Sylvan for 2 yrs in math. They started with the testing. We actually had the teachers use his books, talk to his Math teachers, his homework help. He graduated with a 3.9058. Just graduated from The Citadel The Military College of South Carolina with a 3.4. I do agree with a previous poster, that it really has to do with the teachers, there were some that I requested and some that I told Sylvan I would not pay for again. He related to some and not others. He had enough Maturity to know this... he was very serious about his work. His whole life had been about getting into The Citadel.

I would try it and see. If it doesn't work, find a private tutor. We had those too. He had a crazy schedule, he played 3 sports.

 

[LISAVWL]

DS14 went to Sylvan over the summer for Math. I highly recommend them! He had been falling behind the last 1/2 of the school year and we wanted to nip it in the bud before it got out of control. We started with the testing and continued with one of the courses suggested. Be aware, they are a business and will try to get you to sign up for all kids of classes and it gets very $$$! If for nothing it gave DS the confidence that he lost and he's doing great so far this year. We were very lucky to have 2 teachers that he really connected with, if not I'm not sure how effective it would have been.

ETA -- We checked with local tutors and the prices were comparable

 

[Skyw]

I took my step daughter for 2 years. She was doing horrible in math. She was in 6th grade. They tested her and found out that her skill level was at 1st grade. She failed math every year but was still passed to the next grade level. (long story). She liked to go too. It was on a personal level and she liked having the positive attention. She was caught up by grade 8. I would recommend it.

The bad.....she didn't live with us during the week. Her mom could care less......so no homework got done. As you know, math needs to be practiced in order to do well in it. So she slipped back easily.

 

[okeydokey]

I am sorry you are going thru this. My MIL is in the education field and when we asked her about tutoring for DD she warned us about Sylvan and the like. They are run by business people not educators. I would ask your child's teacher who or where they would recommend.

This really is not true. Each Sylvan is individually owned. I worked for one for several years some time back and it was owned by a former teacher and school principal. It was the rule that all teachers had to be state certified. I saw some pretty remarkable results in my years there, especially after "whole reading" was introduced into schools and phonics were downplayed. We had lots of non-readers that improved leaps and bounds.

Do keep in mind that each center is invidually owned and even though there is a standard Sylvan way of running things, it is up to the owner and director. On the downside, it is quite expensive. As an educator, though, I loved the one on one interaction with the students.

 

[digman6]

I would also try looking at your local college... sudent teachers need credit hours and there is no cost to you for there time. I too would check with your teacher at school. Sylvan from what I hear is OK but I think you can get something equal if not better for less then what they charge.

My dd goes to a tutor weekly she charges me 10.00 a hour and she helps her with her LD. She is a teacher at another local school and I would not trade her for the world.

I would seriously shop around before going to Sylvan. you can get some really good help and not pay out the butt for it.

 

[blana]

My DNiece (now 14) went to the Sylvan in Raleigh, NC for a couple of years, and it helped her SO much! She was ADHD and had just gotten properly medicated, so that she could finally start catching back up to her grade level. Went from not reading at all to above grade level by working with her teacher there. (Her school teacher told my DB & DSIL that they would probably be holding her back after about a week of classes, only to have her pass with flying colors at the end of the year.)