Tutoring Can Help When Students Need to Make the Grade
By Samantha Gianulis

    I admit it – I almost failed high school chemistry. Science was not my game, but my parents insisted I needed a high school diploma to earn independence and achieve success in life. Reluctantly, I agreed to do whatever it took to bring my grade up because I wanted a car. Wednesday nights were soon set aside for tutoring time with a chemistry major from SDSU. Truth is, I was ready to give up on the troublesome subject with its overwhelming table of elements. Then my tutor – someone other than my teacher - told me that other people struggled with chemistry too, and eventually came to understand it. I had to focus, put in extra study time and commit myself to passing the class, but pass the class I did, and it was a great feeling. Perhaps I needed a different approach to science, more time to study the basics, or someone to tell me that I would succeed if I tried and stayed the course. Whatever strategy got me committed to passing chemistry, it enabled me to graduate and even conquer my fear of science, which helped in college. Yet, almost twenty years after my high school graduation, tutoring has become more specialized with a wider spectrum. If a student needs subject specific tutoring, the credentialed teachers who work as tutors provide the coaching. But if a bigger issue prevents assimilation, resources are available for students to find the support they need. Every factor that may be keeping a student from achieving academic success is covered at the tutoring and learning centers in San Diego County. From kindergartners taking phonics classes, to college students trying to get into grad school and all students in between, the tutoring and learning centers of the 21st century have ways to enrich the academic careers of any student.

   At Huntington Learning Center in Rancho Bernardo, Executive Director Peter Hanson has a staff working one-on-one with students on a variety of subjects. But he feels reading comprehension is key to the success of every student. When a child first comes to his learning center, he is given a diagnostic test to determine the area(s) needing improvement. This is where reading problems reveal themselves for most students. Hanson tells of one seventh-grader who came to him for help with homework. After testing the student and discussing how she approached the subject matter, Hanson discovered her foundation skills were non-existent. Students like her don’t understand they have poor analysis skills, and at the very worst, they see it as a personal failure. “You can help kids in math by working on reading, but seldom will you help kids with math by just working on math”, Hanson says. A student may know how to read, but may not understand the main idea of what he is reading in any of the core subjects they study in school. When the student with poor reading comprehension is asked to read, interpret and analyze data, he hits a brick wall, and might think his problem lies with one subject alone. “I’m stupid. I can’t get it. I hate school” is what some students say. The approach with these students is to start at a level where they can succeed, and work from there. “Many teachers will attribute failure to study skills, but when students are below their potential, that is the failure,” Hanson says. Where the education process has failed to connect with these students, the learning center helps the student go back to learn what they have missed. From this point, the students learn confidence as well. “They give you a firm handshake, look you in the eye. It’s great,” says Hanson, with a smile that can only come from helping a child.

   Allison Gardenswartz started The Learning Garden 10 years ago after 13 years as an educator. Her area of expertise is “enhancing the learning abilities of school-age children” Approximately one-third of the students tutored at The Learning Garden are doing remedial work, one-third are doing enrichment and gifted coursework, and the other one-third take test-preparation courses. The staff also hears students say they hate school. “They are overwhelmed. For them, school is an unhappy, miserable experience” Gardenswartz says. “But when they start to enjoy the learning process, it’s an amazing experience.” With peer pressure, hormones raging, pressure to perform well in school, on the field, and to their parents, how do you keep a child interested and engaged, much less enjoy learning in school? At The Learning Garden, they start them young. “Early World of Learning” classes are offered to children at age three. “Magical Math” and “Welcome to Reading” are offered to children between the ages of three-and-a-half to seven. The classes are small at five students per teacher. Students are introduced to elementary concepts of reading and math with the use of manipulatives, games, stories and even puppets. Learning through play is only one strategy used to get a child to learn, and the educating does not end there. Tutoring is offered up to grade 12, and even to adults in some subjects.

   On the flip side are students who surpass curriculum expectations and require more challenging coursework. Sylvan Learning Center is just one tutoring facility offering enrichment programs for gifted children. Enrichment programs are for the children “at the top of their class, with solid skills. These classes keep them interested, moving forward, and add an extra dimension”, says Bob Ross of Sylvan Learning Center in Encinitas. Being under-challenged in school can be just as frustrating as being overwhelmed. The objective is to keep the child active in their academic future; ever stimulated by discovering things they never knew. Depending upon the needs of the student, tutoring can amount to a large chunk of time for busy families. Count on educators to create solutions for pupil success – kids can be tutored online by Sylvan, or you can have tutors come to your home. Club Z, the largest in-home tutoring service in the nation, works with schools and doctors offices to get students up to speed and work with children who have special needs. Ninety percent of the students they tutor are elementary, middle and high school. But if your family is going to France, you can be fluent in no time with the help of a Club Z tutor.

   B.B. King said, “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” If children believe they can succeed, their chances multiply and their opportunities reach the infinite power.
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Samantha Gianulis is a freelance writer who believes the right tutors, mentors and teachers never leave us.
 © Samantha Gianulis 2005
Published in San Diego Family Magazine