sylvan... any good??

i know there are a lot of educators and parents here... so i'm hoping to be pointed in the right direction.

let me start with a brutal confession:
i S U C K at helping my son (who has a mild learning disability) with schoolwork. i don't know why, i'm just not good at it.

but since i am willing to admit this about myself as a parent, i'm looking for help.

my son doesn't like school. it's hit or miss with him. he doesn't like doing his homework. a note was sent home that he's failing two classes and getting a D in a third.

i've tried different things, and nothing has helped.

should i look into those education centers, like sylvan??

i'm broke, but i'm willing to pay if it means he'll do better.

i'm scared for him.

Re: sylvan... any good??

IMO they are overpriced and steal from people who don't know any better. Maybe ask his teachers to recommend a tutor? The teachers may even be willing to tutor outside of school for extra money.

I think any method of tutoring should show some results, but I think there are cheaper alternatives which would be just as effective.

Message edited 3/18/2008 11:02:39 AM.

Re: sylvan... any good??

I have a teacher I work with who sends her son there and she LOVES it, and so does her son.
She has seen improvemnet. He was just diagnosed with ADHD.

Re: sylvan... any good??

We just signed up my dd for the reading program. So far so good. It is expensive but hopefully it will be worth it. You have a meeting I think every three weeks (at least for us, because of the hrs she puts in during the week). If you want more info fm

Re: sylvan... any good??

I have heard success stories from Sylvan, Kumon, and Score!

I've tutored kids who also did those programs and they were able to handle material way above their level, and really knew how to study at a young age and it helped them with standardized tests.

Re: sylvan... any good??

I teach at Sylvan and I highly recommend it. Your child will go in for testing (about 2 hrs). After your results come back you have an enrollment conference with the director of the center. They will tell you how many hours the program will take. You can either pay in monthly installments, or my center offers the option of getting a loan where you prepay. There is a parent conference every 12 hours and your child is tested again every 36 hours. You also give the directors at Sylvan to go into your child's school to meet with their teacher. Feel free to FM me with questions

Re: sylvan... any good??

I think it depends on the child and the people working with him. I used to work at a Sylvan center. I think the diagnostic testing is great. It is a very thorough test and points out exactly where your child has weaknesses, so he doesn't spend unnecessary time going over things he already knows. Students are also re-tested periodically and they did have some type of guarantee that if he doesn't go up a certain amount of levels, I think you get some free sessions. I would ask about that, I don't know if that is still the case.

The tutoring is not a one-to-one setting. Your child is usually at a table with one or two other students and a teacher. This setup is somewhat less expensive than private tutoring, which is why many parents like it, along with the testing and the periodic meetings with a center director. Some kids do well with this, some don't. They also have an incentive program with prizes that makes it more fun for the kids.

Personally, I would probably spend the extra $$ for a private tutor first and see if that helped. It is a bit more expensive, but since the student is getting more individual attention, it may work out to costing about the same for similar results.