| IS THE LEARNING CLINIC PART OF A
FRANCHISE OPERATION?
“The Learning
Clinic” is the private practice of Robert Kirwan. It is not a franchised
operation. We therefore have the ability to meet the unique needs of each
child who seeks assistance. Most of the other tutoring companies in the
Sudbury
area are part of a franchise chain. This
means that in order to be consistent throughout the franchise they must
adopt a more or less standard procedure and content base for their
instruction. Students will
therefore be required to develop their skills using standard exercise
sheets that can be marked and evaluated using a central grading system.
Local franchise owners do not have the freedom to make adequate
adjustments to meet the needs of individual students.
At The Learning Clinic, our tutors treat each student differently,
developing a program that is unique to their individual needs. There are
no two situations that are alike at The Learning Clinic, and no two
students will be doing the exact same work. A “Franchise Owner” must
exert a certain amount of control over local franchisees, and this control
has a limiting effect on what can be done to meet the needs of children
seeking tutoring assistance. The Learning Clinic has no such limitations.
WHERE DOES THE TUTORING
TAKE
PLACE
?
The Learning Clinic
sends a personal tutor in to your home to work with your child in a
familiar environment. Some tutoring companies require you to bring your
child to a specific centre at certain times of the day to work in a
setting that is very similar to a regular classroom. We decided that it
was more important for our tutors to witness the actual conditions under
which the child works at home. Part of our responsibility is to help our
students cope with the normal distractions at home in order to be able to
develop the skills necessary to be successful when the tutor is not there
to help out. We also tell parents to avoid making any changes in their
normal routines while the tutor is present. Our goal is to develop
“learning skills” in our students. We want our students to learn how
to learn, so our tutors must be aware of all of the distractions that are
being faced by the child. We did not feel we could provide effective
long-term skill development by working with children in an artificially
created environment. To do so would have been just like creating another
“school away from school”. We also respect how busy parents are in the
evening after school, so it makes it much easier if we come to you.
WHEN IS THE TUTORING OFFERED?
The Learning Clinic”
allows a parent to schedule tutoring so that it does not interfere with
the rest of the family plans. We work around your schedule. Some tutoring
companies require you to meet with your tutor during specific times once
or twice a week. The Learning Clinic decided that it was important to be
flexible and sensitive to the needs of the entire family. Therefore, our
tutors will agree to meet with your child on a day and time that will be
most convenient to you and your family. This means that tutoring may be on
different days and different times each week. This is because we feel that
some of the most important learning in a child’s life takes place away
from school, so whatever the family is doing to provide enriched learning
experiences is important. We do not want to interfere with your role as a
parent and will therefore accommodate our schedule as well as we can to
allow for tutoring sessions to supplement your activities. We do not feel
it would be beneficial to the child for the rest of the family to adjust
their schedule to fit the times for tutoring.
WHAT IS THE “LEARNING COACH” APPROACH
TO TUTORING?
The Learning Clinic”
has adopted a “Learning Coach” approach to tutoring which utilizes a
one-on-one instructional model. Some tutoring companies require you to
share a tutor with up to three other students. Each student is required to
work on a different assignment page, with the tutor available to answer
questions and give direction. When the student successfully completes the
page, he/she gets a reward and then goes on to the next page. This
“mastery learning” approach may result in the learning of specific
skills that produce good results in an upcoming diagnostic test.
However, we do not feel it will produce the long-lasting skill
development that comes from one-on-one “coaching”. We help our
students “discover” their skills and build upon their strengths so
that they retain what they have learned for future situations. Mastery
does come with one-on-one tutoring, but it tends to have a much more
long-lasting impact on the student.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR TUTORING WITH
THE LEARNING CLINIC?
The Learning Clinic”
has been able to provide a program that is affordable for most families.
As with most things in life, you always get what you pay for. Tutoring is
no different. Unfortunately, tutoring is something that many families may
not feel they can afford. The Learning Clinic has found a way to allow
parents to adjust the tutoring they receive to fit their budget. For
example, our fee is $212 for every six hours. This is comparative to the
hourly rate charged by the other major tutoring companies in town.
However, these six hours can be taken over two weeks or they can be
stretched out over four months. Your child may need to see the tutor twice
a week or he may just need the tutor to come in for a visit once every
month. Even once a month may be all a child needs to catch up on some of
the important skills that are needed for success in the classroom.
Furthermore, you can plan on one session every week or two and when
needed, bring in the tutor for extra sessions. You only pay for six hours
at a time, so when you use those six hours is entirely up to you. Your
child can benefit from a tutor for as little as $53 a month. And when you
consider that this is less than a single massage therapy session, it is
definitely worth the money.
HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO COMMIT TO YOUR
PROGRAM?
The Learning Clinic”
will not commit you to a long-term contract. Your only commitment to The
Learning Clinic is for six hours at a time. You are not required to sign a
contract that forces you to remain with a program that is 30 or 40 weeks
in duration. Once your six hours are up, you have the option of continuing
for another six hours or terminating the tutoring. A number of our
students have been with their tutor for up to two years, while others go
through 12 or 18 hours and then stop for any number of personal reasons.
This policy is especially popular with high school students who may wish
to hire a tutor to help with the last month of school, just before exams.
They may only need the tutor for six hours, so why pay for anything more.
The other reason we wanted to maintain this six-hour commitment is because
conditions change in a family and we did not want to be an added burden in
times of need. When selecting a tutoring company for your child, you
should examine contracts carefully. For example, The Learning Clinic does
not penalize you if you are forced to cancel a session for any reason. We
merely re-schedule at a later date. You don’t lose time or money.
IF I HAVE OTHER CHILDREN WHO NEED HELP,
DO I PAY EXTRA FOR TUTORING?
The Learning Clinic”
sends a tutor who will work with all of the children in your family. While
most tutoring situations only involve providing instruction to one
student, parents appreciate the fact that if they have more than one
child, they can request a tutor with the qualifications to provide
assistance to all children in the household. There is no additional charge
for this service. You are paying to have a tutor come into your house for
six hours. How you divide up that time is completely up to you. For
example, there are some situations where the tutor will work with one
child for one hour and then the other child for 30 minutes. The parent
pays for 90 minutes of tutoring service whether there is one child or two.
Most franchise companies will charge you an amount for each child. The
Learning Clinic does not charge extra for this service.
DO YOU GUARANTEE MY CHILD WILL IMPROVE?
The Learning Clinic”
maintains that you CANNOT guarantee the success of tutoring programs.
While some franchise companies claim to “guarantee” that your child
will improve by at least a full grade level from the tutoring program, The
Learning Clinic will NEVER make such a guarantee.
As a professional educator for most of my working life, I can
definitely guarantee you that no one can guarantee any level of success
when it comes to learning. I will guarantee that your child will benefit
positively from the tutoring he/she receives from The Learning Clinic and
that it should make him/her a better student. However, any guarantee that
a child will improve by one or two grade levels will always include some
very strict conditions. For example, some companies will have your child
take an initial “diagnostic” test which will reveal certain
deficiencies in specific skill areas. A program of instruction will then
be designed to work on those skills over a set period of time, usually
about 30 to 40 weeks or sessions. A second diagnostic test will be
administered at the end of the program. This end-test will usually reveal
significant growth in the weaker areas, thus enabling the company to
justify its guarantee. The Learning Clinic would rather focus on improving
the overall learning skills of each student so that success can be
achieved in class. We supplement the work being done by the classroom
teacher and are therefore more concerned with helping our students
“learn how to learn” rather than “learning how to complete work
sheets”. Our approach has proven to be the one that provides the most
long-lasting results.
HOW DO TEACHERS FEEL ABOUT THE LEARNING
CLINIC?
The Learning Clinic”
is owned and operated by a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. As a
member in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers, my work as a
private practitioner in the field of education receives a certain level of
credibility that other tutoring operators do not have. I am bound by the
same code of ethics and professional standards as all other teachers and
guidance counselors. Teachers know that I am acting in the best interests
of the students at all times. I am not merely running a private business.
I am “one of them” and as such can be trusted. Therefore, teachers
feel comfortable about recommending The Learning Clinic to the parents of
their students. This endorsement has lead to the continued growth of my
practice.
CAN WE CONTACT THE TUTOR IN BETWEEN
SESSIONS?
Our tutors are always
available by phone or email in between sessions. Often the child may just
need a quick answer to a specific question that cannot wait until the next
scheduled session. All you have to do is give the tutor a call and he/she
will do what can be done to solve the problem. There is no charge for this
service.
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