tutoring centers

I am sorry I don’t have any info on the centers. I am currently looking into th`e Sylvan Center for my 11 year old son who is dyslexic and was wondering if anyone has any info on the center, can they help him? thankscmblum wrote:
>
> Anyone have any info on private tutoring centers? I’m
> thinking that my jr. high son may benefit with some summer
> instruction. I’ve been told he has major visual processing
> delays. He suffers in all subjects. Centers around us are
> Sylvan, Huntington, Lindamood-Bell? Any experience with
> these or other resources in Charlotte, NC area? Thanks.

I live in the Mpls MN area, but had great success with Sylvan!! My 17 y.o. son attended 3 days a week for 4 hrs a day last summer. He has dyslexia, and a few other LD’s. He is very glad he went ! They tought him how to pick out what is important in his reading, worked on organization skills, spelling, and revising his work. This is a kid who didn’t know his vowels, was reading at a 3.5 grade level, and was really struggling. This year he has straight A’s, and scored a 21 on his ACT, the first time around. He still doesn’t know the months of the year, but says “it’s not important, I can ask someone” :) . As with any program, what works for one may not work for another, but I certainly would give it I try!! Good Luck!!

I worked at a Huntington center for a few months, in a different area from yours, and I applied to work at a Sylvan center and was told in the interview that they use essentially the same system; I would not recommend these centers in general, and especially not for a dyslexic student. I am glad to hear from the mom above about Sylvan’s success with her son, but this is not the story I’m hearing from other parents in most cases.

The Huntington center where I worked, and apparently the Sylvan center as well, used a “more of the same” approach and measured work by poundage of paper with nblanks filled in. There was a carefully planned curriculum on paper and a well-thought-out philosophy told to the teachers the first day, but forever after this got re-interpreted as copying worksheets, handing them out, collecting them, marking them, and handing out more. Very little teaching was done and very little was possible under the system being used.

Both centers charged parents $35 per hour, assigned three students per teacher, and paid the teachers $8 per hour. This means they had $70 to $105 per hour coming in and only $8 going out. That leaves a heck of a lot over for profits and a high advertising budget!
With three students per teacher, the whole hour was filled up with handling the worksheets and as I said, no time left for teaching. When I was assigned to a single student with a special problem I was able to do some real tutoring, but this was not the general method of the center.

With thirty to forty students and ten to fifteen teachers in one large office, all trying to discuss work, the noise level and distraction was also far too high. I was uncomfortable and fatigued myself and a learning disabled student would be likely to be lost.

Please note this does *not* refer to LMB centers, which I am not familiar with at all! I have heard good things about their results but have no first-hand experience.

Victoria-thank you for the info. To be honest your story is what I have generally been hearing…unfortunately. I have met with LMB and do get a better impression. They are charging $68/hr. which is sooo expensive. On the other hand I’d be better off looking down that road than “wasting” $38/hr. on other services. Thanks for your input. Like you, I’m glad it has worked for some.

I agree with Victoria’s assessment of Sylvan. I call them a “bandaid” approach. They work really well for kids who’ve got some gaps in their learning, but frankly I’m surprised to hear of such good results with a dyslexic teen. Teens in general are harder to remediate because of years of ingrained habits alone, not to mention the dyslexia itself!

I tutor kids who’ve gone to Sylvan before coming to me. My niece also went to Sylvan. In every case, it helped a little bit but nowhere near enough. A couple of the Sylvan kids then went on to a regional LMB center - that’s where they really made great gains. It’s not a worksheet approach by any means. I know it’s terribly expensive but it works in most cases. It really does remediate to the exact problem in most instances.

Maybe you can find a private tutor with LMB training - we’re cheaper than the centers :O)

Thank you Joan V. The idea of a tutor trained in LMB has passed through my mind and I will try to explore the issue…quickly, as my son’s last day of school is today and I’ll need to make a decision about summer very soon.

I sent my son to sylvan. I thought it was horrible. What a terrible experience?

I think the term should be money making centers if you know what I mean.

I remember going for the review where they were supposed to tell me about my son. They told me nothing. They didn’t know what he was even working on. He had a different teacher every time he went.

I would vote for a private tutor or do it yourself. A private tutor costs the same as sylvan possibly less. A private tutor is one on one where at sylvan that was not the case.

I live in the Pittsburgh area and am looking for an LMB tutor for my junior high student, also. Anyone out there?

I just posted on the general announcements bulletin board a short list of places to look. Good luck and email me for more suggestions.