Some things you might be wondering…

My child is not adapting well IN CLASS and is falling behind. What can I do and how quickly can this help? 

Students are overburdened in unprecedented ways - with assignments, expectations, relationships, cultural pressures, and family responsibilities. Stress, learning challenges, and and anxiety can easily get in the way of our best work, whatever our age. Working with me regularly, your student will know she has a teacher and a timeframe devoted to helping her organize and pinpointing the struggles.  We can identify crucial areas to catch up and create a personalized practice to get her where she needs to be with her class. 

My child hates math and/or is not a ‘math person.’  Can you help?

I can’t count the number of students (and parents!) who have told me they aren’t a ‘math person.’  First of all, a student doesn’t have to love math to be successful at it. That said, I have many students who have found that math is indeed more fun once we begin working together, turning some concepts on their heads, and figuring out what the circumstances are that lead to their best learning. Talk with me more about this.

My child has the SSAT/SAT/ACT/ISEE/any test coming up, and he and I are both very stressed!  Help!

We can do this. Test-taking is often a special skill of its own. Creating a plan is key, and that does often involve the parents.  I am happy to discuss options and strategies.

Teachers have always said that my child lacks skill in reading comprehension. Isn’t it too late to address this now?

It’s not. We have so much new information about how neurological paths are created in the brain. There are many techniques that a student can use to ’teach’ his own brain to process information while reading. With practice, we can choose the techniques that work for us and understand what we read far better and more thoroughly.

Writing is not my child’s strong suit, but she wants to get into _________ school.  How can she learn to write better essays?

Writing is a very personal experience, and I love working with students to analyze and understand essay questions and to help them engage deeply as a writer. Once they feel that authentic connection, students can learn effective techniques for creating clear and compelling writing.

We want our child on an advanced path at school, but his teacher says he isn’t ready. Who is right?

The education system is far from perfect, and it is easy to feel quickly overwhelmed, especially when we think our children are not in the right place or are suffering. Sometimes understanding a teacher’s communication style can help, or there may be a hybrid path that hasn’t been considered. All of this is also very anxiety-producing, for parents and student!  Let’s meet to discuss possible options.