Mathematic skills are built one level at a time; a lack of mastery in one area makes reaching the next level difficult, if not impossible.
Unlike reading and writing, math skills build on one another – and failing to master a particular skill area creates a shaky foundation for all the skills that follow, which can ultimately lead to a loss of confidence and a loss of interest for the subject.
“By sixth grade, students need to have mastered their basic math skills,” says Chad Schwartz, President of the Tutoring Clubs. “At this point, they will be ready to move into new mathematical territory with middle school math and pre-Algebra. When students haven’t mastered the basics, however, their future success in math becomes highly problematic.”
What makes mathematics all the more challenging for students is that since each skill level builds on the previous one, a lack of mastery in one area makes reaching the next level difficult, if not impossible. “Math skills need to be presented logically, but the key steps in mastery are to see it, understand it, and practice it,” Schwartz observes.
Students who begin Tutoring Club’s math skills program begin by taking a basic diagnostic test, which is then analyzed by computer to identify problem areas that need to be strengthened – known as “skills gaps.” From this diagnostic software, an individualized lesson plan is created and then administered by professional teachers/ tutors to fill in those math skills gaps. “We don’t leave a lesson until a student has mastered the material being practiced,” says Schwartz. “Building and retaining math skills can seem like climbing Mt. Everest to some students, but our goal is to make it more like overcoming one mole hill at a time – and we literally leave no child behind.”
“With the Tutoring Club format,” states Schwartz, “We take each basic skill and then break it down into component skills. We then create a series of repetitive drills that both teach and reinforce those skills, and we measure their mastery before moving on to the next skill level.”Tutoring Club not only provides the setting and expertise to develop and retain math skills, it also makes an unprecedented guarantee in the process:
Students will improve by one grade level for every 32 hours of tutoring, or the tutoring sessions will continue at no additional cost until the goal has been reached.
Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
