Academic Coaching

Our Structured Program

We coach the mental fitness that improves a student's:

  • Motivation
  • Organization
  • Learning techniques
  • Testing performance

Details of our training.

I. Motivation.

What motivates your teenager? Praise, status? We set out to involve students with the rewards of learning.

As a first step, we assess our students' "learning intelligence," based on Dr. Howard Gardner's seven learning styles (linguistic, logical, mathematical, interpersonal, etc.). Every student has his or her own combination of these styles. With this assessment in hand, we can help each student capitalize on his or her unique capabilities.

That improves the likelihood of success, a great motivator in itself.

2. Organization.

We coach teenagers to become organized, be on time, pay attention to details. Being organized opens the door to using time well. That can become a habit.

We want a student to ask, "How do I use time?" We encourage a student to transform procrastination into action. Finish the math and move on. We provide these organizational aids:

  • Binder: For all school papers, so a student knows where everything is. No wasting time looking for class notes.
  • Daily planner: We set up an agenda that works for each of our students.

3. Learning techniques.

We develop:

  • Useful memorization tricks.
  • Note-taking techniques.
  • Effective study habits. Time spent doesn't count, what's accomplished does.
  • Reading comprehension. We teach students what's important in reading projects -- how to

slow down when every word matters, as in a poem.

  • Writing skills. We show a student the right approach to varied assignments -- the difference between writing a short story and writing an analytical essay.
  • Critical thinking skills. This is an important part of education that is often missing. We encourage a student to analyze arguments and see isolated elements in a larger context.

Learning and displaying knowledge evolve almost seamlessly. As this happens, the student feels he is accomplishing something and becomes more comfortable in classroom situations.

The test or game day.

1. Testing Strategies. Here's where a student's understanding of his or her individual learning intelligence helps. For example: A language learner taking a math test may have to adapt her ordinary methodology to a mathematical format. We prepare her for that.

2. Peak Mental Toughness. We get our students ready to perform under pressure.

Our program encourages each of our students to capitalize on his or her intellectual strengths. That's a major reason we're effective.