faq's
You may have questions regarding academic coaching in general and my practice in particular. Let me try to answer some of them.
What is academic coaching?
Academic coaching is a formal process of individualized teaching and learning. An academic coach combines an understanding of how children learn and the ways in which emotions and behaviors impact learning with the knowledge of special teaching methods to help students develop and implement a custom academic plan.
Academic coaching demystifies learning problems. Students become aware of their strengths and learn how to maximize them to compensate for any areas of weakness.
Doesn’t a tutor do this?
No. He doesn’t. A tutor focuses on the subject being learned. This means he ends up treating the symptom, not the underlying problem. When the tutoring stops, so does your child’s success.
As an academic coach, I am trained to formally assess learning strengths and weaknesses and develop individualized learning strategies. In addition, I am qualified to identify the social, emotional and behavior patterns that interfere with learning.
My goal as an academic coach is to ensure that your child will learn skills that can be applied to any subject at any level of difficulty. These same skills will serve him well in the future.
What type of student do you help?
Any student struggling in school will benefit from academic coaching. When a child continues to struggle despite parent-teacher interventions or private academic tutoring, an evaluation for underlying learning deficits is recommended. Learning problems do not go away.
Most of my students experience one or more of the following difficulties:
- Academic weakness in reading, writing and/or math
- Poor Motivation
- Inadequate organization and study skills
- Attention problems
- Performance Anxiety
- Low academic self esteem
My child is in high school – is it too late for him to change how he learns?
No. It’s never too late to make a difference. As a matter of fact, older students are even more ready to implement new strategies. They want to be successful. Your child already knows what doesn’t work. That will save us a lot of time. And the fact that you are reading this suggests he needs the help.
What’s the difference between academic coaching and “organization and study skills programs”?
There are dozens of “organization” and “study skills” programs out there. Most of them are ineffective because they impose canned solutions without taking into account each child’s individual cognitive abilities. In addition, they are not structured to promote the child’s input and feedback.
Your child may indeed have already tried one of these programs and may even be able to recite some of the “study strategies” he has “learned”. He was taught the “right way” to take notes, but it didn’t work for him. He was taught “how to arrange his 3-ring binder”, but he couldn’t keep it organized. He was told to “review each night”, but he didn’t know how.
Academic coaching is very different. In the beginning I spend time on detailed and comprehensive assessments of your child’s cognitive functioning. Over time, this process provides all the information I need to understand precisely what is getting in the way of your child’s success. I will also look at the social, emotional and behavior patterns that may impact his ability to learn. The next step is to help your child understand and apply this information easily and comfortably in developing new learning strategies. Eventually these strategies will become a permanent and integral part of his learning process.
And, he can’t fail with academic coaching, because he is in charge!
How long does it take?
Academic coaching is completely individualized. Your child’s difficulty with school developed and increased over time and it will take time to resolve the problems once and for all. I have had students reach their goals in as few as 12 sessions. On the other hand, I have worked with students for as long as 2 years. Usually much of the progress is made within one calendar school year.
How often will you meet?
In the beginning we will meet twice a week. Our sessions will be at least 50 minutes long – sometimes longer if there is time and your child has the need. When it is appropriate we will go to once a week. Once it is evident your child can handle his schoolwork independently, the process is on an “as needed” basis. And, I am always available to my past students for check-in and tune-up sessions.
What does a typical session look like?
There is no “typical” session. For the first several meetings, besides getting to know one another, I will work to discover how your child learns best. This involves collaborative activities and standardized assessments aimed at exploring his specific learning strengths and weaknesses. Once we have this information, he and I will develop an action plan. We will spend following sessions examining how the strategy or strategies he is currently applying are going and possibly introduce new ones. Of course, pressing needs and academic “crises” that require immediate attention will always be addressed.
