Anyone use Sylvan? & Putting my son in school. - Need some help!!

[Momof2kids]

So I am at my wits end with my son. If you search my past posts you will see going way back that I have always had a difficult time with him.

 

Well he is 10 now (11 soon) and in 5th grade. His reading is ok but probably more like a 3rd grade level. His math is ok. He prints ok but hates it. He will not cursive write. He can copy sentences in cursive but he can't get it from his own head and write cursive. He HATES writing! His spelling is poor too.

 

I am exhausted. And I am done! (I homeschool my daughter too (grade 8) and all is well there.)

 

We are trying to decide WHERE he will go. And when he will go.

 

He wants to go to school RIGHT NOW and God HELP ME I want him to go RIGHT NOW!!! He wants to play sports, be with other kids, make new friends (if private school), be with all his neigborhood friends (if public school). He says he WANTS to learn. Unfortunately, I just can't help him.

 

BUT since his skills are not on grade level we don't want to put him anywhere. He said he will be embarrassed. I can see his point.

 

So I am considering the private school (small class size) but I am still uncertain about him going while his skills aren't up to grade level.

 

So we visited Sylvan Learning center today. I like what I heard and what I saw. They will test him for $125.00 or $150.00 if we do the writing portion of the test too. (Although he never writes sentences! So I don't know if he could even TAKE the test!!) Then they will sign him up for 9 weeks (4 hours per week) and GUARANTEE that he will improve one grade level from where he started! This will all cost around $2,000.00 total. When they re-test him, maybe there is another fee for that. I don't know.

 

I just cannot .....DO......THIS......ANYMORE...... with him. :banghead:

 

So we are willing to pay, but I am so nervous about this! Does anyone have any experience with Sylvan? I know they are a franchise but they are independentaly owned so they may differ a bit.

 

I was thinking to let my son do Sylvan for 9 weeks which gets him to about Christmas, then maybe starting the private school in January. And if he liked it he can go to 6th grade there. And if not, he can go to the public junior high school with all his neighborhood friends.

 

I just want him to do well with his learning and be happy. He is not happy here at home with me and his sister all day and I just cannot provide to him what he needs from a bunch of outside sources. I need school. One stop shopping for him. I should have known. He LOVED pre-school at the park district. I should have just kept him going to school. Then maybe he would be better off right now. :crying: I feel like I really failed him.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Momof2kids

[creekmom]

So I am at my wits end with my son. If you search my past posts you will see going way back that I have always had a difficult time with him.

 

Well he is 10 now (11 soon) and in 5th grade. His reading is ok but probably more like a 3rd grade level. His math is ok. He prints ok but hates it. He will not cursive write. He can copy sentences in cursive but he can't get it from his own head and write cursive. He HATES writing! His spelling is poor too.

 

I am exhausted. And I am done! (I homeschool my daughter too (grade 8) and all is well there.)

 

We are trying to decide WHERE he will go. And when he will go.

 

He wants to go to school RIGHT NOW and God HELP ME I want him to go RIGHT NOW!!! He wants to play sports, be with other kids, make new friends (if private school), be with all his neigborhood friends (if public school). He says he WANTS to learn. Unfortunately, I just can't help him.

 

BUT since his skills are not on grade level we don't want to put him anywhere. He said he will be embarrassed. I can see his point.

 

So I am considering the private school (small class size) but I am still uncertain about him going while his skills aren't up to grade level.

 

So we visited Sylvan Learning center today. I like what I heard and what I saw. They will test him for $125.00 or $150.00 if we do the writing portion of the test too. (Although he never writes sentences! So I don't know if he could even TAKE the test!!) Then they will sign him up for 9 weeks (4 hours per week) and GUARANTEE that he will improve one grade level from where he started! This will all cost around $2,000.00 total. When they re-test him, maybe there is another fee for that. I don't know.

 

I just cannot .....DO......THIS......ANYMORE...... with him. :banghead:

 

So we are willing to pay, but I am so nervous about this! Does anyone have any experience with Sylvan? I know they are a franchise but they are independentaly owned so they may differ a bit.

 

I was thinking to let my son do Sylvan for 9 weeks which gets him to about Christmas, then maybe starting the private school in January. And if he liked it he can go to 6th grade there. And if not, he can go to the public junior high school with all his neighborhood friends.

 

I just want him to do well with his learning and be happy. He is not happy here at home with me and his sister all day and I just cannot provide to him what he needs from a bunch of outside sources. I need school. One stop shopping for him. I should have known. He LOVED pre-school at the park district. I should have just kept him going to school. Then maybe he would be better off right now. :crying: I feel like I really failed him.

 

No experience with Sylvan here, but I wanted to send :grouphug:. Homeschooling is hard enough when your kids want to do it (or at least tolerate it)! I can't imagine how tough it would be with a child who was miserable. It sounds to me like you're making a very wise decision. The tone of your post sounded guilt-ridden, and I just wanted to say that no mom/dad should ever feel guilty about not homeschooling. It is not for every child- or every parent. I think your plan sounds good. BTW, you did not fail him! You have always acted in his best interest.... there is no failure in that!! It's a wise momma who can see that something is simply not working - and change it for the better. :001_smile:

[Momof2kids]

Awww thanks Creekmom. Yeah, I feel bad but not as bad as I used to in the past. I feel good that we are going to be moving in a new direction. I think my son is different from my daughter and while my daughter flourished with homeschooling and had many outside classes, volunteering, other opportunites, etc, so it's been a full homeschooling experience. My son is just not thriving right now. I just can't grasp for him what he needs and I can't teach him anymore.

 

Just spoke to my husband and he really wants him to go to the private school ASAP and not do Sylvan. The private school was closed today so I couldn't visit them. Then Monday is a holiday. So hopefully we will visit on Tuesday and have him in there on Wednesday! It's a Lutheran School and I am very familar with that since I went to a Lutheran School for my younger years. I'd rather start here than the public school for now.

[swimmermom3]

Awww thanks Creekmom. Yeah, I feel bad but not as bad as I used to in the past. I feel good that we are going to be moving in a new direction. I think my son is different from my daughter and while my daughter flourished with homeschooling and had many outside classes, volunteering, other opportunites, etc, so it's been a full homeschooling experience. My son is just not thriving right now. I just can't grasp for him what he needs and I can't teach him anymore.

 

Just spoke to my husband and he really wants him to go to the private school ASAP and not do Sylvan. The private school was closed today so I couldn't visit them. Then Monday is a holiday. So hopefully we will visit on Tuesday and have him in there on Wednesday! It's a Lutheran School and I am very familar with that since I went to a Lutheran School for my younger years. I'd rather start here than the public school for now.

 

A couple of thoughts for you. I would not be quick to jump on the private school only decision if your son is behind in areas. Many private schools are geared to handle the "average" student. They have neither the funds nor the resources to address the needs of top-level gifted children or children who need remedial work. Be sure the school you choose is able to meet your son's needs or the social aspect may quickly become difficult.

 

We used Sylvan for math for my dd for 7th and 8th grade. She had moved from a private school and traditional math to a solid ps middle school that used Connected Math. It was not a successful transition regarding math. Sylvan was very helpful, but I think dd's outstanding, caring 8th grade math teacher deserves equal credit. However, he did not cost the same as a year at private school, which Sylvan did. Good luck with your decision and hang in there. It will get better.:grouphug:

[imhim]

I know that the Kumon school has evening/afternoon classes to supplement school. I do not know how much they are, the person who told me about these was a doctor with a child in K private school and doingKumon school in the afternoons. I do not know how spread they are, either.

[MaMa2005]

I actually worked my way through college with Sylvan as my part time job (many moons ago). Please look into finding a one-on-one tutor for your son. You will spend far less money and get the one-on-one attention your son needs. At Sylvan, there is usually a 3 to 1 ratio and the students are just put through the steps of a book (curriculum).

 

Also, be aware that many of the employees of Sylvan are not certified teachers, just employees who have been taught how to use their system.

 

Sylvan has its place, but your money could be much better spent with a private tutor.

[AmyinMD]

We just enrolled our 12 year old dd in public school this year. She was behind and I felt like I was spending all of my day trying to work with her and my other kids were suffering as a result. My twins did nearly nothing for K last year because I had no energy to work with them. I think that is okay for K but this year is 1st and I wanted to devote a lot of time to them. We've actually had the time for lap books and some other fun stuff I wouldn't have dreamed about last year when I was hovering over my 12 yo to get her to do anything.

 

My dd is a super slow reader and writing just about anything is like pulling teeth. Math she was about a year behind of where she would be. The public school put her in regular math and language arts to see how she'd do because she'd never been in school before. All other classes there are no choices for levels. After 2 months her grades are fine. I was so worried she'd be failing. We did just put her through a program at a local learning center. They used PACE (processing and cognitive enhancement) and Master the Code (improved her spelling immensely- it was 2nd grade level last spring). Dd has 4 As right now, a high B in Language Arts, and a middle B in Math. I thought the work would be more rigorous than it is. The writing thus far has been minimal.

[Momof2kids]

Thank you all for your replies. AmyinMD I was just talking to my husband about how nervous I am to put him in ANY school with his skills the way they are. Then I came here and read your post. It was encouraging.

 

Since some days at home my son is not up to par, and sometimes he is and he blows my mind (but it's rare) my husband thinks our son is playing me and that in school he will rise to the occasion and be just fine. My gut is telling me that after a few bumpy weeks he probably will be fine like your daughter is.

 

I hear ya about the hovering and not getting anything done with your other kids. My daughter is in 8th though and pretty independent with her work, but she'd still like some attention and bascially everything is going to my son and trying keep the house together right now.

 

Since my son REALLY wants to go to school he is motivated so I am happy about that. Tuesday can't some soon enough. I want to get this ball rolling!

[Momling]

I actually worked my way through college with Sylvan as my part time job (many moons ago). Please look into finding a one-on-one tutor for your son. You will spend far less money and get the one-on-one attention your son needs. At Sylvan, there is usually a 3 to 1 ratio and the students are just put through the steps of a book (curriculum).

 

Also, be aware that many of the employees of Sylvan are not certified teachers, just employees who have been taught how to use their system.

 

Sylvan has its place, but your money could be much better spent with a private tutor.

 

:iagree:

I remember looking into working as a tutor with Sylvan and was *appalled* at how poorly they pay their employees compared with the income they are making. A good tutor is what you and your son need... you can find one without Sylvan.

[Chris in VA]

Please be aware, also, that Sylvan's guarantee is simply that they will offer you more tutoring for free if they can't get your kid to advance one grade level in the time you stated. So, it's really not a guarantee of success in a short amt of time, just a guarantee that you won't have to pay for more tutoring.

 

I, too, would find a private tutor. Of course, you are already a "private tutor," so I'm not sure that would help.

[Jeanne in MN]

I won't begin to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, I don't know, but I worked at Sylvan for three years.

 

Although it's expensive, I personally thought they did a very good job of teaching kids. After the kids are tested, each kid has a plan for their particular needs that makes sure to address the gaps. They will actually start teaching material he has already mastered and work their way into what he needs to learn.

 

They do a variety of different manipulative activities to help teach math facts (like flash cards, math shark, computer games, etc.) and manipulatives were often used in teaching the math lessons.

 

The student has to master their material before they can move on to a new topic. If their assignments are below a certain percentage, then the teacher will assign similar material, but different assignments, and keep working with them until they master the material.

 

They also had a token program where the kids could earn up to 8 tokens a day. They would convert their tokens to a dollar value and add it up in their mock checkbooks. They could spend their "money" and get toys at the Sylvan Store-which was a book shelf set up with all kinds of things or they could save their money for bigger items.

 

The student to teacher ratio is 3-1 and although it got a bit stressful for me at times trying to keep everyone busy and not sitting and waiting, I think it worked rather well.

 

I liked Sylvan and thought they did a very thorough job. I believe all the teachers I met there had teaching degrees in some area. I know I was asked if I had a teaching degree. However, I have a phys. ed. teaching degree, so it's not like I had much experience with math or writing, which I ended up teaching. But their program was very simple to follow.

 

That kind of learning environment could be a nice transition for your son. He would be working in more of a classroom setting-not necessarily the room layout, but with many kids and teachers around. The energy might appeal to him. The token system might be fun too. All the while he can get help getting caught up.

 

Again, I can't say what you should do, just trying to give you my view of Sylvan to help you in the decision making process.

[Pat in MI]

I just wanted to add that your son will probably surprise you greatly if you put him in school. Your ds sounds exactly like my son. He wouldn't write for me, couldn't write cursive except from a model, and math has always been a problem. It was basically like I was pulling him along in his studies. I felt he was behind in several areas. He wanted to go to school this year for 9th grade, so we put him in a public charter. The school suggested we put him in at grade level and we would work from there. He has been doing surprisingly well. He has to write something in at least one of his classes everyday and he is doing it. I see were he can make improvements, but it is so much more than I was able to get him to do. Math is still a little tough, but he is trying very hard. He doesn't like doing the homework at night and that is still a struggle we are dealing with, but for the most part he is having a positive experience as far as the work goes. Instead of being the teacher, I now view myself as the tutor. I can help him with the work when he needs it, help him work through difficult concepts in math, but it is so much easier to step back now and just let him work through things only jumping in when I need to. We are also blessed that he has some awesome teachers at this school. HTH

Blessings,

Pat