How Sylvan Learning is Helping Students Thrive During Remote Learning

Sylvan Learning, the supplemental and enrichment education franchise with more than 750 points of presence across North America and more than 40 years of experience in the business, has found a meaningful way to keep children engaged with education during the pandemic, and one parent’s story demonstrates just how life-changing a little tutoring from Sylvan can be.

“Our daughter has struggled with math for years,” Melissa LaFreniere, a parent in Rockford, Michigan said. “Every year, she kept getting further behind. She goes to a great school that runs a math program that she’s always participated in, but last year when everything shut down, she was left behind. We tried to get help from the school — we asked the principal and teachers about tutors, but only Sylvan could help.”

Unfortunately, LaFreniere’s story mirrors those of millions of parents across the country. The switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the gaps in education left behind by an overburdened education system. For busy parents like LaFreniere, Sylvan’s tutoring represents a strong backup option.

“Her school has 30 kids in one class,” said LaFreniere. “We got to a point where we really needed help, and we’ve been thrilled with our experience at Sylvan.”

How Sylvan Learning Helps Students Thrive

Sylvan Learning’s approach to tutoring works for any student because it meets them where they are. Stephanie Eilers, the assistant director of Sylvan’s Rockford center, explained how the brand treats each student personally.

“We identified exactly what skills she needs support with and worked with her on mastery toward those skills,” said Eilers. “In the school, they have a set amount of time to work on something and then they move on because they have to keep up with the pacing of their curriculum, whereas at Sylvan, we can slow down and really spend a lot of time working on the specific skills students are struggling with.”

After Sylvan’s Insight Assessment, which “pinpoints where the learning process has broken down,” the tutors take a highly personalized approach to learning that meets each individual’s specific needs.

Eilers says they use that assessment to develop a highly personalized learning plan to meet each individual’s needs. In the personalized environment where kids are rewarded for their effort, children stop being afraid of getting answers wrong and start getting excited about the journey of learning

“We use tokens as a motivation system where students can redeem them for prizes and gift cards, so that’s a huge incentive for them to put their best effort into the work. We reward them for effort rather than answering right or wrong,” said Eilers. “In a classroom with 30 students, it can be intimidating to ask questions. At Sylvan, our 3 to 1 student to teacher ratio allows students to ask questions freely.”

The LaFrenieres saw results immediately and now know firsthand how the hands-on support from Sylvan leads to students’ increased enthusiasm for learning.

“For our daughter, in math, she was way below her grade level,” she said. “Sylvan did a test in the fall, and they just did another test here a few weeks back that showed she grew 95%, which is almost unheard of. All the other kids are struggling, and our daughter is thriving. That’s been a huge blessing.”

LaFreniere and Eilers both agreed the current COVID-19 situation has caused a lasting impact on students, and that now is the time to make sure children are on track to achieve their full potential.

LaFreniere hopes that other parents will partner with Sylvan to make sure their children have optimal support in their educational journeys. “In the future, the setbacks many students have experienced this year when schools are so overwhelmed will continue to be a huge issue,” said LaFreniere. “I hope other parents find Sylvan.”