Wednesday, June 9, 2010

“Club Z! Brings In-Home Tutoring Convenience to Rural Families in Pennsylvania and Maryland” plus 2 more

“Club Z! Brings In-Home Tutoring Convenience to Rural Families in Pennsylvania and Maryland” plus 2 more

Club Z! Brings In-Home Tutoring Convenience to Rural Families in Pennsylvania and Maryland

Posted: 09 Jun 2010 04:45 AM PDT

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OXFORD, Pa., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Private tutoring can often transform a struggling student into a successful one, but families in rural areas sometimes face the additional challenge of traveling many miles to meet with tutors. For these families, as well as those living in more urban or suburban surroundings, it's always good news when a new Club Z! branch brings convenient, in-home tutoring right to students' kitchen tables or living room floors.

New Club Z! Tutoring Services Area Director Jennifer McKee is well aware of the difference convenience can make. "Living in a rural area, families have to travel long distances for additional education services," she notes.  "With Club Z! in the area, traveling will be one less worry for families ... which creates more family time."

One-on-one, in-home tutoring also has a myriad of other benefits for students and families. "Tutors are teachers or degreed professionals," says Ms. McKee, who has been a teacher for 10 years and is currently completing her master's degree in Education. "They are matched up on-on-one with students." In the privacy and security of their own homes, children are more confident and less distracted, allowing both student and tutor to concentrate solely on the learning process and on improving the student's academic abilities and study skills.

In fact, identifying students' learning styles and maximizing their study skills is one area in which Club Z! excels. Not only do tutors make efforts with every student to use effective teaching methods and instill good learning habits, but Club Z!'s Learning Built to Last initiative offers a concentrated study skills program in which tutors help high school students diagnose their most natural learning styles, identify their current study strengths and weaknesses, and develop an individualized plan for building academic improvement and success.

As an education professional, Ms. McKee understands how one-on-one tutoring at the right moment can make all the difference to a student's long-term academic prospects. By opening her own Club Z! branch, she hopes to provide "an affordable resource for Oxford and surrounding area families, to go for that little extra push to enhance the education of students." In addition to Oxford, the branch will serve students in the Nottingham and Cochranville, PA areas, as well as nearby Cecil County, MD.

Tutoring builds students' confidence as well as their skills, and as a long-term area teacher and resident, a volunteer cheerleading coach for the Oxford Golden Bears, and a sponsor for Oxford Little League and the Golden Bears' Youth Football and Cheerleading programs, helping local children succeed is a mission close to Ms. McKee's heart.

As North America's largest one-on-one in-home tutoring company, Club Z! offers SAT/ACT prep programs, foreign language tutoring, and tutoring in all core subject areas to students of all ages and abilities. In honor of the Oxford Club Z! grand opening, registration fees have been waived for all new clients. For additional information about Club Z! Tutoring Services in or near Oxford, please contact Jennifer McKee at 610-932-3333 or 410-287-8898 or visit http://www.clubztutoring.com/success4less.

Photo of Jennifer McKee:

http://www.ereleases.com/pic/Club-Z-McKee.jpg

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New tutoring business sends kids to the dogs

Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:11 AM PDT

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Kimberly Brown

Lauren Carpenter, Community News

Another Shenendehowa graduate is willing to bet on her home town as she starts up a new business. Kimberly Brown is making the daily extended commute from her home on Lake George for Saratoga Tutoring Services as a private tutor whose background is abundant in experience and certifications.

Brown's bachelors and masters are both from the College of St. Rose and her certifications include Special Education K-6, Elementary Education K-6 and English 7-12. She has 17 years teaching experience most recently as a fourth grade special ed teacher at Whitehall Elementary School near her home.

"As a tutor my business will be focused within my expertise," Browns says. This includes reading assessments and tutoring for reading and writing K-12 and building skills in reading and writing for those with disabilities. Brown also emphasizes study prep skills for students who have not passed the required ELA or Regents exams. She plans on coaching them on skills utilizing past tests as practice tools.

The most unique concept Brown is bringing to the table is her two-year-old golden doodle Amber Lee. Trained in the national READ (Reading Education Assistant Dogs) Program, Amber Lee is ready and willing to motivate children for learning while increasing self-esteem or eliminating shyness as she has successfully done while at Whitehall Elementary School.

Started in Utah, Brown says the READ Program has boosted that state's reading levels to the highest in the country. "With a therapy dog statistics show that blood pressure is lowered, no one can talk back — it's just a really great program. Amber Lee just lights up their day," Brown said.

Taking Amber Lee from the classroom to private tutoring sessions is new for both Brown and her pooch. Brown will continue to use Amber Lee as a reading partner kids will read to making it more fun for them as they learn. "And kids kids stay more on task," she says.

Brown has an office on Clifton Country Road. While many tutors meet with students at home or a library, Brown insists there are too many distractions at those venues. "For me to tutor, it's most beneficial to have my own space," she said. Many parents will agree with Brown that a quiet professional setting with a lovable dog will most definitely have its perks. Whether it is preparing for a new school year or mastering a difficult subject, Saratoga Tutoring Services is open for business and welcoming new students.

"With Amber Lee the sky is the limit," Brown says.

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Signpost - Math Tutoring Moved

Posted: 08 Jun 2010 04:55 PM PDT

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"Have you ever gone to class and not listened?" said Amanda Hadlock, coordinator of the ASCP Drop-In Math Tutoring. "The problem with classes is that there is always a point when someone is not listening. It doesn't matter how great of a teacher they are, how entertaining, or how much information they're giving; there's just always going to be a point where they don't listen, because they're not listening for 100 percent of the time. And when students are really listening is when they come in for the tutoring and they say, 'OK, I really need help.' Then they're ready to listen."


This is Hadlock's explanation for the recent changes in the developmental math program at Weber State University. Recently, tutoring for the developmental math classes was moved to the Hub (Lampros Hall). Developmental math classes include Math 950, 955, 960 and 1010.


Developmental math classes were previously held three times a week, while students were left to find help and tutoring on their own. But the Developmental Math Department decided to change all of that over the past two semesters in order to help students excel in their classes.


"They didn't know where it was all the time and we worked with the Math Department quite a bit, getting it in the syllabus and other things, but every instructor's different and some advertised it more than others," Hadlock said. "Students had to kind of figure out where to go and a lot of the developmental math students don't use tutoring. Students in Math 960 and Math 1010 and a lot of our 950 and 955 students wouldn't come in for help. It's our students who are in 1010 or 1050 that are really assertive. But the ones who are really struggling don't always come in for help and so when the developmental math program started to redesign the entire way they teach, and so the method has changed."


Now students in these math classes will only attend class once per week and receive most of their information from instructional videos and the electronic-text. Then they are given the chance to come into the Hub whenever they want to in order to ask questions of the tutors. This system is based off of the Emporium Model for math learning. This new model has also had an effect on the tutors working at the Hub.


"They like working with the faculty," Hadlock said. "They like that interaction; they haven't gotten that interaction before. Now that they're staffed at the Hub they are with the faculty. They are working together and it's creating a different dynamic."


Trudy Millburn, a WSU freshman majoring in chemistry, commented on the new tutoring program and how it has been beneficial to her.


"I do like being able to come in whenever I do have a question," Millburn said, "because when you do just go to class you can only get help from the teacher at another time. So to have that is nice because if I don't understand something I can just come in."


However, one complaint that Millburn had was about the number of tutors on staff.


"The tutors do really good when I need help in that," Millburn said. "But sometimes there are not enough tutors to how many students are in there so we have to wait a while."


Allen Nera, a sophomore majoring in computer science, has also had the chance to utilize the tutoring program.


"I have retaken Math 950 two times before so then they put me in Math 955, and so it's been a lot more helpful," Nera said. "I can do it at my own pace and you get help from the tutors while you're in there. And I'm currently in Math 960, working my way towards Math 1010, so it has been better."


While Hadlock commented that there is not yet any solid data on what effect the new method is having, Nera was able to comment on the effects the tutoring program has already had on his academic performance.


"I've passed my 950 class with a B, and I haven't had a B in any math class since high school."

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