Monday, August 2, 2010

Sisters team up on iLearn tutoring program

Sisters team up on iLearn tutoring program

Sisters team up on iLearn tutoring program

Posted: 01 Aug 2010 10:33 PM PDT

ALTON - Refusing to let go of her love for teaching, a local educator is operating a tutoring center.

Tiffany Plank, like many of her co-workers, was recently let go from a teaching job at Lincoln Middle School in the Edwardsville School District. Because of her passion for teaching, Plank found herself at a crossroad.

"I realized I could either give up on teaching altogether, or do something on my own that could really benefit the community," Plank said. "So I called up my sister, Kristi, and asked her what she thought about iLearn, and then we got to work."

Going to work was an understatement. Tiffany Plank, Kristi McGill and the rest of their family came together to create the tutoring center called iLearn in three weeks and a day after they signed the lease on the building. The sisters were not fazed by the work to make their dream a reality. Instead, they saw it as something they had to do.

"We wanted to be in a part of the community that needs the help," McGill said. "We want to give them the opportunity that they otherwise wouldn't have."

Increasing Learners' Educational Advantage in Reading and Numbers, better known as iLearn, provides individualized lesson plans that accommodate students' interests and learning style. The program tutors children from preschool to junior college. Plank and McGill believe that no matter the age, the one-on-one attention is essential to creating the best environment for learning.

"Sometimes kids will give up and not try again if at first they don't succeed," McGill said. "But with iLearn they get the one-on-one attention and positive feedback they need to make them feel happy and confident in both in the classroom and in life."

Plank and McGill say that the lesson plans of iLearn will include a state-standardized criterion that is necessary to the child's development at whatever stage he or she is at in schooling. There also will be activities appropriate for each grade level as well as targeting deficient areas.

"We cater lessons specific to each student based on the results of the evaluation," Plank said. "If a child sometimes gets restless in class, we will adjust to that child's needs. For example, we might kick a ball outside and do times tables in order to correlate activity with learning."

For a child to be admitted to the program, a $50 evaluation must first be obtained to better understand a child's needs. The program uses this evaluation to assist tutors in what learning habits must be developed to help the child succeed. The Howard Gardner multiple intelligence program, which is part of the evaluation, enforces the study of various types of intelligence such as bodily-kinesthetic intelligence and musical intelligence.

Plank can relate to how musical intelligence can assist a child in learning because of her background. While at Lincoln Middle School, Plank compiled four out of six musicals she directed while teaching there.

"I believe that musical theater is a great way to reach a child, both in learning and in all forms of interacting," Plank said. "It develops confidence that is helpful both socially and academically."

Because of the economy, Plank and McGill said iLearn gives children the opportunity to learn without the high cost. After the evaluation fee to determine what lesson plans will be developed, fees start at $25 per hour one-on-one with an iLearn tutor. For two to five children at a time, the charge is $15 per hour.

"Yes, it is a business. And yes, we need to have a job to survive, but that's not what this is about," Plank said. "It's about giving children the opportunity to learn at a price their family can afford. We want them to succeed first and foremost."

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