Tutoring for the modern student

There may come a time when children may need a little extra help here and there when it comes to getting through school.

Classically, a tutor was someone who would help the student who was perhaps at risk of failing a class or needed extra help to understand a subject. Those classical facets of tutoring are still in place, but the needs and the range of service that children can receive has changed exponentially in the last 10 years.

Beth Woods, owner of At Home Academy Educational Consulting, said there’s more to tutoring than just bringing a C up to an A. “I do a lot of educational consulting as a whole – sitting down with the parents to figure out what is best for the child, whether the child is 5 or 25,” she said.

Woods, a retired educator and administrator, started At Home Academy eight years ago as part of a plan to retire and own her own business. “I wanted to own my own business and asked what I was good at, and all I had ever done was teaching. I had taught a variety of different subjects and ages. I have a master’s degree and have been a principal. I know how to teach, and I understand the educational system,” she said.

She now has 20 tutors working with students. At Home Academy helps not only those students who may be falling behind but also those who are looking to stay ahead.

“A lot of the kids that are tutoring are not failing. Half of my students are [Advanced Placement] students at [Caddo Magnet High School] who just want to keep their A or want to do better on the AP Test. Sometimes, it’s about moving from an A to a C, but it’s also about keeping their A or wanting to improve on their ACT score from a 27 to a 30. We run the range of what the goals are, and that’s when we sit down with the parents and match the children up with the right tutor,” she said.

Tutoring these days is just as much about helping the parents understand the educational process as it is about the education of their children. “The parents are paying for the tutors to come to their home or to the library, wherever they want as it’s totally up to the parent and the child. That’s why it’s called At Home Academy – because it’s designed to be easy on the parent and productive for the child,” Woods said.”They almost get addicted in a way; they get used to this wonderful tutor coming to their house and doing homework and their child starts building their self-esteem and their self-confidence and so it really is a win-win when it works. It’s fun to see the parents take a deep breath and enjoy the school process and the kids gaining so much self-esteem and growth.”

Tutoring and test preparation are only one part of At Home Academy’s services. The second component is an assessment called Ability Battery that helps guide students and young adults to find a major or career field that best suits their inherent abilities. “It’s a two-day battery of tests that give high school students career and college choices based on their abilities,” Woods said. “You may gravitate toward teaching music or art, or maybe you should be in the business world. It gives young adults and high school children an idea of what major to get, maybe what college to go to based on their natural abilities and will help them make good career choices.”

The goal of tutoring and assessment is to discover the missing piece of the puzzle for your child. “Every child is good at something. A child [went through testing], and at school, he was only putting in about 20 percent effort when he wants to, yet took the ACT, and he was brilliant,” Woods said. “The parent wasn’t seeing any of that. They were just seeing that he wasn’t doing his homework, the teachers are giving him C’s, but once you sit down and say this kid could be a rocket scientist, it can all come together. A lot of it is to lend a sympathetic ear and say that your child is normal, and we will do this to get through it. Every case is different, but the goal is always helping the child and the parents relax a little and enjoy school.”

For more information about At Home Academy’s educational services, visit their website at www.athomeacademy.net or their Facebook page At Home Academy Educational Consulting.