Educational Approach
Our educational philosophy is rooted in the belief that learning should be a fun and playful experience. Our combination of traditional and Montessori pedagogies allows us to create a unique learning environment that fosters confidence and success, by building a bond with our students. Connect with us today to see how we can help your child grow in their academic journey and nurture their innate love of learning.
My Teaching Style
Connection
The bond created with a student is of upmost importance to the success of the child’s academic work. This connection enables the student to respect and merit the material presented to them with a caring, thoughtful and influential guide. The goal is for the child to look forward to spending time together and be able to relate to their teacher by feeling safe, supported and valued. This essential connection between teacher and student gives way to whole-person learning supporting the social and emotional needs of the child along with their academic needs.
Playfulness
Learning should be fun! Making learning playful is what unleashes a child’s natural desire to learn. Learning needs to incorporate movement, games and tactile materials, especially with a young learner. When a child is having fun and enjoying themself, academic challenges can be overcome.
Love of Learning
A child has an instinctive desire for knowledge, a curiosity and a longing to learn. It is a role of the teacher to keep this love of learning alive in the child by acting as a role model with a brilliant sense of enthusiasm for learning. For a young child, this is the key time to build this love of learning. We can always gain more knowledge with time, but it is much harder to change a child’s attitude towards learning down the road. This zest for learning aids in making their time in a tutoring session or at school that much more fun!
Confidence
We work to show our students how proud of them we are every step of the way. Providing a “just right challenge” allows students to excel academically while creating a sense of pride for their abilities. This allows the child to enjoy their academic work and avoid creating distress in the child to frantically excel. Confidence gives way to the child feeling intrinsically motivated to learn, offers a sense of pride to the child and encourages them when working independently. We passionately believe in the remarkable potentialities of all children.
Personalization
Every session we work with our students looks a little different. Sessions vary based on the energy of the child on a particular day and their current academic goals. Variability keeps the child interested through an innovative and creative approach session-by-session. We recognize each day is a new day and we hold great esteem for our student’s abilities, while recognizing that some days simply are not their best days. Our teaching is crafted to engage a child based on their specific interests and to fit a child’s learning style. In beginning sessions, time is taken to get to know the child so that we can bring in activities that fit their needs and will spark their interest, whether that be an interest in a certain animal or a specific hobby.
Pedagogy
Tutoring incorporates both traditional evidence-based teaching practices as well as Montessori methodologies. Montessori pedagogy provides our work with hands-on materials and learning based in movement. Learning research shows the importance of putting books in a child’s hands, and the value of more & more reading, which far surpasses countless worksheets. Time for review and repetition are essential, but only to the point of necessity, while still keeping the student engaged. Reading tutoring balances time between motivating the child to grow in their independent reading with time to be read to and enhance their comprehension skills. We aim to make our time an asset to the child’s work at school, while being different in design, with the exception of specifically assisting with homework assignments. Both Montessori and traditional methodologies allow us to work towards the goal of using education for the growth of society while providing broad and integral knowledge to our students.