Give Your Child An Academic Boost With Sylvan Learning Center Of Chattanooga

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Schools & Education

The kids are still enjoying summer, but school will be back in session soon. If you want your child to stay ahead academically, there are things you can do to keep their minds sharp.

“It's a well-documented phenomenon,” said Sylvan Learning Center of Chattanooga Director John Peoples. “There is a tendency for students to lose the academic ground they gained over the previous year.”

Peoples said there are things parents can do for their children to keep them mentally engaged throughout the summer break.

“Reading is by far the most important thing to do,” he said. “Every student, every child is interested in something, just like us adults. Even if you use something like comic books or graphic novels, those are always good. Those are good visuals. They draw the child in.  Those are usually good gateways to reading more serious literature.”

If you can get your child to help in the kitchen, you can introduce some math into the conversation. “One thing that I always recommend is doing what they call kitchen math,” he said. “Do a recipe, double it, triple it, half it. That's a good way to learn things like multiplication, fractions, things of that nature.”

These days it’s hard to pull kids away from their laptops, tablets and smart phones, but Peoples said there is a way to use technology as a teaching tool. “Find something educational out there, if you're not sure, just Google it,” he said. “There are several resources out there that you can use.”

Peoples said one resource is Khan Academy which is a non-profit educational organization that provides free online courses, lessons, and exercises for learners of all ages. It offers a wide range of subjects, including math, science, history, and more, with content aligned to national and international standards. 

If your child likes to be outdoors, Peoples said Mother Nature provides several opportunities to teach your child about science. “Go outside and watch for birds,” he said. “Look for other animals and plants and use technology like a cell phone to help classify what they are seeing. These simple things can keep their minds engaged.”

 Enrolling your child at Sylvan Learning Center of Chattanooga is a great way to keep your child academically ahead. “Our mission is to take a student and make them be the best they can be,” he said. “Our motto is to make them successful not just now but, in the future, as well. We want to give them the skills, the tools that they need to be successful throughout their academic career, whether it's homework help or just getting caught up with their math or reading.”

Peoples said the first thing they do at Sylvan is an assessment of the child. “To see where they are at and get a starting point,” he said. “That helps us form a plan to get them up to where they need to be, and again, to fill in whatever building blocks that they're missing, and again, make them successful, not just now, but in coming years as well.”

Sylvan Learning Center of Chattanooga offers tutoring for classes K-12. They also offer tutoring for adults who seek to improve their math or reading skills. “Whatever we have instructors ready for, then we're happy to take clients that need that,” he said.

There are courses to help students prepare for their GED, SAT and ACT tests, and courses which provide support for home-schooled children.

With 30 years of experience, Peoples said there are signs parents can look for to determine if they may need tutoring. One is to keep an eye on their report card.

“If your kid was trucking along making A’s and B’s and all of a sudden something drops off and you start seeing D’s on the report card then you definitely want to look into that,” he said.

Peoples said to check for a change in their normal behavioral patterns and, if an educator reaches out to you expressing concerns, listen to what they have to say.

Sylvan Learning Center of Chattanooga