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Finding Just The Right Tutor Who Is Suitable For Your Child Is Of Utmost Importance
With The Learning Coach Approach There is no question that a good "personal
tutor"
otherwise known as a "learning coach" can make all
the difference in the world for your child, whether he/she is struggling or excelling in
his/her current studies. Therefore, when it
comes to the selection of a suitable tutor for your child,
please rest assured that I
will not compromise on the qualifications of the instructor. I want to make sure that the tutor is
someone who will not only help achieve your desired outcomes, but who will also have the right personality to
make the entire process rewarding and enjoyable for your child
and your family. Robert Kirwan
Professional Learning Coach |
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FEATURES OF OUR
TUTORING PROGRAM |
| The
Learning Clinic Education Centre offers parents and their children a
program that is totally different from anything else
you will find in the entire area. There are so many
added benefits to working with a personal
"Learning Coach" from The
Learning Clinic that you will sometimes feel as if
the tutor is more like a “family friend”, and
not a professional service provider. |
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| ONE-ON-ONE
INSTRUCTION
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 The
Learning Clinic provides your child the full
undivided attention of a personal tutor. Some
tutoring franchise centers have a policy where
your child will be required to share a tutor
with two or three other students. With
The Learning Clinic your child will always
have the benefit of one-on-one personalized
instruction. Not only will we provide you with
a tutor who is qualified to help your child
with his/her curriculum needs, we will find
one who is also compatible to the personality
of your child. We feel that having a tutor you
enjoy being with and who shares some of your
own personal interests could make all the
difference in the world. We set the stage for
success by finding the best available match
for your child so that there is an instant
bonding and the learning process is able to
move forward. |
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| RIGHT
IN YOUR OWN HOME
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A tutor will come right into your home so that
you don’t have to disrupt your family
schedule by going to an instruction center. We
want to make the learning process as
convenient as possible for the entire family.
By arranging for a tutor to come to your home
to meet with your child, the rest of the
family can go about their normal routines
without disruption. It also means that one or
more of the parents are present at all times
and can be assured that the tutor is
accomplishing the desired goals and objectives
with their child. We
recommend 90 minute long sessions session so
that your child has the benefit of receiving
instruction in a relaxed manner. It also
allows parents time to discuss the progress of
the child. The 90 minute session is broken up
into small manageable segments in order to
keep the student interested and fully focused.
It also allows us time to work on immediate
problems as well as progressive long-term
skill development. |
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| FLEXIBLE
& CONVENIENT SCHEDULE |
 You
and your child’s tutor will work out a
schedule that is convenient to everyone. Each
week may be different and you can even
schedule sessions as often or as little as you
wish. We know that
families are involved in numerous activities
today and we don't want your tutoring schedule to
interfere with other important family
activities. Our tutors will cooperate with you
at all times to make sure that the time and
day of the sessions is the most convenient and
beneficial for everyone involved. Furthermore,
you can schedule sessions as often as twice a week or as
little as once a month, depending on the needs of your
child. |
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| PERSONALIZED
INSTRUCTION UNIQUE TO YOUR CHILD |
 Because
The Learning Clinic is a private practice, we are not
required to use “packaged” programs prepared by head
office as is the case with many franchised tutoring
companies. Instead,
we find out what your child is doing in class
and help him/her develop the skills that are
needed right now. This means that your child
gets a personalized instruction program that is
absolutely geared to his/her needs. As we are
helping your child cope with the demands of
the current school program, we are working on
skills that will help your child in the
future. This approach allows us to work with
students from Junior Kindergarten right
through to University and College. We help
your child learn what he/she needs to know in order
to succeed in the school program.
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NO
LONG-TERM CONTRACT TO SIGN
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 We
don't want anyone to feel "trapped" at The
Learning Clinic Education Centre. Therefore, you
are only asked to commit to six hours at
a time. When you decide you no longer wish to
continue with the tutoring you can simply
stop. You are not locked in to a long-term
contract as is the case with so many other tutoring
companies We want to give you the
assurance that if you are not totally
satisfied with the tutor or the program, you
will be free to stop the sessions at any time.
It also means that you can schedule your six
hours as you see fit. Some parents spread the
time over six or more weeks, while others feel
that their children need to compress the
sessions more closely together. The choice is
yours and will be what is best for your child.
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| STOP
& START FEATURE
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 You
also have the option of
stopping the tutoring for a month or two, or
even longer and then you can pick it back up
again, usually with the same tutor and at no
additional cost. Many of our students take the
summer off and then contact the same tutor
they had before the break to continue in the
new school year.
We have also had some students who get help from a tutor
at the beginning or end of each semester. Some students
have called for another tutor several years after first
receiving the assistance of a tutor from The Learning
Clinic Education Centre. We maintain all records. Once you
are a "client" of The Learning Clinic Education
Centre, your family becomes part of our "data
base", meaning that when you return we are familiar
with your case history. |
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CONTACT
WITH TUTOR
AT ALL TIMES
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 You have the ability to
contact your tutor by phone or email in
between sessions in case you have a concern
that cannot wait for the next session. There
is no extra charge for this service. This is
one of the "safety" features we have
built into our program. It means that if your
child is ever in need of some immediate
attention that can be resolved over the phone
or with an email, then you can take care of
the matter right away instead of having to
wait until the next scheduled session.
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FAMILY
TUTORING AT NO EXTRA COST |
 When
we send a personal tutor to your home, you
have the option of having the tutor take care
of other children in the house. For example,
the tutor may be coming in to look after the
needs of one of your children, but if one or
more of his/her brothers and sisters need some
help from time to time, you have the
option of asking the tutor to help them as
well. This "Family Tutor" policy has
been very well received by our parents who
have children with different needs. |
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| SHARING WITH A
CLASSMATE AT NO EXTRA COST |
We also provide parents the option of having
our tutor come in and work with two or three
children who are in the same class. This means
that your child can have one or two of his/her
classmates come over to share the services of
a tutor. Parents may then split the cost of
the tutoring services and receive the benefit
of small group tutoring that is geared to
achieving similar goals and objectives within
a much smaller budget. |
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| YOUR OWN FAMILY EDUCATION ADVISOR
|
 Robert Kirwan will act as
your personal Education Agent and will be
available to provide you with guidance and
advice on any education and/or career planning
concerns you may have. There will be many
issues arising with respect to the education
of your children over the years. Whenever you
are in need of some professional advice or
guidance, all you have to do is contact Robert
Kirwan and he will be only too glad to help.
Kirwan also provides a service where he will represent you
at IPRC and IEP meetings |
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FINALLY
AN
AFFORDABLE TUTORING PROGRAM
|
 Most importantly, you can
get help for your child that is not only
effective; it is also one of the most
affordable tutoring options around. Our fee is one of the
best values around, especially when you consider that
we provide you with a personal tutor who comes
to your own home for one-on-one service.
The cost of tutoring services through The Learning
Clinic Education Centre is only $36 per hour.
We feel that this rate is extremely competitive when
compared with comparable tutoring options in the Greater
Sudbury Area. |
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THE
LEARNING CLINIC EDUCATION CENTRE
TUTORING PROGRAM |
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THE FIRST STEP:
Establishment
of A Student Profile & Program Objectives
The first thing we will do is collect as
much information as possible about your child's current
situation so that I can compile a comprehensive profile
of your child which will include,
among other things, the following information:
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a complete description of the child
(age; grade level; address; etc.)
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current status of the child with
respect to learning difficulties, challenges, etc.
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your overall expectations as a parent
with respect to desired outcomes of the tutoring,
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and any other relevant details about
your child or situation of which a prospective tutor should be aware.
We will discuss any past records of
achievement and reports that you have for your child. Once I have all of the information
available, I establish the
general "baseline" position of your child so that we
know our starting point. Based on the goals and objectives
discussed during this first contact, I will then be able to
develop a plan of action that should accomplish those
objectives.
In most cases we can gather this
information over the phone. However, there are many times when
I recommend that we meet so that our evaluation is done
face-to-face. These meetings are usually required if there are
some special needs or other issues complicating the situation.
SECOND
STEP:
Tutor
Selection & Program Planning
A preliminary plan of action will be
developed which will form the framework within which a
personal
tutor will be asked to operate. This will include such
organizational components as the days and times of instruction; the frequency
of instruction; a tentative schedule; and the nature of the
instruction sessions.
Once the plan of action is established I will
make contact with potential
tutors who have the necessary skills and attributes to meet
your child's needs. Each prospective tutor will have a clear understanding of the expectations of the parents, and
also of the terms and conditions within which he/she may be
operating. Each tutor receives this information prior to
accepting an assignment so that the tutor is well aware of the
parent's expectations.
Once I make contact with my potential
tutors, I will carefully review their qualifications and skills,
discuss your child's needs with them, and then select the most
compatible tutor available.
During this time, you may also be asked
to gather information from the school such as former diagnostic
tests, previous in-school reviews and evaluations, unit plans,
etc. This is information that will be relevant to the
establishment of an effective program for your child. It will
also demonstrate to the school that you are taking steps to
assist your child to become more successful in the current
school program.
Once I am satisfied that I have found the
most compatible personal tutor available who will meet your needs and expectations, I will make
arrangements for the tutor to contact you to set up the first
session. THE
THIRD STEP: Instructional Sessions
with the Tutor
Unless otherwise
determined...
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each
session will consist of 90 minutes or longer. Most are 90
minutes in length for elementary school children;
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each session will be held in your home unless otherwise mutually agreed;
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it is recommended that one session be scheduled each
week, however you can schedule as few as two per month or as many as
three per week.
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the tutor will review the progress of your child
with you at the end of each session or otherwise as requested;
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you will have access to the
tutor by phone or email if you have a serious question or issue that
needs to be addressed right away;
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you may contact The
Learning Clinic Education Centre for advice or consultation at any time and may arrange
meetings with Mr. Robert Kirwan as desired and necessary for advice on
education and/or career planning;
FORMAT OF EACH
INSTRUCTION SESSION
The format for each 90 minute long session
during the school year will be in accordance with the
following. For tutoring that takes place during the summer, we
follow a slightly different format.
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The exact format of the sessions will be
determined according to what is in the best interests of your child,
but generally the first part of the session will be spent reviewing
the work done in class during the previous week. This will give the
tutor an opportunity to help your child clear up any recent difficulties
that may have been encountered. Your child is asked during the week to
keep track of topics and concepts with which he/she had problems so that
these areas can be pointed out to the tutor at the next session.
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The second portion of the session will be spent
working on topics and concepts that may be taught in class during the
upcoming weeks. The goal here is to give your child a general
understanding of the concepts so that when they are taught in class
your child will find the work much easier to grasp. This will help
prevent your child from falling further behind and will help improve
his/her confidence level.
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The final portion of the session will be spent
working on any assignments or specific homework responsibilities, with
the main objective of ensuring that your child is able to complete
the assignments or homework without any difficulty. It will also be a
time to review some fundamental skills that were missed in previous
years that must be developed in order to bring your child up to grade
level. For this portion of the session the tutor may bring in
extra assignments, books, etc. that the tutor has found may be useful
in the process. It is also a time to do some reading comprehension and
writing practice and/or some basic math practice to refine and further
develop basic skills.
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Therefore, in summary, you can be confident
that the tutor will utilize the full instruction
session to develop knowledge of the concepts and learning skills that
are necessary for your child to cope with the demands of the current
curriculum while at the same time bridging the gaps in areas of
weakness.
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Time will be made available during the latter
part of the session to meet with you to review the progress
being made by your child if you wish to be be brought up to
date.
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Finally, depending on the nature of the subject
matter, the tutor may discuss some activities that your child should
be doing in the coming days to prepare for the next
session. The
objective here is that if the tutor wishes to work on a written sample
done by your child, then instead of sitting and watching your child write during the actual session, the tutor will ask
your child to
bring the rough draft already completed to the beginning of the next
session so that the time can be used more efficiently. We believe that
the personal tutor is a member of a team that includes the child, the
parents and possibly older brothers and sisters in the home. Everyone
can do their little part to help your child become successful.
DURATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM
With respect to the length of the
program:
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The actual length of the program will depend on the
agreed upon plan of
action and the progress of your child.
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In order for
the program to be effective and have a lasting
impact upon your child, you will be asked to commit to a minimum of
6 hours (4 sessions). There is no obligation to you to
continue any longer, but we have found that it takes a
while for a child to incorporate some of the skills we are
trying to develop, so while you are only committed to six
hours at a time, it is recommended that you give the
tutor at least 18 hours to have some positive impact on
your child.
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Depending on the progress of your child, you and your
tutor may decide to increase or reduce the number of sessions in any given
month.
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It is further understood that either party may
discontinue the program at the end of each block of time. This
means that neither you nor the tutor will be required to commit to
a long-term contract any longer than six hours.
Continuous Supervision, Evaluation and Review
Supervision of the program by Robert
Kirwan of The Greater Sudbury Learning Clinic will include:
If
at any time you are not completely satisfied with the tutor
who has been assigned to work with your child, you may contact
me and I will arrange for a different tutor to take over. Our
tutors understand that there may be times when personalities
clash and a change is necessary. Tutors do not take this
action personally. Our goal is to do what is best for the
student, and if that means turning an assignment over to
another instructor, then we will have no problem doing so.
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AFFORDABLE, EFFECTIVE
& CONVENIENT |
AFFORDABLE TUTORING SERVICES
- Our main goal is to offer professional personal tutoring services that
are affordable as well as effective. The most
important consideration should be the needs of your child and not the cost
of the service.
- To that end, we feel that we have developed a system which will deliver
excellent instructional value and which will be most effective in
achieving the desired outcomes. There is also enough flexibility built
into the system that will allow just about anyone to access our
services.
INTEGRATED PROGRAM
All of the elements of the program outlined above are interrelated,
therefore, it is difficult to differentiate the costs associated with each
of the components. We have considered the WHOLE PACKAGE when
determining the price and we also considered the value added benefits of
The Learning Clinic Education Centre Tutoring Program, namely:
- You control the total cost since you determine the scheduling of the
sessions;
- There is no contract to sign. You are free to end or suspend the
service whenever you wish;
- We operate on a pay-as-you-go system where you are not required to
put a large amount of money up front;
- After the initial 6 hour period, you are only committed to six hours at a time,
meaning that you are free to discontinue the tutoring program at any
time;
- We provide flexible scheduling so that you can change meeting times
to accommodate your personal needs;
- We provide you with a STOP AND START feature where you can interrupt
the tutoring for weeks or months at a time and then begin again at no extra
cost to you;
- You have contact with your tutor via phone and/or email in between
sessions when needed;
- You have contact with Robert Kirwan, the director of The Learning
Clinic whenever you need assistance and guidance.
With everything in mind, we have determined what we feel is a very fair
and affordable fee and payment plan which is outlined below:
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PAYMENT POLICY
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LOW HOURLY RATE:
- We feel you will find that the hourly rate
charged by The Learning Clinic Education Centre is very reasonable considering the
range of services provided by our personal tutors.
- Our regular rate is $36 per hour payable
in six hour blocks of $216.
- This rate is comparable to other tutoring options offered in
the Greater Sudbury Area, but we feel that no other company
offers as many value-added benefits as The Learning Clinic
Education Centre, therefore, when you compare the value you
receive, our rates are second to none.
INITIAL INSTRUCTION PERIOD:
- You will be required to pay for the first six hours when you
begin the first instruction session with your tutor.
- Payment of $216 by cheque will be made payable to THE LEARNING
CLINIC at your first session.
- All sessions will be a minimum of 90 minutes in length and should
be scheduled once a week unless otherwise arranged between you and
your tutor.
SUBSEQUENT INSTRUCTION PERIODS:
- Each installment payment that follows will purchase a block of
six (6) instruction hours.
- Therefore, at the end of each six hour period, you will be
given an invoice for the next six hours. Payment will be given
to the tutor at that time unless otherwise arranged through Robert
Kirwan.
- The total amount
of each invoice will be $216 made payable by cheque to THE LEARNING
CLINIC.
- If you want the tutor to visit you once a week the cost will be
approximately $216 per month.
- If you want the tutor to visit you twice a month, the cost will
be $108 per month.
- If you only want the tutor to visit you once a month, the cost
will be $54 per month.
- Therefore, you are in control of the total cost.
- However, your
child will at least be receiving the support of a personal tutor to
help him/her become more successful in school.
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MATERIALS & SUPPLIES
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- Whereas the instructional program is geared to working within the
current curriculum program being followed by the child at school, there
should be very little need for additional workbooks or reference
materials.
- However, if you and the tutor feel some additional materials
would be beneficial, it will be the responsibility of the parent to cover
these costs.
- No additional materials will be purchased without your prior
approval.
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THE BEST VALUE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR
CHILD
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- We are confident that when you compare our program with its many
value-added benefits, you will agree that it is not only the most
effective tutoring you can find for your child, but it is also the most
economical.
- If you have any concerns about your child's education, please take the
first step and allow us to review your situation. We can at least
recommend a program that might meet your needs and then it is up to you to
decide what you would like to do.
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