There is no question that a good "personal tutor" otherwise known as a "learning coach" can make all the difference in the world for a student, whether that student 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 the desired outcomes of the program, but who will also have the right personality to make the entire process rewarding and enjoyable for your child. To that end, I have established a selection process that will ensure that once your child begins the instructional stage of the program he/she will have the opportunity to experience maximum growth and development from the learning experience.

THE LEARNING CLINIC 
TUTORING PROGRAM

THE FIRST STEP: 
Establishment of Student Profile & Program Objectives
 
The first thing we will do is meet, preferably at your home, to collect as much information as possible so that I can compile a comprehensive profile of your child which will include, among other things, the following information:

• a complete description of the child (age; grade level; address; etc.)

• current status of the child with respect to learning difficulties, challenges, etc.

• your overall expectations as a parent with respect to desired outcomes of the tutoring,

• and any other relevant details about your child or situation of which a prospective tutor should be aware.

I will examine any past records of achievement and reports that you have for your child. If possible, we will go over some of your child's notebooks to see his pervious level of performance. Part of the meeting will include discussion with your child to determine his/her disposition with respect to working with a personal learning coach. I want to make sure that your child understands the tutor's role in providing support that the child will need to be a successful student.

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 the first meeting, I will then be able to develop a plan of action that should accomplish those objectives.

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...

• There will be four sessions scheduled each month.
  However, you are also able to schedule as few as one or two per month or as many as eight or more depending on the needs of the student, the availability of the tutor and your ultimate goals.
   

• each session will consist of 90 minutes;
    

• each session will be held in the home of the student unless otherwise mutually agreed;
   

• 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.
    

• the tutor will review the progress of the student with the parent at the end of each session or otherwise as requested;
    

• the parent and/or student 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;
   

• the parent and/or student may contact The Learning Clinic for advice or consultation at any time and may arrange meetings with Mr. Robert Kirwan as desired and necessary for advice on learning and/or career planning;

FROM SEPTEMBER TO JUNE (During the school year)

The format for each 90 minutes session will be in accordance with the following:

• The exact format of the sessions will be determined according to what is in the best interests of the student, 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 the student clear up any difficulties that may have been encountered by the student. Students are asked to keep track of topics and concepts with which they had problems so that they can point those areas out to the tutor at the next session.
     

• 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 the student a general understanding of the concepts so that when they are taught in class the student will find the work much easier to grasp. This will help prevent the student from falling further behind and will help improve his/her confidence level.
    

• The final portion of the session will be spent working on any assignments or specific homework responsibilities, with the main objective of ensuring that the student 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 the student 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.
      

• 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 the student to cope with the demands of the current curriculum while at the same time bridging the gaps in areas of weakness.
    

• Time will be made available during the latter part of the session to meet with the parent to review the progress being made by the student if the parent wishes to be be brought up to date.
    

• Finally, depending on the nature of the subject matter, the tutor may discuss some activities that the student 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 of the student's, then instead of sitting and watching the student write during the actual session, the tutor will ask the student 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 help the child become successful.

LENGTH OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM

With respect to the length of the program:

• The actual length of the program will depend on the agreed upon plan of action and the progress of the child. 
  

• It is recommended that in order for the tutoring to begin to have a positive and lasting impact upon your child, you should commit to a minimum of 18 hours (12 sessions). There is no obligation to you to continue this long, but we have found that it takes a while for a child to incorporate some of the skills we are trying to develop.
   

• 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.
   

• It is further understood that either party may discontinue the program at the end of any given four-session period. This means that neither you nor the tutor will be required to commit to a long-term contract any longer than four sessions.
    

• We also offer a special "stop and start" feature where you can stop the program for a month or two and then pick it back up again from where you left off. Usually this will be done with the same tutor.

Continuous Supervision, Evaluation and Review

Supervision of the program by Robert Kirwan of The Greater Sudbury Learning Clinic will include:

• ongoing communication with the tutor to evaluate and review the progress of the student;
    

• ongoing communication with the parents/student to provide necessary support and guidance.

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.

PAYMENT PLAN

Our main goal is to offer professional personal tutoring services that are affordable for most parents and their children. The most important consideration should be the needs of the 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.

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 Greater Sudbury Learning Clinic 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;
   
• 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: 

• Call me at (705) 969-7215 and leave a message for me to call you back:
    
• Send me an email and I will get back to you.

Robert Kirwan
Independent Education & Career Development Agent