Is there anything more important than your child’s education? Are there any lengths you would not go to, to make sure that your kids had every advantage possible to succeed? I’m not talking the tactics of the rich and famous mind you, but of every day folks. The people that work two or three jobs to afford to live in an area with decent schools. The people that take the time out of their evenings to help with homework or term papers instead of just watching TV.
But what do you do when it isn’t enough? You watch your child struggle with something that seems so easy to you. Reading a book. Writing a well-crafted sentence. 4 + 4. 3 x 5. You forget that there was a time when you didn’t know the answer to those either. You try to help them, without just giving them the answer, but they just don’t seem to get it. They become frustrated. You become frustrated. They stop wanting to do homework. They fight you and distract you at every chance they get. And all you really want is for them to “get it,” to understand like you understand. You try helping more. You try stepping back and letting them do more on their own. You try talking to the teacher. That doesn’t get you far. They can’t spend the whole day teaching just your child. You try tutoring. It helps them almost keep up, almost. You don’t know what to do.
Fortunately, there is someone that can help. Huntington Learning Center has been helping people in this situation for over 40 years. And soon they may be helping us.
In case I was too subtle, I was talking about my family. I know the frustration of watching a child struggle in school, because it’s my child. In first grade we kind of noticed something with reading. By second grade she seemed to be barely keeping up in math. By third grade she was definitely starting to fall behind. Tutoring with a teacher is helping a little, but she still seems to be missing basic building blocks. So, we turned to Huntington Learning Center for help.
It started with a phone call to the center director who heard our concerns and explained the process and set up an appointment for an assessment. Then the next step was the assessment, which for us was the day after the last day of school. We took her in and she did some guided testing as well as some self-testing while we also got a chance to talk over more of our concerns with her tutor. After a couple hours, we were done and back home for the start of our summer. Soon after it was time for the big reveal. I went in to meet with the center director to hear about the assessment and how Huntington was going to help. We went over all the results and she explained everything in a very clear and straightforward way that showed she really cared about what Huntington does and how they can help. The thing that really struck me was the fact that she was pointing out behaviors that we noticed all the time. Does our daughter get frustrated doing this kind of math? Does she read the same books over and over instead of looking for new books? Does she replace words she doesn’t know with words she knows? All the things that we see all the time when doing homework with her, they found out within that assessment.
And here’s the best part. They actually had a plan to help. They had a concrete plan. To help her get caught up. To help build her confidence. To help her exceed. To help her get set up for success. To build the foundation she needs so that she doesn’t struggle. And that is the most important thing to me, because I’ve seen that struggle. I’ve lived that struggle, not just with my daughter but in my own life. I’ve seen what that frustration can lead to and I want better for her. I want her to have the confidence in school that I didn’t have. I don’t want her to have to struggle in the ways I did. I want her to get it.
Disclaimer: The reviewer was compensated for this post but all opinions are my own.
