February review: Susan Said What?!
Susan Said What?! www.susansaidwhat.wordpress.com is a lifestyle blog created by Delaware-based freelance writer Susan McNeill. Recently, Susan enrolled her son at Back to Basics for test taking preparation. She recounted her experience on the blog, an excerpt of which follows.
“It’s hard for me to believe, but my son Matt will be entering high school in the fall. In Delaware, the choice-magnet-charter-private school competition is nothing short of fierce. He’s extremely bright and has top grades, so initially we weren’t concerned. He took the placement test for the Charter School of Wilmington (the state’s top academic public school) along with 800 other students for a chance at 225 freshman slots. When he didn’t make the 1st cut and was assigned to “interview status,” we were understandably worried (although after his interview he was accepted).
For his next placement test we targeted prestigious private prep school Archmere Academy (Vice President Joe Biden is an alum). This time we decided to take no chances – so we looked for some testing taking / test prep help, so that that he could do his best. Enter Back to Basics Learning Dynamics.
If you aren’t from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania or New Jersey, you’re probably not yet familiar with this firm. Back to Basics is the area’s undisputed leader in one-on-one tutoring, homeschooling, testing like SAT prep and ESL instruction. For over 24 years Back to Basics has served the varied educational needs of over 11,500 children and adult students!
Matt was paired with an exceptional tutor who proved to be the perfect match — both in teaching style and personality. Sessions on test taking, timing, eliminating answers on multiple choice questions, and many, many practice tests later, we thought Matt was ready.
He took the placement test last week. Not only did he score well, he scored so well that he was eligible for several thousand dollars academic scholarship money. Not too shabby!
I can’t thank Back to Basics enough! Many of the firm’s policies and procures differentiate it from a Sylvan of Huntington – or really any of the big chain services you may see advertised. Although Back to Basics is small in comparison (just under 100 tutors) their careful matching of a student and tutor make a student’s success much, much more likely. In fact, Matt has made such dramatic strides in such a short time, that I think we will be continuing with weekly sessions to get him ready for the more challenging academics he’ll face in September.
If you want to learn more, you can visit them at www.backtobasicslearning.com. You’ll be glad you did!”
This excerpt was reprinted with permission by Susan McNeill, www.susansaidwhat.wordpress.com. For more information, please visit www.backtobasicslearning.com or call 302-594-0754.
STUDY SKILLS WORKSHOPS
Homework can be one of, if not the, biggest after school battle. But it shouldn’t be. Help your child take responsibility for his/her own assignments. Here’s how.
If your child attends a Delaware public school or parochial elementary school, chances are that annual testing is right around the corner. DSTP and Terranova standardized tests are often administered in March of each year. For some, the thought of these types of tests can raise feelings of anxiety, apprehension and fear. Here are some suggestions for putting these concerns at bay and raising confidence and self-esteem instead.
Is your child in the right school? Perhaps you’ve seen signs throughout the early months of the school year that made you question this issue. However, you decided to wait before making a change, thinking your child may be readjusting from “summer” mode. Or maybe he/she started at a new school and a transition period was in order.
December is here and that dreaded ailment – senioritis – is already running rampant. Senioritis comes in two (almost) deadly strains. First, either your senior has received early acceptance to college and feels that no further schoolwork must be done between now and September 1 of next school year, OR, your senior is so paralyzed by fear – staring down a mountain of applications or waiting for college letters of acceptance – that he is unable to focus on the tasks at hand. Either way, senioritis is a problem for you and an even bigger one for your teen.