We received a complimentary evaluation at the Huntington Learning Center in Arlington Heights, IL in exchange for our opinion of the service.
My daughter loves learning – she craves knowledge and is interested in all things school. Advanced classes and the excellence certificates attest to that.
Her younger brother is a different story. The boy is smart and quick at picking up new skills outside of the classroom. Skateboard, skiing or swimming – he is fantastic at mastering anything that moves.
However, schooling has never been easy for him. At the age of two, my son was in the Early Intervention program. When he turned three, he went to the special needs pre-school. He got his ADHD diagnosis at the age of six. Going into the fifth grade, he is still in the ESL program, and he is not a massive fan of reading and writing. I knew that he needed help but didn’t know how much and where to start.
How can I help my son to be better in school when I don’t know what he is missing?
How do I fix it? This question has been on my mind for months if not years, but I didn’t know where to even start until I visiting our local Huntington Learning Center.
About Huntington Learning Center
Huntington Learning Center has been offering tutoring programs for over 40 years. Their offerings include reading, writing, math, study skills, spelling, test prep for the ACT and SAT, and more. All students grades K – 12 are welcome! The mission here is to help students get the most out of education and prepare for what comes next.
Where do I Start?
Even if you don’t know what to do first, initial assessment sounds like an amazing first step to solving an educational puzzle.
I picture school knowledge as a fishermen net – it is more or less whole, yet it has holes here and there. There a few big holes in the netting and it makes me wonder if I need to do something about it. However, it’s time to go fishing, and I am off into the sea again.
The academic evaluation at the Huntington learning center is a process that scans for the holes in the knowledge netting. The goal is to find the gaps and fix them regardless of how far back you have to go.
After a short conversation with an instructor my son disappears behind the door. He won’t come back for a couple of hours from his evaluation. In the meanwhile, I fill out a few pages of a questionnaire and schedule an appointment to review the results of the assessment.
Why Do Gaps Happen?
You might remember yourself trying to remain focused on the class material yet drifting away mentally someplace more fun. Missed something? Got a bad grade on a test! With the intensity of the school curriculum, there is usually no time to go back. Onto the new chapter. However, sometime in the future, you will come across something more challenging based on something basic you don’t know. Sounds like a bigger problem. Now what?
The Results Are In
While evaluation is a first step toward the solution of the problem, it is undoubtedly only the first step. After my son’s visit to the Huntington learning center, it was my turn to sit down with an instructor for the result. The follow-up visit takes about an hour and includes an in-depth analysis of the evaluation.
Based on my son’s evaluation, his knowledge level puts him into the middle of the third grade, while in reality, he is about to enter the fifth grade.
That’s not the piece of good news I was expecting. However, I am choosing an optimistic approach – identify the problem, and look for the solution. I am at the Huntington Learning Center to learn what I can do to help my son do better in school.
Nuggets of Wisdom from My Son
My son sure knows how to make people laugh. While going through the Hunting Learning center, he shared these nuggets of wisdom.
- Do you raise your hand and ask a question if you don’t understand something?
- No, because it is not polite to interrupt the teacher
- How long does it take for you to complete your homework?
- 2-6 minutes
- Do you ever get tired in the classroom
- My eyes get bored, so I eat carrots
What’s next?
I got a much-needed understanding of where my son needs help in both math and reading. I also walked out with a detailed plan of how the Huntington Learning Center can help me.
If you have any questions about Huntington Learning Center and how they can help your child get the best education possible, visit their website by clicking here.
