Sylvan Learning Center

[robinjones1]

Recently, I had my son assessed at Sylvan learning center. They were strictly looking at his reading comprehension. They told me that for $6100 and five hours a week for 4.5 months, they could help my son. I went online and found alot of bad reviews for Sylvan. Has anyone else tried the Hollywood Sylvan and what were their experiences?

 

[donbarzini]

$6100 for 90 hrs of reading help= ~$68.00 per hour. Seems a leeeeetle steep.

 

[BusyMom]

I had my daughter tested at the Hollywood Sylvan Learning Center a couple of years ago - she needed some help with math. They wanted to charge me a similar amount, wanted her to attend over the summer and at 8:00 on Saturday mornings. Had I thought this was necessary, I would have done it - no questions asked. However, they wanted to put her through basic math lessons before they even started working with her on the class she was in, which was Honors Algebra. I felt like all they wanted to do was capitalize on my concern about getting my child some help. We ended up finding a local high school teacher to come to the house two days a week for an hour or so. He charged $20.00 an hour. Her grades went up immediately - turns out she didn't need the remedial math lessons at almost $70.00 an hour.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Recently, I had my son assessed at Sylvan learning center. They were strictly looking at his reading comprehension. They told me that for $6100 and five hours a week for 4.5 months, they could help my son.

You and your son can read together and save the money. My daughter had comprehension problems and I told her to place sticky notes on words she didn't understand. She would look them up later and then give me a sentence using that word.

It also helps if they incorporate real life events into what they are reading. If the story is about children going to an amusement park, ask him to tell you about the time you took him to Kings Dominion, Six Flags, Busch Gardens, etc.

And don't think that children should only read books. Pick up some kids magazines and let him cut out pictures and make up his own stories for fun. I guess the idea is to make it interesting for them; not boring.

 

[MDTerps]

Like Chasey said, read with your son and do the sticky thing.

I'm helping 5 students at my sons school with comprehension problems. I have them read the story, and write down the words the don't understand. Then we talk about those words. The children have to answer 2 questions about what they read (a one page story). Then I have each child read aloud to me so that I can get a feel for where they are having trouble. I also read to them and make up my own question about story. Once I'm sure they understand the story they are timed to see how many words they can read in a minute.

 

[SoftballCrazy]

Recently, I had my son assessed at Sylvan learning center. They were strictly looking at his reading comprehension. They told me that for $6100 and five hours a week for 4.5 months, they could help my son. I went online and found alot of bad reviews for Sylvan. Has anyone else tried the Hollywood Sylvan and what were their experiences?

I tried a tutor last summer. She was an actual teacher, and worked w/ my kids about 2 -4 hrs a wk. She didn't seem to find any problems, thought he was doing well. After 4th grade last yr, he had some problems w/ comprehension, not just understanding the meaning of a word, but being able to pick out the main ideas of the story...Out of frustration of bad grades (worried he wasn't going to pass 4th gr) and myself not being able to convey the concept to him, (or him not wanting to listen to Mom?) I had him tested at Sylvan (for like $80, "during a special"). I signed him up, he's been going all summer and still going for about 2 hrs a wk now. I've seen improvement, they've worked w/ him and brought him up to the level he should be working at. Sylvan sees from the testing what grade level the child is on, then they work backwards to see if the problem is from missed concepts at a lower grade level. Its expensive, $47/hr...Its very possible you can find someone to tutor, or do it yourself, and get the same results, if you work hard and can relay the needed concepts...I didn't get the desired results from my tutor, which is why I went the Sylvan route, as well as Sylvan guarantees results and my tutor didn't...Good luck.

 

[Old Dog]

We tried Sylvan with my stepdaughter. She too had reading comprehension problems. They didn't begin to address the comprehension problems until near the end of the time they said it would take to take care of things. If I had it do over again, I wouldn't.

 

[Inkpen]

Recently, I had my son assessed at Sylvan learning center. They were strictly looking at his reading comprehension. They told me that for $6100 and five hours a week for 4.5 months, they could help my son. I went online and found alot of bad reviews for Sylvan. Has anyone else tried the Hollywood Sylvan and what were their experiences?

Stay away from Sylvan. They can't keep staff and staff don't stay long.
Better getting a tutor from the local collage or private one.

 

[punjabigyrl]

robinjones1 try Kumon learning center. The annapolis one has a correspondance program. The cost is 125/month per subject. You have to take your child to the center for the initial visit so they can test him/her. The ladys name is Kelly 410-295-9595 and the Addy is
Kumon Center
Georgetown Plaza
914 Bay Ridge Road. #212
Annapolis, MD 21403

Their website is www.kumon.com Hope this helps.

 

[Hollywoodmom]

It's tough to keep staff when you pay very little and treat the teachers like poo.