Does Your Child Need an Academic Coach?

 There is a Hallmark card commercial that comes to mind whenever I think about coaches.
In the commercial, a basketball star in school, 25 years later, travels to find her former teammates to collect signatures on a thank you card for their former coach.  The message in the Hallmark card is something to the effect that it does not matter whether you win or lose; it just matters how good your coach is. The relationship between a “good coach” and his students can be a powerful one that transcends time and paves the way for life skills that students may benefit from for the rest of their lives.  We often think of a coach when we refer to sports but are we neglecting to include another type of coach, an academic coach, in this touching moment described above?
If we can all agree that having a good coach can be life changing, imagine the role that an academic coach can play in transforming lives.  When students have low self-esteem and lack the initiative to create an academic plan for their own success, they may need more than remedial worksheets and extra practice to turn things around.  Many students are not working up to their potential because they don’t have a road map to get there.  The vast majority of them want to do better, learn more, enjoy school, but they feel that it is hopeless.  From their vantage point, they show up at school and try to do the work but it never seems to make the desired change. It is never quite enough. Certainly, students need more than help with content in these situations.
If you can relate to the power that a mentor or coach can provide through mutual respect, role modeling, instruction, and practice, then you may be able to understand that providing that same framework to improve a student’s grades is key to success in making a change.  In searching for someone to help your child improve his grades, look for an academic coach who will take the time to be both an academic coach and a qualified tutor.  Our tutors are trained to do both.
Call Dawn Oliver, Education Director, Tutor Doctor Santa Clarita, for a free consultation at 661-219-5335.  You can also learn more online at www.santaclaritatutoring.com, www.facebook.com/santaclaritatutordoctor and www.tutordoctor.com.