Need some help making the grade?

LCA offers a variety of ways for you to get the academic support your child need.  You can choose the option that works best for you! The most common problem for students falling behind their peers is due to "Learning Gaps” that is inevitably going to happen based on an archaic assembly line system of education. Mass production does not necessarily equate to quality production. A Rolls Royce is individually manufactured, with attention to detail, as compared to a Ford. On the other hand, maybe your child is suffering with Dyslexia or some other form of Learning Disability (LD) that you just can’t put your finger on. The public system will band-air the situation, causing more stress and problems in the later years. Two of our programs attack the root problem vs. looking for work-around solutions that may or may not last. 

WHAT IS A LEARNING GAP?
A gap is a discrepancy between what is and what should be. For instance, if someone is testing to go to college, there is an expected score to qualify. If the score is below passing, then there is a learning gap. The person does not have the skills to continue without going back for remedial help or review.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
You child is participating in an "assembly line" of academics. If they miss a few days the teacher does not wait for them, but keeps on moving on with the weekly, monthly lesson plan. Perhaps the teacher sends home additional homework, but is that really enough to allow the student to catch up? You child is home sick for a week, their sibling brings homework home and all is supposed to be well upon your child’s return? Yes, although your child missed 30 hours of academic school time - you the parent is supposed to get the child caught up every evening. Even if you spend 2-3 hours reviewing the materials, it will never replace what was presented in class. Although your child may catch up - I would argue that instead they did not. Instead the teacher has moved on - teaching NEW material, and your child just seems like they are caught up - because you are back to your normal routine. If you really think about it - that week your child missed, may have contained foundational ideas that will be required in high grade levels. If that foundation was not there to begin with - we have a gap which will eventually cause the structure to collapse. 

"Learning gaps” also happen because provincial academic standards are too low. Let’s set aside for a moment, that the province (in the name of self-esteem) does not allow teachers to fail a child. Let’s assume that your child has never missed a day of school due to illness. Academically, your child always seems to score in the 60's. Year after year, your child is moving up the grades, but year after year it seems to be getting tougher and tougher. Although passing with a 60 seems acceptable, when you think about it, your child is missing 40% of what was taught. What do you think will happen the following year, if the 40% your child did not learn, are key elements for what is being taught? Bingo! Teachers following the Ontario curriculum are only mandated to teach 60% of what is presented in the outline. So your child passed with a 60 based on 60% of what is in the curriculum. The following year, your child’s new teacher is also teaching 60% of the curriculum, but it’s not a continuation of what was taught the previous year but instead 40% new material with only 20% being familiar to your child. Therefore you child really only has a foundation of 60% passing grade on 20% of the subject matter. Therefore they really only can relate to 12% of the material being taught. Obviously, we are working with the extremes here, but you get a sense of how easily learning gaps can form. Year after year, this assembly line of educating kids is failing them.

Our Tutoring Program (in fact our entire school) is based on an individualized learning program that advances at your child’s own pace. If they are absent for a few days, the curriculum waits for them. And we ensure academic excellence with passing grades of 90% in the foundational years of grades 1-4 and 80% from grades 5-12. If your child has Dyslexia or some other Learning Disability, then please educate yourself on.

ARROWSMITH
or
THE BARTON READING AND WRITING PROGRAM

 These programs work hand in hand with our Campus School, Online School and even with our Tutoring Program.