You know, that is a very good question. Especially now with all this "No child left behind", and some schools are not up to par (or close for some).

Hmmmm. Don't think public schools have the luxury of maintaining a 1 teacher to 3 or 4 student ration. Else, you're right, there'd be lots of improvement, without even changing their current "approach". Not sure this is a fair comparison.
Sylvan and kumon are not really known for being helpful for those with LD (i.e., dyslexics).
I'd just be happy if schools did a better job of identifying those with LDs and get them appropriate research based proven to work training.

I totally agree! My son is ADD and receive special ed services for some classes and has learned more by going to Sylvan in three months than he did the whole time he has been in school! He even stated that he feel like he is smart.

carolstead,

Great link...thanks!!

I found an site www.brightmindsforkids.com they sell books that actually helped. Infact, Sylan uses their reading detective and math detective products. However, these products are easy to use with our own children.

Kumon and Sylvan don't work for some kids with different learning styles. I looked at both to see if they may help my child. I could see that Kumon could not begin to address issues related to math disability. A child who struggles with math like my daughter can only get so far on memorization, which is the main component of Kumon. My husband relied on such memory methods when he was in school and completely floundered when he got to higher level math. There are other multi-sensory programs that are much better. Sylvan meanwhile also does a lot of repetition, and the program administrators will admit they cannot help children with learning difficulties overcome the cause of their troubles. When I had my daughter evaluated at Sylvan they told me that, and I know other parents have been told that as well. I am so glad we did not waste money on the program because we placed my daughter in much better programs. I highly recommend Orton Gillingham for reading for example. Sylvan is really not looked upon favorably by a number of parents who post in the learning disabilites thread. That's because it does not use some of better teaching techniques available today. I imagine most kids who do better after attending these programs probably wouldn't need them if they had decent teachers at school.

As a parent and a teacher, the cost of either program is beyond the reach of those who really need it. In our district and at the school I teach, kids go to Kumon to accelerate, not catch up. And do they ever! If a teacher can differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the kids, a lot of the "need" for these programs would evaporate.

Of course, that would require a huge investment in time, money and willpower to change the way most schools work (to say nothing of the parent paradigm - are we ready to save hundreds at Kumon doing drill sheets at home with our kids for an hour????).

If schools and teachers could commit to the research proven methods (and I don't mean those hijacked or diluted for nefarious political purposes) and give them more than two years to show results, we could be in a different place in American education. But that's a whole other thread/rant. :)

I don't know about Sylvan,but yes,Kumon IS about repetition.I am from India,and that's what we do there,and it works.It may not feel that way in elementary school,especially if a child cannot apply these concepts,but you know what?Once these kids start to do Algebra and Calculus and Trigonometry ,they will not have the luxury of being able to use a calculator-which they DO get to use even during EOGs for "solving"problems.Personally,what I've noticed is that if kids are doing exceptionally well in Kumon, and have been doing so for atleast 18 months, what you said,Infonut,about them solving the problems in a certain order only,does not happen.But not to be politically incorrect or anything,most kids I know that are in Kumon are kids of Indian parents,and they have been doing Math at home since the age of 12-18 months!

As a parent and teacher I have investigated the Kumon and Sylvan teaching methods to see what methodology is used and if they would be useful in the classroom. In Canada, Kumon consists of repeated wrote memorization. Students from Kumon have brought work on which they achieved 100% to school. They were able to achieve the same results only if the questions were in the same order on the page. When I asked about this, they said they had been working on the same worksheet over and over until they had memorized the answers. The students were not able to transfer the mathematical knowledge to real world applications (ie 2+3=5 couldn't answer I have 2 blocks in one hand and 3 in the other. How many do I have?).
The methodology used in Sylvan varies only from what we do in school in the group size (max 3 students to a teacher), intensity (minimum lesson time 1 1/2 hours) and price of tangible rewards (Sylvan students are rewarded with high priced toys, whereas school budgets don't even cover stickers).If parents could be more involved with their schools-donating time, money, or classroom prizes and work one -on-one with their child; they would soon see similar results as those achieved by Sylvan.

I have twins in the Second Grade(well,they're almost done),and they have both been in Kumon Math for almost two years now.They are both doing really well in Kumon(Level E & F)and in school,they are in TD.What I did notice,is in Kumon,they learn calculative skills-they can add,subtract,multiply&divide numbers,fractions,mixed numbers,and decimals really well and really fast.They show more than a 90% accuracy-they wouldn't pass their level if they did not.At school,the focus is more on comprehension-do they know WHEN to apply what function of Arithmatic-this is important,too!Personally,I feel they complement each other,maybe it's just me!

What I can't stand is Sylvan Learning Center, at least where I live in $50 an hour. That is ridiculous! I know middle class parents who can't even afford that for their children! Sure education is worth it, but some people cannot dish out $50 an hour.

I am on the same boat as you. I have enrolled both my kids in Kumon and in these past 2 months I have seen great improvements in both my children. My daughter is in Pre-K and she is already starting to read three letter words. My son is in 2nd grade and I can see that his reading is starting to improve.
I do not know why the schools does not utilizes the Kumon or Sylvan teaching but I know as for our school we do not have the resources. I have learned that a majority of our teachers do not want to spend any more time than they have to. This is very unfortunate because it’s our children who suffer in the long run.
If anyone has any ideas please include me in and hopefully we as parents can make a difference. 

Unfortunately, our tax dollars would not be enough to compensate for more teachers. Kumon and Sylvan both use on-on-one or small group instruction. Districts are laying off teachers as it is. It is difficult enough trying to have reading groups with no classroom aides, let alone use groups for any other subject. I am a former classroom teacher and a parent, so I have seen both sides of the issue.

Personally, my student were said to do well according to Sylvan, but when I would observe and/or test them on the very same skills Sylvan reported, they did not do well. I even used the exact same quizzes as they were given at Sylvan and the abilities weren't't the same. I have not been impressed with the progress of any Sylvan student I have had in my classroom to date.

As for Kumon, my students who attended there had great success both in and out of the classroom. I wish teachers had the support necessary to provide more small group opportunities and more exploration of subjects. Unfortunately, our government is spending too much time and tax dollars shoving standardized testing down the throats of children and teachers that there simply isn't enough time in the day anymore for the arts, recess, exploration, or anything else it seems. I am very disappointed as well with where our educational system is headed.

very possible. i often see other ppl fundraing for their childs scool . maybe ur not the only one who feels this way and their might be many other parents willing to help.

"With minor learning and behavior disorders they do quite well."

Here is the key quote that they said use in thier ad's, if your child just needs a push, and acutally does not need to be taught, than we're here for you.

I know of two parents personally who each spent 10,000.00 at Sylvan, and sure on the Sylvan data, the child progressed, but in thier reg classroom, they were still failing, hum, $10,000.00 and still failing in gen classroom setting, but meeting's Sylvan's slogan, yep you got it, no refund, the kid is learning, somewhere, just not in school.

So I dont buy it, these type of schools only need kids who basically need a little extra support, not kids who actually need to be be taught in a specific way.

So for this to be a negative comment, it's not being negative, it's being honest, these programs do not work for children with learning disabilitys

Thanks. When I hear OG, I think "original gangta" and somehow if there was an old-school rap way to teach anything, I swear I would have heard of it already :)

I'm gonna have something great to read tonight! Thanks!

You do not sound stupid - forgive me for using acronyms and jargon without defining!

OG stands for Orton Gillingham, named after it's creators Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham. It is a very systematic approach to teaching reading.

From the Orton Web Site, it is defined as, "The Orton-Gillingham approach is language-based, multisensory, structured, sequential, cumulative, cognitive, and flexible. Its breadth, perspective, and flexibility prompt use of the term approach instead of method". www.academy.org/approach.html

The founders of the program realized that people with unexpected difficulty acquiring literacy skills, did not automatically learn and pick up on the sound symbol relationship and patterns of written language. OG programs explicitly teach the "rules" of language in a very sequential and multisensory manner, so that the reader can learn to decode.

People that learn to read easily tend to pick up on the patterns automatically. My son, who has severe dyslexia, approaches every word methodically, tearing apart the letters and patterns to decode.

Wilson, Barton and other OG based reading programs have taken the OG approach and organized it into lessons that a teacher can more easily implement. Like OG, the programs are sequential and rules based, and ALWAYS use multisensory techniques.

Hi michellea,

Not to sound stupid, but what is the OG approach? I've never done any tutoring with my kids, so I'm curious what OG stands for and how it works.

Programs like Wilson, OG and Singerland get better results than either Kumon or Sylvan in children with developmental dyslexia. Why? Because they address the specific deficits that these children most often have in the area of phonemic awareness. (Phonemic awareness, while related to phonics, is not the same thing.) Most importantly, they address reading in a truly step by step, systematic, prescriptive way, using multisensory approaches.

Both Sylvan and Kumon claim that they do the same. But the devil is in the details. The multi-sensory approach used by these centers is not the same as the approaches prescribed by the methods. Sylvan and Kumon chunk the information and skills differently - for children that need to learn every detail and step, practice and over learn it again, Kumon and Sylvan do not work.

What all methods offer is a small group or individual approach - any child - LD or not benefits from this.

But, for children with moderate to severe language based learning disabilities, parents should seek a skilled tutor that uses an OG method. This is a helpful article: www.wrightslaw.com/heath/read.remed.criteria.htm

I am thrilled that my son has the privilege of attending an OG school. The OG approach is integrated into every subject - from reading to P.E. I would feel much more passionate about supporting this approach than those employed by major learning centers.

So many people here think as you do. However my experience is different. With minor learning and behavior disorders they do quite well.

I think IMHO, that considering they guarantee their results and their track record, that more people should give them a chance before they make negative judgments. I think many people would be surprised that they're actually doing some good.

I asked Sylvan if they did full-time education for the kids - like a private school. They said they did not, but our Tucson locations are working with several schools to change the curriculum and way things are done. So far, these schools and the kids who attend them, are thriving in this new situation.

Check your local Sylvan to see if they've partnered with any of your local schools.

These type of programs are very expensive for one, but two, they do not know how to teach or help children with learning disabilitys. As such, it is a complete waste of money for parents who go there and are sold a bill of goods.