Frequently Asked Questions
Potential Clients
Where are Educational Coaching sessions held?
Sessions are held at The Family & Learning Center, in the individual office of the Educational Coach. This allows for a quiet workspace, where necessary resources and materials are readily accessible.
Are you able to come to my child's school or home?
Depending on the school's location, the work space provided and the Educational Coach's schedule, we will occasionally travel to a school to work with a student. Sessions are not offered in the home environment, due to the many distractions students experience in the home setting.
What is the difference between Educational Coaching and tutoring?
Through the Educational Coaching process students learn how to learn, not just what to learn. Typically, a tutor will re-teach concepts and skills that are difficult for the student. However, with Educational Coaching, students not only learn the content material, but also how to approach the content. Educational Coaching students learn to think critically, conceptualize new material, remember information, and use learning strategies based on their unique learning style. Strategic learning allows the student to learn and develop skills that can be applied to all content areas.
Additionally, students working through remediation programs work to strengthen underlying areas of challenge that may be impacting academic skill development and performance. Through Educational Coaching the underlying difficulties are addressed first (for example: phonemic awareness, non-verbal reasoning, mathematical reasoning), followed by instruction in skill development.
What materials should students bring and why?
Students should bring all of their books, binders, notebooks, planners and assistive technology (i.e. Franklin spellers, calculators, AlphaSmarts, lap tops, etc.) to their sessions. Students learn to organize and prioritize their work, so it is necessary to have all materials available to use during session. Students also learn to review previous material from their class notes or their book before they start new assignments. In order to assist students in developing organizational and study skills, it is important that they bring all of their materials, not just the homework assigned for the evening.
How often should a student come to Educational Coaching?
Students focusing on strategic learning to assist with schoolwork typically attend two to four fifty-minute sessions each week. Students in remediation programs often attend sessions for four to ten hours per week. The Director will assist parents and students in determining the appropriate number of sessions per week based on the student’s strengths, challenges, and goals.
How long do students attend Educational Coaching?
One of the goals of Educational Coaching is for students to become independent and take control of their own learning. They come to view themselves as competent learners who have a repertoire of strategies to use that are based on their unique capabilities and challenges. Students vary in the amount of time needed to achieve independence. Regular communication between the Director, Educational Coach, parents, and teachers allows for tracking the student’s progress towards independence.
Students in remediation programs often have a recommended number of hours needed to complete the program. However, adjustments to the pace of teaching will be made based on the ongoing review of the student's progress by the Director and Educational Coach. Parents are updated about the student’s progress on a regular basis, and written progress reports are sent home approximately every ten hours of instruction.
How is time spent during sessions?
For students completing a remediation program, a specific program plan and agenda is designed by the Director and Educational Coach which includes the specific activities and materials selected for the student. During the session, the student will learn new strategies and concepts, and then rehearse them in various methods.
Students receiving school support and strategy instruction will often start their sessions by discussing each class. The student will complete an “After School Refresher” in which they reflect on what they learned in class, what homework they have, and what tests/ projects are coming up. The student and Educational Coach then plan their session according to priorities and goals. Special attention is paid to preparing for long-term projects, essays and tests. The work that students do during the session is based on their learning goals. The focus is on learning and understanding the information, not on getting through the assignments. If an assignment is not finished in session, students leave knowing how to complete the work at home. For example, a student who needs work in reading comprehension can read a portion of his/her history chapter in session. Reading comprehension strategies are introduced and practiced by using the textbook. The student will complete the rest of the reading at home, using the strategies s/he learned with the Educational Coach. Before leaving the session, the Educational Coach and student create a plan for how the student will finish the remainder of the homework, studying, and projects for the evening utilizing the tools learned in session.
What does the price of coaching include?
In addition to the fifty minutes that the student is in session, Educational Coaches spend time outside of sessions doing instructional preparation, which often includes:
- communicating with parents via phone or email, about progress, concerns, and recommendations
- collaborating with teachers and other professionals
- looking up grades and homework assignments online
- preparing materials for session, including activities to reinforce concepts and strategies
- updating written progress checklists for parents
Educational Coaches typically spend fifteen to twenty minutes per fifty-minute session completing instructional preparation.
Additionally, the Director is continuously monitoring the progress of each student by reviewing student notes, parent and teacher communication, and meeting with Educational Coaches on a weekly basis to discuss each student’s progress and modify programs as necessary.
Current Clients
What is the cancellation policy?
Due to the one-on-one nature and customization of our services for each student, we are unable to provide refunds or credits for missed or cancelled sessions.
Make-up sessions for missed or cancelled sessions are based on the Educational Coach's availability. The Family & Learning Center cannot guarantee that any sessions cancelled by the student/parent can be made up.
How long do I have to make up a missed/cancelled session?
The make-up session must be rendered within 30 days of the missed appointment.
Are you closed for holidays?
The Family & Learning Center works with students from a variety of schools throughout San Diego County , each with different school holidays. In order to best manage the schedule and maintain consistency for all of our students, we have elected to close for all Federal Holidays, with the exception of Columbus Day. This includes: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Washington's birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Sessions will be scheduled as usual for all other dates, with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend and Winter Break (see below and the calendar for more details).
Are you closed for Spring Break?
Due to the number of schools our students attend, we are open during Spring Break and continue to have regularly scheduled sessions. During this time, work focuses on the student's weaknesses rather than typical organization or homework support sessions. If your child is away during this time and must cancel sessions, please refer to our make-up policy. This same policy applies for Thanksgiving Break.
Are you closed for Winter Break?
During the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, The Family & Learning Center's regularly scheduled sessions are suspended and the office operates on limited hours. However, we do offer sessions to clients interested in continued services during the break. To arrange sessions during this time, please contact Bonnie Weiss. Regularly scheduled sessions will resume the first Monday after New Year’s Day. Please click on the calendar link for specific dates.
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