Summer Course for Child Entering High School
My husband and I would like to give our 8th grader some educational support this summer to prepare for high school. He's an average student at the moment and we fear that without help he'll be below average in the future. Do you have recommendations for a summer tutoring course for kids entering high school, preferably near Berkeley, El Cerrito, Albany? Would also appreciate recs of places to avoid. Thanks!
May 16, 2018
Parent Replies
Hi,
We recommend Mentoring Academy, near Rockridge Bart. They are also an excellent high school, but have a summer bridge program. Enjoy!
We were in a very similar place last summer (our son is now a 9th grader). I wasn't able to find an appropriate summer class for him so I decided to continue on with our tutor that we had just started with earlier that spring, Janet Stephens. She was working with our son on pre-algebra over the spring but she also works with students to strengthen their reading and writing. So they continued meeting almost weekly over the summer but focused more on language arts: he read a book, they discussed it, and they worked on short writing assignments. In August, they picked up math so that he was ready for Algebra on day 1.
He has been seeing Janet throughout this school year on a weekly basis, and we will continue to do so thru the summer, and probably 10th grade. In addition to math and English, Janet has also helped him with a few of the more challenging Biology topics. Finally, Janet has been wonderful in helping him to improve his organizational skills, especially with assisting him to plan ahead as he juggles schoolwork and a pretty intense athletic schedule. And as a parent, I greatly appreciate that she provides weekly feedback on what they are working on.
Her website is:
https://berkeley-tutor.com/
I highly recommend Kevin Arnold, the lead tutor of Berkeley Community Tutor, for his professional and effective work with teens -- especially for high school prep, executive functioning coaching, and persuasive writing lessons. Kevin has a wealth of experience as a Berkeley High School teacher, as well as the fact that he's effective and engaging and also fun for my son who is quite particular about who he opens up to. Finding an enjoyable and light-hearted, yet truly professional tutor is not easy. 510-495-7923 http://Berkeleycommunitytutor.com