Business Talk
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Business Talk
Math Anxiety. Reading Struggles. Test Stress. "I guess tutoring is helping"
Math anxiety. Reading struggles. Test stress. These challenges affect countless students, but according to Lisa from You Are Learning Solution, the path to academic confidence might be simpler than many parents realize.
Lisa's journey began while running a college, where she noticed an alarming pattern: many incoming students lacked basic mathematical foundations. This revelation sparked her mission to reach children earlier, when their learning patterns remain flexible and adaptive. "When you're younger, you're like a sponge," Lisa explains, highlighting the critical window for building strong academic foundations.
In our technological era, Lisa observes that excessive calculator dependency prevents students from developing mathematical confidence. Her approach emphasizes mastering fundamentals before introducing shortcuts. For reading comprehension, she distinguishes between fluency and understanding – a student might pronounce every word perfectly yet comprehend nothing. Her solution? Having children explain stories in their own words to verify true understanding.
Test preparation receives equal attention in Lisa's methodology. She adamantly opposes cramming, advocating instead for consistent, distributed practice: "They benefit more from studying an hour for a week or two weeks versus five hours the night before." She also reveals a common misconception among parents – that children instinctively understand how to navigate computerized standardized tests, when many miss crucial instructions or fail to read entire passages.
The transformative nature of Lisa's work shines through in her story about a formerly reluctant student who made an unscheduled visit just to share news of a perfect reading test score. This moment of pride – "I guess tutoring is helping" – exemplifies the confidence that emerges when students receive proper academic support.
Ready to help your child build lasting academic confidence? Connect with Lisa at www.yourlearningsolution.com or call 407-658-7575 to discover how You Are Learning Solution can transform your child's educational journey.
Welcome back everyone to Business Talk, the show, where we dive deep into the industries that keep our world moving. I'm your host, Didier, and in today's episode I'll be speaking with Ms Lisa. She's the owner of you Are Learning Solution. Good morning, Ms Lisa. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Great, how are you?
Speaker 1:I can't complain. Actually, another beautiful day, right. So in each episode, our guests will share practical tips and valuable advice that can help you navigate life and stay ahead in your journey. And if you're enjoying this content, make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel. Also, give some feedback, if you'd like to, in terms of comments, and stick around until the end, because Miss Lisa, our guest, will be sharing a powerful story about a customer whose experience truly highlights the impact of her services that she provides with her company. So, with that being said, miss Lisa, tell us a little bit about your background us a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2:Well, I am from New York. When I came down to Florida, I started working in the education system and I was actually running a college, believe it or not and I noticed that a lot of the students coming in didn't know their basic math and it was like how did you get here? How did you get to this point? But you know what it's when you're younger you're like a sponge. So I wanted to make an impact when they were younger so they can learn the foundations, because as you get older, you get set in your ways as to how you learn or how you study. So it's easier to make an impact when they're younger. So that's when I said I need to venture out and start working with these kids when they're younger.
Speaker 1:I love that and you know your business, you. Why do so many students struggle with math and how can they build their self-confidence when it comes to math?
Speaker 2:So this is a new era, the technology era, where you know every student wants to use the calculator or their phone as a calculator. And I see that as a weakness, because you never get that confidence, you never build your foundations because you're so reliant on the calculator. So one thing when they come to me, we do teach them little shortcuts and little tricks and trades, but I only teach them that after they've proven to me that they know the multiplications, that they know their basic foundation, and then we can go and teach them the shortcut. But I see that you know and I appreciate technology, but our kids are just relying on it so much that they don't want to actually do the work. Why should I do it if the calculator is going to do it for me? Type of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, technology can be a good thing and also can hindrance, you know, your mind from actually working through and problem solve correct.
Speaker 2:Definitely, definitely, Especially with AI. It takes away their thought process, and so they just rely on. Well, whatever the computer tells me, it's got to be right.
Speaker 1:It's interesting you say that. So how do you balance helping a child solve a problem without giving them the answer?
Speaker 2:So when we're working with a student, we want them to think out loud so that we can hear what they are processing. And if they're not saying anything out loud, ok, well, what do you think you have to do first, especially when it's like a two step or a three step problem, and so we say it out loud a couple of times so they can start seeing the pattern of how to answer certain types of questions until they start doing it on their own, so that way they can. Oh, okay, well, first I have to add, and now that I have this total, now I subtract it from the main total to find out how much money they end up with. But just saying it out loud, keep the repetition so they can hear. This is how you solve this type of problem.
Speaker 1:And that word you use repetition is so important, right?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And I think it's important in anything until you become good at it, so it takes time as well.
Speaker 2:Doesn't matter if it's sports, if it's academics. I always tell my students practice makes progress.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I love that Practice makes progress. So another one of your services is reading comprehension. Why is comprehension just as important as reading fluency, and how can parents support both?
Speaker 2:just as important as reading fluency. And how can parents support both? So it's funny because I was actually doing this with a student. A student can read and know phonics and pronounce the words and say everything correctly. Their fluency may be awesome, it may be great. You start to find out if they're not understanding a story when you're asking them questions. So what we do is we like to ask questions and I encourage parents have your child read out loud, have them read a story or a homework assignment and then say what did they mean when they said this? Or what do you think just happened in that paragraph? Explain it to me I'm not 100% sure and ask them. And if they tell you not verbatim but in their own words, if they are able to tell you what happened, then they're truly understanding the comprehension portion. They're not just saying the words. Some kids are fixated on just pronouncing the words correctly and they're not listening to what they're saying or they don't understand what we just said, but they're able to pronounce every single word correctly.
Speaker 1:It's interesting because that was the next question I was going to ask you regarding strategies right that you could recommend for a child's vocabulary. Is there anything else that you left out that you would want to say?
Speaker 2:I mean there's different strategies. Can't give away all my secrets, yeah that's true, okay.
Speaker 2:But you know what Make it fun. It's always easier with the younger kids, you know, and it's a little bit trickier, whether it's math or reading, just trying to make a game out of it. Growing up, my dad used to do that. He would play games with us hey, does anybody know how to spell this? Or he would play dumb, you know, between my brother and I. He would misspell it and I'm like no, I know how to spell it. Of course you know because I was older. But you always want to make it fun and that's the kicker, because when the students are engaged, you know, whether it's at home or tutoring or at school, they're learning and they're having fun doing it.
Speaker 1:Right, so let's talk about test prep. You know that's another one of the services you provide. With so much pressure around testing, how do you prepare students without burning them out?
Speaker 2:Again, repetition. But I don't want them to do it all within one week. Cramming does not work. They benefit more out of reviewing or studying. Let's say an hour for a week, two weeks of reviewing or studying. Let's say an hour for a week, two weeks, versus studying the night before for five hours. Everybody thinks, oh, I'll cram for it. You know, I have this test, I have the other test, but if you review it it stays with you and I think a lot of the students think last minute is always going to work. It may work some of the time, but it's not going to work all of the time.
Speaker 1:Very good point. And what's one thing most parents misunderstand about standardizing test testing or school assessments?
Speaker 2:Again, we are in the technology era and I think that a lot of parents think that their child knows when they're doing the testing at school because it's computerized, that they understand the directions or that you know they know how to take the test. And sometimes there are some students that need hey, make sure you finish reading the story, scroll up and finish before you answer the questions. Some students are already nervous or they're distracted. They may have missed, you know, a piece of the direction or they didn't read the directions. A lot of the students don't like to read the directions anymore and they go right and answer it and they don't understand. Oh, I was supposed to hit what was not one of the facts in the story, you know. But some parents, I think, believe that their child knows how to do the test on the computer when they're doing the standardized testings and in reality they haven't scrolled up to read the rest of the story and they missed half the story. When they're answering the questions.
Speaker 1:I like that. You know, just like I mentioned in the beginning of the episode, we were going to kind of wanted you to share a story, something that stands out, of one of your students. That kind of the light bulb went on and it was like that moment, right, we all have it. Yes, can you kind of share with you again with no names, but can you share?
Speaker 2:There is one particular that stood out that me and like three of my other tutors, were there in the office when it happened. So there is this one particular student who came in for reading comprehension. You know, kids, oh I have to go to tutoring after school. You know, it's always like I don't want to go. I don't want to go. So he was coming. I want to say it was about four or five months he was with us and he scheduled two times a week and he came in. This actually happened last month.
Speaker 2:He came in on a day he was not scheduled. So I saw him and I said oh, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here today. Are you doing an extra session? You know, all happy and he goes. I just wanted to come in and his mom said one of the first things when I picked him up from school. He said I need to go see Ms Lisa. I want her to know that I got a hundred on my reading test. And then after that he told his mom I guess tutoring is helping.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So how did that? How does that make you feel?
Speaker 2:Oh excellent, because you know, sometimes they don't want to come in. And now he's coming in just to tell me the good news. You know, that was great. And then I had three other tutors there and they saw that and they were like, oh wow, he came in. You know, he was happy, he just wanted to let me know.
Speaker 1:So we were all happy for him sharing that story, and that's an awesome story as well. So, with that being said, could you provide as we wrap up, could you?
Speaker 2:provide our listeners with a phone number as well as a website for them to get ahold of you. Yes, so the website is wwwyourlearningsolutioncom and you are is spelled you are. And phone number you can contact and leave a message is 407-658-7575. And I will call you back and we will discuss you know, the situation of your student or your child and see how we can help.
Speaker 1:Well, ms Lisa, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share with our listeners what you do with your business and helping students in tutoring, and hopefully have you back in the near future as well.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:You're very welcome. Thank you for tuning in to First Media Consulting Podcast. If you enjoyed the podcast, subscribe today To nominate a business you would like to recommend to be on our show. Go to firstmediaconsultingcom or call. Thank you for listening.