Has anyone done any research of Sylvan Learning Centers?

[dawgman]

This is probably going to come into play in a Custody battle with my wife's ex. He has never shown interest in my step-sons education (except to hate one of his former teachers for being gay). Recently he decided that my wife and I were "really screwing up his education." My step-son has a big case of ADHD. We have been trying to treat it naturally for about a year to no avail. His Bio dad refuses to believe what two different doctor's evaluations of the boys ADHD and says it is just our excuse to protect his "ultra-liberal" school. So he held the boy out of school for a day and with no breakfast, lunch or snacks to take a standardized (his first ever) test at a Sylvan. It was a five hour test and now Sylvan wants $20,000 to get him ready for 5th grade. Of course the bio dad never told them he had ADHD.

Any help would be appreciated.

[femmocrat]

1. The $20,000 tab should be enough to set off some alarms!

I don't really have direct experience with Sylvan, but I am a teacher (K-12). Your child should have never had to go through that awful experience. (In contrast, our school administers standardized tests over several mornings, and the children are fed!) My "educated" guess is that Sylvan will find something they can use in the results and say he needs help based on that one evaluation. I would not trust either their evaluation based on that one test, or any quick fixes they offer.

What does his school say about his learning "problems", if he has any? Maybe the ex could attend a team meeting with the boy's teachers, guidance counselor, principal, and any learning support teachers, if he has an IEP. They are far more qualified to offer a plan for remediation as they actually know your step-son's strengths and weaknesses.

Good luck to you and your step-son. Poor kid, having to go through that, and then having a jackass for a dad.

:hug:

[dawgman]

4. His school has been great. Kinetic learning alternative school,

This year he has regressed from where he was last year a little. Mostly due to lack of effort, but the doc says that that too ties into the ADHD. Needless to say we require the effort around our house. The lack has always been at his dad's.

The school HAS given us a program to use. We have been following it since around November last year. He has shown improvement, especially over the last few weeks.

The dad has never attended one parent teacher conference or expressed any concerns about the school (other than "Why do you want a fag teaching Devin? What if he molests him?")before now.

It has been frustrating.

[femmocrat]

11. That is a shame....

and could have something to do with Devin's regression. If he could see his dad as an involved part of the team trying to help him, it might make a huge difference in his attitude.

I'm just supposing here, but possibly he realizes his dad's disapproval (of his school) and is confused by it. He is uncertain about what to do, so he is just kind of "stuck" .... wanting to do well in school and for you, but sensing that it would make his dad disapprove. Poor little guy. His dad just might be undermining his progress with his negative, hard-headed attitude.

Sending good vibes to your family and a big :hug: for Devin.

[dawgman]

15. thanks. I think you are dead on.

His dad will try and throw money at the problem instead of spending the time to try and rectify it.

[KitchenWitch]

2. Other than the conditions which your step-son took the test...

I had a similar experience with another "learning center" type place (not Sylvan but another big name place). They rushed my son through the evaluation exams and the next day had this presentation about how I needed to spend $10,000 to get my son "up to speed". My son is a bright boy, his only issue was that I wanted him to learn some study skills and some organizational skills. They tried to guilt me into the package by telling me that my son would not do well in high school without their help.

My son is a junior and he could have a better GPA, but 3.2 GPA while taking AP classes is not shabby.

[dawgman]

3. Yeah. Devin (my boy) is very bright.

Just very ...um...active. Every school evaluation he has ever taken he has done quite well. It is his focus that lacks, which is a symptom of ADHD.

I just smell a rat with these for profit learning centers.

[KitchenWitch]

5. You are not the only one.

It was a very high pressure sales pitch at the one I went to.

[dawgman]

8. By the way I love the pic of Kirby. 87 and 91 were two of the

greatest sports years of my life. Go Twins.

[KitchenWitch]

12. I have the Twins game on as I type this.

Those were awesome days.

[dawgman]

14. My alma mater, University of Washington, also won the

College football National Title in 91. Great year.

[Blue_Roses]

6. Is he taking medication for his ADHD?

My two children have ADHD and until they got on the right medication they were bouncing off the walls and one was struggling with concentration in school. Once diagnosed and meds properly fitted, she's done great. She's more settled and calm--until her meds wear off.

[dawgman]

9. Like I said we were trying to avoid Pharma solutions.

He was on a strict diet and supplement regimen. It didn't work and next school year he will start a more traditional program.

[LeftyMom]

7. 20,000 to tutor one kid?

How the hell? A couple of the teachers at our local community college tutor, they've all got at least a masters if not a phd, and an hour one on one is somewhere in the vicinity of $30. At their rates, that would be 666 hours and 40 minutes tutoring. I'm willing to bet Sylvan wants to have somebody much less spend a lot less time with him, which would indicate to me that it's a huge ripoff. Anyhow, it's hard to tell how fast a kid will "get it" so there's no point in pre-committing to tutoring. After all, most of the problems might clear up in only a few sessions, or they may show no improvement and not be worth the hassle.

Anyhow, if he's not used to standardized tests, all a five hour standardized test (In one sitting? On no food, with ADD? That's absolutely developmentally inappropriate. I wouldn't let those people in 500 yards of my kid.) going to show is that he doesn't do well on the format, and you could have guessed that for free.

[dawgman]

10. yeah we knew that he would probably struggle with the test.

and I haven't talked to these people. It was all through the Bio Dad. I told his dad that it would be more effective for him to spend time every day he is with the child working with him on academics.

But then again this is a guy who recently spelled the word "lie" in a text this way..."l-y". He also, when asked why he didn't help the boy with his homework, "I don't know what the fuck a pronoun is. WHat the fuck can I do."

[Godhumor]

13. Oh, Sylvan is a horrible company, as a teacher

I taught at the high school level for 6 years before going back to school full time for my MBA. When I started my program, I figured that I could work part time at Sylvan to make some extra money.

The job offer for someone who taught full time for 6 years, had certification in multiple states, and did curriculum design?

$8.50 an hour.

So, I'll let you figure out how much of $20,000 for a student is pure profit.

[dawgman]

16. thank you for that.

I really need to look into this whole thing. It just isn't right.

[snailly]

17. I don't know a thing about Sylvan but it seems like the child

might be reacting to an adversarial relationship you and your wife have with the dad. It seems that everything the dad does is wrong. Everything you and your wife does is wrong to the dad. Can't there be some middle ground for your son? He is the important one here, not you, your wife or the dad. Does that make sense?

And don't pay anyone before you have a really good family conference. This boy needs you all.

[dawgman]

18. It used to be quite amicable. He came to my house for

Thanksgiving and on Christmas morning on more than one occasion. He has been taking pain pills recently and his behavior has been erratic to say the least. He has quit his job, broken up with the live in mother of his other child, threatened my wife...it has been a weird couple of months.

[triguy46]

19. This is ridiculous. Schools are required to test and evaluate students...

who might have disabilities. Have your school psychometrist evaluate your son. In addition, a child psychologist can administer similar tests for ADHD and should, in conjunction with a physician, evaluate therapies as a means to an end. Drugs should not be the final answer, rather should be a tool along with other non-pharmaceutical methods, to help the child. Physicians are not particularly adept at treatment of ADHD because they have a bias towards meds, and do not have the time or expertise to test, evaluate, guide, retest, etc. Thats why in higher ed we see students who have become speed addicts, they've been on adderal or ritalin for 10 years. Of course they have no energy when they stop. Of course they gain weight.

This is a very complicated situation, and a complicated disease. Sylvan is in it for the money, their opinion is shit.

[dawgman]

20. That is exactly what we have done.

We have been resistant to drugs for a long time. We have monitored his diet, given him natural supplements, reduced activities such as tv and video games to next to nothing, monitored his sleeping habits, etc. This helped for a time but it has regressed lately. Next year we will implement a chem in addition to the rest. His school acknowledges the disease and has been quite helpful.