We believe in Your Child’s Success
We opened Smart Start Academics because our current educational system is failing our children. Children are not given the time they need to learn in the classroom. Working with a private tutor, in a one-on-one setting, allows your child the comfort and security of learning at their own pace. We work with your child, meeting them where they are academically and providing successful learning opportunities to increase their understanding. We work with parents and children to create a learning plan that is realistic and enjoyable so that learning becomes an exciting adventure rather than something that feels like a punishment.
Parents and students have the option of bringing their classwork from home/school or having an individual lesson plan created for your child. The individualized learning targets created by Smart Start Academics are designed for your child’s individual ability level and learning style. Student learning targets are created at the age-appropriate level, and intentional, differentiated instruction guarantees a successful learning climate.
Academic reading sessions at Smart Start Academics include learning games, word work, and reading aloud activities with the guidance of a licensed educator in combination to increase comprehension, learning flexibility, and your child’s enthusiasm to learn. Math lessons include a mini lesson on the target math concept and the use of manipulatives for hands-on learning. Science and Social Studies/History concepts would be created on an individual basis or students may bring their own classroom/homeschool lessons for learning support.
We implement different types of assessments, such as summative, formative, authentic, and performance as methods of reaching the diverse learning styles in our students. These assessments are built into the instruction so they do not interrupt learning but rather help to direct new learning paths. Assessments are used to measure student growth and design future instruction.
Ms. Lindberg (creator of Smart Start Academics) began using her reading program, the “Teaching Triangle” ©, over ten years ago. This highly successful reading program involves the teacher, parents, and student. Involving parents, students, and the teacher in setting academic goals, monitoring success, and working toward the student’s achievement of the goals as a collaborative team is one of the most beneficial ways to increase student success. A short training session prepares the family so that they can implement the “teaching triangle” program in their own homes, to better support their child’s reading, in between tutoring sessions. We work with the parents and their child to discuss academic challenges, set measurable goals, and then determine different methods to be used at home, in the classroom, and by the student to achieve success.
Smart Start Academics currently offer academic support in English Language Arts, Math, History/Social Studies, and Science.
“As a mother of four boys, I understand the different learning styles of children. I understand that children are not designed to “sit still” and listen. They are designed to move, actively learn, and embrace their curiosity as they explore their learning materials.”
Melissa Lindberg, Founder of Smart Start Academics
Why I Became a Private Tutor and an Academic Parent Coach
As an educator, there is no greater success than watching students eagerly approach new learning challenges. When I became an educator in December of 1999, my dream was to help children learn. I believed that curiosity would be the driving force, instruction would follow the questions the students had about the world around them and that classroom instruction would help them to find the answers in their own way and at their own pace.
As the teacher I would provide academic resources, learning support, create classroom activities to help the children explore and learn each concept, and a supportive learning environment in which for them to work and learn. In the educational days of the early 2000’s, the “Ah-Ha moment”, Constructivism Learning Theory (CLT), was the driving force in classroom instruction and this learning style was how many classroom teachers guided daily learning. CLT offers children the opportunity to actively participate in discovery-based learning, building upon their current knowledge with new concepts; Education as an active process rather than passive.
Today’s public schools are not meeting the academic needs of our children. In today’s classroom, many children are introduced to the curriculum but not given enough time to learn it. Pacing of daily lessons is mandated at the district level and the curriculum moves forward in district grade-level unity rather than at a comfortable pace for individual learning styles.
The current educational focus is on pacing, which means each teacher presents the same lesson on the same day. Learning is no longer an individual process, teachers are not given the time to teach to each student but rather present a group lesson and move on the next day. This type of classroom instruction is destroying our educational system.
Learning takes place best when it is differentiated for each child, and directed by each child’s learning style, ability, and acquisition of the learning materials. Children who are slow to process the curriculum are the collateral damage in the world of education because classroom instruction moves on regardless of the learning taking place. For children that struggle to learn, their efforts in a traditional classroom often feel very defeating. Self confidence disappears and the child avoids getting noticed or called upon by their teacher so as not to have their “secret” revealed to their classmates. Education is not a cookie cutter program, rather it is like popcorn. There is a popular analogy that reminds us that popcorn is cooked in the same pot using the same heat and oil and yet, the kernels do not pop at the same time. Just as a popcorn kernel will pop in its own time, so will a child develop at their own pace. Children learn at different rates using their individual strengths and weaknesses.
As a parent and an educator, I have watched as public school classrooms have pushed the family out. No homework, fifteen-minute conferences once a year, and a faster-moving curriculum create an environment where many children struggle to learn. When parents are provided with little information regarding classroom instruction, learning expectations and goals, providing at home support becomes overwhelming and many believe that the children must not need extra learning at home if there isn’t any work to complete from school. This could not be further from the truth.