family Archives - Cervelle Academic Consulting & Tutoring

Tutoring Options

October 29, 2021October 25, 2021
by Christina Brandes

Not Everyone Needs a Full-Time Tutor.

The school year is rolling once again! I hope that you are all feeling confident and strong in the knowledge that even though the last couple school years were a bit challenging, each of you successfully maneuvered through the requirements and, either as a student or a parent, were able to learn and grow in spite of the pandemic.

WHEW, what a week I have had!!! It was the end of the first quarter this past week and I have always got an influx of students who are scrambling to get their assignments completed and all the possible points added to their scores before parent teacher conferences.

This past week, I’ve spoken with multiple families who are trying to determine if their student needs to see me on a weekly basis or not. They are unsure if all of a sudden everything will change again in terms of pandemic requirements, they are also unsure of what to expect for the winter months. This has caused a lot of new and unusual stresses about whether or not to set up a tutoring schedule for the semester. Believe me – I totally understand!! That’s why we have created all these new ways to serve our students, and the one that is most relevant to this topic is our punch cards!

child studying You see, the majority of students come to see me when they reach a unit of study that they are struggling with, usually they’ve not had much difficulty in whatever subject they are seeking my assistance in, but suddenly are struggling with a concept. Over the past decade, I have realized that for many students what they need is access to my assistance at a moment’s notice to answer a question or help them prepare for a test, but then once the obstacle is passed they can confidently return to the class well prepared and feeling capable.

This is why I love the idea of the punch card tutoring option. A family can purchase a punch card and any family member can use it!! So, if one student is having a hard time in algebra, but then with a little help successfully gets through the tough unit, then the remaining punches are there when a younger sibling is struggling writing a paper, or maybe a college student is suddenly needing some editing assistance for a term paper. BOOM! Use the punch card!

This concept has given me the opportunity to serve my clients when they need me, and I love it!! It’s like having a tutor on call for any quick homework questions, or for a tough chapter or unit. I’ve even had a couple of friends whose kids see me for tutoring who have just needed a listening ear and a cup of coffee, because no matter what anyone says – parenting is a hard job!!

I continue to be amazed at all the unique ideas that have come to the surface during these past few months, but I do hope that our new options will give other families an opportunity to reach out for some help and support!

I love what I do, and can’t imagine doing anything else – we begin preparations for our spring semester this next week, so give me a call at the office and let’s talk about how Cervelle can open up a new and exciting learning opportunity for your family!! (I’ll bring the coffee!!)

Have an awesome first week of November!! – Brenda

Cervelle Consulting

How Cervelle Began – Part 1

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021
by Christina Brandes

Over a decade ago, I started my own company in my house, just seeing some tutoring students while I was homeschooling my youngest child. Honestly, tutoring was just something to do on the side and I really enjoyed it.

This makes for a great ‘here’s how we began’ story, but the interesting part of this began a long time ago. We need to go back a few years, because when I was much younger than I am now I began to recognize that I had an unusually intense desire for learning.

I loved to learn and I did it well! When I was young, I would “play school” with my dolls, and cats and dogs, and eventually I even forced my little sisters to play along with me as well. I was the child who spent an entire summer afternoon alphabetizing my bookshelf, followed by making library card files for each book, and even going so far as to categorize my books by theme or topic. I was the kid who got excited the first time I had homework to bring home, and would sometimes wait to do my work just so I could bring a book home from school.

So, when I graduated high school I really believed that a career in education and academics was where I needed to be. I began taking classes in education, got bored, decided to play house, got married, had a baby, got divorced, and eventually met and married my husband and blended our families together. With four young children to take care of, our lives became encompassed in the world of bills, responsibilities, and everything that entails.

We slowly recognized that we were never going to get on top of things in our situation, and we made the drastic decision (you will soon learn that drastic decisions are sort of a “thing” for us) to both quit our jobs, return to college full time, and work part time!!

We returned to college in our 30s, and at that time I decided that I was going to major in psychology, because even though it had been over a decade, the taste of those education classes was still fresh enough to remind me that was NOT the major I wanted to seek. So, as a young mother, returning to school to better the future for her children, I decided that I was going to major in psychology. It seemed like an interesting topic and one that would provide me with ample opportunity.

To be continued…

Tag: <span>family</span>

Tutoring Options

How Cervelle Began – Part 1