Coaching for Students
Starting in middle school, students have busy schedules, more rigorous academic work, and growing networks of friends.
Parents, guardians, and teachers come to us wondering how to help students manage it all.
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We work with students who have a strong desire to do well in school, but have not yet developed their "toolkit" of effective skills and strategies.
If your student is experiencing challenges like having trouble getting started with assignments or creating strong organizational habits we can help!
Our coaches tailor 1-1 sessions to align with our clients goals. We use a strengths-based approach that teaches students to use strategies intentionally as they work towards personally meaningful goals. Students are empowered to develop skills (abilities that become automatic) and gain confidence through the high quality and student-centered coaching they get at Learning Specialist LLC.
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All Coaching Programs Include:
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Initial onboarding session
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Coach and client meet to get to know one another, set shared goals, and ask and answer questions
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Session summaries
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Emailed after every session
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Keeps client informed
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Records review
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Option to have coach review educational records like psychoeducational evaluations or individualized educational plans to inform coaching
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is coaching different than tutoring? Tutoring and coaching are often used interchangeably because they are interventions that students use to improve their learning. Here is a brief overview of both to provide clarity on the key differences between the two. Coaches, also known as executive function coaches or academic coaches, tend to have backgrounds in special education or psychology and teach students to become more efficient learners and will often teach strategies that help students develop a more organized approach to "doing school". Tutors tend to work on supporting students to improve in specific subject areas (like math and science for example) or specific academic skills (like writing essays or reading comprehension). While clients may receive general academic support as part of their coaching goals (e.g. mapping out project goals and plans or outlining multi-step writing assignments), coaching does not involve subject-specific tutoring like developing writing skills or content understanding within an assignment/project.
Why do students need coaching? People are not born with executive function skills they need to succeed at academics, but have the capacity to develop them over time. Some people need scaffolding (structured supports) to practice executive function skills before applying them on their own. Students who are working towards learning goals that are in a new domain (an area of study they are not familiar with) or students who have learning differences and/or disabilities that compromise executive functions (e.g., executive function weakness or diagnoses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) often need graduated scaffolds and coaching to develop their executive function skills.
How often does coaching take place and for how long? Generally, coaching takes place one time per week during a 50 minute session. Depending on clients goals and rate of progress, most clients work with our coaches a minimum of 12 weeks before fading coaching support. As clients make progress towards their coaching goals, the need for coaching fades. Coaches work closely with clients to determine how to best fade coaching support to ensure progress and skills are still maintained.