FAQs
Some of the most commonly asked questions over the years:
We engage parents in daily conversation and have specific learning check-ins each month which focus on specific areas of executive functioning. You’re also welcome to ask our Learning Coaches questions at any time.
Simply put, you’ll notice your kids are more confident and happier. You’ll see more smiles and hear less push-back.
At Yellow Parachute Learning Partners, we personalize the learning process to each individual student’s needs. We make sure each family gets what they need when it comes to each student’s needs in terms of where they’re at developmentally.
We engage parents in conversation and have specific learning check-ins which focus on specific areas of executive functioning. Questions for our Learning Coaches are welcome at any time.
Our learning coaches who specialize in test prep are trained in our proprietary curriculum and test prep strategies but don’t use a cookie-cutter approach. To ensure consistency, all coaches train with Cara Thorpe, all boast strong credentials, and all adhere to the same rigorous set of standards. Each individual Learning Coach is required to undergo at least twenty hours of SAT/ACT preparation, in addition to having teaching or business experience, and participate in ongoing professional development. Coaches communicate regularly with Cara and report and analyze results following each test administration date. Rest assured your child’s standardized test scores are confidential and are not shared with anyone.
We begin with a tried-and-true syllabus for our clients, but end up customizing the plan to fit each student’s individual needs. Approximately 20% of our students want equal time devoted to each subject and 80% request more focus on a particular area. It’s far different – meaning much better – than prep classes that are forced to spend precisely 25% on each subject area regardless of the student’s abilities or aptitude. Our ACT test prep Coaches are trained comprehensively, and work on all subjects of the test. Other companies have a different tutor work with students on each individual section of the test. At Yellow Parachute the same Learning Coach will work with your student throughout the entire prep process. It’s one of the big things that sets Yellow Parachute Learning Partners apart.
Please email Jenny McKeand at studentconnector@yellowparachute.com for information about costs.
Hiring a tutor isn’t scary. It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment. We do however, recommend making a commitment to meet six times with your Yellow Parachute Personalized Learning Coach
The coach/student relationship is fundamental to our model and we take the job of finding the right “fit” seriously. When you contact us, you’ll be put directly in touch with Jenny McKeand, our designated Student Connector. With a background in communications and education, as well as eleven years as a Learning Coach, Jenny will work with you to match your child with a coach whose style, skill-set, and personality will serve your child’s unique needs.
Students involved in after-school tutoring demonstrated two to five times the growth projected by their fall assessments.
Your student will learn how to learn, not just what to learn which will build success from the inside out and grow your student into a confident learner. You will see academic progress and completing homework time won’t be as much of a struggle.
Yellow Parachute Learning Coaches personalize the learning process to each student’s needs. We’ll customize our tutoring to meet each student’s needs in terms of where they’re at developmentally. Our learning coaches will work to make learning relevant to their students by personalizing it to include topics the student enjoys.
We engage parents in conversation and have specific learning check-ins which focus on specific areas of executive functioning. Questions for our Learning Coaches are welcome at any time.
The following is a sampling of the areas we can help students (and their parents too!) with:
- Content area tutoring, including specialized programs, such as Orton-Gillingham
- Learning how to learn and study skills
- Help with planning homework schedules or overall executive functioning
- Homeschool academic coaching
- Special education
- Test Prep – ACT/SAT and Advanced Placement (AP) tests
- College Application Assistance – Essay writing, consulting/college application process
- ADHD Coaching – A life coach who is specifically trained to help kids, teens and adults with ADHD better manage their lives
If you don’t see what you’re looking for on this list, please email studentsonnector@yellowparachute.com to see if it’s something we can help with. Chances are we can!
We do it all! Yellow Parachute Learning Coaches offer personalized solutions for elementary, middle, high school, and college students.
Elementary School – We celebrate the unique combination of talents, personality, and learning style of each elementary school student by helping bring them to the next level of comfort, confidence, and success in learning. We bring quality tutoring and relationship building to learning intervention.
Services we most commonly provide for elementary school students include:
- Reading intervention (Orton-Gillingham or literacy coaching)
- Writing intervention
- Math intervention
- Organization and study skills
Middle School – Students who have never struggled before in school experience new stressors with the added materials and course schedule they’re asked to manage. Learners with ADHD may need extra transition time; or your family may be dealing with a learning diagnosis for the first time. Our middle school Learning Coaches are certified teachers or specialists in the areas they teach. We also offer single subject coaching for the middle-school-aged student who needs a quick catch up in a specific subject area.
Services we most commonly provide for middle school students include:
- Language arts/writing
- Mathematics
- Science
- Organization and study skills
- Languages – Spanish, Latin, Chinese
High School – Our high school Learning Coaches are flexible and energetic, often jumping into study sessions 24-48 hours before a test. We do our best to provide last minute assistance, in addition to weekly scheduled sessions for our high school students. Of course, regularly scheduled sessions offer the greatest learning advantage.
Services we most commonly provide for high school students include:
- Literature and Language Arts
- US Literature
- British Literature
- IB Courses
- History
- US History (AP)
- World History (AP)
- European History (AP)
- Languages
- Spanish
- Latin
- Chinese
- Mathematics
- Algebra I and II
- Geometry
- Pre Calc (including honors)
- Calculus (AP, AB, BC)
- Functions and statistics (AP)
- Science
- General Science
- Physics
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Astronomy
- Specials
- Painting and drawing
- Organization and study skills
Our individualized coaching model, founded on twenty years of experience and current research in education, sociology, psychology, and neuroscience, bridges the gap between a student’s strengths and needs, from kindergarten through 12th grade and beyond.
Our approach emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between Personal Learning Coach and student. We understand the Learning Coach not as a “rescuer” – parachuting in to save the day – but as a jump-instructor, leaping alongside the student to provide instruction and encouragement while sharing the thrills and risks of learning. Our innovative, holistic, and personalized instruction empowers students to become confident, inspired learners.
