Ask Miss Jasna

Receive valuable information on tutoring and learning from the Director of Education herself.

Student: What do you love most about your job?

Miss Jasna: I love working with kids. On their good days as well as on their bad ones, they are always the most rewarding part of my job. Many of our students are struggling with learning in some way, and to see them overcoming these challenges is incredible. Some are very discouraged, and they think of themselves as being “dumb” or “stupid” (in their words). Additionally, many have low self-esteem due to their poor academic performance. My primary goal is to change their minds about themselves. Doing hard work, seeing results, and experiencing success will help children realize that they are in fact quite smart. They just did not yet develop the necessary skills or they missed something along the way. They are like little birds who take off, and it is a great joy to see them fly high. Moreover, our company is like a family. We all get to know each other. Many students come back to say “hello” to us long after they have completed their tutoring.

Parent: How often should my child receive tutoring?

Miss Jasna: We recommend attending 2 or 3 hours per week. This pace will close the learning gaps faster and create a solid retention of the newly acquired skills. Think about it as going to the gym. If you go the gym only once per week, your progress will be slower; you may even gain some weight in between the sessions. It is the same with academics. Tutoring is like a gym for the brain.

Parent: Why do you teach on a 3:1 ratio?

Miss Jasna: Years of experience have shown that 3 students to 1 teacher is an optimum learning environment for most students. When teaching 1 on 1, a student frequently becomes dependent on the teacher. Today’s classrooms operate on a 30:1 ratio, therefore a student needs to gain enough confidence, study skills, and knowledge to successfully function in such environment. The dependency in a 1:1 situation often does not prepare the student for the reality of academic expectations in the classroom. By contrast, a 3:1 ratio allows each child to get as much individualized attention as needed, but also encourages independent learning. This approach enables the student to transfer acquired skills to the classroom setting.

Parent: Some tutoring centers offer guarantees. Do you?

Miss Jasna: Beware of the centers that offer a “guarantee.” They may underestimate your child’s potential in order to “guarantee” their final results. How do we “guarantee" learning anyway? Everyone learns differently — guarantees can be made for refrigerators, but not for children. Instead, it is important to look at a center's commitment to each child. By having monitored their achievement closely, KnowledgeQuest’s students experience an average growth of 2.3 grade levels in reading, writing, or math after just six months of instruction. Magic? Not really. Progress is possible when skill-specific programs are taught through a variety of methods by experienced staff.