Private Tutoring Service

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. That your best move is to get in touch with us. We're ready and willing to help you.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Ask yourself what caliber of tutor you are aiming for.

Clearly identify the goal being sought. Simply stating that you want your child to start "doing better" isn't granular enough.

Ask yourself whether a customized approach or a cookie cutter approach is what you are really looking for.

Determine whether an in-home tutor would offer you the convenience you need to manage your other duties.

Acknowledge that you need a professional to guide you through this process.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Compare us against one of the mass marketed national tutoring chains and you'll discover why our approach is better:

1) We utilize ONLY state-certified teachers as tutors. Your tutor will be a degreed educator with classroom teaching experience. We will not send you a college student or other untrained professional.

2) We provide a customized tutoring experience. Our private tutoring lessons are not mass produced. Instead, your tutor will customize a plan of action to reflect your child's goals and learning style.

3) We offer straight-forward pricing. You set the pace, and you simply pay your tutor's reasonable hourly rate.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The thing I love the most is the ability to offer a thoughtful and differentiated service, where the student's needs and hopes guide our approach rather than a bloated and inflexible corporate culture.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Q1.
Does your company require me to make a big up-front financial commitment?

Answer:
Absolutely not! Unlike many of the other large so-called "learning centers", we are not trying to sell you up front on a large comprehensive learning program with a large price tag. Instead, we follow a pay-as-you-go system whereby you choose the tutoring frequency which fits your needs and budget. At the end of each month you pay via credit/debit card only for the tutoring sessions you have used. We do not force you to spend a minimum amount each month!

Q2.
Where do tutoring sessions take place?

Answer:
One-on-one tutoring sessions generally take place at the student‘s home, but they can also take place at a neutral location such as a local library if the home is not the most conducive tutoring environment. Small group tutoring sessions take place at the group host family's home. Group host families receive discounted rates on tutoring. Let us know if you are interested in being a tutoring group host! Also, please note that our tutors are not permitted to provide transportation to the student at any time.

Q3.
Do you accept credit/debit cards?

Answer:
Yes, we accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

Q4.
How often should my child meet with his/her tutor?

Answer:
Students typically meet with their tutors once or twice a week but the frequency can vary depending on the student’s learning habits and the urgency of the tutoring needs being addressed.

Q5.
What grade levels do you tutor?

Answer:
Our tutors primarily work with pre-school through high school students, although we do have some college-level and adult education tutoring clients as well. Our clients include gifted students, students who need a little extra help, average students looking to get ahead, and special needs students as well.

Q6.
What do you mean by “open architecture platform”?

Answer:
This refers to the fact that we do not believe that any two of our customers need the same tutoring plan of action. While we bring a wealth of experience to the table, we always start with a clean slate in customizing our plan of how to work with each student. This is the biggest advantage of working with us instead of a national brand “learning center”.

Q7.
Can EleMental Learning tutor my child in ______________ subject?

Answer:
Probably so. Even if a particular subject is not listed on our website, we have an extensive network of experienced teachers to call upon in order to find the right tutor for each student.

Q8.
Does your program cater to my child’s school curriculum?

Answer:
Small group tutoring is designed specifically to give your child a leg up on his/her school curriculum. For one-on-one tutoring clients, if the student’s specific goals are directly related to upcoming events at school (such as exams or letter grades), then the tutoring program can be crafted to focus specifically on those events. Conversely if the goals are more generally focused on academic enrichment, then a separate academic track can be implemented. Either way, we welcome any opportunity to discuss the student’s progress with the classroom teacher.

Q9.
If I don't feel like my child is "clicking" with his/her tutor, can I request a different tutor?

Answer:
Of course. The customer is always free to request a tutor change, although we would ask for the customer’s feedback in order to ensure that the reasons for the request can be used to select a more suitable replacement.

Q10.
What are Elemental Learning’s expectations of the student and parent?

Answer:
We ask that the student be on time and prepared for each tutoring session. Parents should speak frequently with their students about their experience with the tutor. Also, if either the student or the tutor are kept waiting for a scheduled appointment then they will be compensated for their waiting time. Also, if a parent cannot be home for the duration of an in-home session, then the parent should instead request that the tutoring session be relocated to a library or other public place.

Q11.
My child doesn’t have a positive attitude towards learning. How can I be sure that tutoring will help?

Answer:
While we firmly believe that the parent must play the primary role in a child’s development, our tutors take great care to work with our students in a way that makes them perceive opportunity rather than just extra work.

Q12.
How much does tutoring cost?

Answer:
To see the hourly rates for EleMental Learning tutors in your area, use the "Browse Our Tutors" feature of our website to find a tutor who is a fit for your needs. The rate range will be displayed along with other information about the Tutor.

The reason a range of rates is quoted is because the actual rate charged is dependent upon the situation. For example, the highest rate would apply if you wanted the tutor to work with your child on a private but infrequent basis. Lower rates would apply if you requested frequent tutoring and/or were willing to participate in a small group tutoring (2-4 students) situation.

Don't forget, with EleMental Learning you will never be pressured to commit to a certain amount of tutoring. We always work with you on a pay-as-you-go basis, so your tutoring expenditure can be adjusted to fit your specific needs!

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. That not all providers of tutoring service are put together the same! Some are disorganized local operations. Some are massive corporate monoliths. We seek the middle ground. We provide the breadth and depth of choice seen with a national tutoring organization, but with the flexibility and customization more common on a local level.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I founded EleMental Learning in 2005 after spending eleven years as a primary educator in several school districts in the Chicago area. After considering several other entrepreneurial opportunities in the industry, I decided to move forward with establishing my own company to provide maximum flexibility to mold the business model around my vision.

Q. What are your most common types of jobs?

A. 1) Tutors who work directly with clients.

2) Field Agents who help introduce new clients to our services.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I am proud of all of our success stories: students regaining confidence, increasing their math proficiency, getting their reading back up to grade level, raising their SAT/ACT score, focusing and organizing their approach towards academics, learning a foreign language, becoming a computer programmer, getting into a better college.

That's why we're here.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. I have honed my expertise with additional coursework beyond the Master’s level in the fields of Cognitive Development and Brain Research.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Our company continues to focus on expanding its geographic footprint to cover more of the country. This isn't really an industry-wide development, but more a hallmark of our achievement as a single company, and it is something of which we are very proud.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. Our individual projects of working with students are ongoing. On a bigger picture level, we are getting our business up and running in the Washington D.C. metro area (which also includes northern Virginia and southern Maryland) which is a very time-consuming and complicated task...but it is somthing that we are getting down to somewhat of a science after our previously successful expansions in other geographic areas.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. Our pricing system is not complicated; it is highly straightforward. You simply pay your tutor's reasonable hourly rate multiplied by the number of tutoring hours you used in a given month. There are no minimum requirement or other gimmicks.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. If you want to become a tutor with the nation's premiere provider of in-home tutoring services, get in touch with us!

Q. Write your own question and answer it.

A. Q: How does your program work?

A: The most important aspect of our tutoring service is that no two students have the same relationship with us. This is a reflection of our “open architecture” tutoring service model and our belief that no two students are at the exact same point on the learning spectrum at any given time.

So while we shy away from narrowly defining “our program” per se, the typical tutoring relationship between EleMental Learning and a student is:


1) Upon receiving a tutoring services inquiry from a prospective client, we will match your situation with the tutor who is the best fit for you / your child's unique details, goals, and habits. Or, you can browse (most of) our available tutors via our website and then request the tutor who appears best suited for you. In this case, we will review whether the match is indeed appropriate, and will verify the tutor's interest / availability.

2) The selected tutor will then contact you and arrange a mutually convenient time and location (at your home, unless you request otherwise) for the first session.

3) The tutor relies on his or her expertise to develop and implement a plan of action customized specifically for the student.

4) Parents and tutors sign a Lesson Log after each session in order to create a roadmap towards success and to maintain accountability.

5) At the end of each month you will be billed at your tutor's hourly rate for that month's tutoring services. There is no minimum monthly requirement or long-term commitment.