Math Anxiety. Reading Struggles. Test Stress. "I guess tutoring is helping"

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Math anxiety. Reading struggles. Test stress. These challenges affect countless students, but according to Lisa from You Are Learning Solution, the path to academic confidence might be simpler than many parents realize.

Lisa's journey began while running a college, where she noticed an alarming pattern: many incoming students lacked basic mathematical foundations. This revelation sparked her mission to reach children earlier, when their learning patterns remain flexible and adaptive. "When you're younger, you're like a sponge," Lisa explains, highlighting the critical window for building strong academic foundations.

In our technological era, Lisa observes that excessive calculator dependency prevents students from developing mathematical confidence. Her approach emphasizes mastering fundamentals before introducing shortcuts. For reading comprehension, she distinguishes between fluency and understanding – a student might pronounce every word perfectly yet comprehend nothing. Her solution? Having children explain stories in their own words to verify true understanding.

Test preparation receives equal attention in Lisa's methodology. She adamantly opposes cramming, advocating instead for consistent, distributed practice: "They benefit more from studying an hour for a week or two weeks versus five hours the night before." She also reveals a common misconception among parents – that children instinctively understand how to navigate computerized standardized tests, when many miss crucial instructions or fail to read entire passages.

The transformative nature of Lisa's work shines through in her story about a formerly reluctant student who made an unscheduled visit just to share news of a perfect reading test score. This moment of pride – "I guess tutoring is helping" – exemplifies the confidence that emerges when students receive proper academic support.

Ready to help your child build lasting academic confidence? Connect with Lisa at www.yourlearningsolution.com or call 407-658-7575 to discover how You Are Learning Solution can transform your child's educational journey.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back everyone to Business Talk, the show,
where we dive deep into theindustries that keep our world
moving.
I'm your host, Didier, and intoday's episode I'll be speaking
with Ms Lisa.
She's the owner of you AreLearning Solution.
Good morning, Ms Lisa.
How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Great, how are you?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
I can't complain.
Actually, another beautiful day, right.
So in each episode, our guestswill share practical tips and
valuable advice that can helpyou navigate life and stay ahead
in your journey.
And if you're enjoying thiscontent, make sure to like the
video and subscribe to thechannel.
Also, give some feedback, ifyou'd like to, in terms of

(00:43):
comments, and stick around untilthe end, because Miss Lisa, our
guest, will be sharing apowerful story about a customer
whose experience trulyhighlights the impact of her
services that she provides withher company.
So, with that being said, missLisa, tell us a little bit about
your background us a little bitabout your background.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Well, I am from New York.
When I came down to Florida, Istarted working in the education
system and I was actuallyrunning a college, believe it or
not and I noticed that a lot ofthe students coming in didn't
know their basic math and it waslike how did you get here?
How did you get to this point?
But you know what it's whenyou're younger you're like a

(01:29):
sponge.
So I wanted to make an impactwhen they were younger so they
can learn the foundations,because as you get older, you
get set in your ways as to howyou learn or how you study.
So it's easier to make animpact when they're younger.
So that's when I said I need toventure out and start working
with these kids when they'reyounger.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
I love that and you know your business, you.
Why do so many studentsstruggle with math and how can
they build their self-confidencewhen it comes to math?

Speaker 2 (02:11):
So this is a new era, the technology era, where you
know every student wants to usethe calculator or their phone as
a calculator.
And I see that as a weakness,because you never get that
confidence, you never build yourfoundations because you're so
reliant on the calculator.
So one thing when they come tome, we do teach them little

(02:33):
shortcuts and little tricks andtrades, but I only teach them
that after they've proven to methat they know the
multiplications, that they knowtheir basic foundation, and then
we can go and teach them theshortcut.
But I see that you know and Iappreciate technology, but our
kids are just relying on it somuch that they don't want to
actually do the work.
Why should I do it if thecalculator is going to do it for

(02:55):
me?
Type of thing.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, technology can be a good thing and also can
hindrance, you know, your mindfrom actually working through
and problem solve correct.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Definitely, definitely, Especially with AI.
It takes away their thoughtprocess, and so they just rely
on.
Well, whatever the computertells me, it's got to be right.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
It's interesting you say that.
So how do you balance helping achild solve a problem without
giving them the answer?

Speaker 2 (03:26):
So when we're working with a student, we want them to
think out loud so that we canhear what they are processing.
And if they're not sayinganything out loud, ok, well,
what do you think you have to dofirst, especially when it's
like a two step or a three stepproblem, and so we say it out
loud a couple of times so theycan start seeing the pattern of

(03:47):
how to answer certain types ofquestions until they start doing
it on their own, so that waythey can.
Oh, okay, well, first I have toadd, and now that I have this
total, now I subtract it fromthe main total to find out how
much money they end up with.
But just saying it out loud,keep the repetition so they can
hear.
This is how you solve this typeof problem.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
And that word you use repetition is so important,
right?

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
And I think it's important in anything until you
become good at it, so it takestime as well.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Doesn't matter if it's sports, if it's academics.
I always tell my studentspractice makes progress.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Absolutely.
I love that Practice makesprogress.
So another one of your servicesis reading comprehension.
Why is comprehension just asimportant as reading fluency,
and how can parents support both?

Speaker 2 (04:38):
just as important as reading fluency.
And how can parents supportboth?
So it's funny because I wasactually doing this with a
student.
A student can read and knowphonics and pronounce the words
and say everything correctly.
Their fluency may be awesome,it may be great.
You start to find out ifthey're not understanding a
story when you're asking themquestions.
So what we do is we like to askquestions and I encourage

(05:01):
parents have your child read outloud, have them read a story or
a homework assignment and thensay what did they mean when they
said this?
Or what do you think justhappened in that paragraph?
Explain it to me I'm not 100%sure and ask them.
And if they tell you notverbatim but in their own words,

(05:21):
if they are able to tell youwhat happened, then they're
truly understanding thecomprehension portion.
They're not just saying thewords.
Some kids are fixated on justpronouncing the words correctly
and they're not listening towhat they're saying or they
don't understand what we justsaid, but they're able to
pronounce every single wordcorrectly.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
It's interesting because that was the next
question I was going to ask youregarding strategies right that
you could recommend for achild's vocabulary.
Is there anything else that youleft out that you would want to
say?

Speaker 2 (05:49):
I mean there's different strategies.
Can't give away all my secrets,yeah that's true, okay.
But you know what Make it fun.
It's always easier with theyounger kids, you know, and it's
a little bit trickier, whetherit's math or reading, just
trying to make a game out of it.
Growing up, my dad used to dothat.
He would play games with us hey, does anybody know how to spell
this?

(06:09):
Or he would play dumb, you know, between my brother and I.
He would misspell it and I'mlike no, I know how to spell it.
Of course you know because Iwas older.
But you always want to make itfun and that's the kicker,
because when the students areengaged, you know, whether it's
at home or tutoring or at school, they're learning and they're
having fun doing it.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Right, so let's talk about test prep.
You know that's another one ofthe services you provide.
With so much pressure aroundtesting, how do you prepare
students without burning themout?

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Again, repetition.
But I don't want them to do itall within one week.
Cramming does not work.
They benefit more out ofreviewing or studying.
Let's say an hour for a week,two weeks of reviewing or
studying.
Let's say an hour for a week,two weeks, versus studying the
night before for five hours.

(07:03):
Everybody thinks, oh, I'll cramfor it.
You know, I have this test, Ihave the other test, but if you
review it it stays with you andI think a lot of the students
think last minute is alwaysgoing to work.
It may work some of the time,but it's not going to work all
of the time.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Very good point.
And what's one thing mostparents misunderstand about
standardizing test testing orschool assessments?

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Again, we are in the technology era and I think that
a lot of parents think thattheir child knows when they're
doing the testing at schoolbecause it's computerized, that
they understand the directionsor that you know they know how
to take the test.
And sometimes there are somestudents that need hey, make
sure you finish reading thestory, scroll up and finish

(07:48):
before you answer the questions.
Some students are alreadynervous or they're distracted.
They may have missed, you know,a piece of the direction or
they didn't read the directions.
A lot of the students don'tlike to read the directions
anymore and they go right andanswer it and they don't
understand.
Oh, I was supposed to hit whatwas not one of the facts in the
story, you know.
But some parents, I think,believe that their child knows

(08:11):
how to do the test on thecomputer when they're doing the
standardized testings and inreality they haven't scrolled up
to read the rest of the storyand they missed half the story.
When they're answering thequestions.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
I like that.
You know, just like I mentionedin the beginning of the episode
, we were going to kind ofwanted you to share a story,
something that stands out, ofone of your students.
That kind of the light bulbwent on and it was like that
moment, right, we all have it.
Yes, can you kind of share withyou again with no names, but

(08:44):
can you share?

Speaker 2 (08:45):
There is one particular that stood out that
me and like three of my othertutors, were there in the office
when it happened.
So there is this one particularstudent who came in for reading
comprehension.
You know, kids, oh I have to goto tutoring after school.
You know, it's always like Idon't want to go.
I don't want to go.
So he was coming.

(09:05):
I want to say it was about fouror five months he was with us
and he scheduled two times aweek and he came in.
This actually happened lastmonth.
He came in on a day he was notscheduled.
So I saw him and I said oh,what are you doing here?
You're not supposed to be heretoday.

(09:35):
Are you doing an extra session?
You know, all happy and he goes.
I just wanted to come in andhis mom said one of the first
things when I picked him up fromschool.
He said I need to go see MsLisa.
I want her to know that I got ahundred on my reading test.
And then after that he told hismom I guess tutoring is helping
.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
That's awesome.
So how did that?
How does that make you feel?

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Oh excellent, because you know, sometimes they don't
want to come in.
And now he's coming in just totell me the good news.
You know, that was great.
And then I had three othertutors there and they saw that
and they were like, oh wow, hecame in.
You know, he was happy, he justwanted to let me know.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
So we were all happy for him sharing that story, and
that's an awesome story as well.
So, with that being said, couldyou provide as we wrap up,
could you?

Speaker 2 (10:27):
provide our listeners with a phone number as well as
a website for them to get aholdof you.
Yes, so the website iswwwyourlearningsolutioncom and
you are is spelled you are.
And phone number you cancontact and leave a message is
407-658-7575.
And I will call you back and wewill discuss you know, the
situation of your student oryour child and see how we can

(10:49):
help.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
Well, ms Lisa, thank you so much for taking time out
of your busy schedule to sharewith our listeners what you do
with your business and helpingstudents in tutoring, and
hopefully have you back in thenear future as well.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Well, thank you for the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
You're very welcome.
Thank you for tuning in toFirst Media Consulting Podcast.
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