Brain Training vs. Tutoring: Which is the Best Option for Your Family

If your child is struggling in school, the first option that comes to mind is probably hiring a tutor. After all, if your child is struggling with the content of the class, repetition is the key, right?

Not necessarily.

You see, a tutor is a great option for repeating information from missed classes, helping students who just need to hear something twice to grasp it, or giving a student a boost when they are gifted in a particular area (more on that below).

But when you try tutoring and your child still struggles, or if you feel like your child needs tutoring in every subject, there may be a better choice.

Tutoring absolutely has its benefits and its place in the academic world, but what if you could prime your child’s brain to more easily retain information the FIRST time they hear it? What if you could help boost processing speed, reasoning skills, and memory so the process of learning itself becomes easier?

This is what brain training does.

Here are some specific criteria that can help you determine which avenue is going to be best for your child:

Signs Your Child Needs Tutoring:

Tutoring is great for repeating missed information. It’s the right choice if your child:

• Is behind because of missed school days due to travel or sickness

• Struggles in one particular class

• Shows an interest or gifting in one specific subject, and you want to hire an expert in the field to advance their education in that area

• Tends to catch on to a concept right away when it is explained only 1-2 times

These are specific, short-term scenarios that will help bring your child up to speed with the rest of his or her class.

But if you either try this and feel like it’s a never-ending cycle (and your child’s grades and attitude toward school don’t even improve), there may be some deeper cognitive skill weaknesses that need to be addressed to help your child succeed.

Signs That Brain Training is the Right Choice:

Brain training isn’t subject-specific; instead, it addresses the root skills that your brain uses to learn in the first place. It’s the right choice if your child:

• Has been through tutoring, yet continues to struggle in that subject

• Is behind in more than one class

• Has always struggled with or done poorly in reading (whether decoding words or reading comprehension)

• Has chronically struggled with test performance or anxiety

• Has to work harder or longer than other kids to achieve good grades

• Says they feel stupid, that they can’t succeed, or that they aren’t as smart as other kids

All of these scenarios point toward brain training as the solution because it is the best way to address long-standing cognitive weaknesses that make learning harder for your child.

Everyone has certain skills that are going to be stronger (and weaker), but for many children, these differences translate to poor grades and a school experience that is much harder and more stressful than it needs to be.

Instead of pushing through another year, hopping between tutors in various subjects, and managing tear-filled homework sessions, you can open the door to easier learning by giving your child the gift of brain training.

Why Cognitive Skills Matter in School

Learning is always a process. For example, you have to pay attention enough to take in a fact, understand it, connect it to other known facts, store it in your memory, and then be able to retrieve it at appropriate times.

That’s a lot of connections that require many different skills!

Disconnects or hiccups anywhere in this system of learning and remembering can cause your child to struggle more than necessary in school. That’s why brain training gets back to the root of the problem, rather than just repeating the same information over and over again.

If your child is behind or needs a refresher on a subject—great, get a tutor!

If your child continues to struggle year after year, hates school, and sees learning as a burden or source of stress, there is hope for change.

Contact us today if you’d like to chat more about how we can help you and your child break through the barriers that are holding them back from success in school (and life)!