When your child begins to fall behind in school, the first instinct for many parents is to hire a tutor. That makes sense—after all, tutoring is designed to help students catch up, right? But what if tutoring isn’t doing the trick? What if your child is still struggling, frustrated, and discouraged? You’re not alone—and there’s a reason this might be happening.

Here’s why tutoring sometimes falls short—and what you can do instead to get to the heart of the issue.

Tutoring Often Mimics Classroom Struggles

One of the biggest reasons tutoring may not be helping is that it frequently replicates the same environment your child is already struggling in. Many tutoring sessions revolve around reviewing assignments, explaining missed concepts, and providing extra practice. But if your child didn’t “get it” the first time around, repeating the same methods won’t necessarily lead to a breakthrough.

Rather than helping, this approach can leave kids feeling more discouraged—like they’re being asked to run a race without the right shoes.

The Problem May Run Deeper Than Academics

Tutoring focuses on academic content. But what if the root of your child’s struggles isn’t what they’re learning—but how their brain is processing that information? Many learning challenges stem from weaknesses in cognitive skills. These are the core brain abilities we all use to think, learn, and perform. Skills like attention, memory, processing speed, and logic are essential for learning—but if even one of them is underdeveloped, school becomes harder than it should be.

Imagine trying to fill a leaky bucket. No matter how much water (or information) you pour in, it just won’t stay. That’s what it’s like for a child with weak cognitive skills. Until the root issues are addressed, progress will be slow (or nonexistent).

The Emotional Toll of Ineffective Help

When tutoring doesn’t produce real results, kids start to lose hope. They may begin to believe they’re just “not smart enough” or that school will always be a struggle. That loss of confidence can have long-lasting effects—not just on academics, but on self-esteem and motivation.

Parents feel it too. Watching your child work hard without seeing improvement is heartbreaking—and expensive.

A Different Solution: Brain Training

If tutoring hasn’t been the answer, it might be time for a new approach. At LearningRx Irvine, we don’t reteach content. Instead, we target and train the underlying cognitive skills that power learning. Through our one-on-one brain training programs, students strengthen their attention, memory, reasoning, and more. These are the skills that make learning stick. When those skills improve, so does everything else—comprehension, confidence, and classroom performance.*

Our approach is backed by research and thousands of success stories from families who were once in your shoes—looking for answers when nothing else worked.

Don’t Give Up—Get to the Root of the Problem

If your child is still struggling despite tutoring, it’s time to consider a different path. Let us help you identify what’s really going on and build a plan that works.

Contact LearningRx Irvine today to schedule a brain skills assessment. It’s the first step toward real, lasting change—and a change in your child’s learning trajectory!

  *Results based on studies and surveys of past clients. You or your loved ones may or may not achieve the same outcomes, but you can read more about our research and results here.