PLEASE keep it up!. (Rivergate Sylvan student) has completely turned around in class. He was the ONLY student to get a 100 on the adding/subtracting fractions test in his class on Friday and I bragged the HECK out of him to the class. What ever you are doing PLEASE keep it up.

-teacher, Head MIddle Magnet School, 11/19/2011…

She LOVES IT!. Although our daughter has only been at (the Rivergate) Sylvan (in North Nashville, TN) a few weeks, we have already seen a dramatic difference in her study habits, and her grades. We look forward to more improvement as she continues to learn at Sylvan.

-TC, November 16, 2011…

A HUGE RIPOFF (personal experience). My experience at sylvan: I was once a student being tutored at sylvan learning center about 2 years ago for 11th grade math. I can honestly say that the tutors are inexperienced, some of them have no passion for teaching and don't take you seriously. They baby you with those tokens when all you want to do is learn and actually pass your class. I came to sylvan because i was failing junior year geometry because i had a really bad teacher who couldn't teach, and they were told specifically by my parents what i needed help in, and they gave me an exam with addition and subtraction and multiplication and fractions....with only a few questions in more advanced geometry ...which is what i was learning in school. So from that they figured that i needed tutoring and i was behind my grade level..which was total bs. Anyway i did need help and my parents were eager to sign the contract in hopes that my grades will rise. As i began my tutoring classes...i noticed that they gave me these packages with simple multiplication and division....i don't know why they gave me that and i told the tutor, he told me that i needed to work on my division because i did bad on the test in this area (bs). Only after about 20 tutoring classes did they actually start helping me out with what i had problems with in school....and because we didn't do this earlier, i had failed a bunch of tests in geometry while i was doing division and addition. hated that room so much. it was depressing with cheap carpets and gray walls every time i walked inside this building on queens blvd in rego park. i just wanted to run out because this wasn't helping me and it was a depressing atmosphere. So in the end. i ended up with a 65 as my average in geometry and my parents ended up with about $10,000 less in their bank account. I sometimes think about this and blame myself, but i didn't know the lessons cost so much, and we are a low middle class family so this took was hard on us all. i had more to say but no room…

Run, Run, Run, As Fast As You Can!!!!!. My son wanted extra help in math. Here in Wisconsin our schools use the Everyday Math Program. If you've heard of it, you know that it is much different than how most of us parents were brought up. A Sylvan had opened just a few years ago and we decided that they might be able to help him better. Well, after testing we found out he needed help in math and reading. He tested at a 63% for reading. Reading has always been his strong point, so we were very concerned.

After signing up and taking over $3,200 out of savings for half of the program, he was told that he does math one way at school but needs to do math the way they say at Sylvan. Now, I made sure to explain Everyday Math to them before signing up and was assurred that Sylvan could help him. He was more confused than ever! It was so bad that we finally had to say enough with the math. Did we get any $$ back? Nope, nada, zip!

As far as the reading, his teacher was flabbergasted that he needed it. He is in the top 10th of his class for reading and comprehension. I brought in the testing results for the school to check out and they were shocked at how Sylvan could make a parent think their child had all of these skills missing. A meeting was held with the Director and his team of teachers and it was revealed that he is at an 8th grade level (now mind you he is only in 5th grade). Still no $$ back!

I have since had a progress meeting with the person in charge and was told that my son was the only child ever that had not been able to transition from Sylvan to school with the math. They did have a wonderful idea to still work their program; they would do math homework support. He would bring in his math homework and they would help him with it. For $100+ a session, I would like more than that. I've always helped him with homework, so I nixed that as fast as it came out of her mouth.

Instead of Sylvan, I would suggest Hooked on Phonics. It's much better and cheaper, they also have math.…

Sylvan Learning Center. Sylvan Learning Center is a very poor choice for tutoring. I surveyed the opinion of several parents in the New York area, and the feedback was negative. Initially I did not believe it based on the great site they have, but I realized soon myself the situation: they are extremely expensive, and provide very poor quality of services. Additionally, they are totally dishonest with the parents, and the effective time spent with the children is negligible. I decided to take my child to a private tutoring, performed by a certified NYS teacher, who comes at my place, and I can see results.

I recommend to anyone to avoid using this center, and not to get fouled by their empty promises.…