Embark Tutoring

Our Education

By: Andrew Karalekas & Eve Brearley

Updated: 02/28/2025

At Embark Tutoring we believe in educating our students with the most sound strategies possible. This includes initial testing, assessments, and educational strategies administered throughout the program. Before enrollment, we will always discuss our strategies and testing methodology with the parent/guardian.

We want to provide the best outcomes for the students enrolled in our programs, the best way we know how is to employ methods that are proven for success.

Testing

We administer testing before and throughout the program to monitor students’ progress. This is done to keep you, the parent/guardian, informed and assess our strategies, ensuring our approach is effective. Our assessments are designed to be inclusive and accessible to all students.

Diagnostic

At the beginning of our program, we administer a diagnostic assessment to every student. This ensures that the strengths and areas needing improvement are known before instruction. Studies have shown that diagnostic assessments if administered properly, are an effective tool to gauge the academic needs of students.

Formative and Summative

Throughout the program, depending on the length and nature of the course, we also employ formative and summative assessments.

Formative assessments are taken throughout the program at predetermined points. These are done to monitor the student’s progress from a standardized perspective, allowing us to judge the effectiveness of the educational strategies implemented. They also allow us to understand the progress the student is making in each relevant subject.

Summative assessments are administered at the end of the program to understand the progress made by the student, understand the effectiveness of the strategies employed throughout the program, and draw conclusions to recommend any further educational enhancement.

Evaluations allow educators to be held accountable and to measure the effectiveness of instruction given to students. At Embark Tutoring, we strive to maintain the highest level of transparency, these assessments offer a mechanism to audit ourselves, ensuring we deliver the best education possible.

Educational Strategies

In this section, we provide insight into some of the strategies used in our courses. Considering that each student has their own needs and learning tendencies, educational strategies will often be different. Here we will highlight some of the common methods used within our programs. Rest assured, we will always discuss with the parent/guardian which strategies we intend to implement before lessons.

Multiple Intelligences – According to the theory, there are multiple ways for a child to absorb information.

The three main categories for learning styles in children are; visual learning, auditory learning, and kinesthetic learning. Often using a combination of different resources leads to the most effective results.

Research shows understanding students’ tendencies and implementing strategies that work best for that specific child is extremely important when instructing. Using a recipe tailored to the child’s strengths can offer improved results.

Conversational Learning – Studies have shown that teachers and students sharing ideas, questions, and perspectives can lead to greater outcomes among some students. Having this type of communication can allow a more insightful perspective for both parties.

A common interest and engagement in academics can encourage a student to be more productive, positive, and open-minded in classroom settings. This method can be effective for students of all ages, however, this may particularly aid younger children who are shown to on average have shortened attention spans.

Educational Language – Educational language consists of Reinforcing, Reminding, Redirecting, and Envisioning. These are essential languages that are commonly used in the classroom to help students succeed in a positive environment.

Reinforcing Language
- Highlight or praise positive acts, which may help students strive to be better in certain areas.
Reminding language
- Speech that is helpful to keep students organized and on task. It also prevents negative behavior that might build from confusion, if the student is unsure of the lesson’s content.
Redirecting language
- Transitional language that maintains control over the classroom, and sustains productivity within the classroom.
Envisioning Language
- This helps students envision and engage in their success. It’s helpful for challenging situations that can easily steer a student from their concentration and confidence in tasks.

Educational resources maintain that the combination of these languages motivates students inside the classroom to achieve more success.

Evidence-based Behavior-specific Praise – Studies have found that positive behavior that receives targeted reinforcement in the classroom by the teacher, increases students’ behavior and their academic outcomes. It also shows a decrease in any inappropriate behavior as well as student tardiness. Positive praise such as complimenting students on their efforts, or their attitude in the classroom can have this kind of impact on the students.

Educators showing students patience and support, and providing them with fair and valuable feedback align with this behavior-specific praise and can lead to improvement.

Cognitively engaging active breaks – Incorporating physical or cognitive breaks while tutoring has been proven to show an increase in students’ average on-task behavior and attention span when it comes to their work.

Breaks can show brain efficiency improvement that can translate to their work and time sitting still. Additionally, regulating a child’s behavior is helpful for them to have higher-order thinking and metacognitive functioning.

Some examples of these breaks could include, stretching, walking around, or a quick check-in. The purpose is to break up the time and relax the student so that afterward they are refreshed and able to get back to their work. However, most of these breaks should not be long, a few minutes is suitable. If a break in the tutoring session is too long it may be more difficult to retain the student’s focus and attention thereafter.

Articulative Reasoning – According to this theory, there are two main models of protocol when it comes to the process of answering a question, whether in the form of a lesson or an assessment. These are the short-answer and justify/explain models.

The difference is the latter student must discuss the methods they undertook to arrive at their answer. Studies have shown that when students are required to explain their actions in this format they show improved learning outcomes.

Some of these positive outcomes include the fact that articulation within a response leads to an increased understanding of the answer given, including retaining information more durably. Secondly, this process is also shown to improve engagement, allowing for more cohesive and successful lessons.

In the case of our learning process, this strategy is employed in our programs in the form of check-ins or implemented within the lessons themselves. This strategy would not be delivered within the assessments we administer since they are diagnostic and standardized.

Chocolate! – While this may sound silly, chocolate increases serotonin in the brain which regulates mood. Research shows that a small amount of chocolate (allergy/parent permitting) can improve blood flow, memory, oxygen levels, and nerve function. Beginning the lesson with this can show these benefits but can also set a positive and friendly tone to establish an environment conducive to efficient learning.

ADHD/ADD

ADHD and ADD are prevalent in students of all ages, this is why we have incorporated distinct accommodations to help all students succeed. Implementations we offer are not standardized and depend on the specific needs of your child. Continuing the use of assessments to examine the effectiveness of strategies employed is also beneficial as opposed to a system of “trial and error” according to research on ADHD and ADD.

In this section, we discuss some of the more common methods we employ for students with ADHD/ADD. We will always discuss with family members before instruction if there are any effective practices already used in the home or at their school that could be implemented into lessons.

Organization/planning – Studies have shown that some of the symptoms related to inattentiveness in ADHD and ADD students are directly related to organization and planning. It is important to help the student manage their work and plan to mitigate some of these symptoms. This will help promote efficient workflow and productivity.

Introducing students to organizational techniques and planning strategies not only supports the student to achieve in the short-term but also allows them to develop positive habits that will persist.

Color coding has also been shown to increase organization and engagement with materials, along with an increased chance for the information to be stored and retrieved correctly.

Stimulant Release Mechanisms (e.g. fidgets, toys, etc.) – Providing stimulatory mechanisms such as a fidget spinner can improve the student’s focus by allowing small controlled movements as opposed to those which may be disruptive to themselves or others.

Research shows these tools can be used as an outlet to help regulate their planning, attention, and organization, which are typically challenging skills for students with ADHD or ADD.

Lesson Plan/Expectations – Designing a simple and clear plan to discuss with the parent/guardian and student before instruction to avoid confusion or misunderstanding can be helpful for the child. If the student is aware of the content of the lesson fully before the event, research shows the child is likely to be more cognizant of expectations and engaged with the lesson plan.

Setting clear expectations also leads to positive outcomes in a similar regard. Establishing these parameters in an organized manner may allow the student to succeed further in a more structured environment.

Our Goal

At Embark Tutoring we strive to provide the most successful and transparent education. We hope that this article supplies some insight into our methods and thought processes.

We are consistently updating our strategies as new research and information are released.

To reiterate, we will always discuss with you, the parent/guardian, our approach to your child’s education.