My oldest daughter has been going to this kumon center since she was in 1st grade and my other 2…read morestarted even before they went to elementary school. Kumon has definitely built a solid foundation in both math and reading comprehension that is shown clearly with their academic results in school. My oldest struggled with reading comprehension and really benefited from the additional work from kumon. The kids don't like kumon but Ms. Jackie has been amazing, working with us to find a happy medium that will works both for the kids and I. Thank you!

I contacted Kumon because I wanted my kids to continue learning over their summer break - I didn't…read morerealize it was a long term program until I met with Ms. Jackie to discuss their assessment results. Initially I was weary of signing them up since I wasn't looking for something long term, but it really was the best decision for my kids! Since enrolling, my children have gained confidence in both English and Math, have far exceeded their grade levels and both qualified for nationally ranked gifted programs. Not only is the curriculum helpful but I really appreciate Ms. Jackie. The more I interact with her, the more I see her passion in helping her students succeed. One time I was waiting for my kids when a former student (now attending Stanford) came to visit Ms. Jackie and thanked her for helping him succeed - she told him not to thank her but to be proud of himself for working so hard and that HE did it, not her. I notice that she speaks similarly to her other students. Another thing I appreciate about Ms. Jackie is that she looks at each of my kids individually and really works with my family to ensure my kids have the right amount of work. Thank you Ms. Jackie and Kumon!

My son returned to Sylan after taking a break for a few years. I liked Sylvan before, and I am…read moreparticularly impressed by the current staff there. When I told my son we were going to re-start sessions at Sylvan for his writing, he entered the building crying. Anthony the Center Director was very patient, developed a good rapport with him that calmed him down, and spoke to him in a way that put him at ease. He seemed to sincerely care about understanding what was going on, to be sure my son was seen, and make that connection. I feel that conversation started my son on the right foot. He believes the staff really cares about his success and about him as a person. My son now really likes (!) going to Sylvan because he sees it as a positive place where people are looking out for him. He has told me a few times that Sylvan exactly prepared him for the work he was doing in class. He had a private tutor before this, but he feels Sylvan's methodology and staff are much more effective for him. His writing is much improved, and the results in his report card show it! The other aspects of what I appreciate about Sylvan compared to a private tutor is that there are several teachers, so there is no missed lesson if schedules don't align with one person ... there is always someone who can give a lesson. Some of the staff are / were school teachers so they are very skilled. Also, you can easily ramp up or down with more or less sessions as you need, and sometimes they can easily identify when other aspects (e.g. grammar) get in the way of the skill you're trying to improve (e.g. writing). I really like that flexibility and those resources with a great staff. During Covid, Sylvan was quick to seamlessly move to online tutoring so students did not need to miss any education. I think Sylvan Piedmont is very well run, with a talented and caring team. I highly recommend it!

We enrolled at Sylvan to assist our daughter with her transition to 6th grade and the increase in…read moreschoolwork that came with it. They have really helped her with the fundamentals of the math and writing that she was struggling with upon arriving to Middle School. The teachers are nice, friendly and give her the motivation that she needed to power through. Thanks Sylvan!

I recently started volunteering with Reading Partners, and it's a great organization. They pretty…read moremuch say that if you're an adult and you can read, then you're qualified to volunteer. They have impressive results and their program really helps kids! I read to my student twice a week and help improve his reading fluency and comprehension. Most students start the program reading below grade level, and after about 30 hours of the program they read at or above grade level! Too many kids come from low-income areas and live with only one parent, or their parents have to work many hours and can't spend time reading to their children or buying them books. That's where Reading Partners comes in. It is so helpful for students, and you can really make a difference! If you can spare 45 minutes once or twice a week, you will help.

Reading Partners is one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences I've had in the Bay Area…read more Reading Partners matches a student who is behind their grade level in reading proficiency with a tutor for one-on-one reading sessions (about an hour). I didn't have prior teaching experience to speak of, but they provided the training. I only tutor once a week, since I need to sneak out from work around lunchtime, but they can accomodate different schedules. Reading Partners have simple lesson plans ready for each week, and it only takes 10 minutes of prep time when I get there to quickly scan the lesson and be ready for the session. Mostly I think the one-on-one time is helpful for the students. Teachers just don't have the time to give special attention to each and every student while managing an entire class. As I mentioned earlier this is one of the most rewarding volunteer opportunities around in the Bay Area (another good one is Refugee Transitions). Because you usually work with the same student, you can really see the progress as their reading improves. By the way, Reading Partners has programs in several schools around the Bay Area. I tutor at one of the San Jose schools, not the Oakland address listed here.

I can't recommend Strategies for Learning highly enough! Natalie and Michelle have both been just…read moreamazing. My son (6 yo) has a number of learning disabilities and tonight he was able to accurately recite the entire alphabet to me (twice!). For parents with kids who struggle in school, it is the small victories that matter so much and to see your child make such a major improvement in only three months is just amazing.

We worked with BJ McIntyre and he was really great. He is kind and fun and was really curious about…read moremy kid and what she needed to succeed and feel positive about herself as a student. The strategies he taught her have helped so much. We would definitely recommend!

I called Piedmont Tutoring looking for help in Chemistry. My course at Berkeley was not unusually…read moredifficult but after a month in I had a high C, no not the drink. The regional manager was very knowledgeable and took some background info in order to assign someone for me. The tutor ended up working out really well. Alex was able to meet me at the school library around once a week (sometimes more for tests and quizzes). He actually graduated from Berkeley and had taken the same course before. Sometimes scheduling didn't work but he made sure I was taken care of at least once a week. Never hired a tutor before so the experience overall was enjoyable. I believe they do offer to change tutors if you aren't happy but I didn't have to deal with that. Will call again but hopefully won't have to!

My daughter Angie wasn't doing well in her calculus course during her first year of college. We…read moreweren't sure if we should drop or continue. I reached out to Piedmont Tutoring for a tutor that can help us out. Andrew was our "first responder" and helped us right away. Our assigned tutor worked well with Angie and has improved her confidence and her grades over the last few months. He has been flexible and easy to communicate with. We kept a consistent schedule throughout the year which was best for both parties. Would recommend to others looking for tutoring in the area.

Chris and his team are incredible and truly care about each child's success. They're flexible with…read morescheduling and make it very easy to find times that work for our family. Communication has been great, and we regularly receive progress reports, which really helps us see how our children are improving. We have one child who was below grade level in math and has made huge progress this year, largely due to the support and instruction he's getting here. We also have a younger child who is above grade level, and we feel confident he'll have a real leg up going into 3rd grade thanks to Mathnasium. We feel very good about the investment we're making here and would highly recommend Mathnasium (this location specifically) to any family looking for strong math support.

I was searching for a math tutor or a place to help my child who was struggling with math. I…read morebrought my child in for an evaluation and had the opportunity to speak with Christopher about my concerns. He was very helpful in addressing my questions and explained the process clearly. The initial assessment helps them determine my child's strengths and weaknesses. They then place the student in the appropriate level to strengthen their math foundation. They don't move the student forward until they fully understand the current level, which I appreciate. This approach builds a strong foundation for more complex math problems, instead of just placing the student in a level they're not ready for.

PEL stands for "Pre-Eminent Learning" and is the new Kumon with the Singaporean math trend focus on…read morecommon core math that us millennial parents didn't grow up with. There aren't any Russian math options around Alameda yet so we decided to sign up for the free consult/testing for PEL for our then five year old at the end of TK to see where he was at and he's been enjoying it ever since. We go twice a week for one hour and with the daily homework, our kindergartner is enjoying math drills and writing practice/phonics/reading. It takes a second to make it a habit but now he enjoys it and timing himself on the homework (cue childhood trauma from Kumon where my mom had a stopwatch!). I stopped correcting the homework for my sanity (more trauma - my mom corrected all our Kumon with the borrowed answer books and yelled if we got too many wrong). At this young age, they have Junior PEL which is with a teacher in a small group (versus the older kids who independently work and then raise hands for help). Our son's favorite teacher is Teacher Anna. For the waiting parents, this place has better parking, location and amenities than Mathnasium or Kumon with the Southshore shopping center. You can go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway, pickup dinner, get a foot massage at W Spa, go for a run/walk by Crown Beach, return Amazon purchases at Kohl's, go to the bank, charge your car, etc. It's a carve-out time for errands that makes PEL seamless into our hectic family life with two young children. You can also just veg on the phone or work while waiting in the lobby (they have a super clean bathroom and it's quiet). The couple that owns this location also has a sister location in San Leandro and they run it efficiently and smoothly bc Alameda is their second location. Director Lawrence and Ms Kiwi are caring and kind and they also conduct regular parent teacher conferences, which is helpful at projecting and quantifying the hours invested into PEL. The icing on the cake is the annual honor roll ceremony in October. They did a great in putting the event together with the kids and parents in mind and our son is so proud of his honor roll trophy and shows everyone that comes over. Highly recommend PEL (especially those in public school in alameda bc K doesn't have homework!)

My son has been going to PEL for over a year now and it's definitely positively supplemented his…read moreregular school learning. We felt like he was starting to fall a bit behind and school work/assignments alone weren't giving him enough practice/rigor. He's been doing both English/language arts and math programs. The extra attention and practice/repetition caught him up and then some. PEL also has some fun incentives for kids to help support their motivation: they earn "money" for work completed successfully and can "buy" prizes. This also helps teach value and rewards/incentivizes saving for bigger prizes. If your kid could benefit from some extra practice/structure, it's worth at least doing the free consultation to see if PEL would be a good fit for their learning style.

My son is in 2nd grade and on the younger side of the grade. We enrolled in LEAP last October and…read moreconsidered both reading and math but started with math first due to the time commitment. I've really enjoyed the structure of the classes - small groups with tutors but each student is working on their level at their pace. They get help if they ask and they can work independently if they understand for the practice/repetition. They also have a fun "rewards" system for the kids to redeem prizes. The room is always quiet despite so many kids and that's showing the kids are focused versus being rowdy. They also do parents night out and summer camps! The parking is easy if you park at the Alameda Landing area and you can shop at Safeway for groceries or at Target for fun funds. The other thing I can do is squeeze in a workout when the kids are at LEAP!

We LOVE Leap! We enrolled our Kindergartener at Leap when she mentioned that she was feeling…read morebehind, and she is now thriving! She looks forward her weekly meetups and they actually make learning fun -- even for a 5-year-old. The owners are so kind and accommodating to our busy schedule, and we're so happy that we found something that our 5-year-old is excited about. They do a great job of incentivizing the kids to complete weekly assignments and their reward system helps to keep the kids engaged. We highly recommend LEAP to students of all ages!

We have been really pleased with this tutoring center. Our child is in 5th grade applying to…read moreindependent middle schools and had to take the ISEE. His math practice tests were going poorly, and he was also struggling with math schoolwork (especially word problems). Our tutor has been Chase, a very nice young guy who is able to explain complex ideas in clear and simple ways. Paul said he was good with younger kids, and we agree - he's very friendly, positive and patient, and our child really liked working with him immediately. In addition, he's been super flexible with schedule changes, and really a calm, low key pleasure to work with. And he has produced results: In Dec 2016 our son took the SSAT as a practice run, and scored well on verbal but sub par on math - with very minimal prep and only 2 meetings with Chase. Several weeks later he took the ISEE and scored about the same on verbal (which Chase did not focus on), but improved almost 100% on math, especially those pesky word problems! His score almost DOUBLED on the quantitative tests. In this instance he'd prepped for a little over a month, with maybe 6-7 hrs max devoted to math prep. That's a big jump up, and of course, it's helping with schoolwork as well. Chase has seriously done a great job and we recommend him unreservedly. I am giving 4 stars because some of what other posters have said is true - in other ways this center could stand some improvement - billing seems chaotic and to this day I really don't know what we've actually paid and what we have not. Their billing person seems haphazard. Also, Paul said he would evaluate our child himself and never did, and has not offered any feedback on his learning style, which he promised he would give in our first, lengthy, conversation. In addition, the center on Piedmont is often without heat - a major issue this winter, so bring a coat!

Paul is the best tutor one could go to, especially if that one is a concerned parent looking to…read moreposition their child with the best possible tools. He does not teach math, he explains the logic of math. Paul is a principle based teacher, he teaches the logic of the subject matter so the student learns the underlying principles essential for true understanding; I.E. no memorization, but real, god honest understanding of the material. Just to give you a very, very basic example, instead of saying 5 times 24, Paul would propose something akin to: what if you have 5 groups of 24? And if that didn't work, he would draw diagrams, adapt his language further, and seemed to actually enjoy trying to explain the subject matter; he has a real passion for teaching, is more or less what I am saying, and, for my (older now) and many other/future/your? childrens' sake, it is an effective passion for teaching. Paul is the crème de la crème of tutors, you could not do better, and would notice an immediate difference, to your relief I am sure. This guy can take a D student and make them an A student, he is a miracle worker, so long as the child has some spark left for learning, he can be the fire starter. Not to mention that ultimately, I actually saved more money from Paul's SAT tutoring in the form of scholarships than I paid for the tutoring! Just in case you are wondering, this an honest review, that is dead on accurate. It's literally been years since I have talked to Paul (7 or 6) and I still sometimes reflect on how much I learned from him. In college and even the work place, his guidance at that point in my life is now invaluable. ++++ he is a really cool guy that teenagers/kids will like.

My daughter is taking 8th grade math here and the tutors seem to really be helping her understand…read morethe concepts. Their staff is also very responsive and flexible with scheduling. A good experience so far!