How to Improve Grades Without a Tutor
Howard Eaton, Founder and Director of Eaton Arrowsmith, discusses how parents can help their children improve academic performance independently, highlighting the benefits of cognitive enhancement programs over traditional tutoring methods.
It’s a common belief among parents that if a child struggles academically, hiring a tutor is the only solution. For instance, Olivia is having difficulty with grade 3 math, and her brother Liam is unable to grasp concepts in his grade 9 science textbook. Their parents have resigned themselves to this approach, spending between $700 and $900 monthly on tutoring, and have ceased trying to teach their children themselves to avoid conflicts.
The parents' goals are clear: they want Olivia to develop a love for math, knowing how integral it is to many careers, and they wish to support Liam’s aspiration to become a neuroscientist by improving his grasp of scientific concepts. However, they continually wonder how long they can sustain these costs.
They calculated that by the end of high school, the amount spent on tutors might exceed $100,000. They also worry about whether their children will need tutors in college or university.
At times, they questioned if learning disabilities or ADHD were barriers for Liam. Teachers and psychologists confirmed that neither child had severe enough issues to warrant such concerns. Despite this, the financial strain and the additional burden of after-school studying due to tutoring — which competes with Olivia’s soccer and Liam’s theatre activities — remain challenging.
New Idea
Olivia and Liam's parents are both neuroscientists. They met in university while working on dissertations. They know that cognitive functions such as reasoning, attention, memory, and processing speed can be enhanced through targeted cognitive exercises. They decided that an improvement in these areas could potentially help Olivia and Liam become more self-sufficient in their studies. Teachers and psychologists haven't made note of this possibility as most are not informed, unfortunately. To this end, they chose to invest in a summer cognitive intensive program offered by the Arrowsmith Program after spending around $18,000 on tutoring over two years. Their objective was to reduce their reliance on ongoing tutoring by enhancing their children's cognitive abilities — leveraging the brain's plasticity.
Olivia and Liam, both naturally competitive, embraced the six-week intensive program, which demanded high levels of focus, progressively challenging tasks, and a commitment to self-improvement. After the intensive summer program, Olivia continued with the online part-time program for a school year, dedicating four hours a week to cognitive exercises with her instructor.
The Results
Olivia began to understand division and fractions, areas that had continued to be challenging even with tutors. Liam found that he could grasp scientific concepts more readily at school; he could observe, classify, predict, infer, and hypothesize as well as his peers.
Finding Alternative Options
Parents able to afford tutors year-round might want to consider cognitive enhancement programs like the Arrowsmith Program as an alternative. Addressing the underlying cognitive issues can mitigate the need for ongoing tutoring. This approach not only saves money in the long run but, more importantly, conserves the child’s time. It provides the child with the ability to learn in real time rather than relying on repetitive after-school tutoring sessions. Moreover, understanding material along with peers can prevent the emotional stress associated with feeling behind, which can steer children away from certain career paths.