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!)

We have two elementary-school boys and spent over two years trying other learning programs in the…read morearea. While they helped a bit, nothing compared to PEL Learning Center in Alameda. Mr. Lawrence and the entire staff are incredibly attentive to each child's individual needs, helping them not just improve but truly excel. What sets PEL apart, however, is their outstanding communication with parents. They keep us closely informed, work directly with us to assess progress, and make thoughtful adjustments so our boys stay engaged and never lose interest. This partnership lets us provide the right support at home. Most impressively, Mr. Lawrence has gone far above and beyond--he has even attended our son's IEP meeting at school to better understand his specific learning needs and ensure PEL's program perfectly complements, supports, and supplements his classroom experience and special education plan. I've never seen this level of genuine passion and investment in individual students from any other program. If you're looking for a tutoring center that truly cares about your child's academic growth and overall engagement, I can't recommend PEL highly enough!

Cole Filipek is a great tutor who's flexible with scheduling and doesn't do it simply for money…read more You can tell that he really knows his stuff. I've gone to him for both essay and personal statement revisions as well as tutoring for school subjects. If it weren't for his help, I wouldn't have gone to a top university. Tip: give him a call to see what services he offers and get a more tailored experience.

Cole Filipek was instrumental in helping my daughter with her college essays. Under his guidance,…read moreher voice and personality was fully captured in her writing. Cole is incredibly intelligent -- in an unpretentious way. He is inspirational and encouraging. He was able to connect with my daughter in a way I couldn't (As a parent it can be difficult to be objective!). He is also compassionate, and truly wants to see his students to succeed. I'm beyond impressed and thankful for Cole's guidance through the college application process - a process that otherwise could have been very stressful. I highly recommend Cole Filipek as a college essay coach!

Excellent methodology, focused on each learner's needs. My…read moregoal was to improve my pronunciation and confidence speaking during meetings and making presentations. I feel like there was no time wasted, each session was planned to cover exactly what I needed. Karen also shared plenty of resources for me to continue learning after the program.

I have the pleasure to recommend Karen's to any growth minded :) learners who are interested to…read morebring their communication skills to next level. In the beginning, by joining toastmaster, a non profit org who teaches public speaking would be enough. Not in my situation. Karen provided fundamental structure, clear process, and customized practice that improve my clarity. Her approach is very unique that nails down the source of my communication challenge. Now, I'm fully aware on area to improve. She provides good resources to support the learning. She is prompt & professional. Learning new things could be daunting, she makes every session progressive & enjoyable. I plan to continue taking her "speaking with structure" class.

My daughter has taken Math and language classes with Sarojini. She is a very patient teacher who…read moretakes the time to explain key concepts - something that we thought was lacking at big box chains like Kumon. I would highly recommend her.

A truly committed and dedicated teacher who knows how to connect with children of all ages. Highly…read morerecommend!

Jasmine is a wonderful tutor and we highly recommend her! In fact, I've already referred her to two…read moreother families. She's smart, responsible, and easy to work with. She's engaging and makes the sessions fun for our daughter. Jasmine is local, but given the current environment she teaches our daughter online. Unlike other online programs where there may be a language barrier between the teacher and student, the ease with which Jasmine switches from English to Chinese and vice versa makes the lessons so much more effective. Moreover, the students feel heard and understood so there isn't a lot of time wasted on misunderstandings. During the lessons, Jasmine always stays focused and gently keeps my daughter on task. She has learned more with Jasmine in the last 6 months than she did in the last couple of years at Chinese school. If you want your child to learn Chinese, I strongly recommend you reach out to Jasmine!

I grew up speaking Cantonese and Toisaan. As it is with most languages, if you don't use it, you…read morelose it. I am well into my adulthood and was yearning to practice and continue using Cantonese again. It's cute to understand but I wanted to be more active with it. It is incredibly useful in my profession. I have basic sentence structure down and some vocabulary. I found it difficult to practice with family because they tend to be impatient, and realistically, judgmental. I found Jasmine and was so glad I did! We had twice weekly Zoom sessions and she was very well worth it. She was patient with me and walked me through a workbook. While most languages can be learned through an app or book, the tonality of Cantonese is VERY important. Are you saying horse or mother, the number four or dead. Tones matter so having a teacher to give you feedback right on the spot is so valuable. I went back to school and still work my full time job so I don't get to have as many lessons as I want. I HIGHLY recommend Jasmine for her patience, knowledge and teaching style. Need to learn Cantonese? Get a hold of her!

Heather is wonderful!! My daughter needs help in social sciences and other classes, Heather comes…read moreto our house and works with my daughter for 1 to 2 hours per visit twice a week; it has made a tremendous difference for my child, Heather is very easy to get along with and my daughter relates to her extremely well. I would highly recommend Heather, her prices are very fair and she is a very compassionate person.

Our son has been going to the after school program since TK and he loves the STEAM program (STEM +…read moreART)! He enjoys the van ride from Bay Farm to the big island with the other kids and now that he's in K, he spends about 2-3 hours after school there - playing with new and old friends, learning more coding, math, reading, and science and experimenting with art methods. It definitely fills in the gaps of public school with the stronger focus on academics. We are very happy with his progress. And of course, he loves his STEAM teachers, Ms. Yuan and Ms. Jamila, as well as the coding, art and math teachers (Mr. Francisco, Mr. Patrick, Ms. Emily, etc.). That being said, this school isn't for everyone and parents have to be open to finding the right school for their child (which can change over time). For our family, I appreciate that this school respects the learning environment best for kids who are ready and motivated to learn on their own. This means that the kids are ready to learn and appreciate the lessons prepared (not yelling, standing on tables, napping, or other disruptive behavior), responsible/sensible to sit in a van full of kids and listen to the teacher, get along and be respectful to others, etc. To keep the kids on schedule with the van and different subjects requires tremendous patience, planning and care from the teachers, staff (Mr. Long) and Director Sunny - we appreciate you! If your kids can focus and manage at YY, they can sit through movies, dinners, airplane rides, etc. - self-managed discipline is what I appreciate the most. The staff communicates well in advance and also is very responsive and accommodating (e.g. if I have to pick up early, miss school, have another parent pickup, etc.). They also have parent-teacher conferences twice a year with a newsletter about your child's class with photos. Also, when we first signed up for TK when my child was 4, I was worried about the transportation, but that's one of the best part that our kid looks forward to when he goes to YY with his friends - it's safe and the van is there early for pickups (and the fee is very economical for us working parents!). We also have friends in the Mandarin program whose parents are very impressed with their children's language and writing skills and enjoy their class performances! We also have a friend who moved their child here due to allergies. Our kid also has a mild allergy and Yuying is very good about keeping everyone safe with allergies (making sure there's no nuts in anyone's lunchbox, no sharing, educating kids about allergies and keeping everyone safe, etc.) and also keeping up with the parents for updated EpiPens and meds.

Our two boys started in the YuYing Preschool and had an excellent experience with Ms. Pearlie, Du…read moreLao Shi and all of the teachers there. Our boys came home teaching us Chinese. We learned about how to talk about dinosaurs, vehicles, continents, money, plants, photosynthesis, Chinese culture and poetry--it was incredible. Our boys also learned to dance and learned their letters and numbers (in English), thanks to Ms. Pearlie's diligent efforts. It was a wonderful place for our sons to grow and learn. Our sons are older now, one is in TK and the other is in 1st grade and are now in the afterschool program. They both love taking the van from their school to YuYing. I appreciate that the staff is attentive to our kid's needs. My younger son was expressing that he felt bullied by another kid. The staff addressed our concerns by mediating between the boys and making changes in the classroom to build more safety for the kids. Our kids have also been teaching me how to read and write simplified Chinese. My 1st grader came home with his workbook. I was impressed at how proficient he was in doing his assignments--making sentences and word pairings in Chinese. I don't think he would know how to do that with English textbooks! Lastly, we appreciate how thorough they are about making a plan for emergencies and communicating them to us. When Alameda had Tsunami warnings or there were concerns about ICE, we appreciated that YuYing made sure to let us know what their plans are in all of these situations.

We have been so blessed to work with Jayne. I have a fifth grade daughter, who has struggled with…read moremath for the past several years and we have worked with a handful of tutors-each of them have been great-but I would say, Jayne is truly exceptional. She has a very natural and sincere rapport with my daughter, which has helped to reduce much of the frustration and anxiety that can contribute to her math struggles. I believe that her approach has allowed my daughter to cultivate more optimism and confidence in her abilities and capacity.

Jayne has been my son's tutor for almost a year, and the progress he's made has been amazing. When…read morehe started kindergarten, he wasn't reading yet and now he's reading confidently, ahead in phonics, and even starting on math! Jayne is patient, kind, and truly talented. With her background in education, she's also given me great advice and insight as a parent. I really think having a tutor is one of the best decisions we've made, with all the hoops kids have to jump through at school, having such a seasoned tutor like Jayne gives them a real head start. We're so grateful for her!