After my 5 yr old son came to me and asked to learn to read, I first tried Sylvan. They were more focused on the financial aspect of their program than the method in which they were going to teach my son. I then found Grade Power Learning. At first it seemed like a winner. We signed up for 2 nights/wk. The first 2 lessons were ok. My son was given minimal instruction and worked in a workbook mostly and was the only child during his time slot. The 3rd lesson he was with another child who the teacher had to focus all her time on because he was such a distraction and clearly didn't want to be there. That night my son spent most of his time coloring in the workbook. Since this is something we were PAYING for I called the director the next day and he apologized profusely and said it wouldn't happen again. The next lesson my son had the same instructor. She relied heavily upon the workbook again with little to no teaching. What she did teach my son was spoken in incorrect English with terrible pronunciation. It was clear to me at that point, my son was not going to learn to read here. I called the director the next day and explained what happened. He immediately got defensive and very unprofessional. At that point I requested a refund. He scoffed at me on the phone, said it would be a while until he could process it and hung up. I hired an in home tutor and my son learned to read in 2 weeks. Grade Power Learning is a huge waste of money and time! read more
