Superb Tutor and Friend! Lauren has been working with our teen-age son for just over 6 years encompassing middle school and high school. Primary focus has been on reading comprehension and writing skills. Tutoring began as in-person teaching and transitioned to on-line virtual sessions during and after COVID. Lauren is extremely resourceful with various teaching techniques that have really made a difference in supporting our son with school work. Most importantly she has opened the door to the world of vocabulary, communication, books, and literature. She easily spends 2 to 3 times the equivalent of actual tutoring sessions in preparation and/or researching teaching tools to aid our son at home, between sessions, and at school! Thankfully, several of her efforts have really worked for him and as parents we have enjoyed seeing him grow in confidence with his graded school assignments. She readily provides feedback directly through video conferences, e-mail, texting, and phone calls. Lauren has truly become a part of our family. My wife and I are extremely grateful to have her teaching our son! There is nothing better than seeing your child's confidence build up in subjects that he used to loathe because it made him feel dumb when he didn't understand... Lauren has patiently found the keys that have unlocked the treasure of reading and writing for our son! read more

While attending American University's graduate education program, I observed Ms. Kafka when she was teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, MD. She'd prepared several electronic activities to help her students study for an upcoming test, so she held class in the computer lab where students worked on educational games she created. Ms. Kafka explained the instructions thoroughly. All of her students seemed completely engaged in the interactive exercises. In fact, some of them competed with their peers to get the highest scores and didn't want to leave when class was over. When students had questions, Ms. Kafka patiently worked with them one-on-one and made sure they had mastered the material. She spent extra time with students who were struggling with grammar, sentence-structure, and vocabulary activities. She is a creative, compassionate teacher who is sensitive to the needs of all of her students and does her best to help them achieve their goals. I also had a chance to review some of the lesson plans Ms. Kafka uses as a private tutor and writing coach, and was impressed with her innovative approaches to teaching and assessment. --Connie Gelb Washington, DC read more

Lauren has been working with my 6th grader for the past year and I can't recommend her highly enough. My son is a bright student, but has struggled with getting his thoughts on paper. Lauren's been a lifesaver from the beginning. She is very thoughtful and proactive with how she works with my son. When they first started working together, she immediately identified weaknesses with his foundational skills such as grammar and sentence structure. We were able to take advantage of the summer to focus on building those skills and saw great improvement -- which has given him increased confidence with his writing. Lauren continues to work with him on those elements, but their focus has now shifted more to overall effective writing strategies *and* reading comprehension. Lauren continues to amaze! Now that my son is distance learning, they are working over Zoom and it's been very effective. The best part is that my son enjoys working with her. Highly recommend!! read more

We've worked with Lauren for the past 9 months trying to prepare my son who is a junior in high school for the English SAT test. Lauren took great care trying to customize her teaching style to our son's needs. She uses a lot of engaging tools to make the subject matter interesting for the students. She spends a lot of time preparing for each of her sessions, so she is intimately familiar with each student's progress, needs, and current profile. She also keeps in constant contact with the parents seeking input. Our son experienced a very large increase in his first SAT English score after the PSAT he took in 10th grade. Despite most colleges announcing that SAT scores are optional for 2021 and 2022 admission years, most professors at college open houses I've attended said that they still value SAT scores as a good indicator of success in college. We highly recommend Lauren to anyone looking to strengthen their student's language and English skills. read more

Lauren was absolutely terrific, for both general writing coaching and for college admissions essays- she taught our daughter so much about how to communicate ideas in writing, while slyly slipping in some grammar, but keeping it all pertinent to what our daughter needed to know. Lauren also functioned as a college admissions advisor and gave us all a lot of valuable insights into the process. When a very last minute opportunity for a scholarship application came up, she made herself available on very short notice and got our daughter through it as painlessly as possible. That said, Lauren was very good about teaching our daughter to plan ahead and be respectful of others' time, even when there are deadlines or high stakes essays for her high school classes. This is the second child for whom we used Lauren, we will definitely be back for the third once he starts high school. read more

Lauren has been extremely helpful to our 7th grade daughter who had not been exposed to writing fundamentals including mechanics, structure, and thesis development. Lauren was able to quickly assess where she needed help and worked to establish a framework so that our 7th grader could work on acquiring the skills necessary to become a proficient writer. Lauren also worked with our 10th grader, a good writer, who was struggling with a particular writing assignment. She helped her manage a lot of information and find a way to narrow her topic so that she could write a more persuasive, well-reasoned essay. The bottom line, above all, is that Lauren has the skills that kids need, the ability to de-stress a situation, great communication skills, and a deep interest in helping kids succeed. We are lucky we found her! read more

Lauren is a genius. My daughter was so frustrated in English class. She was in 10th grade and we spent many crying nights trying to get her work done. I found Lauren through a friend in DC. She began working with her on line and immediately establish a great rapport. First, she calmed her down and made her very comfortable and confident. Beyond that, she worked with her on skills like grammar, sentence structure and writing strategies. She immediately saw results and mostly she helped my daughter to find her writing voice. The relationship continued into her junior year with college tutoring and applications. We aren't done yet, but Lauren is our secret weapon. She deals beautifully with my child at a time of great stress. I highly recommend her. read more

Lauren is an excellent tutor. She has been able to connect very well with my high school son over the past couple of years. She has helped him with his AP Language & Composition class, SAT preparation (verbal), and college essays. My son had a top AP score and a very high SAT verbal score and was accepted to his early decision school (top 20) with a merit scholarship. She currently tutors him in AP Literature. She is always well prepared by reading novels and essays prior to meeting my son. As an ex-teacher at Walt Whitman HS, she is very familiar with the English Department staff and knows the curriculum very well. She has given my son the confidence and extra tools to be a better writer and reader. read more

I worked with Mrs. Kafka in my senior year of high school on college essays for seven schools. Going into this process, I had no idea what to expect or how to start. However, with Mrs. Kafka's guidance, I was able to write my essays to the fullest of my potential while pushing the limits of my creative writing skills. I was accepted into my top choice school (which was a reach school for me) and am confident that the work I did with Mrs. Kafka certainly had a big impact on that outcome. Whether you aren't sure where to start, or if you'd just like to get some helpful feedback along the way, Mrs. Kafka will certainly exceed any and all expectations that you have! read more

Lauren is a wonderful teacher! Lauren helped my daughter prepare for the SAT test until she achieved the ideal score (English:770). Lauren also assisted my daughter in preparing for the college application essay. My daughter was always looking forward to having classes with Lauren and often mentioned how helpful her classes are. Lauren helped with brainstorming and choosing essay content and provided valuable suggestions after reviewing the essay. These have helped my daughter to achieve her goal and she was accepted into a Top 10 University. I cannot say more words to express how appreciative I am and I highly recommend Lauren as a tutor! read more

I highly recommend Lauren as a tutor. Two years ago, my family went to US with my husband's research fellow program. My son was a junior in high school and an ESOL student immediately facing SAT test and college applications . Being a parent without any US education experience , I was anxiously worried about my son's English writing ability. Luckily we found Lauren, although we only worked together for few classes, Lauren helped my son a lot. Lauren is very experienced and always gave us detailed class report to follow up, which makes every class efficient. My son is grateful for the time he spent learning with Lauren. read more

Lauren has been a gift sent to us from heaven this summer! She helped my daughter write an outstanding college essay, and has helped her prepare for her English SAT. Lauren is extremely detailed and very on top of things. After every meeting, she sends a follow up email clearly outlining what was went over that session and what to work on for next session. Along with that, she is a very quick responder, so anytime you have a question about anything, you always get a very quick answer. It has been a pleasure working with her this summer, and I highly recommend Lauren!! read more

Lauren is a patient and knowledgeable tutor. She is flexible and willing to go the extra mile to ensure that you understand concepts and can incorporate them into your work. I'm an adult student who has relied on Lauren not only for her tutoring expertise but also for her impressive editorial skills. She is a superb editor, with 20 years of professional journalism experience, who provides valuable feedback on content, grammar, and overall organization of speeches, essays, web sites, and multimedia presentations. I highly recommend her. read more

Lauren Kafka is awesome! She is an editorial and educational consultant based in suburban Washington DC. Lauren is a highly professional and effective private tutor and writing coach. She has been a tremendous help to our teenager. Lauren is results oriented, a clear communicator, and sends very detailed progress reports. Her rates are also very fair and the value she provides is immediately apparent. I highly recommend Lauren and feel 100% confident that anyone who chooses to work with her will be glad they did. read more

Lauren has been great at working with our daughter. We wanted to make sure that our daughter learns the grammar before she tries to write great essays. Even though grammar is a very dry and boring area, Lauren was able to motivate our daughter to do her assignments and implement what she was learning in her everyday activities. Lauren's patience and dedication have helped our daughter see her tutoring lesson and homework as useful advice and sources of new knowledge, rather than a burden. We highly recommend Lauren. read more

Lauren tutors both of our children and we can't recommend her highly enough. She works with them on grammar and sentence structure, but also how to approach writing assignments that require organization and analysis. She recognized that one of our children had a learning disability that was preventing him from reaching his full potential as a writer. With her help, he is now a confident writer, taking Advanced Placement classes in English and History. read more

Lauren worked with our daughter and was simply amazing. Our daughter loved working with her and progressed rapidly with Lauren's guidance. Lauren goes above and beyond and tailored the lessons to our child's specific needs as she likely has dyslexia. It was wonderful that our daughter genuinely enjoyed the tutoring lessons while learning so much. read more

My son has been working with Lauren for over a year now. She helped him with his AP literature class and college essays. She is a great teacher, patient and inspiring. I can tell the difference she made on my son's grades and writing. My son got accepted by the school he loves. We are lucky having her as our kid's tutor. read more

Lauren has worked with my 6th grade son for a year on English fundamentals. She is patient but has appropriate expectations on her students, and does a superb job of matching her style to the kid. I am impressed with how she calibrated his abilities and identified where he needed more work. She is great. read more