MSLA is a great place! My 3 year old started this past fall and the teachers have been so…read moresupportive to her development. Desiree, Jess, and Hannah are amazing, as are ALL of the staff. Very caring, down-to-earth people who understand the juggling act of working moms raising little kids. MSLA even has the option of paying per day for a sibling (if staffing allows). So my 5 year old occasionally joins for the day when her school is on holiday. I am so relieved and happy that I found MSLA!

Attentive staff, responsive Director and brand new center that is super convenient to the highway…read moreand a play area that overlooks the lake. Beautiful.

My five stars are for this particular Kumon location and its staff. The "Kumon Method" is a…read moredifferent subject entirely, ok guys? The cost is $100 per subject per child. So both math and reading (and that's all there is) would be $200/month for either one or two weekly visits to the center. The center is open Monday, Thursday, and Saturday for classwork, but students have Kumon worksheets everyday. I wish there had been a yelp review of what Kumon was before I started it for my kid. I really had no idea. Kumon is a Japanese method of learning the fundamentals of math and reading. It emphasizes repetition and accuracy and forces students do do the work within time constraints. So this isn't "new math" and it's not individualized instruction. Students come to Kumon and are often placed below grade level and are forced to work through the basics. I think this is a good idea, as it builds confidence, but I can also see how this could be a marketing/sales stroke of genius. If you start a fourth grader off doing second grade work you'll keep them longer, no? The students sit in a large open room, under watchful eye of the instructor/assistants and do worksheets. Very young children doing "Junior Kumon" are in a separate smaller room. Kumon is NOT personalized instruction. Kumon will NOT help your child with their homework. They have a method, they teach their method. I think that's fine for what it is, but it's not super clear initially. It is all about memorization of facts and rote memory which is NOT stressed in school these days. I'm old school...I like that for my kid. THE GOOD: The basics are stressed. A child will receive a foundation in math and reading that will only help them in a public or private school. The organization of the staff in North Andover is mind boggling. They have a system of check in and check out and homework/classwork tracking that is enviable. I really don't know how a worksheet never goes astray, but they don't. The Instructor, S. Donti is fastidious about work being done properly, and demands perfection with a quiet authority. I think she may have written tax code in a past life. But she knows her stuff. No one gets anything past Mrs. Donti and I LOVE that. THE BAD: The waiting room is small. Sometimes it takes over an hour, sometimes class takes 15 minutes. There is no way to know. THE UGLY: I think the tables could use a good wipe-downs in between students; with so many coming and going I think a lot of the germs my kid brought home this year were from Kumon. A little Lysol would go a long way in there. THE VERDICT: a couple of colds aren't enough to keep my kid out of this program. The work is solid, the Instructor knowledgeable, and my kid is building confidence I didn't know possible. I am thrilled with this program and would and do recommend it to friends. It's not the right fit for every student, but it's worth a shot...

The staff is very accommodating for scheduling and my daughter seems happy with their services. The…read morepricing is reasonable and the method works for her.

My son has been going to AoPS Lexington for the past 3 years, and has nothing but great things to…read moresay about the classes and the teachers. The several courses he has taken in Math and Physics have helped him improve his problem-solving skills, critical thinking and conceptual depth in the individual areas. As a consequence, they have also prepared him immensely for contests outside of school.

Do not send young children here. The assessor who met with my child had zero experience with young…read morechildren. He was rude and abrupt and impatient. He obviously did not understand how children learn and what they need. It would be like entrusting your child to someone who spent all his time online and couldn't deal with people in real life.

Boston Photography Center is a group of local area photographers (both amateurs and professional.)…read more BPC sponsors events all around the greater Boston area and does a few road trips further abroad (NYC, Vermont, etc.) These are a great opportunity to get out and enjoy taking pictures in different environments and meet people with a similar interest in photography, compare notes on gear, etc. The web site and Facebook group also provide forums for offering help on technique, Photoshop and all sorts of other things. The BPC also sponsors photography classes for novices who want to learn how to get the most of our their DSLRs and trips to photography exhibits in local museums. It's a great group of people and every event I've attended has been a lot of fun. If you have an interest in photography give BPC a look.

I randomly found this place on the meetup site. http://photo.meetup.com/52…read more Basically, it's a group of local photographers (professional and the not-so-professional, like me) that meet up on a monthly basis to talk about various photo topics. Also on the meetup site, you can share your thoughts/question regarding photography on the message boards, and check out others' works! They also have various "click-and-shoot" outings. I went to the one going to Rockport a little while ago, it was fun. Check it out! http://www.bostonphotographycenter.com/

I'm reviewing the ILC as a volunteer teacher. This school is fantastic! I have been volunteering…read morehere for a few months and absolutely loving it. I am so impressed with the staff and students. The main focus of the ILC is their intensive English program for immigrants in the community. Students of all backgrounds can join the program (I believe there is currently a waitlist) and be placed into the appropriate level. I help out with the lowest level, where students started from basically zero English. The main teacher is amazing and I am truly impressed with how much the class has learned, all while having fun and creating a close community. There's also a computer lab where students do English practice while also learning computer skills. The ILC also offers other services, like an in-house social worker, workshops to teach other skills, etc. So happy we have an organization like this in Malden!

i'd definitely say that ILC is the best school to go. Awesome teachers, awesome staffs. ILC is GREATread more

I am falling short of words to describe their poor and unbelievably unprofessional management…read more First they don't bother receiving phone calls; when I finally get through to confirm class availability, they assure me there is space after which I pay the $100 registration fee online. A week before classes are to commence, they call to inform me that they don't have space anymore, and when I ask them to refund registration fee, they say it's not refundable! I am still incredulous and trying to make sense of how they will bear no responsibility for their dysfunctional management, rather refuse to return the fee that *they* made me pay in the first place after falsely confirming availability. Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!

This place was awful…read more Although RSM is a good idea and taught by relatively intelligent and understanding teachers, the language barrier makes effective communication almost impossible. Above this, there's an almost cultish air to the entire institute; the teachers are dead set on the beliefs that they have, and it leaks through in various lessons. Above this, a cutthroat environment is encouraged at RSM, where kids will be mocked for making mistakes - which I personally don't believe bothered my son more than the average of two-three hours of homework per week - at least. I've sent my son to three locations due to scheduling reasons, and he was in the program for three years until his constant begging to quit got to us. We instead got a private tutor, who he can firstly understand, but also stand learning with. In conclusion, I hope you find other schools to try first before finally resorting to RSM. Perhaps try Kumon, or private tutoring if you are capable of providing that.

Jerry has been tutoring our 13 year old son with SSAT preparation and we are very happy with the…read moreexperience. My son chose him over several other tutors he tried and feels that Jerry makes difficult concepts easy to understand. Jerry is punctual and professional.

We have had Jerry tutoring our daughter for several weeks and we already see tremendous progress…read more Not just in her foundational knowledge on the subjects of math and writing but equally important, her increased confidence in tackling challenging work. She has had other tutors and she was always uninterested. Now she looks forward to the session and is a happy learner. Thank you Jerry for tailoring your approach so the child feels heard and then threading the needle in such a way to reach the child and help get them motivated and inspired to learn.

Ms. Helen and her team were a tremendous help for our daughter. She attended for 18 months (age…read more10-12) and went from slightly behind and frustrated to ahead enough to be frustrated when school math is too easy. Ms. Helen was flexible in her approach, adjusting the level of work based on the complexity of the assignments and amount of time spent on homework. We were also able to adjust the schedule when life happened so our daughter did not miss out. I would also add the location is perfect, nestled in the heart of downtown Reading. Parents can support local stores (food, drink, bookstore) or complete errands (next to a bank, short walk to USPS and CVS) while their child learns. The math journey does not end for several more years. It's reassuring to know we have a place to go if the curriculum becomes overwhelming (and beyond parental knowledge!). We highly recommend Kumon of Reading for anyone wanting to help their kids to get ahead, catch up or simply to develop a habit of learning.