I have been associated with this academy for 6 months and as such have come to understand its workings quite intimately. The academy offers after school homework club, chess club and one-on-one tutoring. The academy's few strengths and many shortcomings in each area will be addressed in this review.
I'm going to preface by saying that the chess classes offered at Mind Craft are the best thing about it. They are by far the most popular of the 'courses' offered, and the best developed. Even so, I have walked into the chess classes many times to find the teacher (a young student from India) sitting in the corner picking at his nails while the children talk amongst themselves. Few strategies are taught, and most of the children's' time is spent playing games against each other, something that can easily be done on the Internet.
NO PROFESSIONAL TUTORS OR TEACHERS
This brings me to the first (and biggest) shortcoming of this academy: a lack of full-time professional teachers. The website claims to employ "credential teachers and tutors with immense teaching experience." (direct quote from website) I have seen only one such teacher who teaches chess during the weekdays. Every other 'teacher' at this academy is a high school student between the 9th and 12th grade, with a few college students who teach over longer breaks. A lack of full time teachers make learning difficult for any student due to the constant change in teaching styles and little consistency.
NO FORMAL SCREENING PROCESS
None of the tutors employed here undergo any formal screening process. Having witnessed an 'interview' the owner had with a prospective tutor, I can safely say that the only factor taken into consideration by the owner when hiring a new tutor is their hourly pay rate; the cheaper the better.
PREMIUM RATE FOR INCONSISTENT TEACHING QUALITY
Further, one-on-one tutoring at this academy is a hit and a miss. If you happen to enroll your child during the employment period of a good tutor, you're in luck, otherwise, not so much. The exorbitant rate of $40 per hour for one-on-one tutoring could be justified if the academy had licensed teachers or certified tutors taking care of your kids, but you could end up paying that premium for a 9th grader teaching your 8th grader math that they themselves just barely understand. As recently as April of 2016, students' parents were complaining because a tutor here was teaching incorrect math to the students!
NO PLANNING
Because the academy has no full-time tutors or teachers, none of the courses are planned with a long- or short-term goal in mind. This is augmented by the fact that the owner of this establishment is not academically inclined herself. She runs this academy purely from a business standpoint and cannot engage with the academic growth of her students. At this point, it is safe to say that this 'academy' is not anything more than a daycare. The summer courses offered here are a collection of busywork items slapped together by whichever tutor happens to be teaching at that time, and are designed to minimize actual teaching by making the students complete menial worksheets much beneath their current level of understanding. This can also be seen during the homework club sessions offered throughout the year: If students finish their homework early, they are given worksheets to do to keep them busy without any consideration of their personal needs. As such, they are often given work that they either don't have the slightest clue how to do, or work that doesn't help them in any way, as it is too easy or not in their syllabus. Because of this, students often get bored and become disruptive, making noise and disturbing all classes of students around them, as the space is small.
In conclusion, it is my view that in order to stimulate your child's academic development, you should search elsewhere. read more
