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Justin Brady: From Iowapodcast.com, I’m Justin Brady. Back to school is here, and I’ll be honest, this, this segment today is really exciting for me because I hated school so much. And what I learned later is that I really love learning,’cause this is literally my job is research and reading and a lot of, like, deep research, the stuff that in school I was told I wasn’t good at, and then I’ll be darned, it ended up being my job. So what’s up with that, and how can you as parents make your kids love learning more and make them better learners? We’re talking about that today with Sylvan of Johnston. With Katie Ruby and Bree Kester join us in the studio today to talk about that. I am glad both of you are here.

Katie Ruby: We’re finally here,

Justin Brady: finally here. Finally.

Katie Ruby: We’ve been trying for- It’s been a long time coming yes, months in the making, and we are super excited to be here today, so thanks for having

Justin Brady: Yeah, there is the summer slump. We’re gonna talk about that. We’re gonna talk about what parents can do. I think parents kind of feel like they’re a passive role, there’s nothing they can do. Basically wrong. Can we talk about, though, starting out the new school year? The first few weeks kind of set, and I’ll, I’ll go to you on this one, Katie, the first few weeks really do set the tone. But I, like I said, I think parents feel like they can’t do much about it. That’s a wrong view.

Katie Ruby: Correct. I mean, every school year is an opportunity, not just for students, but for families as well to get a fresh start, and everyone deserves that fresh start. So one of the things back to school that we all love, right? I think we’ve all been there, where those first couple days is exciting, fresh clothes, fresh school supplies, fresh backpack. But one of the things that Sylvan and me and Bri are great reminding families about is also having that supply of education and academics, and what is your support plan, and what does that process look like? So with back to school initiatives, that’s one of the things that we are offering is academic assessments to really see where your child is so you can set the tone for the school year. It’s never too late, nor is it never too early to start preparing for that next milestone

Justin Brady: Yeah, that’s good, that’s a good call. I think that preparation is key’cause a lot of people just go right into school s- school time, just right into it. There’s no preparation, there’s no prep- there’s no thinking ahead, and you’re just basically saying there can, there should be a plan in advance

Katie Ruby: should be a plan, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. We’re not looking for a perfection of a plan. We’re looking for just the idea of how do I really prepare my student? So come August, it’s fantastic, but then come early October, it’s, “Oh, now what?” So it’s all about that preparation. Exactly.

Justin Brady: of the things you’re kind of touching on is, I think the term is the summer slump. There may be another term for it. Uh, Bre, this is probably a you question. Is this a real thing, and what is the summer slump? What’s the actual risk there for students and

Bree Kester: absolutely. It’s totally a real thing. The summer slump or the summer slide as sometimes we call

Justin Brady: Oh, Summer Slide.

Bree Kester: Summer– Either one. We can call it either one because kids do get into that slump, right? When, especially when July hits, all of a sudden all of their activities are done. They’re starting to kind of get bored and sit around. So summer slide is a real thing, and actually research shows that kids can lose weeks or even months of academic progress during the summer if they are not keeping up and practicing. So that’s where we can come in. We can help them, uh, make sure that they are enjoying the learning, that they’re h- building a routine for the summer, that they are hitting on those skills that they have already learned the school year before, and making sure that they’re ready for the next school year

Justin Brady: Yeah, I’m hearing routine a lot from both of you, by the way. That’s key, I think, to, to touch on. What, what are… Real quick add onto that or follow-up is what are the most affected categories

Bree Kester: Math, we definitely see math and reading. Those are the big ones. Our core programming, right? And those, those are our core program- core programs at Sylvan is that math and the reading, and those are the categories that t- we typically see where that slide comes in

Justin Brady: I think this is one of the things that really parents have to be careful with because students will often say, like, “I just can’t do that. This is, this is not my strong suit.” And this is one of the things we discussed before is confidence, which kind of sounds like, ah, who cares about… It actually, confidence actually matters quite a bit in kids’ education

Katie Ruby: It does. Yeah. It– You’re exactly right, Justin, and that’s one of the things that we focus on is that confidence piece. And what we start to notice at Sylvan is it’s not just the academics, right? It’s really playing into the confidence. So oftentimes a student will come in, for example, and they’ll be a fifth grader working on geometry math, you know, to your point. And then we take an assessment, w- the child takes that assessment, and then we realize they’re operating and understanding at a third-grade level. So there’s been a gap identified. So how do we remedy that? We basically are able to tap into the child’s feeling of math, and oftentimes when they come to us, it’s that confidence, and it’s stemming from a couple years of being behind in a gap. So once we do that assessment piece, they start to slowly start working on their confidence. They’re getting accountable. They’re asking questions. And that’s how we start to notice in the classroom that transition from working with us at Sylvan into now going into the classroom, raising their hand, being able to confidently answer those questions. And so to your point, it’s about accountability, knowing when you need to prepare your child for what, and also that consistency piece. Oftentimes a student does need to come in one or twice a week during the school year to make sure they’re getting the appropriate support and build that confidence.

Justin Brady: Yeah, I mean, that’s a, it’s almost like a great student can be an average student if their confidence eats away at them. Is that a fair response?

Katie Ruby: I mean, oftentimes what we’ll see is almost the opposite, where a great potential of a student-

Justin Brady: Oh,

Katie Ruby: comes

Justin Brady: Got it

Katie Ruby: …and they should, there’s no reason they should not be performing at grade level, but they’re not because somewhere along the line they’ve told themselves self-defeating questions that, “This is hard. I can’t do it.” Instead, coming to Sylvan, start building on that confidence, we do a self-assessment of the student. So we actually are asking the student, “Do you feel the same as your peers? How are you feeling? Are you raising your hand in the classroom?” And that’s gonna help give us a range of really how is that student’s confidence performing. And oftentimes in conferences, that’s all we’re talking about with the family is, “Yeah, Johnny, he should be great at math. He used to be. He had a one rough year of math, and now all of a sudden we can’t get his confidence back.” So when I identify, yeah, he’s actually telling us, too, his confidence isn’t where it needs to be. We start working at that confidence and that student’s potential. S- he sees the mirror, he or she sees that mirror and says, “Wait a minute, I do have the potential. I just needed to go back where I was the most comfortable with my math skills,” which as a fifth-grader, maybe there was a gap that was developed at third or fourth grade. And at Sylvan, they’re allowed to do that

Justin Brady: I’m gonna ask you about assessments too,’cause you guys have said assessments a lot, so that’s coming up for those that are kinda wondering what assessments are you talking about. What are some of the warning signs though? Because parents are like, “Great, all this is cool and all, but what are the triggers? What are the things? What are the early signs? What’s the early detection, the indicators I can look for if maybe we do have an issue at school and we need to look into extra tutoring, extra mentorship, and extra focused education?” What are those things?

Bree Kester: absolutely. So really what we want our parents to look for is just those self-defeating comments that kids are making. A lot of times they’re, they’re feeling defensive. You know? Sometimes they don’t wanna admit that they’re, that they’re not understanding things. So it’s important to watch for those things. Um, so if they’re not wanting to do their homework, avoidance behavior, if their attitude has changed about school, um, if they are kind of feeling like they don’t wanna be social sometimes- Mm that can be a sign. Um, it Just any s- change of behavior or m- or change of motivation could be a signal that they are, you know, reaching out or asking for help. Another thing to keep in mind, we tell parents all the time, trust your gut. You, if you have a feeling that something is not quite right, give us a call and we can at least a- answer your questions, help you feel like you’re not alone and, you know, set up that initial assessment just to check to see where they are with their skills.

Justin Brady: are there these learning gaps that kind of accumulate over time? This is probably a Katie question. Uh, are there these learning gaps that accumulate over time where someone’s at a fifth grade level, but they’re struggling there because they missed something at a second grade level or something like that?

Katie Ruby: Yeah, exactly. So you got the basic concept exactly. And one of the things that makes us different than school is that at Sylvan, they’re able to come in and take a Sylvan insight assessment. So like you were saying, what is that? That’s basically called the STAR Renaissance assessment. What is a STAR Renaissance assessment? If there’s principals out there, superintendents out there right now listening, they know exactly what that is. But a mom like myself or Bree like herself, if we weren’t in the education world, we would say, “What exactly is a STAR assessment? We know our kids are going into school and they’re taking all kinds of assessments, the FAST assessment, the Bridge assessments, the ISASP assessments. So now Sylvan’s giving another assessment?” So we do like to inform and talk about what is this assessment. A STAR Renaissance assessment is actually in line with the Iowa national testing, so it’s exactly what your ISASPs are. So the only difference the STAR Renaissance is able to do is it’s able to pinpoint those gaps. So we talked about that fifth-grader being at a third-grade level in math. Same oftentimes is happening with reading, early readers as well. It’s a big point. Right before middle school, you have a fourth grader that’s still at second grade, has not reached their phonic skills. So they come in, they take that STAR Renaissance assessment, and then I sit down, we with parents, and we go over, “Okay, your child is getting ready to enter fifth grade. However, we have identified gaps at reading at second-grade level.” And this isn’t, this isn’t us saying this. This is actually the student. So what happens is the student starts at their grade level. So right now they’re officially going into fifth grade. So that’s where the assessment’s gonna start the student asking the questions of where, uh, fifth-grade reading comprehension should be, where the phonics should be, the vocabulary. And as the student continues to answer incorrectly, it will take that student down. So then all of a sudden, it start, the student starts to answer correctly, then it’s at second-grade level, so now it starts going in between knowing that gap is starting between second and third grade. So in theory, it’s a self-adapting assessment. It’s the student telling us, “I don’t remember.”

Justin Brady: Mm-hmm.

Katie Ruby: And school doesn’t have the time nor the resources to allow that child to go back to second grade. Mm. That’s what Sylvan’s known for. You come into Sylvan, we’re giving you the, and your student, that time needed to reverse those skills, go back in time, fill in that gap, fill in that confidence, and then the rest is history. Then they’re off and running

Justin Brady: what is the advice for parents then? Because parents, whether they’re working with you at Sylvan, whether they’re just in a particular school system, what is the thing they, that every parent listening to this can do? How can they be their kid’s greatest advocate?

Bree Kester: Yeah, absolutely. So we, we always want to encourage parents to ask questions because you are their greatest advocate. Asking those questions is really important. Communicate with their school teachers. Communicate with any of the resources that the students are using or, or using at school or outside of school. It’s really w- that’s what it’s about. And knowing that there are all sorts of resources out there, and we are one, and we are wanting to support the community here at Sylvan Learning and make sure those parents do feel supported. So reach out and let us know how we can help because the advocati- advocating for your student is sh- is a top priority for, for all parents

Justin Brady: Yeah, and I will s- I will add onto that, like doing things with the s- with the, the student, like reading at the same time. Not like a punishment, “Go read. You need to read for an hour.” Like, just say, “We’re all gonna read and sip some tea and have a relaxing d-” You know, making that kind of a

Bree Kester: Reading, reading as a family is absolutely, that’s a great way to model the enjoyment of reading. However, we know that not all parents have the time to read with their kids every single day, and that again is where we can come in. We can come in and be that support, you know- Yeah for the families that just don’t have the time to do that every single day. We understand that families are work fa- working families, and that’s not always an option

Justin Brady: Like I said earlier, education kinda is a one-size-fits-all thing. I, for me, that didn’t work, what’s the individualized approach? Is, is it, is it, uh, various themes? Is it various tact- uh, what does that look like at Sylvan? How do you guys do it differently?

Katie Ruby: Yeah. it does start with that individualized assessment. That’s going to tell exactly where your student is in what particular skills. It’s also gonna create their own individual learning program right at that assessment time. So it’s creating their own individualized program which says, “I have X amount of phonic skills that this student needs to work on, vocabulary comprehension.” And then we literally will count all those skills up and see how many skills does that student need to master in order to reach their goal. Then we meet with the family and we say, “Okay, what would you like to do? This is how the picture looks like. If you wanna get your child to goal, we’re looking at six months to a year. If you’re wanting enrichment for your student and you’re just wanting to keep their confidence up, believing in themselves, learning their learning styles with our certified teachers, then we can create that.” And often those plans look like an ongoing three-month process. So everything is individualized in the academic approach as well as in the financial approach. So one of the things that we cater is to family budgets. So if a family comes in and says, “I only have 100 or $200,” okay, great. Let’s work within that budget. We have fantastic financing options, which is 0%. It can basically start at $100 a month, and then your student could be eligil- eligible to come unlimited amount of times for a whole year of support. So everything from the individualized academic program to the individualized family budget plan, everything is catered around the family as a whole. And by working with our certified teachers, you don’t get that a- across Iowa with supplemental education. That is specifically a Sylvan thing. We hire and train, that’s Bre’s biggest role, is those certified teachers

Justin Brady: Katie Ruby and Bree Kester, the new co-owners of Sylvan Learning of Johnston. Thank you so much for coming on Iowapodcast.com, and I should also say thank you for being a collaborator with us. We really appreciate it

Katie Ruby: Thanks,

Bree Kester: Thank you for having us