Sylvan Learning Center brings youths up to speed

Sunlight floods through the windows of the Sylvan Learning Center on Whitefish Stage Road in Kalispell.

Racks of colorful books line the walls. Shelves full of bright blocks and other "manipulatives" that give students hands-on learning opportunities dot the room.

Posters encourage students to "Flex Your Brain Power" and "Let Your Confidence Bloom." On prominent display in education director Lynn Scalf's office is the Sylvan slogan, "Learning Feels Good."

It's morning, and U-shaped tables where three students ring each teacher nestled in the middle are waiting for their after-school occupants.

"Bored, bright and underachieving," Scalf described one segment of Sylvan students. "Parents say that's what they are, so they fit into the enrichment program."

For a quarter century, Sylvan has been offering personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics and college entrance preparation in what has grown to more than 1,000 centers nationwide. There, certified teachers augment what the child is receiving in traditional school settings as they work cooperatively with the teachers in those classrooms.

Last October, Sylvan came to Kalispell.

Center director and owner Lynne Ruegamer, a longtime friend of former Flathead High Principal Gene Boyle, traded in a successful and varied education career in several Western states to set up the Sylvan system here.

Soon, she brought Scalf and lead teacher Bethany Madison on board. Scalf, retired after 23 years of teaching at Flathead High, and Madison, a former Sylvan teacher in Minnesota, both have completed the requisite 80 hours of rigorous Sylvan teacher's training.

They now oversee a staff of eight trained, part-time teachers. The center offers two-hour classes three days a week after school, on Wednesday evening and on Saturday morning.

The Sylvan philosophy goes beyond the traditional idea of tutoring, Scalf said.

It ferrets out specific junctures where a child may have missed a concept earlier, then not only teaches and reinforces that concept and the subsequent skills that build on it, but bumps each student up two grade levels.

The focus is always on positive reinforcement.

A tub of tokens that teachers give to students when they catch them with a good attitude or good performance sits on each study table. Students cache the tokens throughout their lessons, tabulate them in a checkbook, then cash them in to purchase books, games and other educational and fun merchandise.

But the Sylvan Center is far from a feel-good setting that glosses over serious education.

Application and extension of skills are critical to the enrichment programs. Each child's lessons are personalized and prescriptive, a term that Sylvan teachers use for the specific plan of instruction for each child's needs.

Sylvan methods and materials are based on reliable research, common sense and best practices, Scalf said.

A full assessment of reading, writing and math skills begins each student's enrollment, identifying their skill gaps from the earliest years of schooling until the present. A computerized test shows whether the student's learning style is visual, auditory or haptic (tactile).

The assessment, conducted through the California Achievement Test, not only helps them devise a prescription for what to study but for how many hours.

For most students, Scalf said, the first 12 hours is review. Then they hit a level of learning that challenges them to stretch beyond what they already have been exposed to, and continue developing to a full two years beyond their grade level.

"The whole goal of all our programs is mastery," Scalf said. "They've got to master a skill before they go on."

It involves intense hourly monitoring and record-keeping on the teacher's part, with five to seven skills introduced each hour. Students begin with guided practice, move to independent practice, then advance to applied practice on each skill.

Every six hours, Scalf reviews those records and meets with parents to bring them up to speed with their child's progress.

Nationally, a typical Sylvan student stays in the program for 100 to 120 hours of study, Scalf said. The local center is too new to have similar statistics for completion. But, she added, when the second part of the California Achievement Test is administered at 36 hours, students tend to show a full year's advancement in grade level.

Currently, 25 students in third through 11th grade study twice a week at the Sylvan Center in Kalispell.

Several changes are on tap for the coming months.

This spring, Scalf said the center hopes to begin offering an ACT and SAT study skills program for the college-bound student.

Come summer, they plan to introduce a daytime schedule as well as summer camps for math and reading skills.

Sylvan works closely with the child's classroom teacher, sharing information to help the student be the most successful learner possible.

To find out more about offerings and cost of tuition, call Sylvan Learning Center at 752-4657.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com