There are plenty of benefits to enrolling your child in an after school tutoring program. However, for students whose struggles go beyond a single subject, a more thorough approach may be called for.
Academic enrichment has gained firm traction with parents over recent years, because it’s so much more than just tutoring. While an enrichment program still delivers comprehensive educational guidance, just like any other tutoring service, it also builds your child’s social and emotional stability. Skills such as self-regulation and self-advocacy are gradually strengthened alongside academic understanding, instilling your child with the confidence to give it their all in the classroom.
Throughout our 20 years of delivering academic enrichment for students in need, we’re often asked, “What’s the difference between after school tutoring and academic enrichment?” Both programs are meant to address academic struggles and get students back on track. However, the length, scope, and approaches are vastly different.
Find out how academic enrichment programs go beyond the subject-specific nature of tutoring, and if your child requires support, don’t hesitate to request a consultation on our website.
What is Academic Enrichment?
Academic enrichment goes beyond traditional after school tutoring in the sense that it’s not subject-specific, but instead focused on nurturing a child’s healthy development both in and out of the classroom.
An example is a student whose study skills could use some work, or a child whose self-esteem struggles are affecting their socialization and academic performance in school. With an academic enrichment program tailored to your child’s needs, goals, and unique learning style, these hurdles can be cleared, allowing them to walk into class with their head held high.
Tutoring and academic enrichment differ in a handful of ways. The most notable difference being tutoring’s subject-specific nature, versus the broader range of solutions offered by an enrichment consultant or program.
A tutor will help your child better understand algebra, or concepts in their biology class. An academic enrichment program will strengthen your child’s foundational study skills, alongside their self-regulation and self-advocacy, which can be carried over into any class or subject.
After School Tutoring vs. Academic Enrichment
Along with their differences in scope, after school tutoring and academic enrichment are dissimilar in three other key ways:
Academic Enrichment is Long-Term
Tutoring will help your child build an understanding of a specific subject. An enrichment program, on the other hand, tends to the entire learning journey. Skills such as self-regulation, self-advocacy, and healthy study habits take longer to strengthen, versus seeing an algebra tutor for a few months. This is because social and emotional skills take much longer to establish than single subjects.
After School Tutoring is Completely Academic
Seeing as tutoring is subject-specific, it’s also purely academic. It’s meant to help your child with their division problems, essay writing, and hard-to-understand science classes. In this way, after school tutoring is designed for short-term academic struggles versus the gradual nature of academic enrichment programs such as e3 Consulting.
Academic Enrichment Shapes the Whole Child
A decline in academic performance is most commonly why parents consider an enrichment program. However, a poor report card is often reflective of issues outside the classroom.
Your child could be bored with their classes, unmotivated to learn, struggling to socialize, or lacking the self-esteem to try their very best. After school tutoring may help fix your child’s grade in a given class, but if social or emotional struggles are involved, a more thorough approach may be necessary.
At e3 Consulting, our academic consultants work with children one-on-one to shape their self-advocacy, verbal communication, nonverbal expression, and other soft skills that carry on into adulthood and beyond.
e3 Consulting’s Academic Enrichment Approach
Struggling students need a custom-tailored plan to enrich their learning journey, arm them with the tools to succeed, and ultimately drive them towards academic success. To accomplish this, e3 Consulting starts with an academic consultation to address your child’s learning style, needs, and goals.
After an initial consultation, we’ll ask your child to take a proficiency assessment that gauges whether they’re learning at grade level, and identifies areas of improvement. Our academic consultants also incorporate games and engaging discussions throughout the assessment to get a read on your child’s social and emotional wellness. Once complete, we’ll report back with our findings and a plan to overcome struggles we’ve identified.
Once a plan is set, an e3 Academic Specialist will meet with your child one-on-one to build the social, emotional, and learning skills needed to reach those pre-set goals. Whether your child is having emotional troubles such as a lack of self confidence, or educational challenges like poor study habits, our enrichment program will identify those needs and meet them with care and compassion.
Choosing Between After School Tutoring or Academic Enrichment
Every child has their own learning style and struggles. Your child could be drastically unmotivated, having trouble socializing, or even challenged by a condition such as dyslexia or ADHD. In these situations, a more thorough approach is called for: academic enrichment. After school tutoring is great for when your child needs help with a particular subject, but oftentimes, learning struggles stem from outside the classroom. If you believe your child requires an additional layer of support, one that approaches their challenges with compassion and care, don’t hesitate to contact the Academic Specialists at e3 Consulting.
Contact e3 Consulting today to request an academic consultation and get your child the help they need and deserve.
