JAMS versus Tutoring Centers

For children who are not meeting minimum academic standards or are struggling to keep up with their studies, tutoring services and tutoring centers are a very good alternative. These businesses do a great job of helping underperforming and struggling students to advance to the next grade level or to achieve a passing grade on certain exams.

Motivated, High Performers
Results
One-On-One, Tailored Programs
Measuring Success

Motivated, High Performers

JAMS is ideal for children who are just entering school (kindergarteners) or those that are high academic performers. Rather than tutoring to get past performance hurdles, JAMS teaches children a life skill – the ability to utilize both their creative and logical thinking to mentally solve problems and the discipline of focused concentration. Of course, these skills are taught using the Soroban Abacus and in the context of mathematics, but as a result of this ability it’s common for our students to perform better in all areas. Think of it as mental martial arts.

Results

Tutoring services guarantee improved performance in short periods of time – typically one grade level or some other similar metric. And for the most part, they deliver on that. Because they are focused on working with students who are struggling or underperforming, their focus is to get them to the next level as quickly as possible. At JAMS, our goal is to work with exceptional students to provide them an additional academic edge and a life long skill, rather than simply getting them to the next grade level. In fact, most of the students we teach are already performing beyond their grade level. The result: Motivated, high performing students are provided with an additional, competitive edge and a new challenge. This edge leads to higher academic scores and enhanced performance in math, science and all subjects, not to mention a skill that they will use well beyond their school years.

One-On-One, Tailored Programs

Tutoring centers provide ‘one-on-one’ attention and tailored programs. These centers take in several children and they are attended to by tutors who work with them. At JAMS, our approach is also one-on-one and tailored. However, our instruction is tailored to each child’s specific strengths, skills and abilities. We provide personal attention in a group setting – similar to tutoring centers – so each student receives hands on instruction in a way that is best suited to the way they work and think. At JAMS we program our instruction to your child, rather than inserting your child into a program.

Measuring Success

Most students who are enrolled with tutoring services attend, receive their assignments, turn them in and get some type of feedback. Parents aren’t typically involved in the equation – they drop the off or pick them up, then perhaps they participate in a feedback session or simply receive a grading report. Students at JAMS receive feedback throughout their 60 minute classes and parents are communicated with regularly. We don’t provide grades based on an artificial standard or scale. We judge each students performance based on their own, unique strengths, skills and abilities. Because our students are academically motivated, they typically compete with themselves. For advanced students, JAMS provides kyu certification exams.

Students who thrive at JAMS do so because they are self motivated and are supported by parents who are committed to ensuring their children have every educational advantage available and who understand that the edge they are providing them with Abacus training will provide that advantage.