Is This York? (satire section): Tutoring services in demand to help parents understand their children’s elementary school homework

Josh Meyers, parent and graduate of Harvard University Law School, having difficulty  understanding arithmetic at his Monday tutoring session.

Josh Meyers, parent and graduate of Harvard University Law School, having difficulty understanding arithmetic at his Monday tutoring session.

Chicago, IL—Huntington Learning Center has seen an exponential growth in its tutoring demands since parents have increasingly been complaining about the difficulty of their children’s homework.

Michelle Whittle, a mother of four and heart surgeon, came to Huntington after she realized that she no longer knew how to help her children with their daily homework.

“How am I supposed to help with my children’s homework when I can’t even understand it?” Whittle asked. “I looked at my first grader’s homework, and it seems absolutely impossible. What do they expect from us?”

Whittle joined Huntington’s new Parent Tutoring Program (PTP), along with several other families. After starting the program, she has shown significant progress.

“I can finally come home and say that I know how to do my children’s homework,” Whittle concluded. “I just feel so accomplished.”

Michelle was not the only one who experienced success in her tutoring. After implementing the Parent Tutoring Program, 99.9 percent of parents say that their children’s homework seems easier compared to the 0.1 percent of parents who had not joined Huntington.

Huntington Manager Katherine Worington said, “The new Common Core curriculum has really led to confusion for many parents, especially when they are coming from a more traditional and rational method of learning. We know grade school math can especially be difficult and we encourage all parents to come in for tutoring. In fact, if you really want your child to succeed past first grade it is a necessity.”

After receiving an increase in adult customers, the Huntington facility has also been remodeled to give it a more age appropriate look. The new waiting rooms are now filled with bean bags and coloring books so kids can pass time while their parents are being tutored. In the back, there is coffee and green tea to make sure the parents stay on task.

“I’ve never had to learn something this difficult before,” said MIT Physics Researcher Larry Turnbal. “It’s hard to concentrate, but the learning environment keeps me motivated to learn my son’s first-grade curriculum.”

Even more pleased than the parents seems to be the children.

“Some parents get very frustrated when they can’t understand, but my rule of thumb is to forget everything you’ve learned before,” said Mark Larson, a tutor for Huntington. “After a few sessions, I’ve had children come up to me discussing their parents’ progress. They just seem so proud that their mom and dad’s hard work is really paying off.”

Lisa Cartward, a first grader at Alcott Magnet Elementary School, also mentioned that her mom is learning more and more after each session.

“Sometimes she comes home really sad because she can’t understand why two times three doesn’t always equal 6,” Cartward said. “But most days she’s really excited that she finally understand my homework but then she is disappointed that I finished it in the waiting room while she was being tutored.”

Judging from the progress, Huntington Learning Centers seems to be making great strides in increasing the academic aptitude of parents. In the end, parents seem satisfied with their progress at the tutoring center. Many are thinking of continuing with Huntington for the entirety of their children’s schooling years.