Exciting news!

Bravo! Tutoring will be offering a month-long Transition Math summer camp for students starting Grade 9 this upcoming fall.  Led by our amazing instructor Mario, the camp, hosted virtually, will consist of 2 sessions per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. The first session will take place July 7th and the final session will be July 30th.

Camp Curriculum (What will be Covered)

The camp will start with a review of the fundamentals from Grade 8, so that even though your child hasn’t been in school this past spring, he/she can feel confident to start the year.  Then, we’ll transition into highlights of the Grade 9 curriculum, to help your child feel well-prepared for the upcoming school semester, which is especially important given these uncertain circumstances. We’ll finish off camp with some transition tips and tools to guide students through the transition from elementary to high school, going over skills such as proper time management and prioritization.

Camp Cost

The cost for the full Transition Math camp is 0 (8 total 2-hour sessions). As space is limited, please sign up as soon as possible to reserve a spot for your child.

To reserve a spot, or if you have any additional questions, please fill out the contact form below:

 

1. What is your educational background? What subjects can you tutor in?

I have a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Ryerson University that I obtained in 2014. In terms of the subjects that I may tutor in, they include: Math (Grade 1-Grade 12), Science (Grade 1-Grade 10), Chemistry (Grade 11-Grade 12), Physics (Grade 11-12), and English (Grade 1-Grade 12).

2. What is your Favourite part of being a tutor with Bravo! Tutoring?

My favourite part about being a tutor with Bravo! Tutoring is having the opportunity to meet students from all sorts of backgrounds and interests and try to help them with any perceived shortcomings they may have. Meeting different students always provides a challenge in terms of tutoring style and speed and keeps me open to the needs of the students.

3. What is your favourite subject to tutor and why?

My favourite subject to tutor has always been Math because I feel that Math gets a bad reputation with many students. Some students just get math and some just don’t, which is completely natural. What is also natural is being frustrated with yourself for not understanding things other students get which causes the student to grow a resentment for the subject. I feel Math gets this much worse due to being mandatory for most of the student’s educational experience as well as the fact that teachers teach Math with a “One size fits all approach”. I love Math because it causes one to see the world and it’s intricacies in different ways. On that note, I like how the same answer can be approached in a multitude of ways and it’s up to the student to realize what process works best. I love watching students come up with their own unique way to solve problems that may not even make sense to me, but if it leads to the right answer every time and the student understands it, I consider it 100% valid.

4. What was your favourite tutoring experience?

My favourite tutoring experience has always been the same and it has always been in my favourite subject, Math. Whenever a student is struggling with Math and then you reveal something to them that connects everything together that clears the fog of the mind and now everything makes sense. It is at that point that the same thing always happens: “WOW! THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!”, “I GET IT NOW!”, “I CAN’T BELIEVE I DIDN’T SEE THIS BEFORE!”, as well as my personal favourite, ” THAT’S SO COOL!”. The moment when something finally clicks in a student’s mind and they just understand everything all of a sudden is my favourite tutoring moment as it gives the student, as well as myself, a thrill for the subject.

5. What do you enjoy doing outside of tutoring?

When you think of a Math tutor, there is probably an image that immediately comes to your mind. Apparently I do not fit that image as my students are constantly surprised when they first meet me. This is because what I enjoy most outside of tutoring is being as active as I possibly can. I enjoy biking, hiking, swimming, playing as well as watching hockey. I am an avid reader of non-fiction literature (History, economics, Science and biology). My career is as an engineer so it can be expected that I like to build and repair things around the house when I can. I also enjoy cooking and baking, which some of my students, as well as parents, have had the fortune of sampling.

Fill in this contact form to work with Mario!

4 Questions to Ask Teachers Before the End of the School Year

 

With summer vacation just around the corner, teachers and students alike are getting ready for their big annual break. It’s a time of rest, decompression and recharging before it all begins again in the fall. For parents, these last couple of weeks are precious time that you can use to ask your child’s teachers crucial questions before your kids move up and out of one grade and into another. Here are 4 questions you must ask your child’s teacher before the end of the school year.

 

The problem is, what should you ask? What things are the most useful to know? We have prepared some suggestions on helpful questions to ask your child’s teacher.

 

Question 1: What does my child need to work on most?

We put this one first because it’s absolutely the most important and useful to know. It’s all very well knowing all about your child’s successes over the past academic year. They are enjoyable and satisfying to know. Unfortunately, success doesn’t teach us anywhere near as much as failure does. Therefore, it’s vital to know what your child’s teacher thinks are areas that your son or daughter need to work on the most in the coming year.

 

Question 2: What books do you recommend for my child to read this summer?

 

Retro though it may seem in the age of smartphones and social media, reading is still the best go-to activity that you child can turn to in their downtime. It expands their minds, sharpens their fundamental academic skills, and enriches their knowledge and perspective on a multitude of subjects. Since your teacher knows a lot about your child’s current academic level, they are well placed to recommend specific reading materials that would benefit them.

 

Question 3: What can I do to help my child’s transition to the next grade level?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving up to the next grade level can be daunting for a child, especially if it’s an inter-school jump like middle school to high school. Your child’s teacher is a great source of ideas and inspiration for how to support his/her upward transition, and it’s certainly worth asking. Their insight and experience are crucial in what can be an emotionally and academically challenging time for students.

 

Question 4: How can I better support next year’s teacher?

There are three parties with a stake in making your child’s education a success — you, your child and the teacher. All three participants need to support each other, or the partnership collapses. You’d do well, therefore, to inquire to your child’s current teacher what more you can do to support the next one who will teach your son or daughter. They may suggest volunteering to help with field trips, offering support in reinforcing the homework policy or something else. Ask and you can find out.

 

Education is a process that requires engagement from all committed parties. Communication is absolutely key between all parties to ensure the success of your child.  Don’t be afraid to reach out, you’ll be glad you did.

Subscribe to receive the latest educational news and updates from Bravo! Tutoring:

First Name

Last Name

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

How to Explain Prejudice to a child: A Parent’s guide

Recent events in Minneapolis have triggered an explosion of protest across the world at the persistent and pervasive problems of racism and other prejudice that permeate across our societies. Parents of young children are caught between two intimidating challenges, the first being to shield their families from the worst excesses of violence and turmoil. The other is perhaps even more daunting to some, and that is explaining it all to their kids. But how to explain prejudice to a child?

Children are naturally curious, and are bound to want to know why there is so much raucous, why people on the TV or even on their street appear angry, carrying signs or throwing things. In the eyes of a child it can all be quite baffling. For parents, approaching the subject is important, yet fraught with concern, so we have prepared some advice for how to deal with it.

1. Don’t expect to get it done in one short conversation

Explaining racism and prejudice to young people is a process. You can’t possible cover everything in a single conversation, so the first step is understanding and acknowledging that you can’t achieve what you want in that way.

2. Prepare your own thoughts before you start

A very important thing is that you are clear and unambiguous when speaking to your children. Ambiguities and baffling explanations will just leave them more confused. This means you need to take time to think and prepare what you might say to explain the key ideas. For example, have you ever tried to define “racism” out loud? You may be able to visualize it in your mind, but explaining it aloud is another thing altogether.

Find resources to help you understand the definitions clearly (there are many available online!) You should wait to speak with your kids until you feel confident about the topic yourself.

 

 

3. Start with the basics, and then let the kids lead with their questions

Kids are both tougher and smarter than you think. Those topics you think they can’t handle, they likely can, and with gusto. Their minds are truly wondrous; able to listen, absorb, understand and clarify in ways that adults cannot. You can start the conversation by addressing the terms you’ve now clarified in the context of what kids have seen going on around them.

After that, give your children space to reflect and ask questions about what they’ve heard. The point of the exercise is to get them thinking, not to hammer things into their heads to memorize or repeat like parrots later on.

4. Reassure kids that prejudice doesn’t make them inherently bad

One reaction that some kids may have is that they have expressed or shown prejudice themselves, which might scare them. You can reassure them by pointing out that our struggle as a community is not in stamping out all prejudice, but rather recognizing it when it happens and trying to overcome it together. Use examples from your own life when you’ve subconsciously or otherwise shown prejudice, and how you reflected upon it and improved. Kids often idolize grown-ups, so helping them understand that even grown-ups are working on this will encourage them.

Gentle but Direct – This is the Best Way

Honesty and awareness are the two core principles at the heart of this lesson. We don’t want to alarm kids, or make them think they’ve done something wrong. The goal should be to help them understand what’s going on in the world around them, and not to be afraid to ask questions about it. In this way, over time, we help raise our children to be sensitive and caring members of the community.

 

 

 

To help you, here are some resources to help with the conversation:

A parent’s guide in preventing and responding to prejudice

Talking about racism and bias: resources for parents and caregivers 

Subscribe to receive the latest educational news and updates from Bravo! Tutoring:

First Name

Last Name

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Distance learning ideas: how to support your child

With no end in sight to the school closures in Toronto, the prospect of students of all ages doing their schooling at home has firmly entered into our collective vision. The idea of distance learning as the mainstream of education has moved swiftly from an idea we batted around in light debate to a very real and sobering reality.
The big question gripping many parents in Toronto right now is how best to support their children in these tough times. It’s not just educational support we’re talking about here, but also logistical and emotional support. Here are some distance learning ideas to support your kids of any age during these trying times:

1. Find online resources

If there was a time in history when we were going to be forced to conduct education at home, then it’s probably a good thing it happened in 2020. Via your smartphone, tablet or home computer you can help your child access a veritable treasure trove of online materials, many of them free. Is your child struggling in math? Get on YouTube and discover the small army of math problem explainer videos for help, all at no cost.

2. Find hobbies and interests you can do as a family

Isolating ourselves may keep us from school and work, but it doesn’t have to keep us from finding fun things to do together as a family unit. Many parents are noticing that their kids finish their schoolwork quickly, and have a lot of extra time to spare. You should try to fill that free time with productive activities that all of you can enjoy. It will help relieve boredom, while also teaching skills and bringing you all closer together.

3. Encourage independent learning projects

One more thing you can do to bolster learning is to encourage kids to take up their own research and writing projects. Why wait for teachers to tell them what to do? You can set your kids a task to produce something related to a particular hobby or interest that they have. Where school often crushes kids’ love of learning, this type of project might just reignite it.

4. Look into tutoring options

For many parents, supporting early childhood and elementary education is at least not overly hampered by parents’ lack of knowledge. When it comes to high school subjects like trigonometry and physics, however, it’s hard for parents to proffer academic support. Professional tutoring is the best solution to this, and is probably more affordable than you think.

5. Cooking!

The Internet and online tutors can help you easily take care of the academic side of things, but we mustn’t forget other aspects such as health. One of the best things you can do as a parent is to ensure your child has regular healthy and nutritious home-cooked meals and snacks. The shadow of covid-19 looms large over our society, and sitting down together for meals, and sharing fun snacks through the day is just the kind of morale booster that helps keep everyone sane.

In the end, it’s about keeping calm and carrying on

Finally, we would like to advise all parents that in these difficult times, it’s crucial that we as adults lead by example. That means remaining calm and level-headed, and reminding our kids about the dangers of misinformation, rumor and conspiracy theories. We all need to pull together and weather the storm.

Should my Kid do Online Tutoring in Toronto?

The Digital Revolution has seen us embrace online tutoring. The online world is now our go-to platform for almost all our needs. When it comes to shopping, working, connecting with people, and finding answers to the questions we have – digital platforms seem to be on the front line. So, wondering “should my kid do online tutoring in Toronto?” Take a look at some of the benefits of online tutoring in Toronto that your child may have.

1. Flexibility

How incredible would it be if your child could learn at their convenience? Online tutoring allows them to discover within their timelines. The location of the student and the tutor is a non-issue as long as you have access to stable internet. Your child gets to access their online tutor at the time they want, based on the arrangements you have made. Unlike school, where a time table must be followed, with online tutoring your child gets to learn at the time best for them. For example, if your child is a night owl, enrolling for night sessions would be a great deal for them.

2. Personalized Learning

In a school set-up, a teacher is unable to give each student their full attention, and some may feel left out. With online tutoring, your child gets personalized learning, where they get to learn at their own pace. Not all students learn at the same pace, and an online tutor is able to guide your child to unlock their full potential. As the tutor prepares the lesson plans, he or she does that with a thorough understanding of your child’s strengths, difficulties and objectives, which allows them to make more informed decisions on the lesson plans and pacing.

3. Immediate Feedback

In case of any questions and uncertainties, your child can ask their online tutor without any fear or intimidation of any kind, working in a one on one situation. Online tutoring is a favorable learning environment for students that feel like they have a hard time studying or approaching their teacher with questions, especially in class with other students. It provides a safe space for asking even the silliest questions. It is a place where no one will laugh or make your child feel inferior for asking anything that they don’t understand. On the other hand, if your child is excelling – it also gives fast learners an opportunity to learn at their pace.

4. Quality learning

With online tutoring, your child can be guaranteed quality learning through innovative means. This is especially due to the ability to conduct excellent illustrations through animations, videos, diagrams, drawings, and photos. Advanced features like writing on a virtual whiteboard and having the ability to share screens is great! This makes the learning more accessible and more effective. Online tutors can also upload files that your child can utilize immediately in the learning process.

When assignments are given, your child can also submit in the comfort of your home. Technology has indeed made the world a small village, whereby distance is a non-issue as long as one is connected to the internet. The lessons are equally interactive in that your child can participate in using audio, video, and text, which make learning fun and effective. You also have the option of recording sessions to be able to review the concepts your child has gone over with their tutor.

Online tutoring is a great learning platform for all students. With schools closed, now is the best time to embrace online tutoring, especially since not all curriculum is being covered due to reduced hours. It’s a world full of endless possibilities. Why don’t you give it a try and see what good it could bring?

For an update about online tutoring, click here.

The Perfect Guide For Parents. Sign Up For Our Newsletter Now. It’s 100% FREE

First Name

Last Name

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Update: We are now doing online tutoring

Due to the Covid – 19 pandemic, all of our in person sessions have transitioned to online.  We remain committed to ensuring a quality education for your child during this difficult time. We can do this by helping your child complete online assignments assigned by their teacher or by helping them keep up to date on curriculum due to minimal hours of online school.

Online tutoring has so many amazing benefits. Check out our blog post to learn about how online tutoring can help your child.

The Perfect Guide For Parents. Sign Up For Our Newsletter Now. It’s 100% FREE

First Name

Last Name

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

I believe that everyone has the ability to learn if given the opportunity. It is my mission as a teacher to provide a well-balanced, positive and engaging learning environment to meet the needs of my students. With my positive attitude, my passion for teaching and my hard work ethic, every.

I believe that everyone has the ability to learn if given the opportunity. It is my mission as a teacher to provide a well-balanced, positive and engaging learning environment to meet the needs of my students. With my positive attitude, my passion for teaching and my hard work ethic, every student can succeed in my classroom. I am a certified teacher from OCT since 2015. I completed my Bachelor of Arts in French from York university and my Bachelor of Education from Laurentian University. Besides teaching, I love to play sports. I used to play volleyball in a competitive league, and now I still play it for fun. I run marathons and half marathons. For extra curricular activities, I coach volleyball, basket ball, and cross country at school as well as soccer in a club.