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In 2003 tutoring was not really an option for most families.
Small group tutoring in well-known centers ran as high as $500 per month and worksheet
programs, such as Kumon, cost $85 - $110 per subject per month. And if cost wasn't the problem,
time was, because driving to tutoring centers was another time-consuming obligation.
That left most parents without the ability to provide their kids the help they needed.
For others, that meant trying to tutor their kids themselves: assessing knowledge levels,
creating lesson plans from online libraries or purchased software/books, and teaching skills
that may not have been revisited for years. In short, at a time when polls continually showed
most parents were extremely concerned about their children's education, most parents were without
a reasonable solution.
And that's
when, one lazy afternoon, we were struck with the idea that later evolved into
MINDsprinting. As parents we knew those problems all too well. So, we
asked ourselves, why hasn't anyone created an affordable, convenient, quality
tutoring program using the greatest delivery system the world has ever known -
the Internet? And we spent the next 2+ years researching, designing, and
building an online tutoring system that would satisfy us as parents.
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We sought and found experienced educators with
a curriculum they had proven successful
over the course of 20+ years.
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We developed an interactive Assessment Test
that would analyze each individual student's skills and needs and tailor a
program just for him/her.
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We built a system that would assign lessons based upon the results of the last
lesson to ensure mastery of skills.
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We designed a user friendly website
where: kids could access and print their own lessons (we wanted them to learn
the time-tested way - doing lessons by hand; not staring at a screen for
hours); Mom or Dad could quickly correct lessons and enter results; and
progress would be tracked and easily shared with teachers.
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In January 2005 MINDsprinting officially launched. Over the next 2 1/2
years, thousands of kids around the world enrolled. Some learned of us on the
Internet, while others were members of groups where our programs were used
(e.g. various Boys & Girls Clubs of America) or endorsed (e.g. UAW-Ford, AFGE,
Wal-Mart).
In January
2005 MINDsprinting officially launched. Over the next 2 1/2 years,
thousands of kids around the world enrolled. Some learned of us on the
Internet, while others were members of groups where our programs were used
(e.g. various Boys & Girls Clubs of America) or endorsed (e.g. UAW-Ford,
AFGE, Wal-Mart). Until finally, in 2007, a combination of opportunity,
technology, and a little luck allowed us to take the most gratifying step of
all: to provide our programs at affordable pricing - and ensure every child has the
opportunity to receive quality tutoring.
At the
same time we added a new State Standards Program
for math that addresses the skills required on each state's annual proficiency
exam. This unique program gives parents, teachers, and schools a FREE tool to
help ensure their students are prepared for the exam. We believe this unique
program (and our new custom Reports capability) will assist schools in their
efforts to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Unfortunately, the FREE site launched just before the economic crisis of 2008, which made supporting it with advertising alone virtually impossible. Notwithstanding such difficult times, we were able to keep the FREE site alive throughout 2009 until we found a solution that enabled us to keep quality tutoring available for everyone (relying on the assistance of advertisers and sponsors): in January 2010 we began offering ALL of our proven programs for one very affordable, PER YEAR tuition fee of: $49.95 per student (1-9 students) OR $499.95 per class (10-35 students).
We know
there are those who frown on ads even though the most-visited websites today
(including kid's sites) contain them. To them we say, you may rest assured we
did not take this step without assurances from our educators that the integrity
of our programs (and the student experience) would remain intact. So we hope
that you will take a brief moment to sample our
free Assessment Test and proven programs. We are confident you will be
pleased with the results.
The
Founders
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