Can Tutoring Reduce Bullying?
How Confident Students Can Triumph Over Bullies
Most parents think of tutoring as a solution for a child with bad grades, but Beatrice Hair knows it’s about so much more than just the grades.
“Knowledge breeds confidence,” said Hair, founder of the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, www.staltd.com and author of the book, H3LT: The Hair Three- Legged-Table Solution for Education. “If it ended with better grades and test scores, then all we’d be turning out are book-smart kids who can pass a minimum skills assessment. That’s not the goal. The goal is to help a child realize their full potential both intellectually and personally. Showing them how to think for themselves in a way that fuels their ability to learn also boosts their self confidence, and when you have a child who is smart and filled with self-esteem, that child will be capable of accomplishing anything.”
Hair has personal experience with that paradigm. One of her students, William Scott, was suffering through a teenager’s worst nightmare – classes filled with failure and schoolyards filled with bullies.
“William was a special child who had moved from a school where he was succeeding marginally to a school where all he found was failure,” Hair said. “He told me what he experienced at his new school were cruel teachers and bullies. He wrote me a letter after he finished our course where he described that period as one of the darkest times of his young life, saying that the only thing he learned in that school was how to hate.”
Scott switched schools again, and his parents enrolled him at Hair’s academy for one-on-one after-school tutoring. That’s when he said his life changed.
“I’ve suffered through many hardships in my brief sixteen years on this Earth. Some of the things I’ve been through many people would understand, while on the other hand I’ve faced things that few could comprehend. I’ve faced bullies at many different schools and fought cruel and perverted teachers,” he wrote in his letter. “The entire time I faced these challenges, I had to deal with things on a much more personal level such as my lack of self-confidence and my learning difficulties. Luckily in this dark time of my life, I found a glimmer of light. I had found hope at a tutoring academy. I don’t want to go into all of the details, but when I first entered the academy, I barely had a seventy-seven average and when I finished with Algebra 2, I had the highest class average. I’m happier now that I know I can pass difficult classes and excel in them if I just put in a little more effort into my work. I’m not really sure where I would be right now if I hadn’t gone to the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, but I know for sure that it wouldn’t be a good place.”
For Hair, Scott’s solution was what she refers to as the “three-legged-table.”
“Most major problems encountered by parents, teachers and students can be solved by addressing the problems with what I call the three-legged-table,” she said. “The child, the parent and the teacher each hold up one leg of this three-legged-table. The table is the platform for transformations to occur. Imagine a three-legged-table with one leg broken. Will it stand, or will it wobble at the first sign of any turbulence? In our process, we approach problems by involving everyone who holds a stake in that child’s development, and that’s why it worked for William.”
Beatrice Hair is the founder and owner of the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, the One-on-One School, which is a franchised tutoring academy for ages four-to-adult.
Most parents think of tutoring as a solution for a child with bad grades, but Beatrice Hair knows it’s about so much more than just the grades.
“Knowledge breeds confidence,” said Hair, founder of the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, www.staltd.com and author of the book, H3LT: The Hair Three- Legged-Table Solution for Education. “If it ended with better grades and test scores, then all we’d be turning out are book-smart kids who can pass a minimum skills assessment. That’s not the goal. The goal is to help a child realize their full potential both intellectually and personally. Showing them how to think for themselves in a way that fuels their ability to learn also boosts their self confidence, and when you have a child who is smart and filled with self-esteem, that child will be capable of accomplishing anything.”
Hair has personal experience with that paradigm. One of her students, William Scott, was suffering through a teenager’s worst nightmare – classes filled with failure and schoolyards filled with bullies.
“William was a special child who had moved from a school where he was succeeding marginally to a school where all he found was failure,” Hair said. “He told me what he experienced at his new school were cruel teachers and bullies. He wrote me a letter after he finished our course where he described that period as one of the darkest times of his young life, saying that the only thing he learned in that school was how to hate.”
Scott switched schools again, and his parents enrolled him at Hair’s academy for one-on-one after-school tutoring. That’s when he said his life changed.
“I’ve suffered through many hardships in my brief sixteen years on this Earth. Some of the things I’ve been through many people would understand, while on the other hand I’ve faced things that few could comprehend. I’ve faced bullies at many different schools and fought cruel and perverted teachers,” he wrote in his letter. “The entire time I faced these challenges, I had to deal with things on a much more personal level such as my lack of self-confidence and my learning difficulties. Luckily in this dark time of my life, I found a glimmer of light. I had found hope at a tutoring academy. I don’t want to go into all of the details, but when I first entered the academy, I barely had a seventy-seven average and when I finished with Algebra 2, I had the highest class average. I’m happier now that I know I can pass difficult classes and excel in them if I just put in a little more effort into my work. I’m not really sure where I would be right now if I hadn’t gone to the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, but I know for sure that it wouldn’t be a good place.”
For Hair, Scott’s solution was what she refers to as the “three-legged-table.”
“Most major problems encountered by parents, teachers and students can be solved by addressing the problems with what I call the three-legged-table,” she said. “The child, the parent and the teacher each hold up one leg of this three-legged-table. The table is the platform for transformations to occur. Imagine a three-legged-table with one leg broken. Will it stand, or will it wobble at the first sign of any turbulence? In our process, we approach problems by involving everyone who holds a stake in that child’s development, and that’s why it worked for William.”
Beatrice Hair is the founder and owner of the Salisbury Tutoring Academy, the One-on-One School, which is a franchised tutoring academy for ages four-to-adult.
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As a resident and educator of Salisbury, NC , I can vouch for the reputation of Mrs. Hair her school. The three-legged table philosophy is a day-to-day tool that makes students, parents, and teachers accountable in the education process. With the challenges that teachers face in regards to student growth and achievement, the three-legged table philosophy allows teachers to teach because students are aware of the consequences if they create a problem in the learning environment. The three-legged table philosophy allows teachers to give consistent, constructive feedback; parents are receptive to the feedback and are grateful for the feedback that will help them improve their child’s academic performance. When the three-legged table philosophy is used in the classroom, the relationship between teachers, parents, and students are clearly defined and expectations from all involved are met to improve the child’s educational experience.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice Hair’s 3-Legged-Table approach to guiding young people to behavioral and/or academic success is simple and direct yet so incredibly inclusive. I choose the word inclusive because her format for working with youth encompasses all of the necessary components to enact behavioral change: planning, consistency, accountability, and unconditional support. Mrs. Hair’s model meets a young person where he/she is on the road to success and then provides compassionate yet firm guidance in building academic and life skills. I have used the 3-Legged-Table model and have witnessed first-hand young adults make behavioral changes. These young people will experience an improved academic career but more importantly will have developed skills that will help their day-to-day lives pass with more ease (i.e. planning ahead, organizational skills).
ReplyDelete“I have co-taught with Beatrice in her workshops for teachers. She provides tools that work. Her approach is insightful and practical. She is energetic and connects with students and teachers alike.”
ReplyDelete---Jill Aiken, M.D.
Pediatrician
“Beatrice Hair has come up with some brilliant and creative ways to solve some major educational problems: holding the attention of children and effectively raising the performance of students at all levels, the poor performers and the average ones, as well as keeping the exceptional ones motivated.”
ReplyDelete---Drs. Eleanor and Woody Rowe
My daughter just improved 39% points on her End-of-Grade test with the help of the Salisbury Tutoring Academy. This is a life changing event for my child. She had the highest improvement in her grade level at her school.
ReplyDeleteI just saw this on Facebook. What a great story--I want to learn more about this system.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Allie and I have been a student at Salisbury Tutoring Academy for approximately six months. As a result of my time spent at the academy, my SAT score increased 290 points. This drastic increase resulted primarily from the guidance and tutoring I have received from my tutors.
ReplyDeleteI recommend the STA not only because of my improvement on the SAT, but also because of my improvement as a person. I have succeeded and exceeded my goals while attending the STA, and I believe others should benefit from the kindness and leadership I was given. I feel honored to say I am a part of the STA family and I am thankful for the accomplishments they have helped me achieve.
I am actively involved in cross-country, soccer, and track. I am a leader involved with student government and the Key Club. I am also a member of the National Honor Society and have been nominated to be a Junior Marshall.
I received $36,000.00 of scholarships to be a Nursing Fellows at Carolina.
Allie
Before I came to tutoring, math was really hard for me to make good grades. At school there is one teacher and twenty kids. At tutoring I get one-on-one attention. I learned more with my tutor than at schools with my teacher. It makes school a lot easier. In third grade school got really hard and I stopped making straight A’s. Since coming to tutoring, it has made things so much easier that I finally made straight A’s again.
ReplyDeleteThe Salisbury Tutoring Academy helped both my sons succeed in school. This is a solid technology that benefited my family.
ReplyDelete