Why Sylvan Learning's Vice President of Education Began Homeschooling Her Children During the Pandemic

Emily Levitt, vice president of education at Sylvan Learning, a supplemental and enrichment education franchise with 750 points of presence across North America, made a bold decision in 2020 after, like so many other parents, watching her children falter over nine months of distance learning. 

“I love public school, I’m a huge proponent of it. I like my children’s public school, and I was a public school teacher,” said Levitt. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but I had nine months of watching my kids struggle with remote schooling and I’d had enough.”

But Levitt didn’t need to quit her job to start educating her two elementary school-aged children. Quite the opposite, in fact, Levitt turned to her work at Sylvan Learning to provide a pathway for her children to keep their daily routine, have classmates and learn a solid curriculum in a small class with a teacher always at hand. 

Sylvan School Support Empowers Parents To Actually Work While Working From Home

In short, Levitt got all of the upsides of public school with none of the downside, and she did it with Sylvan’s School Support. Sylvan’s School Support service lets parents drop their kids off at Sylvan centers instead of a school. Once at the center, a certified Sylvan tutor guides them through their day of online classes. The teachers are always nearby to make sure they’re signed into classes, help with connectivity issues, accessing assignments and documents and being there to help the child learn. 

“Sylvan School Support is something new we started offering this fall in response to COVID,” said Levitt. “Parents still need to be able to do their job while children are doing their schoolwork, and Sylvan School Support lets us do just that.”

When Levitt’s kids first got their school schedules, she added their calendar to her work calendar. Even though her two kids went to the same school just a few grades apart, the start and stop time for each subject was different for each child. The result was a scheduling nightmare that made it impossible for her to ensure her children’s education while still working from home. 

“On any given day, I had to check on them to make sure they were logged in 18 times throughout the day and do my job on top of that,” she said. “If I’m in the middle of a presentation or a call, I have to wait to check on them until I’m free --at which point they may have missed a few subjects. It was impossible to keep up and keep their schooling on track.” 

Levitt started using Sylvan School Support to help with the schedule and it made a world of difference in making sure the kids attended classes and were where they were supposed to be.  But something was still not working for her family. “The last straw was watching my son try to complete a math test in PowerPoint. Each question was its own slide, but before he could even answer the question, he had to enter a text box, format the columns of numbers, and add equation symbols,” she said. “Tasks like that were really onerous for him and he was spending a lot of time on things in math class that were absolutely not math.”

Back To School — And Loving It

Levitt realized that combining homeschooling with Sylvan School Support may be an option. As a dedicated educator, she knew her decision had to be based on what’s best for her children. As a loving mother, she saw her children struggle with the format of online learning her school was using and that they were just missing too much of the educational content. That was the final sign to switch to homeschooling with Sylvan School Support.

Levitt found, through a recommendation of a friend, an online homeschool curriculum that she could customize and optimize for her children, with the help of an in-person teacher at Sylvan through School Support.  And since then, they haven’t looked back. Now, her kids have a daily routine that gets them out of the house. They have a small group of classmates they see at Sylvan. They have hope for a better school year in the “new normal” because their mother leveraged both Sylvan and a homeschool curriculum to her sons’ advantage. 

“Their moods are much better, and their attitude about learning has improved a lot,” said Levitt. “They start the day with a smile instead of a grimace. The Sylvan teacher has noticed how engaged they are. If you don’t have the kid’s buy-in, nothing is going to work.”

Looking back on her children’s time in public school, Levitt said the School Support system combined with homeschooling just makes more sense for a year when school has been so disrupted. She can also see how an arrangement like this could be very appealing to a family that regularly homeschools their students. 

“We get through more material more quickly,” said Levitt. “Even if school took place in the school building, which we wish it still was, how much time is wasted in school? Getting the kids in class, back and forth in the hallway, kids talking and not focusing, kids acting up and having to stop class… all of these things equal a lot of lost time during the day. It’s not that schools or teachers are doing a poor job, that’s just the nature of having to manage so many students at once. At Sylvan it’s just the two of them learning independently, so we can get through in three hours what used to take them six.”

While in normal circumstances, Levitt wouldn’t want to rob her children of the socializing benefits of going to school, she says that the School Support service actually now offers better socialization opportunities than distance learning.  

“I feel like it’s the best of both worlds during COVID,” she said. “They see the same kids every day. We have a learning pod together. They get that social interaction. They’re leaving the house. I was noticing from March that they started to get really, really clingy with me. They were struggling to be away from me when they used to be pretty independent. I was starting to see negative social effects. At Sylvan they get a little social interaction as safe as we can make it, and I don’t worry about them getting sick because there’s a small number of kids.

“I know that my decision can’t be for every family. But I encourage parents to think about alternatives that could work for them. And to know that Sylvan has lots of options to help support them.”

Sylvan’s Story

For more than 40 years, Sylvan Learning has been focused on building academic confidence, igniting intellectual curiosity and inspiring a love for learning — all of which make a big impact in school and in life. Since its founding in 1979, Sylvan Learning has become the leading supplemental and enrichment education franchise in North America thanks to its mission-driven philosophy, educational technology, community-oriented approach and strong franchisee support infrastructure.

Because of its ongoing investment in technology solutions and breadth of content and delivery options provided in-center, in-home and online, Sylvan has been uniquely positioned to respond to parents’ needs in these challenging times. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sylvan Learning has worked hard to support parents. 

First, in March, Sylvan Learning introduced a virtual tutoring option as school districts transitioned to remote learning. The brand also rolled out a mobile app in some markets that allows parents to book virtual lessons with Sylvan-approved tutors. The company is also continuing to utilize its proprietary software, SylvanSync™, which provides teachers and students with adaptive practice sessions. As the school year approached, the brand announced the launch of School Support, a program that provides a variety of services to help children stay on track and parents manage the complexities of this current school year.

As a result of its flexible and innovative offering, the industry-leading learning franchise is continuing to grow. Those who are interested in franchising with Sylvan Learning have the option to provide services virtually or offer in-person support to students during their regular virtual school days. By offering a much-needed service during COVID, Sylvan Learning franchisees have the opportunity to help families across America during this difficult time.

To learn more about Sylvan franchise opportunities, visit www.sylvanfranchise.com.

ABOUT SYLVAN LEARNING LLC 

With more than 40 years of experience and more than 750 points of presence throughout North America, Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12. Sylvan is transforming how students learn, inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Sylvan’s proven tutoring approach blends amazing teachers with SylvanSync™ technology on the iPad® for an engaging learning experience. Sylvan also leads the way with Sylvan EDGE — STEM and accelerated courses — and Sylvan Prep — college and test prep courses. Sylvan supports families through every stage of the academic journey. For more information, visit http://www.SylvanLearning.com or SylvanLearning.com/blog.