For five years, Prime Tutoring has been a staple of Wilton’s community.
Originally known as The Tutoring Center, the business is owned by Dotty Josh, a Norwalker who stresses consistency over quick fixes. Her center requires students to attend at least two learning sessions every week.
“Our main thing is we use two instructors, and our students have to come in twice or three times a week. Attending just once a week is not beneficial at all,” Josh said.
“If parents are thinking of having their students coming once a week, I say don’t spend the money. A student has to come here to improve. Consistency is very important to see any improvement.”
Josh studied economics at a university in India before moving to the United States and eventually started a tutoring center.
While she says going to a tutoring center certainly isn’t the same as “going to a birthday party” for kids, her instructors do their best to keep things fun, interesting and incentivized.
“They are enjoying it as long as they are learning and building their confidence. Only then does it become enjoyable,” Josh said. “Most of the time no one is complaining about the classes.
“The instructors are fun, and they make the learning fun. Students don’t even realize that one hour has passed by.”
Specifically, Prime Tutoring specializes in reading, writing and math curriculum for students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
“It’s a very customized program,” Josh said. “We concentrate on their current skill level, and then move on to the skill gap” between a student and his or her peers.
“And we’re willing to go to the school and meet with the teachers to develop a full-team plan,” she said.
Though they focus on reading, writing and math, they also have students interested in other topics, like chemistry and biology. As long as Josh’s instructors, graduate students from nearby universities, are comfortable with the subject, Prime does anything to accommodate new subjects.
One problem that has begun sending many students to Prime, Josh said, is the introduction of Common Core standards.
“The curriculum moved so fast to Common Core, and now everyone is saying it’s moving too fast. Teachers at school have to make sure they cover every single area in 180 days, which is very hard.
Some kids get concepts very quickly, others need the time to get the concept. Once they get it, that’s all we care about,” she said.
Prime Tutoring operates on a month-to-month basis.
The cost of tutoring is $420 a month for two lessons a week, and $490 for three lessons.
Some students have attended Prime for the whole five years the center has been open, while others need only one or two years of instruction to get back on track.
The center is open from Monday to Thursday from 3:30 to 6:30.
SAT, ACT and other standardized test prep classes are offered on weekends.
Information: prime-tutoring.com.