SOAR® Study Skills Classes - Nationwide

Live, Web-Based Classes for Students in Grade 6 and Up

“This is more useful and interesting than any other class!” 

- Shane Duggan, 9th grade student

Have you ever…

• Studied very hard for a test, only to be disappointed by your grade?  You are not alone!  Most students are never taught how to study for tests.  We can teach you simple ways to be better prepared for tests and to be a better test-taker.  

• Completed a homework assignment, but lost it before you could turn it in?   We have a simple system to help you easily organize all of your papers…You will never loose another assignment again!

• Been told that you do not work to your potential?  SOAR® will guide you through ways to get motivated and organized so you can “work to your potential” and feel proud of yourself, but not sacrifice fun time, either. 

• Struggled to read a text-book and understand what you were reading?  There are three simple steps that can help you understand more of what you read and, after doing them just a few times, will dramatically increase your reading speed. 

• Tried to write a paper and felt completely overwhelmed?  Our 3-D Writing Organizer is the perfect tool to guide you through a painless writing experience!

If you answered “yes” to any of these
…then the SOAR® Study Skills class is for you!   

SOAR® classes are a friendly and motivating way to learn how to study, right from the comfort of your own home. 

The steps of the program are simple to learn and use because they were designed by a student.  Susan Kruger, the creator and lead instructor of SOAR®, had always been the youngest in her class and had struggled to earn “good” grades.  In college, however, Susan learned study skills that transformed her not-so-great grades into a 3.9 GPA.  She weeded through many “study strategies” to find and create ones that were practical to use (most study skills are much too complicated to be effective) and soon began tutoring high school students and college peers in study skills.  She was successfully teaching other students easy ways to study and do homework efficiently while she was still “in the trenches” herself.

Susan became a certified teacher, working with 9th & 10th grade students, and quickly saw that most students do not know basic skills for studying.  She continued teaching study skills as part of her day-time classes and after-school tutoring: helping students discover how to earn better grades, have more free time, and develop greater confidence in school.  Parents and students were quickly becoming excited about the skills they were learning and Susan had a wait-list for tutoring.  In fact, after teaching for only one semester, her principal asked her to create a study skills workshop that was eventually made available to every student in the school.  That was the beginning of SOAR®. 

As thousands of students and families have continued to discover, SOAR® is student-friendly; the strategies are easy to learn, provide immediate results, and help you study more efficiently so that homework can be done in less time.  When you join a SOAR® group, you will quickly learn simple and easy ways to:  

“I learned how to plan my time and not just do thing when I feel like it.  I am also keeping myself organized so I’m not racking my brain to study one day before a test.” 
- Christopher Nadia, 8th grade student

“The rock, gravel, and water activity really helped me understand how to use my time better.” 

- Andrea Faris, 10th grade student

The SOAR® System is broken down into four fundamental principles: Set goals, Organize, Ask questions, Record your progress. 

These core strategies cover the most fundamental skills for school success and interrelate with one another, making it easy for you to learn and use them immediately.  The techniques within each section lay a foundation for the following section and reinforce strategies from previous sections.

What Results Can I Expect?

At the conclusion of this action group, you will: 

• Increase your grades.  After one full marking period of using the SOAR® System, your grades will go up.  Most students actually see a significant increase in their grades and cannot believe how easy it is to do better in school when they know how to study and do homework efficiently.   

-and-

• Have 2-10 more hours of free-time every week.  The SOAR® strategies are all about efficiency… learning the quickest way to earn better grades. 

You will learn how to take control of your school work and will have the confidence to be successful!

How have the SOAR® Study Skills Classes Helped Others?

There are countless stories of how SOAR® has helped students overcome problems in school.  Stephen, Sachi, and Nick’s stories below are just a few examples: 

Stephen, a student in 8th grade, went from dozens of missing assignments every quarter to missing only two assignments –total- during his first quarter after SOAR®.  Stephen found our binder system to be so incredibly easy.  “Why didn’t someone tell me about this before?” he said.

Sachi, a bright 11th grader, improved her test grades from mostly D’s & F’s to all A’s & B’s.  Sachi suffered from text anxiety for years; she was even allowed extra time to take tests, but that was not helping.  We first taught Sachi how to prepare for tests because the more prepared she is, the calmer she will be.  We then taught her test-taking strategies by reviewing one of her recent tests (with her teacher’s permission) and coached her on how to deal with anxiety.  “Once I learned how to get control over what I was supposed to learn before a test and what to do on a test, I was so much more confident!” she said.

Nick, a 6th grader, used to have nightly arguments and fights with his mom over homework.  Now, his mom says, they rarely argue at all!  Nick had been feeling nagged by his mom when she asked several questions every day about his schoolwork.  His mom, however, wanted to make sure he would do well in school and complained that he never told her anything.  “What else can I do besides ask him questions?” she asked.  We helped Nick and his mom work out a plan for communicating and checking in with each other, giving his mom reassurance while giving Nick some independence.  “Now that my mom isn’t bugging me all of the time, I don’t mind doing my homework as much,” said Nick.

What are the Benefits of the SOAR® Study Skills Classes?

The SOAR® classes provide a lot of benefits that no other program can offer.  Not only will you be earning better grades and having more free-time, you will…

…Be on the cutting edge of technology.  Today, all fields of business, medicine, and education are relying more and more on virtual classes and meetings because they are quick, convenient, and effective.  In fact, the state of Michigan is following the lead of several other states and requiring all students to participate in an on-line class before they graduate from high school.  There is no better time to take advantage of a convenient, virtual class and no better class than the one that will save you a lot of time and last you a life-time!

…Be practicing all strategies with your current homework.  We do not waste your time by asking you to do “fake” assignments.  All strategies are practiced on your homework, so it will not seem like you are doing extra work as you learn the system.  Instead, you will see how quickly you can save time and increase your grades because the program is immediately applied to your school work. 

…Receive recordings of every session in case you: miss a live session, want to review a specific topic again, or want to refresh your knowledge of the program sometime in the future.  All of our classes are recorded and made available for download.  Your parents will also be able to access these recordings to learn about what is happening in the classes without having to “nag” you with tons of questions.  (Of course, we encourage you to talk to you parents about what you learn, but they can access all of the nitty-gritty details from these recordings.)

…Get customized and individualized attention that will ensure that the SOAR® strategies work for you.  Every week, you will receive personal feedback (via email) from your instructor in response to your weekly report and will receive individualized attention during the group meeting.  While our program is designed to be simple and universal for most students, we also listen to any concerns and offer suggestions to help make the program fit for you. 

…Have homework support for life.  We frequently share free tips and valuable resources exclusively with our past students.  We are also available to answer questions and provide individual assistance via phone during our “Open Line” hours.  This service is provided for all current and past students, with no expiration, ever!  For example, if you have a big project to do a year from now and are feeling overwhelmed, call us during Open Line hours and we will be happy to get you started. 

…Learn from peers who are “in the trenches.”  It is very helpful to share your school struggles with others who are likely experiencing the same things you are.  The group members learn a lot from each other as they share their experiences, ideas, and insights that can only come from someone who is “there” right now.

This Program is Not For Everyone…

While the steps in SOAR® are easy, they do not complete themselves.  To be sure that your time and money are wisely invested, we kindly request that you sign up for the SOAR® Study Skills classes only if you and/or your parents meet these criteria:

• Students must want to do better in school and/or save time on their homework.  At first, most students feel a lot of apprehension about taking this class, but their reservations usually disappear after our first session; they become positive, contributing members of the group and actually enjoy themselves along the way. 

• Parents must be open to helping their children, even if it means making some adjustments themselves.  A significant part of our mission is to help students and parents work together to find common ground in regards to school. In order to be successful, parents must be willing to take a look at how their own actions may be contributing to the problem and how they can contribute to the solution.

If you meet these simple criteria, we are confident that a SOAR® Study Skills class will be a rewarding experience for you and we look forward to the opportunity to work with you.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to answer them!

How Does the Group Work?

The program is accessible from the comfort of your own home via phone, internet, web-cam (provided) and e-mail.  Topics are covered in six, 60-70-minute sessions over the course of six weeks via the internet and provided web-cam.  This program is unique because you will actually do most of the strategies in school or with your homework before we discuss them in detail with the group.  This twist enables you to ask good questions and be sure that you really understand how and when to use each strategy. 

You will be asked to try each strategy with your homework and submit a short email “report” before each session.  You will get individualized feedback from your instructor, via email, after your report is received.  Your instructor will also use the information from the reports to customize each group meeting. 

Each class session will have 15 participants.  This group size is small enough for students to get full and individualized attention, but large enough to promote engaging discussions and learning opportunities from peers.  

“It was serious and well-focused, but still fun! Thanks!”

- Emily Dundr, 9th grade student

Breakdown of Sessions

While sessions are always customized to meet the needs of each group, the following framework describes what you can expect to learn during each session:

Current Dates & Times

The Action Groups meet for seventy minutes, once a week, for a total of six weeks.  During the Fall of 2008, we will be offering a variety of time slots, as detailed below:

Requirements

In order to effectively participate in this program, you will need:

• Access to an on-line computer during each session, and
• An email account

The cost to participate in the SOAR® Study Skills class is only $299…Less than most tutoring companies charge for tutoring ONE subject for ONE month.  However, with the SOAR® classes, you will learn skills that can be applied to all subject areas immediately AND receive audio recordings of every session, individualized feedback, lifetime homework support, and a web-cam!

Hurry...Once back-to-school season approaches, classes fill fast!