Accountability

Parents receive a re-cap email after each session. 

Environment

Relaxed. Safe. Cozy. Expectant.  That’s the environment of a BrainBuilders weekly session.  Students know that they’ll think, discuss, create, and be challenged in that hour. But they’ll also feel at home in the learning environment.  BB Mentors are trained to set aside a welcoming, comfortable space for mentoring in their homes, a place with books, overstuffed seating, even snoozing pets.  It’s part of the unique commodity we offer:  the loyal focus of a long-time family friend who cares about child’s your life and delights in his success.

Accountability is an important part of the BrainBuilders environment of committed friendship, so our mentors write a short, detailed recap of each session in a personal email to the parent.  This email tracks the student’s intellectual evolution over the years and also functions as a communication portal between parent and mentor, keeping an accurate, easily accessible record of each mental workout session. 

Accountability Sample Report:

Dear Ken and Jennifer -

Chris and I had a very productive session tonight as we brainstormed some fun and creative ideas for his next big English project:  a screenplay incorporating the various forms of archetypes.  We brainstormed a creative set of ideas and he spent some time jotting them down. I made a copy of his notes, but I also have the original here.  He's got a week or two before he has to start the project in earnest.  In the process of working together on this, we exercised vocabulary, creativity, critical thinking and rhetoric.  He didn't know what rhetoric is, so I explained that it is your particular linguistic ability to express your ideas or opinions, whether written or spoken--but most often referring to spoken language.  We get a lot of "exercise" in the spoken language department of things in our sessions--but I always ramp it up a notch or two with hi-level vocab!

One aspect of language we emphasize is the nature of word families. I will continually repeat the importance of recognizing roots and parts of speech to improve reading comprehension.  For instance, he had never realized the connection between impediment, podiatrist, pedal . . . when I helped him see that the root "ped" meant "foot" - he was amazed.  I want to get him to where he's LOOKing for those connections in words; it will increase his reading comprehension and his ability to use richer vocab in his own linguistic adventures.

Vocab from the session:

• glean
• impediment
• nemesis
• entre
• vast reservoir
• alter ego
• amalgamation

Challenge yourselves to use these words around the house:  “Chris, what did you glean from your conversation with Granny this afternoon?  She has quite a vast reservoir of wisdom, doesn’t she?  Please watch out for that backpack-shaped impediment on the stairs when you go up to finish your homework . . .”  (just offering some ideas . . .!)

Cordially – SS