"Competitive Edge -
sharpening student's minds one student at a time"
FAQ
What is Competitive Edge Learning Center?
The Competitive Edge Learning Center is an after-school enrichment program. We have STEM curriculums that start with preschool material for children who enroll as young as age three and advance all the way to the end of high school.
The Competitive Edge Learning Center holds two sides: the academic learning side and the side where we instruct students how to self-learn, gain trust and become autonomous thinkers. We combine advancing their math, science and reading skills with teaching them how to become even better students. How to put in the effort. How to learn from failure. How to evaluate and be analytical when they’re solving a problem and finding mistakes. How not to erase the whole answer but go back and find exactly where the mistake occurred.
Over time, many of our students become very confident as they work on material years beyond their grade level. They often find themselves doing school homework much faster and with better results. And many are able to qualify for advanced classes in high school that help with their future college education.
How does Competitive Edge work?
In the Competitive Edge Program, students learn through daily practice of approximately 30 minutes per subject per day. Two days a week they finish assignments at the Competitive Edge Center, and the other days they practice them at home, or wherever life leads them. When you first enroll your kids, we’ll have them complete a placement test that identifies the most appropriate starting point for them. This has nothing to do with their age or grade in school; it’s about the skills they’ve mastered to date. Based on their starting level, they’ll work on daily assignments through what we call a self-learning approach. As they’re working on their assignments, we’re also assessing whether they’ve mastered each concept by looking at their speed and accuracy. If they’ve mastered it, great! They advance to the next level. If they haven’t, we have them go back to relearn those concepts.
How is Competitive Edge better than tutoring for students who have fallen behind?
The answer to that is very simple. At Competitive Edge, we go back to the root of the problem, while tutors most often help with an immediate need. As an example, assume your child is struggling with fractions. A tutor may help them advance past the immediate struggle. The Competitive Edge Program, on the other hand, realizes that their struggle likely stems from having lost some other portion of fundamental learning, possibly the subtraction or addition. The Competitive Edge Program allows them to move back, helping them master the basics before going on. Through self-learning, they learn to walk on their own, not to depend on someone to hold their hand along the way. Because we all desire our youngsters to become independent, confident learners.
How does self-learning at Competitive Edge differ from traditional instruction?
To understand self-learning, it’s important to first understand what we’re all familiar with, which is traditional learning. In the classroom environment, your children are often passive learners. They may be sitting in class, but are they really paying attention? Are they fully engaged or daydreaming in space? Thus whatever the instructor is teaching, there’s no guarantee it has been fully comprehended.
Conversely, self-learning at Competitive Edge keeps your children actively engaged. They discover by examining examples and then are able to do the work on their own, as opposed to a teacher or a tutor sitting there and explaining how to resolve the problem. They’re learning by doing, not by watching, and they’re relying on themselves instead of on what the teacher knows.
Why keep your child in Competitive Edge year-round?
The real value of at Competitive Edge, and what sets us apart from other learning programs and tutors, is the impact our unique method works on your child’s success throughout school, and beyond. This is true regardless of whether a student is a bit behind when starting at Competitive Edge or has already been earning A’s. Parents also find that year-round at Competitive Edge Instruction eliminates the need to ever hire a tutor again. That’s because our unique approach starts by closing the gaps in fundamental learning that so often lead to struggles in later years.
How does Competitive Edge help smart kids get even smarter?
A wonderful difference between the Competitive Edge curriculum and the school curriculum is that your children advance based on their abilities. In school, your children are limited regardless of what knowledge they have, if they are in second grade, they’ll study second-grade material. At Competitive Edge, they have the freedom to go beyond. They don’t progress based on their age or grade but based on what they know. That’s why so many at Competitive Edge, are studying material one, two, three or more years ahead of their grade level.