Education Is Life [EP 26] with tutor Lindsay Zoeller

What does academic success mean to the students themselves? When their grades start slipping in a particular subject, what does that mean to them? In this interview with The Chicago Family Tutor owner Lindsay Zoeller, we quickly learn that tutoring is about much more than a cognitive understanding of math concepts or additional practice with reading. It’s time and space for a student to work through their relationship to a subject or skill with a trusted mentor and do one thing we love to do at Greenfields: fail safely!

What’s fascinating about Lindsay’s approach to tutoring comes from her unique background—not in education, but in family law. She shares with us how a child’s relationship with their parents can affect their schoolwork, and how working holistically with the whole family changes attitudes to create lasting results. At the root of many issues labeled as academic “deficiencies,” across subjects, isn’t a fundamental lack of understanding, but rather a gap in executive functioning skills tied to an emotion or a belief about themselves.

Lindsay wants families to think of her tutoring practice as their “third place” after home and work or school, a soft place to land, problem-solve and create a new plan for their next attempt. She believes that modeling vulnerability and sharing our stories with young learners (especially the moments when we have struggled ourselves) helps them develop a sense of self-worth. They learn that mistakes aren’t the end of the world and that they can get back up when they fall down.

Listen to this insightful discussion and learn more about the awesome resource that tutoring can be for your child and your family.

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