Paul Madar Coaching

     For a new student, I will typically get to know you first with a free consultation... asking questions and finding some common ground.  We will discuss your frustrations, your goals, study habits, teachers' expectations, and also stresses and how you handle them.  It helps a lot for me to know your whole learning environment.

     I have a broad and deep base of education: BS in Biology from Cornell University, Masters in Business from Butler University, music studies at the Jordan College of Fine Arts, MDiv from the School of Metaphysics.

     I have been coaching the ACT exam for over seven years, with excellent results.  I have also been a mind skills teacher and coach for 28 years, guiding kids and adults in learning how to focus attention, concentrate, develop emotional composure, relax, and use intuition.

     I typically charge $50-60 per hour for ACT coaching, and a session is 90 minutes.  In-person coaching is slightly more because of travel costs.

     Subject tutoring is usually $40-45 per hour, and adjusts up or down according to the level of instruction needed and the number of sessions you want to schedule.  

     I got started teaching as a substitute.  I was not very good at first -- nervous, self-conscious... but I felt teaching was such an important service that I committed to bettering my practice from every class I taught.  I quickly moved into full classroom teaching, then eventually into administration and supervising for a private school.  

     I have worked with an incredibly broad spectrum of students.  I home schooled my daughters up through middle school, and I still tutor them.  I teach high school and college students regularly now.  I taught adults ages 18 to 72 in evening classes, and I've had students from diverse social backgrounds, races, religions, and many foreign countries.  I've had easy and eager students, and stubborn and surly students.  

     Recently, a student who had a very good score already, asked me to coach her up to a 36 on the ACT. We outlined her section goals and strategies, refined the specific problems to work on, and drilled all the subjects. We practiced concentration, breathing forms, and emotional visualization.  With just a few weeks of that training, she took the test and got that 36 composite.  It was so exciting to go for it together!

     For someone looking to hire an ACT tutor, or even a subject tutor, I would advise them to check the tutor's recommendations and website first. A good tutor will want to show that readily.

     I would also advise you to put price aside for a bit and go for authority and quality first.  It may turn out that a better, slightly more expensive tutor will help you learn the material much faster. They will typically be more creative, more comfortable with your ups and downs in the journey, and will make it more challenging and fun than a newer, less expensive tutor might.

I suggest you have in mind three considerations:

1.  How hard am I willing to work and Why?

2.  What does a successful journey look like?

3.  What style of teacher brings out my best?