Test Prep & Mental Health

Learn how to learn, learn how to achieve

LAS believes that all students have the ability to learn and achieve. However, in school the emphasis is often placed on test scores  and achievement rather than the process of learning. Most students learn how to memorize information without much instruction. However, most students do not learn how to learn.

LAS teaches students how to develop their awareness of thought and engage in higher-order learning, so that they learn, achieve, and successfully demonstrate all that they know.

Petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid

The LAS motto is a French proverb that translates to “little by little the bird makes its nest”. Founder Loren Deutsch first read this saying in a book by Anne Lamott, titled Bird by Bird. Loren used this book as a resource in one of her earliest hybrid groups at the University of Chicago. The group included ten graduate students who struggled to complete their academic writing assignments and were at risk of not finishing graduate school.

Each week, Loren read a chapter to the group, learning more about Anne Lamott’s writing process and then about one another. The group would discuss personal writing goals, progress, frustration, procrastination, and possible steps they could take to re-engage in their work. The process was successful, and gradually, each group member resumed and completed the academic writing needed for graduation.

Bird by bird cued our group to think about patience, compassion, and perseverance. Later, at LAS, it became a reminder to push pause, to be reflective, and to consider all that it takes to learn and achieve, little by little, slow by slow.

Tutoring versus LAS Coaching

Tutoring helps students memorize and understand new information. These processes are important for learning but some students need more to think beyond rote memorization.

LAS Coaching goes beyond tutoring and engages students in critical thinking to learn how to learn, achieve, and succeed in adaptive and sustainable ways.

LAS Coaching promotes higher-order thinking skills so students can deepen knowledge and develop insightful reasoning and problem-solving versus simply back-filling content.