Three years in a row of Simon Academics alumni going to Harvard. Two years in a row of Simon Academics alumni becoming MSJHS Smoke Signal editors-in-chief. Courses cover persuasive essay, literary response, short story, and personal narrative writing. Classes start with the teacher editing homework as students watch and learn from their own and others' writing.
After a lesson, students start on a new assignment, receiving feedback as they work. Homework runs between one and two hours per week, depending on age. Classes begin with a lesson on reading skills. Then the teacher guides group reading with discussions, models vocabulary and comprehension skills, and helps students gain a thorough understanding of the text.
After a lesson, students start on a new assignment, receiving feedback as they work. Homework runs between one and two hours per week, depending on age. Classes begin with a lesson on reading skills. Then the teacher guides group reading with discussions, models vocabulary and comprehension skills, and helps students gain a thorough understanding of the text.
Services
We started in San Ramon in 2003, where Mr. Simon taught his first struggling student (in graduate school for engineering as of 2020) to read. After operating out of Mr. Simon's home, we moved to an office in Niles, and then an office on Mission Boulevard in Fremont. Why choose us? Small groups mean we can address each individual's needs.
Writing Classes prepare students for honors, AP, and college writing. Teaching across all grades means that, even with second graders, we have their futures in mind. We cover literary response, persuasive, expository, creative, and personal narrative essay writing, varying by grade level. Prompts are derived from released SAT, ACT, and AP exams as well as our own curriculum.
Each writing class is held once a week for one hour. Students sign up for a time and are expected to come every week at that time. If they miss a class, parents may request a make-up class during the period the student is signed up. Missed classes may not be added at the end and will not be credited towards future classes nor refunded.
Each reading class is held once a week for one hour. Students sign up for a time and are expected to come every week at that time. If they miss a class, parents may request a make up class during the period the student is signed up. Missed classes may not be added at the end and will not be credited towards future classes nor refunded.
Typically, math is taught as just a series of problems that students must learn to solve. After memorizing the steps, students get their grades and move on, having learned nothing substantial. Many tutoring centers just give worksheets, lots and lots of worksheets. They make math painful. Math is exciting.
Reviews (10)
Kevin N.
Jan 18, 2021
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Mr. Simon is one of the best teachers I have ever had, and he has left an indelible impact on my life. His humor keeps the class actively engaged, but he cares very much about our leaning. I'm writing this a couple years later than I had initially intended, but still remembering the lessons I gained from this class now goes to show how lasting it can be. Not only did my writing improve by a lot, which saw my scores improve even further than before, but I grew a deep appreciation for writing that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Dan L.
Jan 01, 2020
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This center does help my kid improved his writing skill but what we don't appreciate is that kids learn bad manners from Simon who harass the kids by calling them 'stupid' and 'idiot' and a bunch of other trash words. Kids learn from adults especially from adults who teach them. Besides, those words can hurt their feeling and create low self esteem in them. Some kids might even pick that up and use those words on their friends, school mates or even parents. Not good.
Zac G.
Jul 10, 2019
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My son has been in public schools where he couldn't get enough attention and instructions on how to write and improve essays. We realized we need a private tutor to improve his critical reading and writing skills. A friend recommended us Mr. Simon (his son was with Mr. Simon and very happy about his experience and improvement with Mr. Simon). After one year small group class with Mr. Simon, my son can easily get A in AP English class and got score 5 in the AP exam.
Mr. Simon, please accept our sincere appreciation! You made my son a different person, who is not only strong in STEM but also
Mr. Simon, please accept our sincere appreciation! You made my son a different person, who is not only strong in STEM but also
Wei L.
Jun 10, 2018
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I have only been at Simon Academics for a year, and I love it. Mr. Simon teaches us with humor, making us pay attention without forcing us. He teaches advanced subjects, and still makes it very fun. I always look forward to Wednesdays now because of his classes. He lets us have candy for our hard work, making us want to try. I also understand more of the outside world because he makes us read the news as homework. His classes are always fun because of his jokes in class, so we learn in a fun way. My writing grades have gone up because of his going deep into the topics we are learning about. Now
Gabe A.
Nov 21, 2017
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After a long search for tutoring in the Tri-City area for my second grader, I chose Simon Academics as they specialize in reading/writing instruction. My son has been taking private writing lessons with Ms. Advani since September 2017.
My son was struggling with penmanship, letter formation, and proper capitalization/punctuation, all of which impacted his self-confidence when writing. I felt this caused him to shy away from his writing homework, which in turn impacted the amount of effort he put into these assignments. Three months into the tutoring sessions I can already see significant progress
My son was struggling with penmanship, letter formation, and proper capitalization/punctuation, all of which impacted his self-confidence when writing. I felt this caused him to shy away from his writing homework, which in turn impacted the amount of effort he put into these assignments. Three months into the tutoring sessions I can already see significant progress
Alisa H.
Mar 07, 2017
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My sons have been with Simon Academics for a few years now. Mr. Simon is amazing in what he brings out in these kids! My son used to HATE writing! However, since starting writing classes 3 years ago with Mr. Simon, English has been his favorite subject! He has been in Honors English in Middle School the last couple of years earning A's and wants to continue Honors English in High School. I will be honest, my oldest son is pretty laid back. He does not possess a high achiever personality in this district of high achieving students. So for him to want to take Honors English in High School
Joyce T.
Feb 16, 2017
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Both my sons (ages 9 and 11) has been attending Mr. Simon's writing class for about 6 months. I feel that they have both improved tremendously in their critical thinking and writing mechanics. Mr. Simon is great at helping them organize their thoughts into essays that are meaningful and creative. Mr. Simon teaches his students to express themselves properly with correct syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. My older son said that since attending Mr. Simon's class, he rarely makes a major grammar mistake in his school work and grammar has become his easiest subject. When my younger son
Kaili S.
Jan 11, 2017
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Mr. Simon is a fantastic teacher with an incredible sense of humor that is sure to make students passionate and enjoy learning. In the 4+ years I've known Mr. Simon, he has taught me much more than just analytical and research writing, he has helped me develop my social skills, networking skills and especially my ability to manage time. From helping me with creative writing to analytical writing to critical reading to college application essays, I cannot thank him enough for all the help he has given me and the tremendous strides forward that I have been able to make with his help. I definitely
Victoria H.
Nov 25, 2015
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I thought I was pretty good at English when I signed up for Mr. Simon's classes the summer after sixth grade. I prided myself on my writing abilities, especially when it came to stories (I remember I really liked to post my stories on Fanfiction.Net). I was totally confident of my skills when my mom pushed me in the door that day. An hour later, I left nearly in tears.
Mr. Simon's teaching style is mercilessly effective. I say "mercilessly" in part because it works so beautifully well, but also because he doesn't try to flower up his statements when critiquing the essay
Mr. Simon's teaching style is mercilessly effective. I say "mercilessly" in part because it works so beautifully well, but also because he doesn't try to flower up his statements when critiquing the essay
Gretchen M.
Apr 19, 2013
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