New Tutoring Center Gets Down To Kids' Level

A new tutoring center in Wayne takes a different approach to instructing struggling students.

Personnel at E·nopi, which means “at eye level” in Korean, nurture a student through his or her academics rather than just work on topics the way a tutor would.

“You have to make sure that you are focusing on the child and how they learn,” said owner Bharat Kona. “The experience has to be personal for them.”

E·nopi opened in the Ramapo Shopping Center on Hamburg Turnpike in July. Enrollment is open and classes have already begun.

Often when a child is tutored, he or she is instructed on how to correct mistakes made on tests or class work.  Kona and his staff first assess where a student is at academically then guide him or her through a very carefully structured curriculum.

The technique stresses critical thinking and problem solving. Students are instructed to examine a problem and work on a specific step in a process rather than memorize a process or series of steps.

The curriculum is based on the federal Department of Education’s curriculum for English and Math. Students may also receive instruction in Reading.

“It’s imperative that we start students on a path of building their confidence while teaching them how to approach, and think through, a problem,” Kona said.

Repetition is an important part of E·nopi’s philosophy. Students need to work on the exercises everyday in short periods of time.

“If you don’t practice something everyday you don’t retain what you learn, you forget most of it,” Kona said. “Everyday. We want our students to just spend a little bit of time everyday on what we teach here. You need to practice everyday in order to get really good at something.”

Since each student has a personalized education plan, class sizes are limited to six children. All E·nopi’s instructors are certified teachers.

“We want each student to have as much one-on-one time as possible,” Kona said.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.