Tutoring in Naperville, Illinois
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Naperville, and we have no office there. If you want a person, this page says how we would look for one. If the question is which skill is missing, we can help with that part.
Two districts split Naperville. Naperville Community Unit School District 203 has its offices in town and runs Naperville Central and Naperville North high schools. Indian Prairie School District 204 is based next door in Aurora and has three high schools, Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley. Both are unit districts, so one district carries a child from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Each sets its own calendar and course catalog, so the home address settles more than which building a student walks into.
State tests Naperville students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
| Math | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | ISA | Not tested | Not tested | ISA | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
- IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- ISA (Illinois Science Assessment): science, grades 5 and 8
- PreACT 9 Secure: reading and writing, math, science, grade 9
- PreACT Secure: reading and writing, math, science, grade 10
- ACT: reading and writing, math, science, grade 11
A junior who already took the ACT on a Saturday still has to take it again at school in the spring. A senior with no valid score from the state administration is automatically scheduled for it in twelfth grade.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Illinois guide
Kolu finds the missing skill and goes back to it
It starts with a skill check, a short test that gets harder or easier depending on the last answer. The result is a map of the subject broken into skills with their prerequisites drawn in, each one marked as solid, still being learned, or a gap.
After that, each session is a handful of activities picked for that student, usually something due for review, a gap to repair and one new skill. When an answer is wrong, Kolu looks at which earlier skill the mistake points to and goes back to it. Here is what that looks like for a sixth grader who can't divide fractions.
The problem on the page
3/4 ÷ 2/5
Dividing fractions
Grade 6
Multiplying fractions
Grade 5 · rests on the one below
Equivalent fractions
Grade 4 · usually where it started
Multiplication facts
Grade 3
Kolu does not call a skill mastered after one right answer. That takes correct work on different kinds of problems on different days, and a skill that fades gets brought back.
Kolu is not test prep for IAR. It has no bank of released questions. It teaches the skills the test draws on, and it will not do tonight's homework.
It runs in a browser, so it works the same in Aurora, Lisle, Wheaton, Bolingbrook, Plainfield and Warrenville as it does in Naperville.
When to hire a person instead
Some students need a person, and software is the wrong purchase for them. That includes a child who shuts down when the work gets hard, a student with a learning disability who needs someone trained in it, and anyone with an exam in ten days.
In Naperville, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Indian Prairie School District 204 can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at North Central College, College of DuPage or Benedictine University, who took these courses recently and usually charge less than an agency.
Whoever you hire, ask one question before the first session: how will you find out what my child doesn't know? If the answer is that they will go over the homework, keep looking.
Free for one subject, $15 a month for 5
Kolu is free for one subject at a time, with one full skill check every 30 days and up to 4 sessions a day. Plus is $15 a month, or $120 for a year, and covers 5 subjects at once with unlimited skill checks. A learner under 13 needs a parent or guardian to set up the account.