Week 1
The diagnostic
Leo reads well above grade, but adding fractions keeps going wrong. The trace: equivalent fractions never settled, and his 7 and 8 times tables are slow.
Mentor’s note
Quick, curious, loves hockey stats. Let’s use that.
How it works
Every plan starts with your child. Not with a grade level.
Your child starts with a diagnostic assessment that finds where any gap began. Then Hikmah Tutoring+ adds a written learning plan, one mentor who knows them by name, and practice until they really get it.
Tutoring+ at a glance
Catch up now. Ready for later.
Hikmah Tutoring+ is tutoring that fixes today’s gaps at the root, then builds what your child will need next.
Illustrative example.
One mentor
The same person every session, who knows your child by name.
Root-cause diagnosis
A diagnostic assessment finds where a gap began, often in an earlier grade.
Mastery, not seat time
Your child moves on when a mastery check shows a skill is secure, not when the hour ends.
A progress update every month
In plain words: what changed, why and what’s next.
Mapped to the Ontario curriculum
Practice lines up with what your child is taught and assessed on at school.
In English and French
Math, reading and writing, Grades 1 to 12, in either language.
The difference
Homework help gets tonight done. Tutoring+ goes after why it was hard.
Both have their place. Here is the same child and the same struggle, handled two ways.
Illustrative example.
| Typical tutoring | Hikmah Tutoring+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it starts | Tonight’s homework or the next test | A diagnostic assessment that finds where the gap began |
| What a session works on | The question in front of your child | The root skill first, then today’s work on solid ground |
| When your child moves on | When the session or the unit ends | When a mastery check with fresh questions shows it’s secure |
| Who works with your child | Not always the same person | One mentor who knows your child by name |
| What you hear | Often a quick word at pickup | A written progress update every month |
| Beyond the next test | Rarely part of the plan | Thinking and leadership, using AI well, real projects |
Many good tutors do some of this. Tutoring+ makes all of it part of every plan. See how Hikmah compares
Seven steps
One child, one plan.
Choose a step to see what happens, what you see and why it works.
Strand by strandReading, number sense, writing and more, each on its own.
Where the gap beganThe earliest skill that isn’t secure yet.
Step 1 of 7
We find where your child is.
A friendly diagnostic assessment shows what they know, how they learn and where any gap began.
What happens
- A relaxed one-to-one session across reading, writing and math.
- When an answer goes wrong, we ask how they got there, then check the skills underneath.
- We note how your child learns: what they enjoy, where they rush, what helps.
What you see
A summary in plain words: strengths, the root gaps and where to start.
Why it works
Assessment that shapes the teaching, not only the grade, is linked to substantial learning gains.
Written for your childGoals in plain words, built around your child.
A week at a glanceRoot skills, new skills, projects and checks, in balance.
Step 2 of 7
We build their plan.
A written learning plan, built around your child rather than a grade level.
What happens
- Goals in plain words, mapped to the Ontario curriculum.
- Root skills first, then grade-level work, then stretch.
- The plan changes as each mastery check comes in.
What you see
The plan itself, with the first weeks laid out. You can ask about any line.
Why it works
Early skills predict later ones: fractions and division in elementary school predict high school algebra years later.
Questions, not lecturesThe mentor asks, so your child does the thinking.
A small groupChildren who share a gap can work together.
Step 3 of 7
A mentor guides them.
The same mentor knows your child by name and coaches rather than lectures.
What happens
- The same mentor every session, who knows your child by name.
- Questions first, so your child does the thinking; a worked example when it helps.
- Small groups only when children share a gap.
Every mentor will be chosen, checked and trained. See how we choose them
What you see
One person to talk to, who can tell you exactly where your child stands.
Why it works
A review of 89 randomized trials found tutoring gives consistent, substantial gains, largest when tutors were teachers or paraprofessionals.
The symptomThe question your child missed.
The rootThe first skill underneath that isn’t secure. It gets fixed first.
Step 4 of 7
We fix the root, not the symptom.
In each session, a missed question is traced to the skill underneath. We fix that, then check again.
What happens
- A short recall warm-up on skills from past weeks.
- Focused work on the root skill, then practice that mixes old and new.
- Short blocks that move between thinking, making and talking.
What you see
What your child worked on, in the mentor’s notes, and something small to try at home.
Why it works
In a large classroom trial, mixing problem types led to much better scores on a surprise test a month later; the likely reason is practice in choosing the method.
Fresh questionsChecks use questions your child hasn’t seen.
Spaced revisitsSkills come back weeks later, so they last.
Step 5 of 7
We check for mastery.
Short mastery checks with fresh questions, then return visits weeks later so skills stick.
What happens
- Short checks with fresh questions your child hasn’t seen.
- A skill counts as mastered only when it’s secure without help.
- Mastered skills come back weeks later, so they last.
What you see
Each mastered skill on your child’s mastery map, and when it was checked again.
Why it works
Recalling beats rereading, and practice spread out over time lasts longer than cramming.
Roediger and Karpicke (2006) (opens in a new tab)Cepeda and colleagues (2006) (opens in a new tab)
A real productA plan, a model, a paper or a talk.
A real audienceFamily, classmates or a guest panel, asking real questions.
Step 6 of 7
They make real things.
Projects with a real audience: a business plan, a talk, an experiment, a piece of writing.
What happens
- Each unit ends in something your child makes: a budget, a talk, an experiment, a piece of writing.
- It uses skills already mastered, with thinking and leadership practised along the way.
- A real audience: family, classmates or a guest panel.
What you see
The finished work in a growing portfolio, and an invitation when there’s an audience.
Why it works
Well-run project units raised learning in a randomized trial; a review calls the approach promising, not yet proven.
Duke and colleagues (2021) (opens in a new tab)Condliffe and colleagues (2017) (opens in a new tab)
From their mentorWritten by the person who knows your child.
For the whole familyPlain words, and something to try at home.
Step 7 of 7
You see the progress.
A progress update every month, in plain words: what changed, why and what’s next.
What happens
- Every month, the mentor writes what changed, why and what’s next.
- It shows the mastery map: gold for mastered, and the gap still being worked on.
- You can reply, and a person answers.
What you see
A progress update you can read in two minutes, and a mentor you can reply to.
Why it works
Short, regular messages from teachers to parents helped students stay on track in a field experiment.
The same steps, for what your child needs now:
Follow one child
Leo’s first term, week by week.
Follow Leo through 12 weeks, from his diagnostic assessment to his first progress update.
Leo
Grade 6
- Mastered
- Working on
- Gap
- Not yet
Illustrative example.
The plus
Tutoring for today. Readiness for tomorrow.
Once the foundations are secure, your child puts them to work: real projects for a real audience, the six capacities AI can’t replace, and AI used as a tool they direct.
What AI can’t replace
- Think
- Create
- Solve
- Decide
- Communicate
- Lead
SofiaGrade 4
Project studioThe family recipe book
How do we scale our family’s recipes for any number of guests?
Audience: her family, at the November dinnerSelect a stage to see what she does there.
Skills it puts to work
- Equivalent fractions
- Multiplying fractions
- Writing clear steps
- Measuring
Her work so far
Mentor feedback
Your scaling table works. Now explain why 3/4 × 3 is 2 1/4 in your own words, for your grandmother.
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
The research
Why it works. The research behind each step.
Each practice rests on published research. Here is what the studies found, in plain words, with a link to every source.
| The practice | What the research found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mastery learningMove on when a skill is secure. | Across 108 controlled evaluations, mastery learning programs raised exam performance. The effects appeared stronger for the weaker students in a class. | Meta-analysisKulik, Kulik and Bangert-Drowns (1990) (opens in a new tab)Review of Educational Research, 60(2), 265–299 |
| TutoringOne mentor who knows your child. | A review of 89 randomized trials found consistent, substantial gains from tutoring, largest when tutors were teachers or paraprofessionals and met three or more times a week. | Review of randomized trialsNickow, Oreopoulos and Quan (2024) (opens in a new tab)American Educational Research Journal |
| Fixing earlier gapsTrace a missed question to its root. | In large studies in the United States and the United Kingdom, what children knew about fractions and division in elementary school predicted their algebra and overall math in high school, five or six years later. | Long-term studySiegler and colleagues (2012) (opens in a new tab)Psychological Science |
| Retrieval practiceShort, frequent mastery checks. | Students who practised recalling a passage remembered more of it days later than students who reread it; a meta-analysis found practice tests more helpful than restudying. | Experiment and meta-analysisRoediger and Karpicke (2006) (opens in a new tab)Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255Adesope, Trevisan and Sundararajan (2017) (opens in a new tab)Review of Educational Research |
| Spaced practiceReturn visits, weeks later. | Across 317 experiments, spaced study led to markedly better recall than massed study; only 12 of 271 comparisons showed no benefit. | Meta-analysisCepeda and colleagues (2006) (opens in a new tab)Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380 |
| Mixed practiceMix problem types once a skill is secure. | In 54 Grade 7 math classes, students who practised mixed problem types scored 61% on a surprise test a month later, against 38% for those who practised one type at a time. | Randomized trialRohrer and colleagues (2020) (opens in a new tab)Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(1), 40–52 |
| Assessment that guides teachingThe diagnostic and every check shape the plan. | A major review found firm evidence that strengthening the frequent feedback students get about their learning yields substantial learning gains. | ReviewBlack and Wiliam (1998) (opens in a new tab)Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5(1), 7–74 |
| Worked examples, then less helpShow the thinking, then hand it over. | Worked examples help in the early stages of learning a skill. As expertise grows, the same support can get in the way, so it should fade. | ReviewsAtkinson and colleagues (2000) (opens in a new tab)Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181–214Kalyuga and colleagues (2003) (opens in a new tab)Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23–31 |
| Feedback on the workSpecific next steps, never a label. | Feedback helps on average, more so the more it says about the task and how to improve. An earlier review found over a third of feedback interventions made performance worse. | Meta-analysesWisniewski, Zierer and Hattie (2020) (opens in a new tab)Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087Kluger and DeNisi (1996) (opens in a new tab)Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284 |
| A relationship that lastsThe same mentor, week after week. | Across 99 studies, warm teacher–student relationships went with stronger engagement and, more modestly, with achievement. These are associations, not proof of cause. | Meta-analysisRoorda and colleagues (2011) (opens in a new tab)Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493–529 |
| Project-based learningA real product for a real audience. | In a randomized trial in 48 Grade 2 classrooms, project units raised social studies learning; reading gains were positive but not conclusive. A review calls the approach promising but not yet proven. | Randomized trial and reviewDuke and colleagues (2021) (opens in a new tab)American Educational Research JournalCondliffe and colleagues (2017) (opens in a new tab)MDRC working paper |
| Regular updates to familiesA progress update every month. | In a field experiment in a high school credit-recovery program, short weekly messages from teachers to parents cut the share of students who failed to earn course credit from about 16% to 9%. Messages about what to improve helped most. | Field experimentKraft and Rogers (2015) (opens in a new tab)Economics of Education Review, 47, 49–63 |
What this is, and isn’t
These are other researchers’ findings about these practices, not results from Hikmah. Hikmah isn’t open yet, so we have no results of our own, and we won’t borrow anyone else’s.
What we’ll measure, and publish
Where each child starts
What the diagnostic finds, and how often the first plan has to change.
How long mastery takes
Each skill, from the first attempt to a clean mastery check.
Whether it lasts
What still holds at return visits, weeks and months later.
How families feel
Whether you feel your child is known, and know where they stand.
Methods first, then results, once our first centre has run long enough to say something true.
Built for how children learn now
Short blocks, visible progress, mapped to Ontario.
Four questions parents ask most about the day-to-day. Choose one.
Short, focused blocks. Long, patient projects.
Short practice blocks, and sessions that move between thinking, making and talking.
- Practice in minutes, with a small win each time
- On paper, on screen, out loud and hands-on
- A mentor who notices when attention dips
Progress they can see. Rewards that mean something.
Each skill fills a mastery ring, practice builds a streak, and projects run as quests.
- Badges for skills mastered and work shown
- Never points for screen time
- No leaderboards against classmates
Mapped to what your child is taught at school.
Our mastery map and every plan follow the Ontario curriculum for your child’s grade.
- Skills organized by the curriculum’s strands
- Each plan shows which areas the work supports
- Built into the platform we are developing
Ahead on solid ground.
Mastery sets the pace, not the calendar: ahead when ready, gaps fixed at the root.
- Ahead of grade once the skills beneath are solid
- Strong foundations, where better marks tend to come from
- No promised marks: we show you the skills
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
Come and meet us. See what we see.
Founding families get a free diagnostic assessment: a clear picture of where your child is, and where to start.