Catching up · Grades 1 to 12
Catching up isn’t starting over. It starts at the root.
Missed school, a move or a gap that finally showed: whatever the reason, it often comes down to a few missing skills. We find them, fix those first, then bring your child back to this year’s work, and check weeks later that it held.
- Grades 1 to 12
- Root skills first
- Mapped to the Ontario curriculum
- Coming soon to Ottawa
Who it’s for
Gaps open for many reasons. The fix starts in the same place.
Situations that often leave a gap. Whichever it is, the diagnostic shows where your child is.
Missed weeks of school
An illness, a family emergency or a long trip. Whole units can go by, and the next ones build on them.
A move to a new school, province or country
Schools elsewhere may teach topics in a different order, so some of this year’s work may rest on skills your child hasn’t met yet.
A foundation that finally gave way
It was fine until fractions, long paragraphs or Grade 9 math. An earlier skill was never secure, and the new work exposed it.
A report card that worried you
In Grades 1 to 8, a fall progress report that says a subject is going “with difficulty”, or a mark that dropped. It tells you something’s wrong, not what.
A note from the teacher
Your child’s teacher sees it too. We find the root and, with your permission, work alongside the school.
Reading that still isn’t easy
Early reading struggles deserve early attention. We check the foundations, and work alongside the school and any professional assessment.
Recognize your child here? A diagnostic assessment is the first step, and it will be free for founding families. See how Hikmah approaches it
How we help a child catch up
Not the whole grade again. Just what’s missing, root first.
The same six steps as all Hikmah tutoring, written for a child who needs to catch up.
The diagnostic
Find what’s missing
A diagnostic assessment shows what’s secure, what isn’t and where the gap began, so no time goes on what your child already knows.
The root
Trace it to the root
A struggle in this year’s work is followed back to the earlier skill underneath it, often from a grade or two before.
The plan
Root first, then this grade
A written learning plan, mapped to the Ontario curriculum: the root skills in order, then the work your child’s class is doing now.
One mentor
One mentor who knows the story
The same mentor every session knows why your child fell behind and how they feel about it, and keeps the pace kind and steady.
Mastery checks
A check that each gap held
A short mastery check before moving on, and a revisit weeks later, to see that it stays closed.
Updates and the +
A monthly update, and the +
Each month you see which gaps closed and what’s next. Catching up is never all they do: every session keeps time for the +: thinking, projects and using AI well.
A session · Catching up · Amani, Grade 6
- Recall warm-upSkills fixed in past weeks.
- The root skillOne earlier skill, shown, then practised.
- Mastery checkShort, and different from the practice.
- This week’s class workHer class’s unit, on solid ground.
- The +A short project or a talk.
A catch-up plan, step by step
Root first. Then back to class.
An illustrative example: Amani, Grade 6, who moved to Ottawa from another province partway through the year.
Stage 1 · At the start
The diagnostic and the plan
Amani’s diagnostic shows her reading and writing are secure. In math, fractions are where it slips: she can follow the steps, but doesn’t yet see a fraction as a number.
At Hikmah
- A diagnostic in math, reading and writing
- A written learning plan, with a copy for you
- With your permission, a conversation with her teacher
Stage 2 · Root first
The root skills
The plan starts underneath the trouble: fractions on a number line and equivalent fractions, the earlier skills this year’s work rests on.
At Hikmah
- Short, focused practice built from her own mistakes
- A mastery check on each skill before moving on
Stage 3 · Back to class
This grade’s work
With the root in place, sessions turn to the unit her class is on, and school can start to make sense again.
At Hikmah
- Her class’s fractions unit, alongside her teacher’s work
- Practice in the format of her class tests
Stage 4 · Weeks later
Revisits
Each fixed skill comes back weeks later in a short check. If it slipped, it goes back in the plan; if it held, it’s done.
At Hikmah
- Mixed questions from earlier weeks
- The plan adjusted to what the checks show
Stage 5 · From then on
Keeping up, then moving ahead
Catching up becomes keeping up. The + and her own interests take a bigger share of the time.
At Hikmah
- A progress update every month
- More time for the +: projects, thinking and using AI well
- Ahead of grade, once a skill is secure
Illustrative example; every plan is different. How long each stage takes depends on the gap, the child and how often they come, and the diagnostic is where we find out.
How it’s different
More of this week’s work rarely fixes last year’s gap.
Extra help on this week’s work has its place. Here is how help with this week’s work only compares with a session at Hikmah.
| This week only | Tutoring+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts with | What the class is doing now | A diagnostic: where the gap began, often in an earlier grade |
| Works on | The work that’s hard today | The skill underneath it first, then today’s work |
| It worked when | This week’s test goes better | A mastery check says so, and again weeks later |
| You hear | How this week went | A progress update every month: gaps closed, what’s next |
| Beyond catching up | Next week’s unit | Thinking, real projects and using AI well |
Illustrative example. Session plans and lengths will be shared with founding families before we open.
What you receive
You’ll know which gaps closed, and which are next.
Plain words, from the person who knows your child’s work.
- After the diagnostic
- Where the gap began, what’s already secure and how the plan will close it, in plain words.
- A written learning plan
- Root skills first, then this grade’s work, each mapped to the Ontario curriculum.
- A progress update every month
- Gaps closed, what held at the revisit, what’s next and one thing to try at home.
- Working with the school
- With your permission, your child’s mentor will work alongside the teacher, and alongside any school plan or professional assessment.
The research behind it
Built on the research. Honest about its limits.
Hikmah hasn’t opened, so we have no results of our own yet. Here is what the research says about catching up, and what it doesn’t.
Earlier skills and later math
In large studies in the United States and the United Kingdom, children’s knowledge of fractions and division at ages 10 to 12 predicted their algebra and overall math achievement in high school, even after accounting for family income, IQ and other math skills. Fractions and division at 10 to 12 predicted later math; that is a link, not proof that fixing them causes later gains.
At Hikmah: The diagnostic looks back at the earlier skills a struggle rests on, and the plan fixes those first.
Tutoring
A review of randomized studies from preschool to Grade 12 found that tutoring produced consistent, substantial gains. Effects were larger with teachers or paraprofessionals than with non-professionals or parents, and larger during the school day than after school.
At Hikmah: Hikmah’s sessions will be outside the school day, where effects were smaller on average. That’s one reason we choose and train every mentor with care, and keep each plan in step with your child’s class.
Mastery
Across 108 controlled evaluations, 91 of them college courses, mastery learning programs improved course-exam scores; on standardized tests the effects were much smaller. Effects appeared stronger for the weaker students in a class, though the difference was not statistically significant.
At Hikmah: Your child moves on after a mastery check, and each skill comes back weeks later.
Reading, early
Ontario’s Right to Read inquiry called for direct, systematic instruction in foundational reading skills, and for screening every student at least twice a year from Kindergarten to Grade 2.
At Hikmah: Early reading struggles get early attention: we check the foundations (our check isn’t a screening or a diagnosis) and teach what’s missing directly, alongside the school and any professional assessment.
Questions from parents
What parents ask about catching up.
How long will it take my child to catch up?
Honestly, it depends on the gap, the child and how often they come. One missing skill can close quickly; a gap that runs back several grades takes longer. The diagnostic gives the first real picture, and every progress update shows how it’s going.
Will my child have to redo the whole grade?
No. The diagnostic separates what’s secure from what isn’t, so time goes only on the gaps. Once the root skills are in place, your child works on this grade’s material, alongside what their class is doing.
Shouldn’t we just focus on what’s being taught now?
Both matter, in order. If this week’s work rests on a skill that isn’t secure, more practice on this week’s work tends to stall. Fixing the root first usually makes the current work easier; then the plan turns to it.
Do you diagnose learning disabilities like dyslexia?
No. Our diagnostic assessment is an educational assessment, not a clinical one: it shows which skills are secure. Identifying a learning disability is for qualified professionals. If reading is a struggle, we check the foundations and teach what’s missing directly, and if you or the school are seeking an assessment, we’ll work alongside it.
My child has an IEP. Can you work with it?
Yes. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is the plan a school writes to describe the special education programs and services it provides your child, and a child can have one without being formally identified. With your permission, the mentor will read it, and the learning plan will work alongside it.
We’re new to Canada. Can you help?
Yes. The diagnostic shows what your child already knows, which is often a lot, and which parts of the Ontario curriculum are new. Sessions will be in English or French.
Is my child too old to catch up?
Rarely. A Grade 11 course can rest on a Grade 7 skill, and that skill can be taught directly at any age. The plan works around the tests still to come.