Learning specialists and educational therapists can add a Blackburn mentor when a student builds skills in sessions but struggles to use them the rest of the week. The family completes a five-minute assessment or calls (888) 305 5422, has a free intro call and is matched with one dedicated mentor. With written permission, the mentor shares progress with you, and you keep leading the learning work.
How a mentor complements your work
You work on how a student learns: reading and writing strategies, math processes, study methods, and the executive function skills that hold them together. That work happens in a session or two a week. The other days are where a strategy either becomes a habit or quietly disappears.
A mentor lives in those other days. The student meets their mentor weekly or several times a week, with text and phone contact between sessions, and the focus is practical: putting assignments into a plan, starting work at a set time, using the approach you taught on the actual homework in front of them. The mentor does not invent new strategies or reteach content. They help the student remember and apply yours. Our guide to executive function skills explains the habits that come up most.
What weekly accountability between sessions looks like
Every plan is built around the student, but a typical week has a clear shape:
- A planning session early in the week. The student and mentor look at every class, list what is due and break long assignments into dated steps.
- One or two short check-ins mid-week. A text or call: did the reading get chunked the way you practiced, did the email to the teacher go out?
- A look at the grade portal together. Missing work gets caught while it can still be turned in.
- Practice asking for what they need. If the student has accommodations, the mentor helps them remember to use them, such as requesting extended time before a test. See teen self-advocacy.
- A short wrap-up. What worked, what got skipped and what to try next week.
Students who are often a good fit
- Students with ADHD who understand the material but lose track of the steps (see mentoring for students with ADHD)
- Twice-exceptional students whose strengths hide how hard organization is for them
- Students with an IEP or 504 plan who rarely use the supports they have
- Bright students who are underachieving because work never gets started
- Students heading to college who will need to request support through disability services on their own
How progress is shared with permission
Nothing about a student is shared with you without written permission from the family, or from the student if they are 18 or older. With that permission, the mentor can tell you what you cannot see from your office:
- Whether the weekly steps actually happened, and which ones keep slipping
- Where a strategy you taught is working at home and where it is being skipped
- Patterns worth your attention, such as a subject the student keeps avoiding
- Anything you would like the mentor to reinforce in the coming weeks
The mentor does not interpret evaluations or test results; that stays with you and the school team. Parents of high school students always get regular progress updates from the mentor too. Follow your own practice’s policies on client information. Our page on progress updates for parents explains the family side.
What a mentor does not do
- No instruction or remediation. The mentor is not a tutor and does not teach reading, writing or math. That is your work.
- No evaluation or diagnosis. Assessment and recommendations stay with qualified professionals.
- No advocacy. The mentor does not represent a family at IEP or 504 meetings or in disputes.
- No clinical care. If anxiety or mood is part of the picture, a licensed mental health professional is the right step. In a crisis, call or text 988.
For how these roles compare, see executive function coach vs mentor and mentor vs tutor.
How to refer a family
- Suggest it. Name the gap you see, such as strategies that work in session but not at home, and share our number, (888) 305 5422, or the five-minute assessment.
- The family reaches out. Our team reviews the assessment personally.
- Free intro call. For high school students, a parent or guardian is always on the call and helps agree the goals.
- Matching and coordination. The student is matched with one dedicated mentor, who coordinates with you once the family gives written permission.
Where a mentor helps
The best referrals are students who leave your sessions with the right tools and need someone to help them use those tools on a Tuesday night. Mentoring happens by video anywhere in the United States, scheduled in the family’s time zone, and in person in Los Angeles. See how outside mentoring works with schools and specialists, the learning differences guides for families, and all of our pages for education professionals.
Related
- For education professionals
- For school counselors
- Learning differences in high school
- How to refer a student
Common questions
Is a mentor a substitute for educational therapy?
No. You teach the skills and strategies; the mentor helps the student practice them on real schoolwork between your sessions. The two work best together.
Will the mentor contact me directly?
Only after the family, or a student who is 18 or older, gives written permission. Then the mentor can share progress and coordinate with you.
Can I ask the mentor to reinforce a specific strategy?
Yes, once permission is in place. Tell the mentor what you are working on and they will build it into the weekly plan rather than introduce a competing method.
Do you work with families outside Los Angeles?
Yes. Mentoring happens by video anywhere in the United States, and students in Los Angeles can also meet in person.
Get started
Have a student who needs help using what they learn with you? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.