Feedback from Students and Parents
Our 8-year-old son has taken two of Ms. Alena's CHEC classes (watercolor painting and medieval history) so far, and he absolutely loved them! Alena is a gifted, warm, and wise teacher…she does such a beautiful job of blending instruction that challenges with a teaching style that instills confidence and joy. Her classes are engaging, creative, hands-on, and cooperative. Alena also does our yearly evaluations, and she has been an invaluable resource for honest and thorough feedback and inspiration. Our homeschool library always grows after a meeting with Alena. She has been a huge blessing to our homeschooling family, and we look forward to continuing our homeschool journey with her each year. ~~Briana
Alena is an invaluable part of our homeschooling journey! Our 2e daughter experienced a great deal of stress and anxiety in her private middle school classroom. We were reluctant to homeschool, thinking it would be overwhelmingly challenging for 2 non-teacher parents to meet her learning needs at home. Alena gave us the information and confidence we needed to completely change our perspective on successful homeschooling. Our entire family is grateful for her expertise and support and we look forward to working with her throughout our homeschooling experience. Highly, highly recommend consulting with Alena if you need support for the unique learners in your life! ~~Catherine
Alena is an excellent teacher, and she provided just the environment my daughter needed for her seventh-grade year. The small-group English class was the perfect size for my daughter to feel comfortable and make friends while learning. Alena's one-on-one math class was tailored to my daughter's needs, and because of the individualized lessons, I feel like my daughter is well-prepared for her return to public school. As a teacher, Alena is understanding, kind, and approachable. She communicates regularly with parents and welcomes feedback. I highly recommend her small-group and one-on-one classes. ~~Robyn
Alena was a wonderful support to our family with the homeschool process. She is highly organized, professional, caring and attentive to both students and parents. We’d highly recommend her to any family looking for support! ~~KD
My daughter is on the autism spectrum with ADHD. She needed a unique environment for middle school, one that both challenged her academically yet provided social interaction in small, digestible doses. Alena's classes fulfilled these requirements in spades! Her small in person classes were mentally stimulating yet also encouraged social interaction in a respectful and positive way. Perhaps most notable is that when we ran into challenges with our daughter, Alena was always responsive to parent feedback and involvement. We are immensely grateful that Alena and her classes exist in our small town! It has provided our daughter opportunities she wouldn't have otherwise. ~~Kristin
Thank you so much for such a wonderful review experience. We appreciate your detailed and careful report. The report looks great. ~~Danielle
I took both Alena's in-person history classes and math tutoring over Zoom. Alena was always patient and willing to explain something again or work through a problem together, and her history lessons were engaging and fun to listen to and participate in. She is very warm and friendly, someone you can talk to, as well as being a creative and charismatic person. In addition to being an excellent teacher, Alena is a great friend.~~Alyssa
I had Alena as a teacher and she was a wonderful instructor. She made every class fun and interesting, her classes were always fascinating and I would always remember what happened in class. She knew how to talk to us and how much to teach. Her lessons are engaging and memorable and she really helped me learn effectively. ~~William
Thank you for offering such excellent classes to our community this year. Paul enjoyed your class very much and he learned a lot more than I could have taught him myself. I was so pleased by his responsible and thorough approach to the class. You helped to bring out the best in him! You also elegantly managed the COVID crisis with a seamless transition to online teaching. Again, we are grateful. Paul will be graduating from homeschool this year to attend PVCC in the fall. He is sure to benefit from the strong foundation that you and others have provided. ~~Carroll
My child is on the Autism spectrum and has high anxiety. From the beginning, Alena made her feel respected, comfortable, and safe. Alena is excellent with boundaries and is also incredibly intuitive. She has a gentle, calming presence and is incredibly skilled and knowledgeable on a huge array of subjects, from fiber arts to mathematics. It usually takes my child a long time to warm up to people. With Alena, she knew she was safe from the very beginning. ~~Davene
I sought out Alena’s expertise in teaching art. I am an adult learner with an interest in many art forms, and she offered me wonderful lessons in watercolor, pastels, and acrylic painting. He approach had the perfect balance of creativity and structure, and let me discover a great deal of inner joy through the paint, canvas, and colors on paper. Alena is unfailingly kind and took great interest in making the time we spent together incredibly worthwhile. Thank you! ~~Daphne
I worked with Alena when I was homeschooled and when I was in school. I didn’t have adequate support from my teachers, and Alena gave me the support I needed to succeed in my classes. She gives you exactly what you need. When I was homeschooled, she would help me plan out what I wanted to do and when. When I was in school, she helped me with the things I was struggling with. She has given me so much help and I am extremely grateful for everything she has done for me! She truly pours her heart and soul into helping her students, and it shows! ~~Marilla
Alena has worked with our daughter for the past two years since at the 7th and 8th grade level. The first year was one-on-one and then for the second year, Alena developed small group classes because she saw how much our daughter would benefit from learning in the group environment. We are SO grateful to Alena. Our daughter has made so much progress and gained so much confidence over the past two years. Alena has really helped her excel and blossom! ~~Krista
I served as a substitute for Alena once, and I could not be more impressed with her professional organization, understanding of what students need, and her ability to manage the flow of learning. I strongly recommend her to support anyone's education process, especially in these difficult times. ~~Lara