Tutoring and Test Prep for Aurora Families
FlyingMinds is an online school-skills platform built by teachers who have taught thousands of children over many years, and who know exactly where students get stuck. Aurora is a big, mixed city, and families here ask a blunt question first: what does this cost, and will my child actually use it? The platform is $29 a month for the whole family, and it is built so a child can do twenty useful minutes without a parent sitting beside them.
What an Aurora family actually gets
Skills that teach first
Every lesson opens with a worked example and a guided try before the questions start, then practises the skill at four levels. Kindergarten through Grade 12, in reading, writing, math, science and social studies.
Live small-group classes
Taught over Zoom by the teacher who writes the lessons, in small groups, with the platform included for the whole family.
SAT & ACT, skill by skill
Forty-nine skills, each taught and then practised on passages pitched a step above the real test, including a set built entirely on published prose.
College applications
CollegeOS helps a family shortlist colleges, track deadlines and keep essays moving — included for members.
The tests Illinois actually gives
In grades 3-8 Illinois students sit the IAR in English and math. In grade 11 the state test is a college-entrance exam — Illinois has moved to the ACT, and some students also sit the SAT for admissions. So the reading and math skills a third grader is working on are the same ones that decide a junior's state score — which is the argument for building them steadily rather than cramming twice.
FlyingMinds is not an IAR item bank and does not reproduce released state questions. It teaches the skills underneath: comprehension and inference, evidence, structure, grammar and punctuation, number sense, fractions, ratios and word problems — then practises each one from recognising it to applying it.
| What's happening | Where to start |
|---|---|
| Report card is fine, but reading comprehension slips on tests | Benchmark Skills — pick the grade, start with main idea and inference |
| Child is ahead and bored | Use the grade above; the same skill is taught at every grade with harder text |
| Gifted-and-talented screening is coming | CogAT prep by grade and the free CogAT demo |
| Grade 9-12, SAT or ACT on the horizon | SAT vs ACT skills guide, then the SAT/ACT skill lessons |
| Writing is the weak spot | Essay structure and the Literary Essay Trainer |
Cost, and what a family gets for it
One subscription covers every child in the house, each with their own login and their own progress. There is no per-child fee, no contract, and no cancellation call — you cancel from the account page and billing stops at the end of the month. For families who want a person as well, live classes are small and taught by the teacher who writes the lessons.
Two things we will not do: promise a score jump, or drop a child into a page of questions with no lesson in front of it. Every lesson teaches first.
Start this week
$29 a month for everything, cancel any time. Live classes are $160 a month and include the platform.
Start for $29/month Try the free demo firstQuestions Aurora parents ask
Do you have a location in Aurora?
No — everything is online, which is why there is no drive and no centre fee. Live classes meet over Zoom, in Central Time.
Can several children use one subscription?
Yes — a family account holds several children, each with a separate login and separate progress, at no extra cost.
My child already gets good grades. Is this useful?
Usually yes, and the reason is boredom rather than gaps: strong students can work a grade up in the same skill, since every skill is taught at every grade with harder texts and bigger numbers.
Can two children share one subscription?
Yes. A family account can hold several children, each with their own login and their own progress.
What if we stop?
Cancel from the account page and the billing stops at the end of the month. There is no contract and no cancellation call.
Who teaches the classes?
A classroom teacher with many years and thousands of students behind her, who writes the curriculum on this site herself. Classes are kept small on purpose.