OK, I have listened to this commercial about 5 times, and unless there's a longer version of the commercial out there, Sylvan has a commercial on TV, touting their ability to help your child read better, write better, and improve at math.

The kids are on what appears to be a field trip, and the man says something to the effect of, "These fish eat 13 and a half pounds of fish a day. Can anyone tell me how many pounds that is in a week?" The wheels start turning, and this little girl said "189 pounds." and he says, "That's right!"

Now, I’m no Einstein when it comes to complex mathematical equations, but I can do anything below Algebra II with ease. By my math, 13.5 * 7 = 94.5 pounds. How did she get 189 lbs, and that answer be right?

He didn't say two weeks...

Unless there were two fish in that aquarium, and he meant each fish ate 13.5 pounds a day; they have a commercial on national TV that says even they aren't good at math...

Kind of like when Ford had that commercial on TV talking about how good the F-150 was- and it was splashing around in the mud, etc. and when it stopped the right headlight was out. I called Ford and told them about it; they said "Thank you." I just don't think it's good marketing to show your product if anything about it is wrong (Sylvan) or broke (Ford).


It gives you something to think about...

 

put down the algebra book and pick up "English for Dummies"


read up on the difference between "these fish" and "this fish"






just pulling your leg, Hersh. Sounds like they are definitely talking in the plural so there must be 2 fish in the tank.

 

Something told me to put this on word and do a grammar check first....

Whoops, wait a minute.... Yeah, that was his statement "These" but, many people say that... He should have said they eat 13.5 pounds of food each, per day. There could've been 30 fish in that tank.

I'd be willing to bet they've gotten a number of calls on this...

 

Watch the commercial again, I think it says they feed the fish twicea day.

 

Actually, unless someone is familiar with Sylvan methodology you will find the commercial strange and misleading. Under the Sylvan Methodology, you will find the correct answer is whichever one the student offers the teacher. Using the Sylvan model, there are no wrong answers, only different answers and one of those different answers more closely approximates the answer the majority of the general population will agree upon. It does the student no good to hear, "AHHGHTT, wrong answer!" Student's are fragile, it's human nature to crave the correct answer and the rewards that accompany them. That's why most students are willing to venture an answer and risk the chance of being wrong. At Sylvan there are no wrong answers, all answers are just learning experiences leading to the true answer, therefore no stigma attached to "wrong" answers.

I hope that answers your question......

 

It's twice a day, the answer the kid gave is correct.

Now if she could only explain the string theory (physics) to me.

 

What a punch of pansies. Get a wrong answer; get a dirty look; that's what I always say.

 

Wait, it's in the back of the book!

*pages rustling*

189 twice a day for a week, booya!

 

So what happens when they all shout something out?
"Ok kids, you're ALL winners! The answer is: 123, 53, 667, 21.4, the letter Q, and 'My Mommy Beats Me' "?

 

This could help in more ways than one. Maybe then you would spell Sylvan right in the title

 

Have y'all seen the newest Sylvan commercial


It starts out with this boy (10-12) reading a "scary story" to his friends...

then he starts with his monologue stating how he used to hate reading ... but after going to sylvan he gets to read to the "guys" and is really good at it...

If i was that age...(or now) I would get my *** kicked and laughed at for reading a story to "the guys"

I think they had the wrong target audience in mind when they made this commercial.

 

Damn! I can't type worth a damn... It's not because I can't spell..

Wait unit you see my words ending in "ing"... Most of the time, that ends up being ign...

Damn- Now we have to start spell checking every thing we write on here...

 

What do you mean NOW. Have you not been paying attention to Mountaineer.... and his following?

 

Just mess'n wich ya man. I saw this as a good opportunity to get one in on a usually good speller. My spelling has gotten horible over the years. The one that gets me the most is the "I" before "E" thing.