Pen for Writing Class

The need to write

We feel for our students.

A pandemic derailed them, social media distractions swirl around them, and ChatGPT tempts them at every corner. It’s no wonder so many students struggle to sit down, focus, and write.

Why it’s so hard to improve at writing

Teachers try to give useful feedback, but don’t have time for the personalized attention students need. Conventional homework tutors push students through their assignments, but often make them more dependent on outside help and less confident in their own abilities.

But there’s no escaping writing.

As many high schools turn to exclusively in-class essays, students have nowhere to hide if their writing is behind. And yes, even with with AI, writing—and the deep thinking that it brings about—will remain a foundational life skill that elevates careers.

Writing teacher coaches teen writing student

The Insight Writing approach

The challenge, as we see it

Writing forces us to juggle a bunch of difficult conceptual processes. When a 10th grader writes an English essay, they have to interpret a complex text, extract thoughtful insights, find rich text to support them, organize distinct ideas across and within paragraphs, express it all in sentences the reader can follow, and so on.

Isolate the muscles

Our strategy is to isolate the fundamentals of writing, then go deep on them. We give personalized exercises, reframe hard concepts in more relatable ways, and give students space to practice and self-assess. While we’re happy to support schoolwork, we don’t just show up and react to whatever is on a student’s plate; instead, we proactively plan lessons tuned to exactly what we think your child needs. 

In short:

We help students “get” writing in a whole new way.

Landscape in blues and orange

Our fast-changing world

The age of AI

It’s a weird time for writing. Powerful new technologies promise to do it for us. And some of us have found AI useful in our own work. So why make our kids sweat over something super-hard if it’s about to become obsolete?

The secret power of writing

Writing teaches kids to think. We’ve spent thousands of hours working with students as they take their half-formed thoughts and struggle to write them down. As they learn to organize and clarify their ideas on the page, their critical thinking gets sharper and deeper too. It’s what we mean by the “insight” in our name.

Writing + thinking = the competitive edge

If your kids have the capacity for deep original thought, they will have a distinct advantage in a fast-changing future. Even with AI helping, we will all need rich, human intelligence driving the process. That’s what we at Insight Writing are here to help them build.

  • More than in school.

    “Nick makes writing enjoyable for my daughters. They look forward to sessions and have learned many new writing skills. They say they have learned more from Insight Writing than in their school class.”

    – Julie L, 8th/9th/11th parent

  • Notable improvement.

    “The improvement is visible, and we know things are working well when our kid looks forward to the sessions. His writing has shown notable improvement in elaboration. It also comes off very natural, which may sound obvious but feels important in this AI-prevalent age.”

    — Derick W, 5th parent

  • Instrumental.

    “We have been working with Nick weekly for over two years, and I cannot recommend him highly enough. Nick has been instrumental in helping navigate the rigors of an academic school. Not only have my son’s grades improved significantly, but he has gone from viewing writing as a chore to truly loving it.”

    — Julia C, 9th/6th grade parent

  • Writing with ease.

    “For the first time, our son actually looks forward to writing assignments, which was something we hadn’t seen before. He approaches his writing homework with ease these days. He handles the assignments more smoothly and with less stress. He doesn't struggle with starting assignments, generating ideas, and elaborating on those ideas with more detail.”

    — Madhavi R, 5th grade parent

  • Improvement after only a few lessons.

    “My daughter took to her tutor Emma right away, which was wonderful because she doesn't always warm up to teachers quickly. It's great to have her working with someone she can relate to who clearly understands how to explain things in a way that make sense to her. I could see an improvement in both her classwork and her confidence after only the first few lessons. My daughter seems much less stressed about English class. It's obvious that she loves having Emma in her corner and her grades reflect that as well.”

    — Anna A, 10th grade parent

  • An enormous difference.

    “Working with Insight Writing has made an enormous difference for our teen. Writing used to be stressful especially since he is normally disorganized and struggles to share. But his sessions have taught him to break the process into clear, manageable steps—how to structure ideas, stay focused, and improve vocabulary.”

    — Adam G, 7th grade parent

  • The perfect balance.

    “Insight Writing combines the perfect balance of rigor and encouragement. Our boys never complained before any of the sessions, which is a huge win for preteen boys!”

    - Courtney F, 4th/8th grade parent

  • Kindness and enthusiasm.

    “Insight Writing has been a wonderful asset to my daughter’s writing process, and it has all been done with such kindness and enthusiasm that my daughter did not feel as though it was a chore for her. Instead she looked forward to writing and now approaches it in high school with confidence.”

    - Kathy G, 11th grade parent

  • Sacred.

    “My daughter regards her weekly writing lessons as sacred.  No matter how much homework she has, or competing activities, she prioritizes that meeting over almost everything else.”

    - Danya B, 12th grade parent

  • Mission accomplished.

    “My son was earning B's in English during 7th grade. Other parents highly recommended Insight Writing. My son took several classes last summer and is now in 8th grade, earning all A's. Mission accomplished.”

    –Ali Z, 8th grade parent