TESTIMONIALS


During my teaching career, I’ve always sought feedback from students regarding
my teaching practices and classroom activities.  SurveyMonkey has been an invaluable tool for me in this regard.  Here’s the most recent feedback that I have received from both SurveyMonkey and my Google Business Page.

2023-24

  • Mark was our first experience with a tutor. He set the bar very high and made us wish we had engaged with a tutor earlier in my daughter’s high school career. He actually taught the subjects to her, instead of just answering questions, which we experienced with tutors after him for other subjects. His approach gave my daughter the confidence she needed to go into writing tests and reduced the amount of testing anxiety she had before we met him. We highly recommend Mark!
  • I’m so grateful for the help I received from Mark.Thanks to their clear explanations and support, I improved my grades ,and I have gotten A in chemistry 12. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great tutor! 5 stars.
  • The cost was higher than other tutoring we have used but it was worth every penny!
  • Thanks so much for your patience and thoughtful approach

2022-23

  • As a parent of a high school student, I can’t say enough positive things about our experience with Mark. From the moment we started working with Mark, our child’s understanding and confidence in chemistry skyrocketed. His in-depth knowledge, clear explanations, and patient approach made a significant difference in our child’s academic performance. Mark’s commitment to ensuring comprehension and providing tailored guidance truly sets him apart. We highly recommend Mark to anyone seeking a top-notch chemistry tutor!
  • Mark has a thorough understanding of the curricular competencies and bolstered our son’s confidence. Our son ended up not only passing the course, but ended the year with a solid “A.” Mark is highly professional.This review is coming from a veteran teacher/parent who was (sadly) an Arts Major and Chemistry is way out of my wheelhouse. Thanks Mark!
  • Fantastic tutor! Very well organized. Provides his own lessons and practice questions. Two of my daughters have had Mark through Chem 11 and Chem 12. He helped my one daughter raise her grade in Chem 11 by 8% after she suffered a concussion. He helped my other daughter achieve +90% in both Chem 11 and Chem 12. Such a pleasure to work with!
  • Highly professional, each communication and lesson plan was cc’d to us in advance.Mark was flexible, offering additional time and time changes. He knows the subject area and has a solid connection to the curricular competencies of the curriculum. He is able to communicate the content is a way that students can understand.
  • Excellent all around. I don’t feel we lose anything with the on-line because the pre-prep and quality of the tutoring is so solid. I highly recommend Mark from the experiences of both of my sons!
  • Very fair and reasonable , more before session preparation is done than other tutors for this price.
  • More expensive but worth every penny because the sessions resulted in an actual understanding of the topic.
  • At first I thought it (the cost) was way too much, but after the first session I realized it was going to be worth it!
  • Mark made chemistry fun and enjoyable for me. He was very encouraging and kind in every session and he was by far the best tutor I have had!!

2021-22

  • I was barely scraping an A in Chemistry 12, and needed a high mark for my application to UBC Sciences. I had only two sessions with mark and scored 100% on a final that had other students crying. Mark is a down-to-earth, to-the-point tutor. I have recommended to all of my friends taking Chemistry, and they all agree “Mark is the man”.
  • Mark was a huge resource for my son who was doing Chemistry 12 online. His support was critical in passing the class and achieving a high mark. Without him the online chemistry 12 would have been much harder. I would recommend him to anyone needing support for their child.
  • Mark was organized, professional and always prepared for the online lessons. Mark is an excellent teacher with patience and a positive attitude. My daughter was struggling in Chemistry and ready to drop the course, but working with Mark 1-2 times per week helped her go from failing to an A as her final mark. She even ended up enjoying the course and finished off with confidence. We would highly recommend Mark as a Chemistry tutor.
  • Our first experience with a tutor and can’t say enough about how great the whole experience was – Mark certainly knows the curriculum and really cares about his students Highly recommended!
  • My son and I were soo grateful to have Mark’s excellent tutoring. Mark was patient, thorough and extremely well prepared. My son enjoyed his friendly, kind teaching style. He did well in his chemistry 12 online class, and I know he could not have done it without Mark’s help. Thank you Mark!!! You are awesome!!
  • My son would not have been able to complete his online chem 12 class without Mark’s excellent tutoring.
  • It was quite a significant expense for us but you helped our son both to succeed and also to feel comfortable with tutoring sessions; it was obvious to us that the expense was worthwhile.
  • I was not expecting to achieve such good results from these tutoring sessions. I was hoping just to gain a better understand for Chemistry and achieve a better mark in class. But through this service I was able to achieve a mark and course experience that was beyond what I thought was possible at the start of the year.
  • Mr. McLaren is BY FAR the best teacher I have had! I took Chemistry 12 as a pre-requisite for nursing and finished the course in less than three months with an A! His knowledge, expertise and passion for the material is truly inspiring and without his help, I would have not been able to finish the course in such a short period of time. Could not recommend him enough!!

2020-21

  • Have to admit I was sceptical at first as this is our first time tutoring on line. I was very impressed with how much my son learned and benefited from this experience. We will definitely start again prior to Grade 12 Chemistry.
  • Mark was a great source of help for our daughter who not only was struggling with her studies, but also battles mental health issues. Mark was able to teach our daughter in a way that calmed her anxiety and gave her the confidence she needed to be successful in her class.
  • Mark was a huge part of our 17 year old son’s success this year in Chemistry 12! Due to covid, the course this year was condensed down to 10 weeks. Our son had already struggled with chemistry the year before. Mark was able to keep him on track, help in any areas he was struggling with, and prep him for upcoming tests. We would highly recommend Mark as a tutor!
  • It was very convenient having my daughter home learning online and still receiving lessons that helped her understand better than she did before.
  • Our experience with Mark McLaren’s tutoring service was excellent. I just wish we had found him at the beginning of the term! Mark’s lessons were extremely well prepared and, therefore, our daughter was able to go into her tests well prepared. Mark has a friendly, patient teaching style which made learning a difficult subject enjoyable. We highly recommend Mark McLaren’s online tutoring!
  • My daughter was really struggling with Chemistry 11 and had essentially disengaged because she just could not grasp the concepts. Thanks to weekly, then biweekly sessions with Mark she up skilled very quickly and was able to get through the year. She looked forward to the online sessions, and I could see her confidence building as she moved on to tackle assignments without requiring guidance. Mark always went the extra mile to ensure that the content he was providing would tie in with the content that her high school instructor was presenting ( he even contacted her teacher to discuss current state and needs). I really could go on and on about the value of Mark as a tutor, he is an open communicator, he genuinely cares about the student, he is a true professional, the online format is top notch and, an additional bonus, he is an all around good human. In my opinion Mark doesn’t charge enough for the high caliber of instruction he offers! Highly recommend. Ten Thumbs Up!
  • Mark’s on-line class room was a perfect fit for our busy schedules. My son could sit in the comfort of his room on his computer and Mark would help him learn via his online classroom. I did not have to worry about driving him anywhere. Mark is extremely organized and emails out the lessons plans prior their online session so that the session is 100% filled with teaching, mentoring and support. My son constantly said, I wish Mark was his school teacher. I also valued that Mark kept me informed as a parent so that I could further support and encourage my son to excel in Chem 11. Occasionally my daughter who was also in Grade 11 Chemistry would attend Mark’s larger group sessions which he also does on line to prepare a larger group of students for any big test that was coming up. We STRONGLY recommend Mark as a Chem Tutor as he has years of experience teaching teenage students Chemistry, he has a real passion to see his students reach their potential and will add as many extra sessions as the student needs to achieve their goal. Mark keep up the great work of teaching young people to find the love that you have for chemistry especially when they initially find it a challenge. You make a difference one student at a time.
Previous Testimonials

June, 2019

  • Great value!  It really is when you consider the time he takes to send documents and keep abreast of their test dates.
  • The tutoring was always a blast and when I didn’t know something it was always explained until I got it, my questions where always answered even if they were simple.
  • Having the ability to go online was a major change seeing this was the only time I have ever had tutoring, the fact of not having to leave at a certain time and drive down to meet made things a lot easier for me. Over all great experience would recommend it to anyone taking tutoring. In grade 11 I was struggling to understand the information and was terrified of grade 12 but after it came we tried a different approach I went from having a B to having an A well worth the money spent.
  • Mark you helped R bring his marks up from close to a F to hopefully a B at the end of the year. Your style of teaching worked well with him. Although R needs to learn how to do self study he had the awareness at the end to ask for more sessions with you to help him be disciplined to commit more time. For that I am proud of him. I heard him speak many times during the year of how much he liked you, your teaching style and wished you had not retired as he would have loved to have been taught by you. Thank you so much for connecting with R  and for making a difference to his learning.
  • Put it this way – I am so lucky I found you on the internet!!!!  I have recommended you so many times to people with kids that are struggling. I hope one day it pays off and they connect with you. For me the services are worth every penny.
  • My son loved it. I loved it as I did not have to stress and compromise my work to support him. He just had to roll out of bed, get off his devices and sit at his desk. I think it worked well for him but he would be the best one to answer it.  The luxury of learning from home is a bonus….

June, 2018

  • I loved how dedicated you were to the timed session with provision of your own documents. Very prepared and appreciated.
  • Did a great job..just wish you tutored math too!! Thank you as well.
  • Mark’s tutoring is exceptional. He is a gifted teacher, who takes to a high level the practice of supporting the student in gaining insight and mastery. Both are important, when facing the need to apply the knowledge from the lessons on tests or in class.
  • We’ve had a number of tutors, Mark is a true standout.
  • You are a gift to struggling students. I only wish we’d found you sooner!

June, 2017

  • (My daughter) hugely benefited from Mr. McLaren’s tutoring. He provided clarity, guidance, support and inspiration to succeed. She became increasingly confident and inquisitive. Her goal became to understand the material rather than just do well on the tests.
  • Weight off my shoulders, as the content/task at hand was not in my field and with Mark’s tutoring I felt good as a parent to see my son do well and achieve an “A “‘
  • My chemistry mark went up by 15% this year!
  • Excellent value for money spent.
  • Mark requested material being covered be emailed to him before session thus being very effective.
  • Very convenient to book appointments and (Mark is a) subject matter expert, helped to make my child understand chemistry that helped in the classroom.
  • Your tutoring this year was fantastic!

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