Learning Designs Learning Services

Specialties

We specialize in providing academic coaching — often called «tutoring» — to students ranging in age from from Kindergarten through grade 12, and in all subjects. We provide one-​on-​one academic coaching through private appointments, and small group classes on a frequent basis. we are conveniently located in the Linden Hills area of southwest Minneapolis, just two blocks off Lake Harriet.

We do offer academic summer camps, to include Math Booster Camps for grade school-​aged children; algebra readiness for kids entering middle school; and «The Brain Lab», which is our signature program for high school students. Visit our website to learn more about all our programs of instruction.

History

Established in 1995.

Learning Designs was founded in 1995 and operated initially from a store front location in northeast Minneapolis. When Karen had her own young children, she chose to downsize Learning Designs for a few years until her children had grown and were better able to care for their daily needs. Learning Designs relaunched as a storefront business in October of 2011 in Linden Hills, an area we consider to be a perfect place to have a business. Rich with shops, restaurants, and other attractions, the Linden Hills neighborhood is peopled by many like-​minded Minneapolis citizens who care deeply about their children and the quality of education they are provided.

Learning Designs exists to help our clients to understand difficult subjects and to teach them «how they learn» so they can incorporate new concepts into their repertoire as they mature into young adults.

Meet the Business Owner

Karen S.

Business Owner

Karen Swanson, a mother of three children, has been following her passion of tutoring children for over twenty years. A 1992 graduate of Augsburg College with a degree in education, Karen started tutoring while still completing her undergraduate studies. It was during this period she discovered the rewards of working with and teaching children in a personalized setting, and she has been dedicated to and an advocate for academic coaching ever since. After college, Karen was hired as a tutor at Groves Academy and, while there, word spread of her success in tutoring both remedial and fast-​track students. Within a short time she had dozens of clients throughout southwest Minneapolis. After 10 years providing private tutoring in clients’ homes in southwest Minneapolis, Karen decided to focus her efforts in her home neighborhood in northeast Minneapolis. In 2002, Karen opened a storefront location for Learning Designs which primarily served the northeast Minneapolis area with tutoring