Learning Designed for the Learner

Tailored Learning is what education should always be: meaningful, inspiring and liberating.  It’s an opportunity to discover the joy inherent in learning about something you love. It is about creating amazing things and meeting peers who share your passions. It’s about developing the resilience necessary to overcome challenges and building deeper connections to our world. It’s learning designed for the learner.

The Explorations Approach

Forty years ago, a team of McGill University professors founded Explorations to create meaningful learning for gifted and talented students at the elementary and high school levels. Our understandings of giftedness and talent have since changed, but our goal remains the same.

Tailored Learning is the result of those 40 years of learning. It is a program that places the needs, interests and capabilities of the learner first. Driven by engaging projects, it is designed to allow youth to find their talents and discover new interests, while also providing support for standard learning outcomes.

Tailored Learning programs are offered virtually or in-person (at our Learning Lab in NDG). Private Sessions are $60 per 45 minutes, and semi-private are $90 per period (max 6). To get started, please book a portfolio set up time below.

Who is Tailored Learning for?

Tailored Learning was designed to create an environment where learning is fun and engaging. It caters to young learners (elementary and high school) who have shown an interest in a specific topic or field. 

Tailored Learning is NOT only for high-ability students. It represents a completely different style of learning that encourages lateral thinking, problem solving, resiliency and experimentation. 

Children and teens who sometimes feel left behind by traditional school settings often thrive in the Tailored Learning program. It allows them to unleash their true potential without being restrained by the structure and demands of a typical classroom.

Getting Started with Tailored Learning

Speak with an Expert

Every tailored learning program Explorations hosts begins with a conversation. This allows our team of education experts to better understand the needs, talents and interests of the learner or learners.

The initial conversation is usually quick, taking on average 20 minutes. During this time, we work with you to understand and define the goals and length of potential projects. We often encourage the learner(s) to participate as this helps our curators find the right fit with the project and  educators.

This is also an opportunity for you to learn more about our programs and how we can benefit your learner(s).

As always, it’s learning designed for the learner.

Meet our Educators

James Feith

James has over ten years of experience teaching in both elementary and high schools. Although he has taught a little bit of everything, he is passionate about teaching elementary Math and Science. James joined the Explorations team 6 years ago as an Intermediate Science teacher and continues to enjoy developing exciting projects for kids.

Rana Liu

Rana is an Asian Canadian multidisciplinary arts creator, manager and lover of bagels. She earned her BA at McGill University in 2017, and completed her MA at Columbia College Chicago in Arts Management in 2019. As a patchwork storyteller, her mission is to provide a platform for people to tell their stories.

Adam Koren

Adam has trained in Musical Theatre, and works as a professional actor and director internationally. He has also been teaching children theatre for the last 3 years. In his spare time he loves to cook, bake and see the world.

Danen Oberon

Dane is a fun educator who believes that anyone can learn professional skills and concepts. His passion for education was recognized with a teaching award at Dalhousie University, where he taught subjects as diverse as Shakespeare, video games, and the history of feminism. He now proudly works with local libraries and Explorations to offer accessible education for all ages in Montreal.

Amber Boling  

Amber is a multimedia artist, interior designer and world traveler. She holds a BA degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Traveling has allowed Amber to explore art practices around the world and develop a knack for storytelling and expression. A child at heart, Amber has always enjoyed creating fun crafting adventures, and finding unique ways to learn and teach art and its many wonders.

Daniel Hickie

Daniel is a freelance theatre artist, children’s theatre maker and workshop animator for young people. As a theatre teacher, Daniel has worked for Geordie Theatre, the Segal Centre, the Montreal Children’s Theatre and the English Montreal School Board among others. In 2020, Daniel cofounded Young Hearts Theatre to make theatre for the young and young at heart. Daniel loves cartwheels and group singalongs.

Abraham Martey

Abraham is a graduate student in the faculty of Education at McGill University. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley (USA) with a major in Global Studies and has over 5 years of experience in Educational Non-profit Managemen and Leadership. He is the Founder of Education Redefined for All (ER4ALL) and Global Custodians Academy (GCA). ER4ALL is an NGO that is improving the quality and access to education for selected public school students in Pramapram(Ghana) and GCA is a private school that provides quality and critical education to students in Prampram (Ghana). Abraham is passionate about new pedagogical approaches that can be used to improve the quality of education.

Ellis Steinberg

Ellis has been teaching at Explorations for over 10 years- he started off at Explorations conducting research for his B.A. honours thesis in Psychology at Concordia University, and became a teacher the following year. Ellis has been teaching the Magician’s Apprentice and Master of Magic programs since then, and has since expanded to create and lead the chess program for juniors and intermediates. When Ellis isn’t busy conducting magic tricks and playing chess, he is occupied with his career in venture capital, or practicing martial arts at the gym.