“Hi Bill, I just wrote the thanks to the whole group, but I also wanted to thank you personally. Your presentation really livened things up, and it got us all thinking about having fun while teaching (and learning). Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together.
Most of all, thanks for coming. We can always count on that sparkle in your eye to brighten out meetings! I hope that we get to see you again at our networking dinner in the near future.”

From Parents

“My son started with MPIJ in January 2009. We couldn’t have been happier with the dedication, compassion, and flexibility of MPIJ’s program. Through a combination of academic creativity and structured learning, our son went from a reluctant student to an excited and capable learner! We are eternally grateful for the safe and loving atmosphere of MPIJ.”
Steve and Anne Weinberg

“We were recommended to see Bill by the Occupational Therapist that my son Charlie had been seeing for a couple of years. Charlie was born 3 months premature and because of this had ended up in a higher school year. Charlie who was 7 years old at the  time had struggled to keep up with his school work and although his verbal reasoning and reading capabilities had improved dramatically there was still a slight weakness in his understanding  maths. We were planning to go back to the UK and our children needed to be assessed for London schools. Bill made maths fun for Charlie and gave him a confidence and basic understanding of numbers by using simple and fun methods. The conclusion was that our son was accepted by the London School we wanted him to attend. We are all-especially Charlie-delighted. Bill continues to tutor Charlie-his help in giving Charlie the confidence to do maths has been invaluable.”

“Our son, aged 9, was diagnosed as having Dyslexia 10 months ago. After releasing that the International School our son attended could not provide much help in meeting our sons learning needs, we have been very fortunate in finding MPIJ.
Our son has been working with MPIJ for over 5 months now and we are very pleased with both the effort Bill has applied to teaching our son and our son’s progress.
Bill’s approach is to firstly create a level of comfort and trust which enabled our son to be taught in a relaxed and non-confrontational environment. This was an essential ingredient for our son who can easily ‘switch off’ if feeling pressured or harassed. Creating an enjoyable, patient and understanding environment meant that our son was then able to move onto the next step of building confidence though challenging theoretical questions and practical ‘real world’ examples. More importantly, our son very quickly became aware that even if the answer was unknown to him or he got an answer wrong that there was the reassurance of being able to ask without being criticized and knowing that the answer would be explained to him in a method that would enable him to fully understand the error or misunderstanding. This meant that the next time he approached a similar problem he could do so with confidence knowing that he was going to get it right.
In the 5 months our son has been working with Bill we have been amazed at his exponential growth in understanding mathematics. Bills approach of going ‘back to basics’ and ‘locking in’ key mathematical principles then systematically challenging our son to do more has resulted in our son seeking out difficult mathematical problems and ‘showing off’ his abilities.
This is a far cry from his previous reluctance to participate. What we have witnessed firsthand is not ‘wrote’ leaning but leaning in a manner that reinforces our son confidence and skills to understand the question and then apply new skills to come to a solution. Most importantly we have learnt that our son is able to learn and apply himself at a level equal to or beyond his peers and he has a real desire to do well. We have noticed that his previously poor performance in class is not based on any lack of intellect but rather a requirement for him to be ‘comfortable’ and be taught in a way that encourages him. Under these conditions we have found that our son is very keen to open his mind to learning and is eager to show his growing confidence and understanding. Bill is now working with our son on spelling words and punctuation. Within 2 weeks we have already seen improvement in aptitude and ability and we are very much looking forward to seeing our son show us his true abilities inthis area. We highly recommend Bill and MPIJ.”

“Since September 2009, our son has had a regular weekly learning session with Bill. We are delighted to see our son starting to develop his mathematical capability and his progress has been greatly helped by Bill’s support. Importantly, our son looks forward to his weekly sessions with Bill. and he enjoys the relaxed and caring approach adopted.”

From Students

A comment from a student from Bill’s teaching adventures during the 2006-2007 School Year.

Bill Ward     2006-2007 School Year
Teaching in Tokyo, Japan
At an International Middle School & High School
Student Comments from a Digital Yearbook
Sh. Mu.- Freshman in High School

Age: 16
Date of Birth: March 28, 1991
Sign: Aries
Nationality: Japanese
Favorite Subject: Japanese
Hobbies: Reading, Playing with the computer and watching animation.
Highlight of the School Year: Physical Science field trip
The School experience: Learning how to juggle from Bill
After School Activities: Talking to teachers.

“I like Bill”

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From a male student, during the 2010-2011 school year.
Location: A “North American Focused” International School in Tokyo, Japan.

Facebook Message:
“You’re  Welcome!!
You were maybe the best teacher I7ve ever been with during these 14 years!!
Same old same old, just trying to be a professional skateboarder!!
And are you still a teacher? If you are, good luck!!!!:)”