Cultivate Your Growth
Our Principles
Individualized Guidance
There’s never a one-size-fits-all approach in education. We offer each student a unique, efficient, and pleasant learning experience.
Excellence in Teaching
We have extensive experience working with students from diverse backgrounds, both in the classroom and online.
Focus on Growth
With a focus on writing, critical thinking, and verbal skills, we care deeply about the learning process and each student’s personal growth.
Our Story
Silver Maple Education is not just another tutoring service; it is a testament to our team’s belief in the value of the humanities.
As graduates of Yale College, co-founders Sharyn and Yufi both accepted teaching fellowships at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. There, over the course of multiple years, Sharyn and Yufi helped many students to navigate their coursework in the humanities and to become stronger writers, deeper thinkers, and more confident speakers.
At Silver Maple, our team offers students a wealth of teaching experience and the team’s various strengths as published writers, language tutors, college counselors, and humanities instructors. Our tutors not only have elite credentials but also possess extensive teaching experience.
Our students have gone on to the top schools in the Ivy League, yet our approach does not only bring stellar results but also focuses on good study habits, the learning process, and the step-by-step development of writing, critical thinking, and verbal skills.
Our Team
Yufi D.
Co-Founder
Yufi believes every student can become a better writer and thinker via thoughtful feedback and rigorous editing. Yufi is award-winning writer with many bylines in English and Chinese, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Caixin (where he writes a column on American higher education), The New York Times Chinese website, and the Financial Times Chinese website. He took up research positions with Harvard Kennedy School, MIT Sloan, and Yale Law School, and was appointed as a teaching fellow at Morningside College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition to a History degree from Yale University, he has a J.D. from Boston University and is a member of the New York State bar. Yufi volunteered teaching English as Second Language (ESL) for a total of five years and tutored Chinese (elementary, advanced, and classical) for three years during college.
Sharyn P.
Co-Founder
Sharyn carries her signature empathy and attention to detail to each tutoring session. After graduating from Yale University with her degree in East Asian Studies, Sharyn served a three-year appointment as a Yale-China Fellow at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. There, she taught English Composition and launched initiatives to help students build community, engage with literature, and hone their writing skills. Sharyn later returned to the U.S. to earn her MFA in Creative Writing, Poetry from Brooklyn College, where she also worked as a lecturer. In her free time, she enjoys listening to show tunes and learning languages. She is a speaker of Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Mandarin Chinese.
Ann W.
Director of Chinese Language & Literature
Ann brings unmatched expertise in Chinese language instruction to Silver Maple. As a bilingual writer, translator, and scholar specializing in pre-Tang Dynasty literature and poetry, Ann holds a B.A. and an M.Phil in Chinese Language and Literature from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as an A.M. in Regional Studies–East Asia from Harvard University, where she focused on classical Chinese literature and creative writing. Ann has years of experience teaching languages to children and adults, offering instructions in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin Chinese.
Our Services
Humanities Coursework
We offer tutorials in many non-STEM/humanities subjects, including but not limited to English literature, history, and philosophy. We provide feedback and suggestions on assignments, projects, papers, oral presentations, and tests (including standardized tests such as the AP). We emphasize the learning process, and you will see clear improvements.
Language Learning
As language lovers, we have extensive experience in language tutoring. We offer classes on English as Second Language (ESL), advanced Chinese (writing and/or speaking), classical Chinese, and academic Chinese. We design lessons and plan courses based on your prior experience and instruction. Our goal is to show you the best way forward in your language learning journey.
College Applications
We view the college application process as a valuable exercise in writing, editing, interviewing, and self-narrative. Our guidance will not only save you time and stress but also deliver results. Our knowledge of the top colleges and the application process will ensure your application essays stand out and your interview answers leave a lasting impression.
Writing Improvement
We excel at nurturing young writers through creative brainstorming, careful editing, and in-depth discussion. Whether it’s a short paper, a final project, a poem, or a piece of fiction, for classes or for extracurriculars, we can maximize the learning in your writing and editing process, so you can learn to write more competently and more confidently.
“Sharyn is an incredibly supportive and insightful writing tutor. Our Zoom sessions for brainstorming helped me develop my ideas, after which I independently drafted my work and sent it to her for feedback. She consistently provided clear, actionable feedback that encouraged me to reflect and improve in future assignments, and I saw a noticeable improvement in my grades. She was also an encouraging presence; I gained confidence in my writing and began to enjoy literature, especially poetry.
During the college application process, Sharyn helped me set and manage deadlines one school at a time, highlighting her exceptional organization and efficiency. I highly recommend Sharyn because she not only helps you grow as a writer, but also makes the process genuinely enjoyable.”
“Yufi is a supportive and encouraging history tutor. His ability to recognize distinct writing styles from teachers’ comments is exceptional, which is reflected in the considerable improvement in my grades. He provided clear, thorough feedback that helped me identify areas for growth. Furthermore, his deep knowledge of history allows for a more nuanced analysis and discussion.
Yufi’s guidance during my college interview preparation helped me speak with greater confidence and present myself more effectively. His comments on my college essays also helped me find a more authentic voice. I highly recommend Yufi because he tailors his feedback to specific writing styles while fostering the confidence needed to grow.”
E. J.
Top offers: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia
Note on Academic Honesty
Silver Maple Education offers help with writing tasks, including brainstorming, outlining, editing, commenting, and discussion. Our students must agree to complete the full first draft of any writing task, including college application essays, on their own. Under no circumstances will Silver Maple Education agree to draft a writing task from scratch for our students. We believe that learning can only meaningfully occur when students take ownership of their work and make the first attempt at completing any writing task. We deem any act of ghostwriting in the academic setting as dishonest, unethical, and antithetical to the fundamental purpose of education.
Silver Maple Education
A New York-registered education partnership
Silver Maple Education 