Set a Time and Space for Studying

January is the best month to help your child reflect on their study habits and turn over a new leaf as a student. Helping your child make positive changes in their study habits can make a world of difference before the tug of the outdoors and hanging out with friends start calling in the spring. Take the time to clear a space that is for homework only with writing utensils, paper, a computer, a calculator and a clock. Make sure that any distractions (phones video games etc.) are put on hold and help them set a schedule for doing their homework. Determine how long they are estimating each portion of their homework will take to complete and set the timer on their clock accordingly. I love the Mark My Time Bookmark with Digital Timer ($8) for those students who have at home reading assignments. Having an awareness of how long they are spending on each homework assignment can help in many ways. It identifies which assignments are more challenging for your student and which are more easily completed and it also helps your student reflect on their own study habits and needs. Students begin to see a pattern and can identify which assignments are ones they need to focus on more carefully and which are more easily completed. Being a self-aware student is the most significant step towards being a successful student.

Back to School

For many students, the first week of school is both exciting and horrifying. There are the moments with friends, the new lockers, the new books, and the new teachers. All of which are elements that contribute to the overall butterflies. It is the honeymoon period when the "New Year" resolutions are in full swing. Promises like, "This year I am going to write down all my homework, study for tests, be more organized and get all A's" are floating around in the atmosphere everywhere. Unfortunately, as week two begins, even students with the best of intentions lose a bit of ground on their quest for success. They forget their new color-coded system of organization in their planners, leave important assignments on the kitchen table, get their first quizzes back with less than stellar results. In truth, they are, for all their resolutions, the same students they were at the end of last year. This is when parents really matter. Lecturing doesn't help. Lecturing doesn't help. Lecturing doesn't help. See how helpful that was? Now you are never going to give another repetitive lecture to your child are you? Seriously, make a plan. Show your child that you are on their team. You are their mortgage broker, willing to do whatever it takes to help them get their ultimate house. Ask them to describe what they want for themselves in terms of school. Write a list and narrow the expectations down to what is reasonable for them. You can't have a home in Atherton if you are working at a minimum wage job. Next, help them describe what it is going to take to reach their goals. This seems obvious, but it is the step where most parents lose their children. Having your child identify that they need to study for test and quizzes is an important step towards reaching their goal, but it is too ambiguous. What does it mean to study for their exams? Have them ask each teacher for the steps to get prepared for an exam in their class. Does it mean looking over the notes, re-reading the chapter, doing extra problems, reviewing the homework or none of those strategies? Each teacher knows how they craft their exams and can be the best source for the inside track for your child. After discovering what it is going to take to reach these goals, help them make a timeline. One helpful tool is a GIANT desk calendar. Have them write out their goals and what it is going to take each day to reach their goals. Help them be aware of other factors. For example, you might have family plans on Thursday so their plan of spending two hours studying for Friday's exam might be a bit unrealistic. Let them determine how much time they are devoting to their goal and when during the day they choose to allocate that time. Set up check in dates. These are times that they are going to evaluate how their plan has been working, what went well, what needs work etc. They need to see for themselves how their hard work has paid off or how they might need to put in effort differently or even how they might have dropped the ball a bit. If they feel like they have been doing everything they can, ask them if they would like you to think about some ideas.
THIS IS IMPORTANT... DO NOT START IN WITH A PREDETERMINED LIST OF WHAT THEY SHOULD BE DOING!!!!!! They will only feel like you were waiting for them to fail. Tell them you need to give it a bit of thought and come to them later with a list of your ideas. Allow them to tell you what they might use and what seems like it just wouldn't work for them. Like any mortgage broker knows, telling a client that they simply need to save every penny to get the best house they can afford may be the truth, but it is not always advice that is going to be taken to heart. The best thing you can do to support your child is allow them the ownership of their schoolwork while letting them know you are in their corner and not simply there with outstretched arms waiting for them to fail. Finally, reward them with words of praise for their efforts. Show them that you have noticed their successes and their hard work. Doing something special together is fun for you both. It allows them to put a tangible price on their success (Because I worked so hard in preparing for my math test, Dad decided to take me to the beach for the afternoon) It's not about paying them for their success; it is about showing them that you do recognize their hard work and appreciate it enough to give your time to show them just how important their success is to you. Though adults look at the time spent helping students identify their areas of concern, plan and complete their work as time spent demonstrating how important their success is to you, they don't. Instead of telling them with words, show them with actions. After all, lecturing doesn't work right?

Bounce

I am currently reading a book by Mathew Syed entitled"Bounce". It is a critical exploration into why some people are successful in our endeavors and how everyone can utilize this awareness to achieve our goals. Many of the research cited resonates with my experience as a teacher and I found the phrase "purposeful practice" to be a succinct and clear objective for all students. If students participate in "purposeful practice" in each area of their academics, they are bound to be successful. The author implies that natural ability is largely a myth. He implies that Venus Williams doesn't have a supernatural ability to play tennis, rather she has practiced purposefully since she was 4 years old. This has set her up to be successful and through careful practice, she has achieved enormous success. While I am only half way through the book, I feel compelled to recommend it to others. There are so many fascinating ideas that arise from this theory, and one that I think is easily communicated is that if we help students ensure that the time they are spending towards achieving their academic goals is purposeful and efficient, their progress will be readily visible and success imminent.

Never Too Old for Treats -Summer Reading Made Easy

As a teacher, I was always amazed at the lengths to which my students would go for a dime store treat from my "bucket of rewards." Students would read aloud, offer their opinions and even volunteer to perform in front of their classmates all for the possibility of a treat from the bucket. No amount of threats or silent wait time was more effective. In thinking about the simplicity of this motivator, I am inclined to believe the concept holds true no matter the age or learning environment. Shown a "bucket of rewards", tangible and real, students are more inclined to work towards those goals. Good grades, and even college admission are concepts and goals too abstract for many students to consider as their own reward. Instead, why not offer an itunes card or time together or whatever small rewards motivate your child to reach their academic potential. This summer, as many parents will be working on motivating their kids to complete the required summer reading, why not try literally putting out a "treat box" filled with desired items for your child? Let them know that you are not going to be responsible for them completing the reading, but rather, you have these items for them if they live up to your expectations. They don't have to be huge rewards or even rewards that have a financial worth, just things that your child might enjoy. If you set up the expectation that your child can earn a reward when they reach a manageable goal and give them all the tools possible to reach this goal you are setting them up for success and making the summer a whole lot more enjoyable for everyone!

Gearing up for Open House

As the academic year is winding down, parents often ask me why schools hold Open House in May when there is very little time for parents to help their children improve their grades or performance prior to the end of school. Why do schools wait to open their doors until mid- May to "show you" your child's work? Because its not about helping your child perform better, its about letting them be a tour guide into their world. Throughout the year you should have taken a look at their work each week as they brought it home from school. Open House is an opportunity for your child to "strut their stuff" in front of their peers, their teachers and numerous related family members. It is their night to shine, regardless of their academic performance. If we look at Open House as an opportunity to encourage our children about what they have done well, regardless of the numerous ways they might need to improve, then we have accomplished the evening's goal. Take a minute to find three things your child has done well in each subject area (even if you have to look really closely to find them) and let him/her know how great it feels to be his/her parent. Celebrate them for what they have accomplished and let them know that you do see growth over where they were in the previous year.

After all, you can always encourage them to improve their academic skills in the days following Open House.

How to Avoid the "Summer Learning Loss"

As any teacher can tell you, summer vacation seems to have the enigmatic ability to "drain the knowledge" out of a student. This phenomenon is identified as "summer learning loss" in educational research and is a real problem. Teachers complain year after year that they spend the first few months of school reteaching the information that their students were expected to have retained from the previous academic year. Students are tired of this lamenting, and in truth, are themselves frustrated by the annual cycle of studying new concepts and growing their academic skills for 7 months, forgetting them entirely in 3 months only to have to study them once again in the first 2 months of the following school year. This ebb and flow method of teaching and reteaching is quite clearly not ideal in terms of time management, yet attempts to address this issue each have specific drawbacks. Extending the school year is one option that is most often mentioned. Many public school districts have employed longer schedules, but as of yet, this calendar shift hasn't been definitively proven to improve information retention significantly.

Parents are concerned with how to help their children be academically successful while getting the opportunity to enjoy non-academic summer opportunities.

A recent survey by the Academy for Education Development found that nearly half of American parents (43 percent) just want their kids to have fun and relax during the summer. Second and third priorities for their children were learning new things (24 percent) and preparing for school (22 percent)."

Both academics and summer fun are important to consider when planning your children's summer activities. Encourage your children to participate in activities that are geared towards character building and feeling self-confident and relaxed while incorporating academic skill building and retention.

There are low-cost flexible options. Online teaching programs introduce and reinforce student learning at various speeds and in tech-friendly modalities. These creative new tools allow students to enjoy "summer vacation" activities while reinforcing the skills they learned throughout the academic year. Many online programs offer free one month trials or low-cost three month options and can be downloaded to almost electronic device. Students are able to determine when they log in and, in many cases, take a pre-assessment to determine whether or not they need supplemental instruction prior to beginning each section. If they already have mastered the skill, they move on to the next. If they need additional support, many choices are offered.

Beyond the obvious academic benefits of participating in an online learning program over the summer, there is an enigmatic benefit that both parents and students can feel yet may initially have difficulty identifying; it is the averted summer school frustration and discord. The "summer learning loss" might not be eradicated entirely through online learning but it can be lessened, opening up a new chapter in your children's educational experience.