How to Get Your Kids to do their Chores

Are chores a constant battle in your home? Do you have to ask a hundred times before things get done while “I’ll do it later” is what greets most of these requests? Chores are important because they help your children to understand responsibility, prepare them for the routine, mundane tasks they need to fulfill on a daily basis in order to make their lives possible and give them the skills they need to one day run a home of their own. For some parents, getting the chores done is often more trouble than it’s worth. Here’s how to get your kids to do their chores every day.

Kids resist doing their chores because routine maintenance tasks are boring and take them away from activities they should be doing. While a general reminder to do chores is fine, if you find yourself nagging, it’s time to change the behavior.

Stop the cycle

If you find your kids only do their chores if you nag them and stop once your attention is elsewhere, stop whatever activities they are doing. Whether it’s TV, games or time with friends, stop the distraction and talk to them about the situation. Explaining abstract ideas of responsibility is rarely a hit, so concentrate on what they have to gain by doing their chores now. That means that they can resume their fun activities once their chores are done.

Up the ante

If focusing on the positive consequences of completing chores doesn’t work, set time limits. For example, if chores aren’t done by dinner time, or if the dishes aren’t done in 30 minutes, then limit internet time or set an earlier bed time. I have a friend who nagged her children every day until they were old enough to get internet access. Now she changes the WiFi password every night and they only get the new one when their chores are all done. Now she never has to nag her kids to do their chores.

Rewards

Rewarding your child for chores completed is always preferable to punishment. You can offer extra internet or TV time or a later bedtime for chores that are done on time without nagging.

Another way to incentivise the chore routine is by linking it to their allowance. Each chore that is completed earns an extra portion of their allowance. If they don’t want to do their chores, siblings can opt to do their chores for them and earn more allowance.

This is a good way to teach children the link between working and receiving a salary. Take care that this doesn’t lead to a situation where your children won’t do anything without getting paid. If you find this is the case, rethink your strategy.

Don’t turn chores into punishment

The idea here is to get your child to do their chores without hating every minute of it. You can start by giving them a choice of what chores they want to do. Making a choice gives children a sense of control and they are less likely to complain. Don’t make chores a punishment or you will only add to their reticence to complete their daily tasks.

If you are in a bad cycle of nagging and fighting about chores, it’s time to change the routine. Speak to your children about ways in which they can work at being better about chores, ask them which chores they would like to do and when they would like to do them to give them a sense of participation in the process.

Should Your Child Repeat a Grade?

If your child struggled through the last year and the school is recommending retention, there are some very important points to consider. Studies show that repeating a grade can be harmful for students and grade retention is one of the biggest predictors of high school dropouts. Before you decide to keep your kid back a year, discuss alternatives with your teachers and school administrators.

Limited gains

Students who are held back may initially show improvement, but the gains they get from retention only last a year or two before they begin to fall behind again. When students are struggling at school, the answer may not be more school. Instead, speak with teachers about what is holding them back to solve their academic issues over the long term.

A study by Roderick and Nagaoka (2005) found that 3rd graders who had been kept back a grade struggled during the next year, had higher rates of special education placement, and showed no advantage two years later than those who had moved to the next grade. The study also found that 6th graders who had been held back a year had lower achievement growth than students with similar academic issues who were not retained.

Age concerns

Older students may have different developmental interests than the younger students in their grade. Bullying and lack of confidence can lead to behavioural and social issues which only compound the academic problems.

Long-term gains

Most studies which compare students which similar academic performance to see if retention helps to improve grades show that it is not effective in fostering positive academic growth. Holmes (1989) carried out a meta-analysis of 63 different studies that examined the academic impact of retention. Fifty-four of the studies concluded that students who were retained and students who were promoted performed at very similar levels. This means that retention had no significant effect on academic performance. In fact, students who had not been held back slightly outperformed their retained peers the following year (Norton, 1990; Walters & Borgers, 1995).

Solutions to poor academic performance

Whether you decide to promote or retain your child next year, this action alone is not enough to overcome academic problems. Perhaps your child needs to learn study skills, or maybe some fundamental building blocks are missing from their knowledge base. In both cases, academic losses will be compounded and they will drop further behind each year.

Discuss the underlying problems with your child’s teacher. They will be able to direct you to the causes, both academic and behavioural, that your child is experiencing.

Consider a personal tutor who will be able to adapt material to suit your child’s learning style, teach them the requisite academic skills they need to succeed and fill in the missing building blocks to their knowledge base. Taking a hands-on approach will help your child to succeed which will improve their self-confidence too.

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What we loved best - The independent evaluation, the matching process for my child to a tutor that best complements her needs and personality, the flexibility, the house call - We really appreciated everything !  

- Parent of Tori, Castle Rock Elementary, Castle Rock

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Bad Grades? Here's what to Do

If your student is getting bad grades, you want to be supportive, but you also want to ensure that their academic performance improves. While it’s natural to get upset by bad grades, your student may lack the skills they require to do a better job. You can help them to take responsibility for their academic performance and provide them with the much-needed tools to get the job done.

What’s the problem?

Every student has a bad test from time to time, but if you notice a marked decline in a particular subject or in overall grades, it’s time to take action. First speak with your student to try to ascertain what the problem is. Don’t be discouraged if they can’t tell you; it may be that they just don’t know why they aren’t doing as well as their fellow students.

Speak with their teachers; your teachers are the best resource for finding the root of the problem. Problems may range from getting distracted in class, not being organized, lacking study skills or simply forgetting to complete assignments. You should also investigate the possibility of social issues like bullying.

Fixing the foundations

If your student has gaps in their knowledge, then the more their teachers build on these foundations, the less they will understand. If you suspect that this may be the issue, then get an in-home tutor to evaluate your student’s knowledge. They will be able to tell what kind of an understanding they have of the subject matter and help to fill in the gaps.

In-home tutors are able to work individually with your student so that they are able to catch up and show rapid improvement. They are also able to work in a situation where your student feels comfortable and confident. As they progress, they will feel more confident, and will be more likely to ask and answer more questions. They may be too intimidated or shy to ask questions in class.

Study skills

Teachers don’t always have the time to teach both the course material and study skills. Your student may need help with the way they study. Start by asking your tutor or teacher to ascertain what learning style suits your student best. Then show them how to convert their course materials into a format that is more accessible to them. For example, if your student is a visual learner, they can remember material by creating a mindmap, flashcards or an inforgraphic. Ensure that your student knows how to properly study, summarize and revise and how to estimate how much time they should leave for studying.

Get organized

Being organized isn’t something that comes naturally for most students. If your student often forgets about assignments and tests, loses items or doesn’t hand work in, they may need help with organizational skills. Find a calendar that works best for them. This can be a diary, a smartphone app, a whiteboard; anything that helps them to member important upcoming events.

Ensure that you check their calendar every day and help them to fill in the tests, exams and assignment’s they have coming up. Block out time between extramural activities when they are set to do their homework or study. Ensure that they have enough time to complete their schoolwork and help them to prioritize tasks.

How Creating the perfect homework station can improve academic performance for Highlands Ranch Students

One way to avoid the daily struggle to get homework done and to help your student to improve their academic performance is to create a dedicated homework area. Here your student will be able to work in an atmosphere conducive to study and do their homework in a quiet, comfortable setting.

Elements of a good homework station

There are several factors that go into creating an environment conducive to study. The homework station should be quiet and out of the way of the general hustle and bustle of your home.

The homework area should have excellent lighting and an abundance of fresh air. If there is poor or stale air, fatigue and lack of concentration occur. Ensure that you clean out your HVAC filters every month to keep the air in your home fresh.

Reduce distractions by ensuring that there are no toys, pets, snacks and games nearby. The study station should only contain items pertaining to homework.

The homework area should be neat and organized with an abundance of stationary and everything your student needs for creativity.

Homework stations also have to be comfortable so ensure that your student has enough space and that the chair and table are at a comfortable height.

Tutor friendly homework spaces

If you have an in-home tutor, then the homework area should be big enough to accommodate your student and their one-on-one tutor. This reinforces the homework area as an academic space where positive, constructive work occurs.

The study station should be a quiet zone

The study station should be a dedicated area in your home where homework happens. When one of your students is in the study station, they are off limits to the rest of the family. Here they are not to be interrupted or distracted and should be left in peace.

Set homework times

Homework is best done when your students are refreshed and alert. The best time for this is usually after a short break when they have returned from school, but you and your students should work out a time that best suits your family schedule. Having a set homework time helps to establish a routine and reduces the incidence of incomplete homework.

Floral study friends

Studies show that indoor plants reduce stress, absorb sound and create fresh air. Placing a few pot plants around your student’s study area will help to create a positive atmosphere and provide a source of fresh air.

When planning and creating a study area, be sure to consult your student. Together you can create a space that best suits their study needs. Creating a space that is free from distractions and interruptions from siblings, phone calls and pets is a great way to encourage your students to complete homework tasks and study for exams.

How to Come Up with a Great Science Fair Idea

A successful science fair project can do wonders for your grade point averages and can even catapult you to stardom in the way that it has for some of our young entrepreneurs. The biggest hurdle for science fair projects is coming up with an original idea. Once you have your idea, you will follow the scientific method for determining the outcome.

What is the scientific method?

A good place to start is to examine the scientific method itself so you can understand where you’re headed.

• Step 1: Based on something you have observed, formulate your question.
• Step 2: Predict the answer you think most likely and formulate this as a hypothesis.
• Step 3: Create an experiment that will show whether your answer (hypothesis) is true or false.
• Step 4: Analyse the results of your experiment and decide if your hypothesis is valid or invalid.

Let’s look at an example: If I observe that the plants in my room grow better than plants in the rest of the house, I can ask the question: “Why do the plants in my room grow better than the plants in other rooms of my house?”

I then formulate an answer or hypothesis: “The plants in my room grow better because I play music in my room.”

Now you design an experiment to test your hypothesis. This will involve two plants who have exactly the same growing conditions where one is exposed to music while the other one is not. You will record their growth rates over the stipulated period.

Analysis of the data should lead you to confirm or reject your hypothesis.

If you have time, you can do further experimentation. For example, you can test whether different kinds of music have different effects on plants.

Formulating a hypothesis

Once you understand the scientific method, you can see how easy it is to ask questions about anything in the world around you. Start by thinking about your favorite hobbies and interests; is there a question you can ask about these? You will be spending a lot of time with your science fair project, so it may as well be about something you like.

Look online: Sure, we know that you want an original idea, but looking at other science fair projects can really inspire you. Perhaps you will look at the experiment above and decide to test whether tap water or boiled water will help plants to grow better, or maybe you will want to test whether yelling at plants or complimenting them has an effect on their growth. You can take an existing experiment and put your own spin on it.

Start thinking about your science fair project now so that you have tons of time to come up with a great idea. Remember that science fair projects are only as great as the original question. Here are some resources that offer ideas for science fair projects. Use these to get inspiration for your original science fair project idea.

Science Buddies

Education.com

Science Bob

Science Kids

Buzzfeed

Scholastic

All Science Fair Projects

Teaching Responsibility: How to Help your Student to Take Charge

Teaching your students to take responsibility for their learning and their actions is a great way to empower them and to motivate them. Being responsible isn’t something that comes naturally to most students and part of the reason for this is that those areas of the brain which deal with responsibility (frontal cortex) continue to grow and develop well into their early twenties. You can help them to take ownership of their actions and to think things through before acting with these simple techniques.

Instilling confidence

The first step in taking responsibility is for your students to believe that they are capable of making the right choices and of taking the lead. Start with baby steps; ask them how they are going to deal with a situation like an upcoming test or looking after a younger sibling.

Listen to their plan and discuss things that could go wrong and how to deal with possible problems. It’s best here to allow your student to come up with their own solutions; don’t be too prescriptive as to what they should do. Allowing them to formulate their own plans inspires confidence and giving them more responsibility shows that you have confidence in their abilities.

Dealing with failure

As students take on more responsibility with their studies and in other aspects of their lives, it’s inevitable that some glitches will occur. When this happens, try to remain calm and reflect on their actions, and the consequences of those actions.

When discussing failures, ask open ended-questions to allow students to arrive at their own conclusions. Taking responsibility means taking ownership of actions and consequences both good and bad. If you give your students responsibility, but keep taking the issue back or interfering, it will take them longer to assume responsibility.

Developing responsibility at home

Pets, chores and independence should be gradually introduced when your students are ready for them. As they learn to be responsible for all aspects of their lives, they will naturally assume responsibility for their academics too.

If you find yourself nagging them to do the things they know that they are responsible for, allowing them to fail occasionally and to deal with the consequences may inspire greater responsibility in the future.

Assuming academic responsibility

When students are struggling with academics, it may be time to set some goals that are realistic. Decide together on goals that for short term improvement and long-term achievement. Then set out a plan to accomplish those goals.

Get a tutor for students who have fallen behind, set a study schedule and suggest ways in which you can monitor their progress. Be involved, but don’t dictate; remember that they must be responsible for their own academic progress if they are really going to succeed.

Social Networks and Teens: A Parent's Guide

Social networks like Facebook have become so much a part of our culture that our teens may find it hard to believe that there was a time before the internet. As in all spheres of social life, there’s are dangers inherent in participating in social networking. Here is a guide to ensuring that your students stay safe on social networks.

Privacy and Trust

Don’t be offended if your teen rejects your friend request. Reading their social network sites is just like listening in on their phone conversations, reading their texts or peeking in their diaries. While students are entitled to a modicum of privacy and trust, you still have a responsibility to protect them. The internet provides a certain anonymity that means that people posing as their friends will have access to all their personal information.

Social networking sites are inevitable and crucial for the modern teen to effectively communicate with their friends. Sharing photos and videos inspires creativity and written communications improve their writing skills. Since your teen is going to be participating, it’s best to outline rules and guidelines to help them to safely navigate social networking sites.

Rules and Guidelines

Talk about which sites your students can belong to and set up your own account so you can familiarize yourself with the way in which the site works. Help your  student to set up the site (make sure that they are old enough to comply with the site’s age restrictions) and show them how the privacy settings work. Explain carefully to them why the privacy settings are important and regularly check that they have not been changed.

Make it a rule that your student doesn’t friend anyone that they haven’t already met in person and don’t know. You can even get younger students to check with you before they accept a friend request. Ensure that photos posted to ensure that they are appropriate and don’t reveal any information that could tell someone which school they attend or where they live.

Regularly Google your students to see what pictures and information are out there. Sometimes their friends may post personal information or pictures that you may not want online. Be vigilant and ask your student to show you what they have been up to online.

It is your responsibility to monitor the sites your students use and the information that they post. Set up guidelines and rules for internet use and be sure to discuss the consequences of posting inappropriate information or pictures. Discuss cyber bullying and how they should react if they receive any messages or posts that are offensive or hurtful. Ask the school for their policy on social bullying and discuss this with your student too.

5 Amazing Halloween Costumes you can make from a Box

The scary season is nearly upon us and it’s time to start thinking about this year’s unique costume. Homemade Halloween costumes don’t have to take up tons of time or cost a fortune. In fact, making your own costume often earns you extra treats because you went to the trouble to do something original. Making Halloween costumes from cardboard boxes is inexpensive and it’s really great for the environment as you recycle materials instead of using new ones. Here are some of our favorite Halloween box costume ideas from Greenmoxie.com.

The Dinosaur

You can make this costume in an house with a couple of boxes and a pair of scissors. Simply glue (or tape) the boxes together to make the body and the head. Toilet paper rolls work well as the eyes. Open a box and cut out the tail and the spikes for the back. You can paint the box green for a more realistic dinosaur.

Fortune Teller

Use a single box to cut out a front view panel and two side panels as well. Attach straps to the back of the box so that you can wear the costume like a backpack over your shoulders. Paint the outside of the box brightly and write the name of your fortune teller persona on the front. Make a little slot for fortunes in the front of the box. Print out a list of fortunes and cut them out so you can hand out funny fortunes. An alternative to the fortune teller is the claw game costume. Create the same box that your would for the fortune teller, but bend the front of the box up to create a shelf. Fill the shelf with toys from the dollar store and use your hand as a claw machine. This works even better if you have an old joystick from a computer game on the outside so that people can play your claw game. 

Sponge Bob

This is a great homemade Halloween costume when you don’t have a lot of time. Just paint the box yellow with Sponge Bob’s face on the front. Add a pair of brown shorts and yellow leggings to complete the look.

The Lego Block

This is the perfect homemade Halloween costume for the more environmentally friendly student. You will need a cardboard box and eight yogurt containers. Glue the containers to the front of the box and paint. This is a wonderful way to use recycled materials this Halloween.

The Toy Box

Choose any toy action figure or doll that you like and recreate the look with a cardboard box! Gift wrap makes for the best background and you will have to paint the front of the box with the name of the toy. Attach straps to the back of the box so that you can wear it over your shoulders for added comfort.

5 Tips for SAT Test Success

The Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT is a four-hour long test that most high school students dread. The SAT has a profound impact on your college application and is the test that all your years of schooling have prepared you for. There’s no substitute for hard work here and you will have to study many long hours to get the best results, but knowing how to navigate the SAT test and how best to prepare for it will help you to succeed.

The technicalities
The SAT consists of 170 questions divided into three components: writing, critical reading, and math.
Writing: This consists of a 25-minute essay and 49 multiple choice questions.
Critical Reading: This section is testing your ability to understand and analyse text and consists of 67 questions.
Math: 44 Questions are multiple choice with 10 additional questions.

SAT Test Preparation
The first thing you should do is to decide if you actually want to take the SAT test. Find out if the colleges you wish to apply to accept the ACT test. These two tests are both designed to test your aptitude, but are very differently formulated. Take a practice test for both to see which one fits your style best.

Vivian Kerr from Bloomberg Business Week: “In general, the SAT is the preferred test for schools on the East and West coasts, while the ACT remains popular with schools in the Midwest and the South. Many schools accept both, however.”

If you like books and are an avid reader, then the SAT is definitely for you. The SAT is for students with excellent language, reading and vocabulary skills and the math components are said to be easier than those found in the ACT.

Under Pressure
The SAT is divided into 9 sections and each section has a time limit. So you will go through nine iterations of “Five more minutes” and “Pencils down!” This places enormous pressure on you during the test. The ACT test also has time constraints but here students who work quickly may have time to go back and answer questions that they didn’t get to or check that their answers are correct.

READ the questions
Read all questions really carefully. If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess, leave it blank and try to come back if you have time at the end of the section. There is a penalty (1/4 of a point) for incorrect answers, so it’s best to be safe.

Trick questions may try to catch you off guard, so ensure that you read the questions slowly and carefully before you begin.

Eat, drink and be ready
Your brain needs fuel to function optimally. Avoid living on a diet of candy, fast food and coffee in the weeks leading up to the SATs; it’s time to give your brain the right fuel to get it firing on all cylinders.

Eat brain-building foods in the weeks and months leading up to your SATs. These include wild salmon, acai berries, leafy green veggies, seeds and nuts and whole grains. Get a healthy balance of proteins, omega-3 and carbohydrates on the day of your exam and drink lots of water so that you are properly hydrated.

Practice makes perfect so ensure that you try some practice tests which you can download here. Ask your tutor for help with SAT test preparation well in advance of your test date.

7 ACT Test Strategies that Work

The ACT is a daunting test and the outcome has serious consequences for every student. While there is no substitute for working hard, you can optimize your chances of succeeding in the ACT test by learning strategies for answering questions effectively. Learning to navigate the landscape of an ACT will ensure that you get the best possible results.

Practice makes perfect

Practice tests are available online for you to try. Practice subject tests prior to writing your ACT test in order to familiarize yourself with the way questions are asked. You should also study the instructions for each subject test prior to writing. Since time is such an important factor in your ACT test, knowing the instructions beforehand means you won’t waste time reading them more than once during the exam.

Prioritize your questions

Read through the questions before you start writing. Order them from easiest to hardest and start with the easy ones. Getting the easy points done is a great way to ensure the best score. Doing the easy questions first will also help to build your confidence and get you in the right headspace to take on the more difficult questions.

Shake it off and move on

If you get to a question you just can’t find an answer to, move on. Don’t waste any time getting bogged down on difficult questions. You can come back to it if you need to at a later stage. As you are working through questions, make notes in the margins. You don’t need to hand in a pristine paper, use every inch of paper to make notes and jot down thoughts. That way, when you come back to the difficult questions, you can see what you were working on before.

Don’t know the answer? Guess!

Never leave an answer blank. The ACT test doesn’t penalize you for incorrect answers, so taking a guess may just render the right answer.

Bubbling with care

Take great care when bubbling. It’s easy to accidentally colour in the wrong bubble even when you have the right answer. While you may be working through the answer quickly, double check that you have filled in the right bubble. It’s best to get a couple of answers ready and then fill the bubbles in at the same time to make it faster. Ensure absolute accuracy by saying the question number and the answer in your head as you fill out the bubble grid: “24, F and 25, C.”

Take it easy

This may sound like the worst idea ever when time is such a crucial factor in a successful ACT test, but taking the time to read questions carefully will prevent misinterpretation. Some answers will try to trick you and if you rush through, you will fall victim to these partially right answers.

Stay positive

Adopting a defeatist attitude will result in a poor test score. Tell yourself you can do it, take a deep breath and start with the easy questions so that you can build on your confidence before tackling the more difficult ones.

How to Choose the Right Tutor for your Student

Struggling academically or doing a little extra tutoring to bring up a grade point average is a natural part of growing up. Most students need a little extra help from time to time and getting a professional in-home tutor is the best choice for improving grades. One-on-one tutoring will mean that your student gets the all the help they need. There are so many benefits to tutoring, but you must find the right tutor to suit your student in order to for them to get the best out of the situation.

Benefits of tutors

• Tutors are able to identify the gaps in your student’s knowledge and fill in the building blocks for them.
• Tutors focus on teaching the skills your students need to excel, rather than just disseminating information.
• Each student has a learning style. Tutors are able to identify the learning styles of each student and then present information in ways that your student understands.
• The one-on-one tutoring gives your student the opportunity to answer without fear of embarrassment which helps them to build confidence and improves performance.
• Tutors teach students study methods that work for them. They can help students to study for exams and tests, help with homework, help them to effectively manage their time and compile study schedules that leave enough time to study for each subject.
• In-home tutors come to you and fit in with your schedule, so you aren’t inconvenienced.
• Confidence gained through tutoring will help reduce the anxiety your student feels in academic situations.

Choosing the right tutor
Start by talking with your student and their teacher. This will help you to ascertain exactly what difficulties your student is having. Knowing exactly what the problem is will help you to find a tutor that is the right fit.
The success of a tutoring program depends on your student, so get their opinions and input so that they are part of the process.
Once you have established your student’s needs, contact your local Tutor Doctor for a list of tutors in your area. Ensure that the tutors have the right qualifications to teach your student. Ask about their experience levels and what experience they have with the grade your student is in and the kinds of problems they are having.
Work with your student, teachers and tutor to set very clear goals. Ensure that the academic goals are realistic and achievable.
If the tutor isn’t a good fit for your student, feel free to ask for a different tutor. Getting the right tutor will exponentially improve your student’s performance.
In-home tutors are able to give your student their undivided attention, but there are alternatives like extra classes which are given at the tutoring center, online courses or phone tutoring which reduce the costs of tutoring for families.

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Tutoring: Is it Right for your Student?

Every child goes through a difficult academic time. It could be that they are having issues adjusting to a new school or a new grade, perhaps they are having personal or social problems or maybe they don’t get on well with their teacher. With so many factors playing a role in academic performance, you need to carefully weigh the situation to determine whether your student needs help.

Cause and effect

Always keep a close eye on your student’s grades and keep in regular contact with their teachers. If you or your teacher notices a change in academic performance act quickly. Nipping problems in the bud will make them so much easier to deal with.

Sit down with your student and their teacher to ascertain what the problem is. Everyone has a bad test or a poor assignment score from time to time and one poor grade does not a disaster make. If your student got a bad grade, ask them what went wrong and how they can remedy the situation in the future. Two bad grades on consecutive tests or papers means that there is possibly a miscommunication. Go through the paper with your student to ascertain exactly what went wrong and discuss how to fix it.

If the academic problems persist, it may be time to look at the bigger picture.

Causes of poor academic performance

Speak with your student to find out exactly how much time they devote to study and what else if going on in their lives. Poor academic performance can be the result of several factors:

• Too many sports/after school activities
• Health issues
• Social problems or bullying
• Personal or family problems
• Learning disabilities
• Poor diet
• Poor relationship with a teacher
• Gaps in academic knowledge or skill

Resolutions

Only once you have clearly established the cause of academic discord can you work on a solution. Include your student in any discussions about their future or about possible solutions to the problems they are having. Inclusive practices make it more likely that they will participate in the proposed solutions.

If your students don’t have extraneous reasons for poor academic performances, it may be time to get an in-home tutor. One-on-one tutoring is the very best way to get your student’s academic performance back on track. Tutors are able to establish gaps in your student’s knowledge or skill set and can pinpoint issues that need the most attention. Tutors can also present information in ways that suit your child’s learning style so that they are able to understand the work better.

Tutors can help your students to study for exams and to complete homework and assignments on time. Tutors are experts at study methods and they can help your students to study in an effective and efficient way.

Tutors work with your students on an individual level, so there is no anxiety about answering or asking questions. As they get back on track, their confidence grows and the anxiety they feel at school will be reduced.

5 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew

When I was teaching, it always amazed me to see the way in which my student’s behavior changed when their parents were around. The presence of parents has a profound influence on the way students behave and teachers have a unique insight into the way students act around their peers and how they perform academically. When parents and teachers work together, they can really lean a lot about their students. Parents can learn about things that influence their student’s behavior and academic performance while teachers can get invaluable insights into their student’s personalities from the people who know them best. Here are some things that will help parents and teachers to work as a team.

Let’s talk

Teachers love the opportunity to connect with parents. When you are able to talk about your students in a constructive and supportive manner, everyone benefits. Keeping each other up to date on new developments will help you both to adjust behavior and will help you to deal with situations better. Teachers appreciate your support more than anything. If you don’t have time for teacher/parent meetings, use email to keep in touch.

Get involved

Always show interest in what your student is doing at school. Even if you don’t understand trigonometry, showing interest and offering support is a great start. If your students need help you can’t give them, consider getting an in-home tutor. Discuss projects that your student is involved in and chat about social situations and sports. Showing an interest and staying involved helps your student to feel important.

Be organized

This is a great lesson for your students to learn and keeping your child organized will really help your teachers. Returning tests and notes sent home for signatures, making sure that your student has school supplies, ensuring that deadlines for assignments are met and checking that your students have sports uniforms will save your teachers a bunch of time and effort.

Get reading

Instilling a love of literature is an invaluable gift. Your student will have to read their way through school and college. When you instill a love of reading, you make that process easier for you and your teachers. When your students read, they learn all sorts of general knowledge facts, they learn good grammar and they learn to express themselves in writing; a fact that any teacher who has to grade papers will appreciate.

We’re on your side

Shifting the blame for poor academic performances to the teacher is every student’s natural reaction. While not all teachers are created equal, give yours the benefit of the doubt. Speak with her about your child’s academic performance and work together to find a solution. It’s best to speak with the teacher in question first. Only if you can’t find a solution to academic issues should you then meet with an administrator or with the principal.

A little appreciation goes a long way

Teachers work really hard and rarely get the appreciation they deserve. If your teacher is doing a good job, let her know. You will help to motivate her to keep giving 110%.

Environmentally Friendly: Making your School Greener and Leaner

Greening your school carries a wealth of benefits; not only do you educate your students about the environment, why we should preserve it and how to do so, but creating a green school makes for a healthier school environment and saves on costs. Spending less on utility bills and materials will mean more money for cash-strapped schools.

Dealing with waste

Recycling can help to reduce the amount of waste that your school sends to the landfill. When you recycle large volumes of paper, glass and cans, you can get paid for your recycling efforts. Adding another source of income to your coffers while reducing your waste is an excellent way to go green.

Compost your vegetable waste and create a valuable resource for your own gardens. You can also provide parents with compost or donate compost to your local community garden.

Conserve

Make your school as paper-free as possible and print on both sides when you need to make hard copies. Switching to electronics like tablets will carry high initial costs, but you will have an excellent return on investment as you will not have to buy books or print out notes.

Turn out lights when you are not using a room. Use motion-sensitive lights at night rather than leaving lights on for security reasons and try to reduce energy and water consumption wherever possible.

Community Garden

This is a great way to get a source of locally grown, carbon footprint-free food. If you avoid pesticides and use the compost you create from your vegetable waste, you can grow organic fruits and vegetables too. Community gardening can really teach students about healthy eating, nutrition and the biology of flora. They will be more enthusiastic about eating salads and vegetables if they have grown the produce themselves.

Cleaning products

Use vinegar and water to clean windows and other surfaces. Vinegar is a great antibacterial and can be used to create great cleaning products (see more here) that are healthier too. When you use chemical cleaning products, they leave a residue which then releases harmful toxic fumes and makes your school’s indoor air unhealthy for students.

Rainwater collection

Use rain barrels on downspouts to collect valuable rain water which can then be used for cleaning and in your gardens. Reservoirs on rooftops can be utilized for flushing toilets too.

Get moving

Ask students to opt for greener ways to get to school like walking or riding bikes. This will also help you to get your students moving. In inclement weather or for students who live far away, the bus, train or carpooling will help to reduce the carbon footprint of their commute.

Green your scene

Plant trees to mitigate carbon footprints, put plants inside classrooms to improve the air quality and create large outdoor gardens. When making a garden, use indigenous varieties of plants that are accustomed to the local conditions and require little additional care or watering. Avoid lawns by using lawn alternatives. These lawn alternatives will reduce the carbon footprint of moving and reduce the need for watering while providing lush, green ground covering. 

Cutting Class: What Parents Should do When Kids Play Truant

Most parents have to deal with truancy at one time or another. Whether it’s your child saying they are sick to avoid school or if they are pretending to go to school and then going elsewhere, playing truant will result in poor grades and is dangerous as students remain unsupervised while their parents are at work.

Widespread problem

Skipping school is becoming a part of our culture and is a far more widespread problem than we would like to admit. The Get School Foundation recently investigated the issue and their report is disturbing. Their study showed that 15% of students miss 18 days or more of school a year. Most of these students cited boredom as the main reason why they skipped school.

Take stock

If you find out that your student has been skipping school or they claim to have fictional health issues that prevent them from going to school, its time to take stock. Find out what the underlying problems are. Many students are genuinely bored at school and can’t see the relevance of algebra or history to real-world applications. Here you need to outline the consequences of a poor education and how it limits choice. You may also try a more challenging course, class or school. Engaging a tutor to help students to find academic challenges is also a great idea.

Stop gap

If students feel overwhelmed and lost, they may also skip school. When they don’t understand what is going on, they may feel helpless and skip school because they fear that they may fail anyway. If this is the case, then you need to help them to catch up and understand what is going on in class. Get an in-home tutor to work with your student to help them to fill gaps in their understanding.

Bullying

Many students stay home because they are being bullied by fellow students or perhaps they don’t like a teacher they have been assigned. You can help by teaching coping techniques or changing classes or schools. All schools have anti-bullying policies that help to protect students, so speak with your teachers.

Always include your students in any discussions about their academic futures. You need to include them in the implementation of any strategy if you want them to participate. Try to understand the reasons why they are skipping school so that you can deal with these effectively or the behavior will persist.

Your school Councillors and teachers are a wonderful resource. They may have a better insight into the circumstances which your student faces every day at school and they can help with strategies on how to combat the causes of truancy.

Community Service: Ways in which Students can Give Back

Those of us who stay in bigger towns will feel the loss of a sense of community most keenly. We have become isolated and wary of our neighbors. The more this becomes part of our culture, the more we suffer from depression and other anxieties. Being part of a family, and a community is good for our mental health, our physical health and is crucial to having happy, well-adjusted students. One of the ways in which your students can experience a sense of belonging is through community service.

Community service not only helps your students to meet and mix with the people in their community, it also helps to foster a culture of giving, care for their fellow humans, social skills and organizational skills. There are many ways in which students can help only some of which are listed below.

Environmental Impact

Your student can organize or join cleanups in your area. Keeping garbage out of sensitive natural areas will help to preserve local eco-systems. Students can rally their friends to help in a cleanup, but ensure that gloves and masks are worn for additional safety.

Students can also help the environment by saving energy. This is augmented by energy monitoring systems that are installed by many local municipalities to help residents to monitor consumption. You can also just work off your utilities bills. Consumption can further be reduced by growing vegetables in the backyard, conducting clothing swaps rather than buying new clothing and upcycling old items to keep them from the landfill.

Seniors

Loneliness is a huge issue many seniors living in homes face. Most senior’s residences welcome student volunteers who can spend time with seniors and keep them company or help them with everyday tasks. If you have seniors in your neighborhood, your students could help them with more strenuous tasks like cleaning gutters or mowing the lawn.

Animals

If your student is an animal lover, then local shelters are a great place for them to volunteer. They can also help by raising money for shelters or organizing donations of food and other pet supplies. Students can offer to help friends and neighbors who are at work all day by taking their dogs for a walk.

Community Gardens

These are a great way to introduce good nutrition and teach your students about growing plants. Community gardens are a healthy and fun way to grow your own food. They provide communities with a source of fresh fruit and vegetables that can be organic and are definitely locally grown.

Random acts of kindness

These should be done every day. Community means the people around us and your student is sure to find a student at school that needs a little help. Tutoring younger students is a great way for your kids to give back. They can bring lunch for someone who regularly has no lunch at school, they can stand up to bullying, they can help students who are struggling academically and show appreciation to a teacher for all the hard work they do.

Back To School Traditions for a Great Academic Year

After the excitement and nervousness of starting a new school or a new grade has worn off, the new clothes have become old friends and your student is feeling more settled and at home, it’s time to start some new back-to-school traditions. New habits only take a couple of weeks to instill, but they will mean a happier home life and a better academic performance. Here are some back to school traditions that will help you and your students to have a wonderful semester.

Smooth Morning Routines

Get your family together and ask them to write down the things that they don’t enjoy about your morning routine. Perhaps they would like more bathroom time, or maybe they don’t like to rush in the mornings; whatever their gripes, write them down in a list.

As a family, find ways in which you can reduce the stress of morning routines. This means being more organized. If bathroom time is an issue, set out a schedule so that everyone has a fair amount of time. You can move hair and makeup to a different room so that the bathroom is free for showering.

If you don’t like rushing in the morning, get your students to start packing their bags and laying out their clothing the night before.

Make a lunch menu that everyone can enjoy and share out morning chores so that everyone has the same amount of stuff to do. If one of your students is a better morning person, they may want to take on more responsibility and chores in the morning and have a free evening.

Academic Goals

Knowing where you are going makes it so much easier to navigate. Get each of your students to set out clear academic goals for the year. You should provide incentives for the achievement of those goals in the form of rewards. Work with your student’s teacher and tutor to ensure that the goals are realistic. Short term and long-term goals will give a sense of accomplishment.

After School Activities

Discuss what activities your students wish to do after school and ensure that they have a healthy balance of work and activity. Try to encourage activities outside of their comfort zone so that they can meet new friends and get active. Sports help to foster friendships, teach discipline and teamwork and keep your students healthy and active while creative activities help relieve stress and develop higher cognitive functions.

Starting fun back-to-school traditions will mean that your students have set goals, rewards to look forward to and fun activities to anticipate. A little planning at the start of the semester will mean everyone develops habits that help to make this the best academic year ever.

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Student Inventors: Girl Power

Students can be creative innovators and inventors to whom we owe some of our most impressive technological breakthroughs. Today we honor three teen inventors who have achieved great success by thinking outside of the box.

Ann Makosinski

Ann has invented a hollow flashlight that is powered by the heat of your hand. Ann is a grade 10 student from St. Michael’s University School in Victoria, Canada who beat out hundreds of other entrants to get her flashlight into the finals of the Google Science Fair. “I’m really interested in harvesting surplus energy, energy that surrounds but we never really use,” said Ann.

Ann is interested in utilizing alternate energy sources for everyday tasks. While researching alternative energy sources, Ann stumbled upon Peltier tiles which create energy when they are heated on one side and cooled on the other.

She ordered some tiles off the internet and found that body heat produced more than enough energy to light an LED, but not enough voltage. Ann tried several transformers to up the voltage; she even built her own. Finally after months of research and experimentation (along with her regular schooling and extra mural activities) she finally found a circuit that worked.

You can see more on Ann’s invention here

Elif Bilgin

Elif comes from Istanbul, Turkey and is the country’s first winner of the 2013 Science in Action award at the Google Science Fair for her bioplastic which she developed from banana peels. It was a long process for Elif who tried 10 different iterations of plastics before she found one that didn’t biodegrade too quickly and was strong enough for commercial use. “Even Thomas Edison said, ‘I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,’” Elif said about the long road of trial and error that eventually led to a successful prototype.

Elif hopes that her plant-based plastics will replace some of the petroleum-based plastics on the market and improve the environmental impact that plastics have.

Eesha Khare

Eesha is an American student who has invented a supercapacitor. This incredible device will replace conventional batteries in everyday electronics. Eesha’s electrochemical supercapacitor can be charged in 20 seconds, hold a charge for longer and lasts for more recharges than conventional batteries. Eesha’s invention can be recharged 10,000 times as opposed to the 1,000 charges a conventional battery is able to endure. Eesha hopes that her invention will help to reduce waste and improve the environment.

Student inventors remind us that a good idea and a lot of hard work mean that anyone can be successful at any age. Inspire your students to greatness for their next science fair projects.

See Eesha’s interview with Conan O’Brian here:

http://teamcoco.com/video/young-scientist-award-winner-eesha-khare-pt-1-06-13-13

Why Students Fail Survey Yields Shocking Results

A recent survey conducted by Tutor Doctor showed that underachieving students did not achieve their academic goals because of a lack of motivation and not getting enough help at home. With bigger classes and working parents, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for struggling students to find the time and assistance they need to succeed.

 Tutor Doctor’s ‘Why Students Fail” Survey Results

Respondents of the “Why Students Fail” survey, estimated that only a shockingly low 2.6% of students reach their full academic potential. There are a number of reasons for this poor academic performance; nearly all of the respondents agreed that students freeze during test taking (96.8%) and cited an ability to handle pressure/stress (56.8%), being unprepared (54.1%) and lack of confidence (45.9%) as the most common stumbling blocks to academic success.

Deep financial cuts to education budgets have meant that many schools have had to cut tutoring programs. Working parents have no alternative but to seek help for their students elsewhere. Tutoring programs like those offered by companies like Tutor Doctor not only help build basic educational foundations, but also help to improve test taking skills and build confidence and self-esteem. In-home programs that offer one-on-one tutoring get the best results and produce marked improvements in very little time.

 Peer Pressure and Academic Anxiety

61.5% of the educators surveyed cite peer pressure as causing anxiety and stress which stirs up an unhealthy competition and ultimately causes poor academic performance. Pressure to get into a good college begins to impact students in their sophomore year, according to 37.1% of respondents, followed closely by freshman (34.3%).  Educators were divided on whether this pressure helps or hinders students’ performance, with 51.7% saying it helps and 48.3% believing it hinders.

As competition for the limited college openings increase, the pressure to excel academically in high school also exponentially increases. Boosting a student’s test taking ability, building confidence and self esteem can help to reduce stress, combat peer pressure and provide an environment where academic excellence is possible.

Another hurdle to academic performance is often the fact that students don’t ask for help. Catching issues before they get too far behind or before bad grades ruin their college dreams is the best route. Regularly meet with your student’s teachers to get a sense of where they are academically and how they are performing.

Tutors are also able to teach valuable organizational and learning skills which help your student to plan their academic years. If your student is active socially and plays a high school sport, they need to have great organizational skills to get everything done.

 Call us and invest in your student’s future today. (720-378-2989)

Choosing the Right Tutoring Program will Ensure Success

It’s back to school now for millions of students and vicariously for their parents. And as they hit the books, virtually all have the same goal: raise grades and test scores substantially to get into a good college and have a chance in an increasingly competitive job market. But the bad news is that many students are falling short of their academic goals.

“Low or failing grades produce shame, frustration, helplessness, hopelessness and peer group rejection,” says Larrie Reynolds, Superintendent of Mount Olive Township Public Schools. “This allows the student to convince even themselves that their lacking success in school is actually a personal lifestyle choice, rather than an inevitable fate.”

The good news is that through an effective tutoring program, students can overcome the academic and resultant social difficulties.

There are many causes of poor academic performance, but it almost always leads to negative consequences for the confidence of the student. “They may be upset with parental pressure, have no strong drive, lack confidence, have learning problems or face other apparent barriers. So to simply start ‘tutoring’ them so often backfires, turning out to be an exercise in futility,” says Frank Milner, president of Tutor Doctor, a global network of academic coaching companies.

“That’s why our academic coaches begin with what our process refers to as a personal discovery. Our people find out what is in the student’s heart and mind before we begin to deal with English, mathematics or history. If we know that there is something working against the learning process, we can address it quickly and effectively,” says Milner.

As an example, we look at a sophomore in High School and a competitive swimmer who failed most of his classes during his freshman year. Family stress reached a boiling point and his parents reached out to a tutor for help. Sophomore year, the student went through the personal discovery process and was seen by an academic coach for both English and Math. The student proceeded to get A’s and B’s and his parents couldn’t be happier.

The personal discovery looks for five key issues that can be blocking the student’s academic success:

• Working parents have little time to help students with academics.
• Students that “struggle in silence.” These students are too embarrassed to reach out for help at school.
• Too many extra-mural activities impede the student’s ability to perform academically.
• Gaps in educational fundamentals.  These gaps need to be filled in while working on current studies.
• Situations where moving is involved. Moving from state to state, elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, public to private and vice-versa.

“We know that by conducting the personal discovery first and also by filling in gaps in the student’s knowledge before trying to go to the next level, “says James Zazeski of Tutor Doctor, ” our system proves that it is highly effective in accelerating the trajectory of learning.”

“Dakota has only been with her academic coach for two months and already her test scores in grammar, science and history have gone from D’s and F’s to high A’s,” says  Tracy Healey, a Tutor Doctor client. “Your careful selection in matching the right tutor to the student was spot on. Dakota’s confidence level is through the roof and she now feels that she is very capable of achieving great success as a student. As a parent, I’m thrilled!”

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