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Our Parenting Blogs:

What Will School Look Like in the Fall?

What Will School Look Like in the Fall?

Many parents have been wondering what school will look like in the fall. Yesterday Governor Northam released a three phase plan for reopening schools with Phase I effective immediately. Here is the detailed plan: Phase I During phase one remote online learning...

A Strategy to Help Increase Reading Comprehension

A Strategy to Help Increase Reading Comprehension

Often students read fluently but do not fully understand what they are reading. As children enter upper elementary, the focus shifts from decoding and trying to figure out words to attempting to understand the meaning of text. Most students need strategies throughout...

Summer Learning

Summer Learning

By now, we are all well aware of the “summer slide”. Research has consistently shown that kids lose more than 2 months of instruction over the summer if they do not practice learned skills. This learning loss is greater in math and happens to a larger extent in the...

Strategies for Staying Focused

Strategies for Staying Focused

Oftentimes we have a task to complete but run into difficulty getting it done. This is frequently due to distractions. Either we become sidetracked or overwhelmed and don’t begin or we get off task once we have started working. Here is a five step process to help stay...

Helping Students Create Routines and Schedules

Helping Students Create Routines and Schedules

Adapting to the new reality of at-home education and work can be difficult for the whole family. Children may have an especially difficult time adjusting to new changes. If your child has trouble following a regular schedule or has meltdowns when asked to switch from...

How to Create the Perfect To-Do List (for Kids!)

How to Create the Perfect To-Do List (for Kids!)

There are two major reasons that we don’t get things done even when we have every intention of doing them. The first is that we are not specific enough about exactly what needs to be accomplished. We need to consider what specific actions need to be taken to meet...

How to Motivate Your Kids

How to Motivate Your Kids

We are all trying our best to educate our children during this unusual time. Many parents have found themselves suddenly in charge of several full-time jobs: their actual full-time job, teaching their children, and managing a full household that has new rules for...

Helping Children Cope with the Coronavirus Pandemic

Helping Children Cope with the Coronavirus Pandemic

As a special education teacher and during my training as a school counselor, I worked with many children who were struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges. I know that during this unusual time, all of the needs of these children are falling to their...

Project-Based Learning Ideas!

Project-Based Learning Ideas!

Project-based learning can be a fun and authentic way to learn from home. It can also be a great way for teachers to motivate students who are no longer receiving grades by giving them something interesting and relevant to work on. When searching for a project, it is...

At Home Learning Can Be More Authentic

At Home Learning Can Be More Authentic

Just because school is over and many students are no longer receiving grades does not mean that learning has to stop. Now that most students are home from school due to the coronavirus, parents are left trying to navigate how to balance teaching their children with...

How Can I Practice for the SAT at Home?

How Can I Practice for the SAT at Home?

Many of you are aware that the College Board has canceled the May 2nd SAT. The College Board is promising to provide future opportunities to take the SAT in place of the canceled tests. As of now, the June 6, 2020 SAT test is still being held as planned. This leaves a...

Will the AP Test Still Be Given in 2020?

Will the AP Test Still Be Given in 2020?

I bet a few weeks ago you did not think you would be homeschooling your student, especially not in their AP classes! We have received many questions from parents who are wondering about AP testing and whether it is still happening. They are also not sure how to best...

How Do I Know if my Child Needs Reading Help?

How Do I Know if my Child Needs Reading Help?

Often I talk with parents who are frustrated to find that their child is one, two, or even four or more grade levels below what would match up with their year in school. They usually express some version of the same frustration,...

What is the Difference Between an IEP and a 504 Plan?

What is the Difference Between an IEP and a 504 Plan?

What is the Difference Between an IEP and a 504 Plan? Parents who are seeking out additional support for their child are often confused about the difference between an IEP (Individualized Education Program) and a 504 plan. Both plans provide support and often...

Do I Need a Math Tutor?

Do I Need a Math Tutor?

Do I Need a Math Tutor? You may be wondering if you need a math tutor. Is your difficulty in math really bad enough to spend money to fix? If your child is struggling, won’t their teacher help them in school? Doesn’t everyone have a hard time with math sometimes? I...

Not Sure How to Accomplish that Big Task? Just Get Started!

Not Sure How to Accomplish that Big Task? Just Get Started!

Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in, stores, and then recovers learned information. There are three phases to learning and remembering…

How to Get More Done By Making One Simple Change in Your Routine

How to Get More Done By Making One Simple Change in Your Routine

Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in, stores, and then recovers learned information. There are three phases to learning and remembering…

I Studied, So Why Does My Mind Go Blank When I Take a Test?

I Studied, So Why Does My Mind Go Blank When I Take a Test?

I Studied, So Why Does My Mind Go Blank When I Take a Test? Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in,...

5 Ways Teachers Can Encourage Reluctant Readers

5 Ways Teachers Can Encourage Reluctant Readers

5 Ways Teachers Can Encourage Reluctant Readers We all know that reading is critically important to school success. Previous studies have found reading proficiency by third grade to be the most significant predictor of high school graduation and career advancement....

We Already Know How to Fix Education

We Already Know How to Fix Education

We Already Know How to Fix Education Just imagine if all teachers were given a break from constant new programs introduced from above and allowed to teach this way. Imagine the growth we could see. One of the most frustrating experiences as a public school teacher is...

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized

3 Ways Switching to Google Keep Can Help You Stay Organized I used to love writing on sticky notes. A few years ago, if you walked into my office you would have seen an array of rainbow notes with everything from grocery lists to the details of a recent phone call...

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals

A Really Simple Way to Achieve More Goals If You Are Working On A Challenging Goal, Plan Backwards As a study skills tutor, I often work with high school and college students to prepare for exams, write a lengthy paper, or plan how a project will be completed. I...

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success

Five Simple Student Routines for School Success We all want our children to grow into happy, successful, and independently functioning (as in not living on our couch) adults one day. As a teacher, study skills tutor, and parent, I have come to the conclusion that if...

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?

Do You Wonder if Your Child Has Dyslexia?  Do you wonder if your child has dyslexia? Maybe you wonder if you have dyslexia. You are definitely not alone. As a special education teacher and reading tutor, one of the most common questions that I am asked by parents...

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety

5 Study Strategies for Students with Test Anxiety As the school year begins, a problem that I hear parents express most often, working as a study skills tutor, is that they see their children studying and then it seems they cannot remember the material on test day or...

The Secret to Happiness

The Secret to Happiness

The Secret to HappinessI feel a tug on the bottom of my sweater and look up from my work at the computer to see my two-year-old. “Apple Blessing, Mom” she says. I can’t even count the number of times I have heard these words in the last month. She asks me to sing this...

Put Down that Workbook, Summer Learning Should Not Be Torture

Put Down that Workbook, Summer Learning Should Not Be Torture

Put Down that Workbook, Summer Learning Should Not Be TortureI see you in Walmart or Borders buying that summer workbook for your kids, and I know that you have the best intentions. I have had the same thoughts myself. Nothing is more infuriating than coming home from...

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing

Five Strategies for Surviving End-of-the-Year Testing Good Morning. Testing will begin shortly after you complete the identification information on your answer sheet. Please listen carefully to the following instructions. You may not eat or drink in this room. You may...

Ten Tips to Prevent the Summer Slide!

Ten Tips to Prevent the Summer Slide!

School is almost over and the kids are ready for SUMMERl! It’s time to play video games, go to the pool and really just relax. While these are all fun summer activities, it turns out that inactive summers can really result in...

Three Tips for Productive Parent-Teacher Conferences

Three Tips for Productive Parent-Teacher Conferences

I rush to the car, grabbing items as I pass through the kitchen in a blur:  purse (check), paper and pen (check), toddler has presentable clothes on (check), hair brushed sometime today-mine and hers (check and check), and keys and shoes (check). This goes on for what...

8 Essential Study and Life Skills You Won’t Learn in School

8 Essential Study and Life Skills You Won’t Learn in School

  I can’t even count the number of teachers that I have heard say something along the lines of, “if it’s not on the test, I don’t teach it.” I don’t really blame them. We have created a culture in our schools that is completely focused on testing. Teachers are...

The Power of “I See You”

The Power of “I See You”

“Who is she talking to?” my older daughter says looking at the baby inquisitively. Our big silver SUV is bumping along crowded gray streets with cars lined up like dominoes. Lights flash yellow to red, horns honk. It’s rush hour. I look back. The baby holds her chubby...

Five Ways to Teach Your Kids Kindness Today

Five Ways to Teach Your Kids Kindness Today

  A concern I have heard from many parents during this election season is, “What will we tell our children?” Many times the behavior I see promoted in popular culture, Hollywood, and on television is not what I would want for my children. Since my kids are...

Is it Unfair to ask Children to Do Chores?

Is it Unfair to ask Children to Do Chores?

  There is a video that is creating quite a buzz on Facebook recently. It is about the benefits to kids of doing household chores. The video contains pictures, information, and statistics about children in the United States doing chores. (See below for full video...

The Student Who Taught Me I Have Room for Thankfulness

The Student Who Taught Me I Have Room for Thankfulness

  As I drove from my house in the country, fields and green lawns gave way to rows of colorful single-family homes and then to enormous gray warehouses and boxy brown garages. The buildings, encircled  by towering chain-link fences with signs that read “Keep...

Help your child build the confidence and skills to succeed in school.

Help your child build the confidence and skills to succeed in school.

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