Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity to connect with your children’s teachers and become more involved in their education. However, your involvement shouldn’t end there. Make an action plan to keep your children on track throughout the year.
“Parent-teacher conferences are often when parents become aware of their children’s educational deficiencies. Unfortunately, many parents expect the problems to just go away,” notes Chad Schwartz President of Tutoring Club. “The sooner parents decide to take action to keep their children on track; the easier it will be for them and their children.”
Promote Effective Communication
Parents should talk with their children about their experiences in the classroom. Find out what children feel are their best subjects and which subjects they like the least. See if there is anything your children would like you to talk about with their teachers. Moreover, assure your children they needn’t worry about the meeting; that they understand you and the teachers are meeting to help them.
Take Your Children’s Work to the Meeting
Taking samples of tests, homework, and progress reports can help parents focus the meeting on their children’s specific academic needs. It is important to know what to address when developing an action plan. Keeping a folder with these items may be helpful and could save time when parent-teacher conferences arrive.
Finding Improvement Areas
During the parent-teacher conference, make sure to discuss your children’s strengths and weaknesses. It may be beneficial to understand how your children’s teachers grade assignments so you can help guide their classroom performance. Identify skill gaps with the teacher when developing the action plan suited for your children’s academic success.
Begin the Action Plan with Your Children
After the parent-teacher conference, review notes and discuss problem areas with your children. If specific problem areas have been noted, or if their overall grades seem marginal, talk to them about possible causes and solutions. If the conclusion is your children need extra help or motivation, consider individualized tutoring.
Tutoring Club helps children reach their full academic level more quickly. Tutoring Club offers individualized instruction by professional tutors who work with your children, creating lesson plans to address their specific academic needs. According to Schwartz “When parents invest in tutoring, they show children they believe learning is a priority, and they are committed to their children’s success.”
Meeting with your children’s teachers can and should build strong parent-teacher partnerships. By participating in conferences and establishing a good relationship with teachers, you can help your children complete a great academic school year.
Tutoring Club’s exclusive TutorAid programs are guaranteed to improve individual skills in core academic areas like reading, writing, and math. Individualized instruction in science and foreign languages, as well as in basic learning skills such as note taking, outlining, time management and ACT/SAT preparation is also available. For more information on Tutoring Club, visit www.tutoringclub.com or contact Howard Stracke, Tutoring Club of Glen Allen, 804-405-4968.
Also, learn more about the how important Math is to education for kids!
Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
If your son or daughter has recently taken the SAT Exam or other standardized tests, you know how stressful and challenging those times can be. If your child is just now preparing for an upcoming SAT Exam or other tests, there are ways to help him or her be better prepared and more confident.
Tutoring Club of Richmond offers unique ACT Smart and SAT Smart programs for the ACT and the SAT can improve scores dramatically. A diagnostic test allows them to individualize your student’s program to maximize his or her time with professional tutors. Their special software system allows them to match up specific items on practice tests with those items missed on the diagnostic.
What does all of this mean?
- It means that students know exactly what areas they need to study most to get the best scores.
- They don’t waste time on a general study of everything – but they focus only on what they need to study for optimal performance.
- Students spend less time and you spend less money to get the tutoring your child needs.
- Students gain the confidence they need to successfully complete the exam and succeed.
Tutoring Club experts help your child choose the right test to take and the right time to take it too. These tests are important to your child’s future and they may dictate whether or not your student is able to attend the college of his/her choice. Tutoring Club increases the chances of students scoring higher on tests for a better future.
Upcoming SAT Test Dates are just around the corner for many students. Let the Tutoring Club professionals prepare your student and give him or her the confidence, information, tips, and solutions he/she needs to perform at an optimal level.
For more information on individualized instruction that helps reduce stress and build confidence, visit the website to learn more.
More Information
Also, check out these great articles to help your student excel in school and in life:
Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
It might be chilly and cool as the months of winter wane, but before we know it summer will be here and that means school is out for kids.
When school is out and the longer days of summer arrive, how do you keep kids learning?
The summer months may look like one long Saturday spread out before your children. But don’t let their minds sit idle waiting for the end of August to roll around. Summer is a great time to address academic skill gaps and help children return to school with more confidence.
Children are understandably eager to find themselves outside the classroom after a rigorous school year, yet summer can still be an excellent opportunity to learn in innovative and creative ways. And it’s not too early to start thinking about summer activities and summer learning.
There are plenty of options for summer learning, such as signing your child up for a summer course at your local community center, or enrolling for specialized summer courses at Tutoring Club.
“Tutoring Club can help parents provide children with a plan of action that will fit even the busiest summer schedules,” notes Chad Schwartz, tutoring industry expert and founder of Tutoring Club. “Whether your child needs extra help with reading, math or writing, Tutoring Club offers individualized instruction with specialized programs that guarantee your child will get ahead over the summer.”
Everyday Education
Family activities such as cards and board games are ripe with mentally stimulating challenges. When it comes to card games like rummy or speed, children are called upon to keep math skills fresh by counting their cards and tallying up scores at the end. Board games on the other hand utilize a plethora of memorization skills, stratagems, and problem solving techniques. Some lighthearted, competitive fun is always good for the mind.
Enjoying the Outdoors
Courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbtrust/6220826254/
When it comes to outdoor fun that incorporates learning and responsibility, parents can’t go wrong involving their children in planting a back yard garden. Ask kids to participate in mapping out the garden plan, choosing which fruits or vegetables they’d like to include, and deciding where the individual plants will flourish best.
There is ample research involved in growing a personal garden. Having children assist with determining soil type, climate conditions, and seed varieties, as well as keeping plants watered, then picked when ripe, will ensure their minds remain alert all summer long. It can also give them a sense of pride by bringing something to fruition from start to finish.
Learning in the Kitchen
Other ways to keep your child mentally active during these free months can be as simple as baking cupcakes or routinely having them help with dinner. Parents can turn the simple act of measuring ingredients into fraction practice, or have young ones read the recipe as you do the cooking or baking. Lemonade stands are another idea to help your child manage money and take on responsibility.
Keeping your child’s mind fit and focused during the summer isn’t easy. After all, you’re competing with sunshine and seemingly endless free time. But with a little creativity and encouragement, you can turn summer learning into rewarding projects and easy endeavors.
More
You might also enjoy these articles to keep kids motivated throughout the rest of the school year and help them prepare for success:
Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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Does your child shrug and sigh when he or she hears the word “algebra”? Then he/she is not alone – many kids struggle with algebra and others just don’t know why it’s important to learn it to begin with.
And why is algebra such a big deal anyway? Will kids ever need that knowledge and training?
Absolutely and the Tutoring Club can explain why. The article below was written by the Tutoring Club to help kids and adults understand the value of learning algebra today for success tomorrow!
Why Algebra?
Algebra is the “gatekeeper” that lets people into rewarding careers — and keeps others out. It is used by photographers, architects, upholsterers and just about everyone in a high-tech career. It is simply a civil right, says Robert Moses, a veteran of the civil rights movement.
Basic algebra is the first in a sequence of higher-level math classes that students need to succeed. Because many students fail to get a solid math foundation, an alarming number of them are graduating from high school unprepared for either college or work. Many are taking remedial math in college, which makes getting a degree a longer, costlier process than it is for their more prepared classmates. And it means they’re less likely to complete a college-level math course. For middle school students and their parents, the message is clear: It’s easier to learn the math now than to try to relearn it later.
What Makes Algebra So Important?
The first year of algebra is the prerequisite for all higher level math: geometry, algebra II, trigonometry and calculus. According to a study by the ACT, students who take algebra I, geometry, algebra II and one additional high-level math course are much more likely to succeed in college math.
Algebra is not just for the college-bound. Students headed straight from high school to the work force will need the same math skills as college freshmen, the ACT found. This ACT study looked at occupations that don’t require a college degree but pay wages high enough to support a family of four. Researchers found that math and reading skill levels required to work as an electrician, plumber or upholsterer were comparable to those needed to succeed in college.
Algebra is, in short, the gateway to success in the 21st century.
What’s more, your child develops abstract reasoning when he makes the transition from concrete arithmetic to the symbolic language of algebra. That helps him become an abstract thinker, a benefit that will carry over into his study of other subjects.
When Should Your Child Take Algebra?
Students typically take algebra in the eighth grade. The benefit of starting the sequence of high-level math classes in eighth grade is that if your child takes the PSAT as a high school sophomore, she will have completed geometry. By the time she’s ready to take the SAT or ACT as a high school junior, she will have completed a second year of algebra. Both of these college admissions tests have questions based on algebra II.
There’s a growing movement to have students take algebra in seventh grade. That may work well for students who are motivated, mature and prepared to tackle it. But many seventh-graders aren’t, math educators say.
“Some kids get turned off of math because they start algebra too early,” says Francis Fennell, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the nation’s leading organization of math teachers.
Parents, he said, need to “make sure you ask yourself, ‘Is this move for you or for your child?’” Fennell recommends talking to your child’s current teacher to help you assess her readiness to advance. The goal is for your child to learn algebra well and keep her engaged in math, not push her through the curriculum as quickly as possible.
Look for Homework Clues
W. Stephen Wilson is a Johns Hopkins math professor who teaches freshman calculus and is a former senior advisor for mathematics in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. He offers this advice to parents trying to evaluate their students’ math instruction:
“If a student isn’t bringing home work that requires lots of manipulation and lots of word problems, then there is probably a problem.”
Fennell suggests talking to your child and the math teacher about how homework is used. You may learn a lot from the answers if you ask:
- Are homework assignments corrected and returned in a timely way?
- Is homework reviewed in class so students can learn from their mistakes?
- Does the teacher change the pace or direction of his instruction, based on the feedback he gets in homework?
You don’t need to be a mathematician to ask good questions about the content of your child’s class, Fennell says. “Ask the teacher ‘What is the math? Is it a repeat of math that should have already been mastered? When my child finishes this year, will he be ready for high school math?’”
Bill Moore directs the Transition Mathematics Project in Washington state, which is working to better prepare students for the transition to college math. He summed up what middle school students need to get out of math this way:
“Students need to have a very solid foundation of basic procedural skills that really make problem-solving more fluid. There’s a fundamental set of stuff that just has to be memorized, and there there’s a sense of numbers, a sense of what’s a reasonable answer. That’s particularly important with the use of calculators. In some cases, in the elementary grades, they’ve been used as a crutch. Students go straight to the calculator and if the calculator says it’s right, then it must be right.”
Look at How Calculators Are Used
Talk to your child’s math teacher about how calculators are used in the classroom. Debate has raged for years over whether students are relying too much on calculators and failing to learn the standard algorithms – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. But there does seem to be general agreement with the view expressed by Fennell that “the calculator is an instructional tool. It should support but not supplant anything. You don’t use it for 6 x 7.”
For more information on algebra or any other subject, contact the experts at the Tutoring Club. They offer kids the advantage they need to excel today and succeed in life.
The Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
Do you know when your child needs tutoring? What are the signs to watch for? According to the Tutoring Club, there are some signs and signals.
Early Warning Signs
For many parents, the decision to have their child tutored is precipitated by a teacher conference or a report card. Poor grades or problems in the classroom are certainly indicators that a child is struggling academically, but there are often more subtle signs that parents can detect. In education, as in healthcare, intervention at the first sign of trouble can prevent a deeper crisis. For many children, problems with academic performance may have less to do with learning disabilities than with gaps in the process of building academic skills.
Particularly in the areas of reading and math, skill acquisition and retention is based on a sequential skill building process. Gaps in this process, for whatever reason they may occur, can impede mastery of those skills. Unfortunately, once these “skill gaps” manifest themselves in the classroom, parents cannot always be sure they will be alerted soon enough.
Based on the experience of Tutoring Club centers throughout the U.S., there are a number of indicators that tutoring may be beneficial to a child.
The following are the most common signs:
- Homework frustrations. If parents have to constantly help a child complete homework, or if the child experiences continual frustration, there’s a problem. While it is natural for parents to want to minimize their child’s frustration, getting into the habit of helping them complete homework rather than identifying the cause of the frustration and strengthening the learning skills will not help the child become a successful learner.
- Lack of motivation. When a child seems unwilling to try, it is a clear sign that the assigned tasks are either too difficult, or that the requisite skills to accomplish them are lacking.
- Weak math skills. Contrary to the belief of some parents, there is no “math gene.” Success in math is based largely upon mastery of basic skills – and the critical period for establishing this foundation is between 3rd and 7th grade. If a child falls behind during this period, his or her ability to grasp 8th grade algebra is very problematic. A child who does not complete algebra by the 8th grade is behind in the math course sequence for typical college-bound students.
- Inability to read at grade level. The foundation for reading skills is laid down from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. If that foundation is shaky, it can affect virtually every other learning skill that children need to acquire.
- Inappropriate classroom behavior. Children who “act up” in class or are constantly seeking help from other students may be having deeper problems than being “troublesome” or “lazy.” Frequently, a child with these behaviors is masking gaps in his or her academic skill building.
While tutoring is an effective means of addressing all of the above, it has an additional underlying value: it sets an expectation for success. When parents invest in tutoring, they are sending some very important messages to their child: First and foremost, they are telling their child that learning is a priority, and that they are committed to their child’s success. They are also demonstrating that learning is a process, not just an outcome. When children learn to master that process, which is what an effective tutoring program should accomplish, they gain a sense of competence and confidence that is ultimately more important than the grade level at which they are reading by the time their tutoring program is complete.
The Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
]]>School is out and the longer days of summer are here. For your children these next few months may look like one long Saturday spread out before them, but don’t let their minds sit idle waiting for the end of August to roll around. Summer is a great time to address academic skill gaps and help children return to school with more confidence.
Children are understandably eager to find themselves outside the classroom after a rigorous school year, yet summer can still be an excellent opportunity to learn in innovative and creative ways.
There are plenty of options for summer learning, such as signing your child up for a summer course at your local community center or enrolling for specialized summer courses at Tutoring Club.
“Tutoring Club can help parents provide children with a plan of action that will fit even the busiest summer schedules,” notes Chad Schwartz, tutoring industry expert and founder of Tutoring Club. “Whether your child needs extra help with reading, math or writing, Tutoring Club offers individualized instruction with specialized programs that guarantee your child will get ahead over the summer.”
Everyday Education
Family activities such as cards and board games are ripe with mentally stimulating challenges. When it comes to card games like rummy or speed, children are called upon to keep math skills fresh by counting their cards and tallying up scores at the end. Board games on the other hand utilize a plethora of memorization skills, stratagems, and problem solving techniques. Some lighthearted, competitive fun is always good for the mind.
Enjoying the Outdoors
When it comes to outdoor fun that incorporates learning and responsibility, parents can’t go wrong involving their children in planting a back yard garden. Ask kids to participate in mapping out the garden plan, choosing which fruits or vegetables they’d like to include, and deciding where the individual plants will flourish best.
There is ample research involved in growing a personal garden. Having children assist with determining soil type, climate conditions, and seed varieties, as well as keeping plants watered, then picked when ripe, will ensure their minds remain alert all summer long. It can also give them a sense of pride by bringing something to fruition from start to finish.
Learning in the Kitchen
Other ways to keep your child mentally active during these free months can be as simple as baking cupcakes or routinely having them help with dinner. Parents can turn the simple act of measuring ingredients into fraction practice, or have young ones read the recipe as you do the cooking or baking. Lemonade stands are another idea to help your child manage money and take on responsibility.
Keeping your child’s mind fit and focused during the summer isn’t easy. After all, you’re competing with sunshine and seemingly endless free time. But with a little creativity and encouragement, you can turn summer learning into rewarding projects and easy endeavors.
The Tutoring Club is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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