After a few years of working with third graders I had an epiphany about the perceptions held by underachieving students who lacked confidence, or students who demonstrated negative behaviors. I was discovering an alarming number of students with poor self-images who were very capable students. As the demands on kindergarteners shifted from developmental learning to […]
Why Do Students Misjudge Their Capabilities? Read More »
My first failures in the classroom led me to discover Homework Solutions that promotes self-advocacy in students. Students fear mistakes. As young as 4 years old, I have seen children fall apart because they made a mistake. By time these same children enter third grade, they either know the value of a mistake or the
Self-Advocates Succeed! Read More »
The start of school is exciting. Students love getting new school supplies and can’t wait to start writing on the fresh pages with hopes of a better year. The first weeks are designed to be easy to help students settle in, but then the novelty of the new supplies wanes as the placement testing begins.
Relief for School Stress Read More »
With social media bombarding new parents with how to parent, it’s not a surprise that parents are frustrated. There are many strategies being offered that are much more diplomatic than when I was raising my children. The flaw in many of the strategies is they ask parents to talk too much to the children. Children
Parenting: To Negotiate or Not Read More »
Turn on the television, open the newspaper, or magazine and notice the ads. What are all advertisers doing to get your attention. They use a time tested formula that sells products. 1. They point out something to be fearful of like rashes, aches and pains, male patterned baldness, female facial hair, or weak bones in children. 2.
Elections Offer Critical Thinking Skills Read More »
You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know what it looks like. Start your children on the road to success by preparing them for a great year. A little visualization of an end of the year report card is where I would start my students every year. Try this with your
See the End Before they Begin Read More »
In this article I will address the concerns we all need to be aware of when using the internet and why it is important to help children become educated in the strategies used to capture their attention and sway their opinions and future purchases. A Game of Solitaire- Innocent? Maybe Not! One would think that
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I love this question. Children do not realize there are many ways to read. Each reading method is determined by the purpose of the text. Excellent readers often read in phrases. In a sense, they are scanning the page and drawing conclusions about what they think they are reading. This is fine when reading for
Why do my children substitute words when they read aloud? Read More »
I’ve been asked, “What skills will be more important today that are no longer taught, that were once taught years ago.” Without hesitation, I know that the Socratic methods used by Socrates are essential today. I would say more important than they were during his time. Why? Our students are barraged by information and are
Necessary Skills for 2022 Read More »
I receive questions like this from middle and high schoolers, as well as college students. Frankly it has come up too many times in my practice the last year. These students are not alone, yet they think they are. Why is performance waining? I can speak to this myself. I was able to make it