As a parent of four children, I have been through the struggle with homework. The guilt we feel as a parent knowing that your child can succeed if they just put some effort or JUST DO IT! I am just going to share my experience in hopes that it will help your family. The determination to be successful is key!
Kids all learn in different ways, some think that they can keep it all in their mind until they get home. I’m telling you now it just doesn’t work like that. Coming from a person that is old school for sure… I use my Google Calendar but when it comes to my tutoring schedule, blogging, emailing and coordination of everyone’s schedule old school is the way to go, I need to see it right there in front of me. There are so many resources out there to help.
As my children were growing up and continuing through college a planner helped tremendously. Their determination to get good grades and become successful. It wasn’t always like that. In elementary school, I remember it was a struggle for them to bring the planner to get our initials after they read their twenty minutes and completed their reading logs. When they moved on to middle school, homework was forgotten and excuses were made. It was not until high school when after-school activities came into the picture. Boy did the word soccer mom come into play. There was football, theater, jobs, friends you name it and who stayed on top of it all. ME! We wanted our children to be independent and know how to clean, cook, wash dishes and if they wanted clean clothes they washed their clothes too! After-school schedules and homework. Planners worked because if they forgot something, who’s fault was it? Not, mine.
Will be developing their own planners to provide to students this year. The first 25 people to sign up will get them for free in January 2018. They are currently a work in progress, so just comment below if you would like to be one of the first 25 to receive a free planner to help your family.
Parents want the best for their child in all aspects of their lives. However, when it comes to tutoring some struggle in which way is best. Is it face to face or online? I have provided 10 of the most common reasons why online tutoring is beneficial.
Less missed sessions there may be several reasons why a student or even a tutor may miss a session. Whether it is caused by traffic, car problems or even weather changes. Boy, living in Colorado I know this one really well.
Students seem to attend better. As a parent, you know your child is struggling, whether it be in the area of reading or math or even needs support for the upcoming ACT. Today Children enjoy using technology and some even know more than parents. So it just makes sense attending their sessions online.
Flexible Schedules when I think of flexible schedules I think of when I first started tutoring. I was driving my children to where they needed to be I would go tutor and then go and pick them up. Which limited everyone’s time. Think of your family. During the school year, there are meetings, sports, after-school activities and when there is more than one child in the family (like mine) I know you’re going silly figuring out tutoring on top of it. Don’t let schedules get in the way.
Personalized instruction during an online session gets everything tailored to where they are at, working one on one with the teacher. Beginning with a free assessment and personalized emails sent to the parents giving updates about your child.
Confidential is what online tutoring is all about. Think about your child and the stress they are feeling. When they are in school and notice that their friends can read chapter books or do harder math problems. When you are sitting at the kitchen table trying to do that homework. I know I’ve been there! Your child knows and doesn’t want you to be upset. So call today and let’s try that free reading assessment 720-934-7980
Money saving, just think about it. No driving, no waiting on making or even having dinner, fewer arguments about either meeting at the library or having the tutor come into your home. This then leads to #7
Less stress with everything… homework, schedules, dinner, traffic…
Family time is what counts in our households today. Let’s get the studying done and then the family can spend some quality time together.
Kids love tutoring I enjoy watching their faces light up when they read that story all the way through or spelling their vocabulary words without any mistakes. I know as a parent you do too!
The best way to predict the future is to create it. Abraham Lincoln
My 55th year. I’ve thought about this for a while. Well, actually since the 19th, my birthday. I remember when I returned to school to get my Masters in Special Education and my goal then was that I would have my first classroom at 45. I met that goal became a teacher, with my first classroom and it was wonderful. I worked with some amazing children, awesome staff and we had the world on a string…that was where life really got in the way.
Mental health issues have always been a hidden and scary fact in society. In my opinion, people just do not understand how to help someone who struggles with them. They are afraid to ask, they struggle with their own feelings of guilt, maybe? I think that was my biggest struggle was the guilt. You see it was my daughter who struggled with severe mental health issues.
It all began like a whirlwind of everything happening at once. Having four children will do that. My two oldest were trying to figure out life (and continue to do so), while the two youngest (twins) were just finishing up Elementary School. We had one in high school, one in middle school and two in elementary and moving forward after that summer is a blur. Actually, the past 6 years have been a blur. The particulars of the story will need to wait.
Fast forward to 2017.
My oldest graduated high school (5 years ago) and is moving up in a successful career. Our second during all the turmoil of life ended up having our first grandson (now 2, he has brought back the smiles in our family), but she has found a career she enjoys as well. The biggest success is that the twins now 18 yrs old will be graduating high school in a few short weeks, with unbelievable grade point averages. Phew! Did I actually say that? Since I have been home the past few years as the Owner teacher/tutor with Castle Rock Tutoring plus other positions that I have dabbled in over the years just to help contribute to the family.
As I continue to strive to help families with this blog. As I have heard daily tweaks occur on everyone’s blog. The reason I mention this is our Reading Resources Page will be in a continued construction phase until I feel confident just minor tweaks will only be needed. As I move into my 55th year I hope to continue help children here in here in Castle Rock, Colorado and beyond as The Online Reading Expert. There are other things I enjoy doing as well which include working with children in China, a billion dollar Wellness Company and Fairy Houses (soon to be released).
One of my online students was in Yorkshire when I was in London, then she was in London when I was in London, and now I’m in Yorkshire and she’s in Spain. Tutoring still continues despite changing locations for tutor and student. The magic of online tutoring!
In some places, the school year is almost over. As a certified Wisdom Coach, I felt this article was appropriate for this time of the year. Families are looking at grades as the kids are wrapping up the school year.
The school is now in session and that means…GRADES!
Whether your kids tend to earn A’s, B’s, C’s, or F’s, kids often define “who they are” based on the grades they receive.
“I’m an A-student”
“I’m not very smart”
“I’m an average student”
Unfortunately, when kids label themselves based on grades, it can have a negative impact on their self-esteem – even for “A-students”. Why?
Because if they bring home an A they feel great about themselves….If they bring home a C they get down on themselves. This creates the yo-yo self-esteem that we’ve talked about in earlier articles.
So how can you talk with your kids about grades so that their self-esteem doesn’t rise and fall based on their grade point average?
The key is to talk about grades as feedback.
Feedback is just a result that occurs based on an action that was taken – it is a measure of how well they learned the material. Grades don’t mean that they are “smart” or “dumb”…”good” or “bad” – it just means they either learned what they needed to know or they didn’t.
When kids learn to interpret grades as feedback and not “who they are”, it enables them to deal with both good grades and bad grades without impacting their self-esteem.
So how might this work?
Say your child brings home an A. Instead of saying something like, “You’re so smart. You’re an ‘A-student’!” You could say, “Wow – you made some great grades. Looks like you really learned the material.”
Do you see how the first comment “labels” the child whereas the second comment is objective feedback on the child’s work?
What if you child brings home a “C”?
This is a great time to say something like, “Doesn’t look like you learned the material that you needed to know for this test. Let’s put together a plan to make sure you learn what you need to know to move forward….Otherwise, you may fall behind and future tests will be even more difficult.”
Do you see how this approach tackles the low grade as a problem to be solved? This enables the child to focus on improving the grade versus feeling bad about himself for making a poor grade.
This approach works great for homework as well.
Decide with your child what grade represents solid knowledge of the material – is it 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%? Once you come to an agreement, let the child know that any paper that receives a grade below the threshold will need to be reworked to ensure that he understands the material well enough to move forward in the class. When you take this approach, redoing the work isn’t punishment; it’s striving for learning and excellence.
The most important takeaway is to work with your kids to see grades as feedback – not as a reflection of who they are or of how smart they are. When kids learn to see grades as feedback of their effort instead of as a “label”, they are able to separate how they feel about themselves (their self-esteem) from the grade.
I have been looking forward to doing a blog that helps my students, parents but shares about my activities as you will find on the project page. An explanation of this pages title includes:
Learning as you will find both Castle Rock Tutoring and The Online Reading Expert on this site. Both of these pages will provide information on tutoring face to face or online. Which comes to …
Literacy will be a big part of this blog along with The Online Reading Expert and the online support offered. Which leads into …
Family not only mine but yours as well. I plan to provide to you as I would expect to be provided to mine. Reading is huge for children, adults, parents and families. As I struggled as a child I understand when a parent sees their child struggle.
*affiliate link
Parents want the best for their child in all aspects of their lives. However, when it comes to tutoring some struggle in which way is best. Is it face to face or online? I have provided 10 of the most common reasons why online tutoring is beneficial.
