Whether your kids are in high school or just starting kindergarten, it’s important to start off the new school year with a plan in place. Kids don’t typically embrace the end of summer with enthusiasm; so to ensure that the transition from carefree playtime to structured class time is problem-free, consider familiarizing your kids with the following points before the first day of school: FIRST DAY BLUES To avoid back-to-school blues and quell uneasiness about the new year remind your child that she is not the only student who might be anxious about the first day of school. Make your … Continue reading →

Many tests, especially state standardized, are beginning to focus more greatly on the logic and reasoning of thought rather than regurgitating information. Teachers and students alike are learning that the how and why are equally as important as the what. A child’s ability to solve problems and think logically is based on two concepts: memory and reasoning. Memory is the ability to store and recall information. This ability typically develops when a baby is around six months old. As the baby’s memory develops and grows, he or she begins to be faced with situations that require logical thinking. The child … Continue reading →

There have been many studies and quotes from people that warn against damaging a child’s self-esteem. While we must not go to the extreme of hiding our children from failure, we must also be careful about destroying self-esteem. Self-esteem is a very important aspect to learning. In order to learn, a child must be willing to take risks and experience failure. The learning process deals much with trial and error. It is thought that persons who are considered to be creative have taken risks on a larger scale and often in front of others. To help build your child’s self-esteem, … Continue reading →

Among the reasons that students gave that they do not enjoy reading was that they feared that they would not have the right interpretation of the text. In some cases students get very intimidated during group book discusses with the teacher. A typical middle school or high school literature class is carried out by the students reading a select passage of a book and then openly discussing it in class with the teacher. The teacher often asks the students to give an interpretation and meaning of the text that was read. They are also often asked to analyze the characters … Continue reading →

Recently I have been discussing the ways that teachers can knock out the excuses that students give on why they do not enjoy reading. There are several little things that teachers can do to help encourage students to read. Many students are not completely against reading. They feel that they are not good at it so they simply give up on reading. Teachers can help students in this situation by giving them hope to be a better reader. Taking reading tests of any type can be very stressful for students who struggle in reading. Before administering these types of tests … Continue reading →

I have been having many discussions lately about reading. In those discussions I gave some very common reasons why children state they do not like to read. In those excuses children stated that they did not like to read because they were going to have a test later and that took all of the fun out of reading. I have also been giving teachers tips and advice on how to do away with these no reading excuses. There are many simple tasks that teachers can carry out to encourage children to read. One suggest thing that teachers can do is … Continue reading →

One of my last articles discussed some excuses that children give for not wanting to read. I then began giving some ideas on how teachers can address these excuses and hopefully alleviate them. The next reason that students gave for not wanting to read was that they were always required to read material that they did not enjoy. Many teachers do require students to read certain books or passages. However make sure that you also have plenty of material that is available for your students to choose from. Keep reading material of all interest at hand. Magazines, books, comic books, … Continue reading →

Previously I discussed how harsh older classmates can be on one another. I also described the fear and anxiety that many students experience when it comes to moments when children are asked to choose teams or partners. These times can be awkward and embarrassing for some students. In the last article I also gave some tips that teachers can do to help minimize the anxiety and tension that children experience from one another. Another way that teachers can help reduce the amount of cruelty that students place on each other is through students introductions. These help greatly when the majority … Continue reading →