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Prepared for the Next School Year? (May 2005)
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Prepared for the next school year? |
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In This Issue:
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Summer Workshops and Coaching |
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Tips Preparing for Final Exams |
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Parents Education Network (PEN) |
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IDEA and IEP’s |
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Keyboarding, accessible technology and writing software |
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Seeking to Understand the Teen Brain? |
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Transitions to College |
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Summer Workshops and Coaching
A few great reasons to take a strategies workshop with us:
• Your child is making a transition from middle school to high school or elementary school to middle school. The demands and expectations will change dramatically.
• Organization and time management are a challenge for your child
• You’re sure that your child could benefit from learning “how to study” from master coaches.
• You have a middle school or high school student who needs to work smarter, not harder.
• You believe that your teen could be performing at a more optimal level, particularly if he knew better how to take notes and study for exams of all kinds.
• Expository writing is a challenge and a critical skill and yet your child needs to know how to nail this skill in order to succeed.
Don't take an SOS workshop or sign up for coaching if:
• You are looking for run of the mill tutoring.
• You don’t care so much about the instructors long time experience with teens with academic challenges
• You think your son just needs to work harder and focus.
• Your son or daughter tells you they don’t need any help at all and please close the door when you leave the room.
• You believe that understanding effective study strategies and how to use them should be innate by the time a child is in middle school.
• Your student is working at his or her optimal level without stress or a need for more efficiency!
Workshops have extremely limited enrollment; we provide personal attention and must limit our class size. Early sign up will ensure a space in the workshops and coaching slots of your choice.
Added bonus: Sign ups prior to June 15 will be entitled to a 30 minute phone consultation with SOS director and Head Honcho Coach Beth Samuelson - value $90.00. All you’ll need to do is email or call to schedule a time and we will send a quick form to set the call’s agenda.
Tips Preparing for Final Exams
Final exams are fast approaching. For most high school students, telling them to study hard is simply not enough. Teens need to know how to study for exams, how to plan out a schedule of review and how to organize their notes. Questions for students to ask long before the exams:
• Are my notes legible?
• Do I understand them?
• Are they complete?
• Were they taken in a style that I can follow?
• What’s the best way to organize these for efficient review?
• Do I know what will be covered on the exam and what form the test will take?
Not all exams can be reviewed in the same way; the key is for students to match their learning style to their review techniques. They have to know their learning style first! Ask your students “What can I do to help?” Don’t impose your assistance. Help students think of their own approaches to studying. Prep for many students, depending on exam dates, should begin in mid May.
We teach new 9th graders how to prep for finals as part of our Nailing Ninth course. Young high school students don’t know how to do this type of cumulative review automatically.
Parents Education Network (PEN)
This is a must for those parents who want to learn all they can about how to support their teens academically. The organization was started by a group of parents and offers a plethora of workshops for parents each month on a variety of topics. I never recommend signing on to any mailing list other than ours but this is one to sign up with.
IDEA and IEP’s
For those of you with children with individualized education plans, please be aware that as of July 1, 2005, IDEA, the law regarding IEP’s, has been changed considerably from what it was. For example, there will no longer be short term goals and objectives on IEP’s. There is a new provision for “highly qualified special education teachers.” For information on these issues and more, visit attorney Pete Wright’s site. Be informed before your next IEP or take someone who is.
Keyboarding, accessible technology and writing software
Would your child benefit from a course where he/she could improve her speed and accuracy on a keyboard. Check out summer courses at Berkeley’s Center for Accessible Technology. The web site address is www.cforat.org and the contact person there is Jen Peltier. She is also extremely knowledgeable about writing software for teens, especially to help note take and organize papers. CforAT can do a consultation with your child to help figure out what will work for his/her learning style. Also look at new writing software at www.donjohnston .com and www.intellitools.com.
Seeking to Understand the Teen Brain?
It’s not the same as yours and mine and by understanding the differences we can parent and support teenagers more effectively. Read Barbara Strauch's "The Primal Teen” to clear up all the myths and misconceptions you may have held about how and why your teen does what he does, from a neurological standpoint. This breezy and smart book by a New York Times science and health writer and parent Barbara Strauch is geared for laymen and offers much needed insight into the problems of organization, goal setting, impulsivity, volatility, planning and prioritizing. A must for your library.
Transitions to College
Transitions to College: SOS short and sweet summer coaching is a great boost and graduation gift…
The transition to college is an exciting and anxious time as students move into a world where they are independent for perhaps the first time. High schools have not begun to address this critical time for their seniors and the expectation is that 18 year olds will somehow muddle through. Instead, hire an SOS coach to can help your newly graduated senior prep for the life ahead. Coaching is individualized and can help students:
• Manage their budget and handle a checking account
• Learn how to take notes from lectures and texts or tweak existing approaches to improve efficiency
• Create, schedule and manage time on their own
• Organize materials and make suggestions for dorm study space arrangement and supplies
• Manage stress when away
• Choose an academic program that fits best
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2940 Camino Diablo, Suite 250 Walnut Creek, CA 94596-3970
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