Your child may have started the year on a positive note. Perhaps they were excited to bring their new supplies to school, reconnect with their friends after a long summer, and begin classes with a new teacher. Now that the school year is well underway, however, you may be noticing some struggles. Your child might have difficulty learning new reading, writing, or math concepts; they may express negativity towards school; or perhaps they are spending an excruciatingly long time completing their homework. If your child is showing challenges at school, be proactive and take action before these struggles become even greater. Try some of the ideas below.

Reading

Younger children in kindergarten and early elementary school need to learn how to decode, or sound out, words accurately and with fluency. As children move towards upper elementary school, there is typically a shift from learning to read to reading to learn, where the emphasis on comprehension becomes even greater. Try to have your child read out loud to you as much as possible at home so you can gauge their reading progress. When kids are very young, you should read aloud to them to expose them to books and language. Once they begin reading, have them read basic decodable books out loud to you, at least one per night. You can even alternate reading, where your child reads a basic book on their reading level out loud to you and you read a more complex, engaging book out loud to them, then discuss both books. As your child gets older, perhaps set up family reading time, where you designate a half hour or hour each night to reading together as a family. During this time, every family member chooses a book or any type of reading material to read, and together you gather in a comfortable space and quietly read. The more exposure to books and language, the better!

Writing

Young children start by learning how to write lower and upper case letters using proper top-to-bottom formations. As they got older, they move onto writing words, sentences, stories, paragraphs, and essays. Writing involves many components, including handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, grammar, organization, and more. If you notice your child is struggling with any aspect of writing, speak to their teacher about what you can do at home to reinforce their writing and see if there is any extra support their teacher or school can provide. At home, you may want to encourage your child to keep a journal and free write every night about their day, with no concerns about spelling, punctuation, grammar, or any formal aspects of writing. The more writing they do at home, the less intimidating the skill will feel to them, and the more you can observe their writing growth.

Math

Some children thrive with reading and writing but struggle with math. They may have difficulty with foundational concepts, like addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. Others have trouble with the organizational aspects of math, like lining up numbers properly which, if not done correctly, can lead to incorrect answers. Many kids struggle with multi-step word problems, where they must grasp what the problem is asking for and figure out a way to come up with the answer. If your child is struggling with any aspect of math, speak to their teacher about giving you extra worksheets or materials you can do at home with your child to reinforce these skills.

Assessment & Tutoring

If your child continues to struggle in school and you notice these struggles are becoming greater, set up a meeting with their teacher, even if it’s not time for parent-teacher conferences. Explain to their teacher what you are noticing at home and see if the teacher is noticing any challenges in class. If the struggles persist, you may want to consider having your child evaluated to see if perhaps they have a learning disability, like dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia. If so, they should be entitled to services at school to help with their areas of challenge. Outside tutoring may help them as well to build their core reading, writing, or math skills.

If your child is struggling in school, take action! Don’t wait until the struggles continue; be proactive rather than reactive. In doing so, you will set your child up to feel confident and successful in school.

The post What Should You Do if Your Child is Struggling in School? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

With demands at schools increasing rapidly, many kids are receiving more complex and challenging assignments and projects. It can be tempting to immediately jump right in and help your child tackle this work, without giving her the opportunity to try it on her own. Yet homework can offer a multitude of benefits when your child completes it alone: it can help her become more self-sufficient and independent, and can give her the the extra practice needed to fully grasp new material. Encourage your child to become more independent and complete her homework on her own with the ideas detailed below.

Set up a distraction-free study space

‎When kids come home from school and sit down to begin their homework, they are often overwhelmed with distractions. There are tablets, computers, and phones; background noises; a kitchen filled with snacks; and so many other temptations. Help your child avoid these distractions and better focus on school work by setting up a well-lit, distraction-free work area. Your child might prefer to work on a desk in his room, on a table in the dining room, or in another quiet space of his choosing. Just make sure you designate that area as his “homework space” and load it with all the supplies he may need – pens, pencils, looseleaf paper, scissors, highlighters, and so on, so he doesn’t need to rummage for supplies when he needs it. Also encourage him to have a snack before he begins his homework so stomach rumbles don’t distract him from the task at hand. Additionally, you should make sure there is ample light, technological devices are powered off unless needed for homework, and the area is as quiet as possible.

Teach her study skills

Some students naturally develop effective study skills. They figure out how to take notes, complete their homework in an organized fashion, and ‎manage their time, all on their own. Other students, however, need guidance for developing stronger study skills. Teach your child to open her assignment book as soon as she is ready to begin her homework. She should make sure ALL assignments are written down; if they are not, she should immediately call a friend or check her school’s online portal (if her school has one) to determine which assignments are due, in both the near and far term. If she has any long-term assignments or projects to complete, teach her to break each one down into steps, and write each step into her planner. If she has a test to study for, she should do the same – break the studying into smaller steps (complete a study guide, create note cards, re-read book chapters, etc.) and put each one of those steps in her planner. You can also teach her to prioritize the tasks she has due. If she has five assignments to complete, for instance, she may want to work on the harder, more arduous ones first (and label them 1, 2, etc.), then move on to the shorter, less taxing ones, and so on. Teaching your child time management, prioritization, and homework management skills will help her become a more effective and efficient student.

Help him get started

Many students are perfectly capable of completing their homework on their own but simply have trouble getting started. Say your child has an essay to write on why he does or does not like winter. He may be stuck on where to begin. If so, help him start by brainstorming. He can draw a circle in the center of a page and write the word “winter” in it. Then he can branch out on the top side of the bubble with smaller bubbles detailing why he DOES like winter‎ (skiing, snowboarding, sledding, etc.), then branch out with additional small bubbles below the middle bubble containing reasons why he does NOT like winter (cold, short days, stuck inside, etc.). He can then decide which reasons (top or bottom) are more powerful, choose a stance, and begin to write his essay from there – on his own. Sometimes getting started is the most challenging part of assignments!

Give her praise!

If your child completes even a small assignment on her own, without your help, give her praise! Make sure your praise is specific to the task at hand, like, “I’m so proud of you for completing that reading comprehension assignment. You did it all on your own, and you should feel very proud of yourself.” Even a small victory like that, and just a touch of praise, can build her self-confidence and encourage her to try tackling more assignments on her own. You can also try integrating rewards. If she completes ten assignments on her own without your help, for instance, she might earn a trip to the movies or ice cream store. Help make homework a postive, self-fulfilling experience and your child will be more inclined to try completing her work on her own.

As students move through school, they will inevitably receive an increasing amount of homework. By teaching your child to complete assignments on his own at a young age, you will help him become an independent, self-sufficient, and successful student.

The post When Do You Let Your Kids Do Homework on Their Own? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

A new school year has officially started and with it comes many fresh starts: new classrooms, new teachers, new books, and perhaps even new friends. Some students, however, carry with them old habits of losing papers, forgetting important books, and neglecting to turn in their work. Help your child create a stronger back-to-school routine and avoid these organizational woes with the ideas detailed below.

Establish a Homework Routine
Setting up a regular homework routine at the start of the school year is a key component of organizational success. Some children enjoy completing their homework as soon as they get home, to “get it over with” and move on to more “fun” activities. Others need a small snack and are then ready to work, while many kids need a few hours to fully wind down before they are ready to work again. The key is to help your child determine a routine that works for him, then keep it consistent. Do what you can to help him stick with this routine. For instance, if he prefers a small snack before getting to work, try to have that snack ready for him as soon as he walks in the door. If he prefers to eat dinner before working, aim to have dinner ready at the same time each day. Consistency is key, as it will ultimately help him maintain his homework routine.

Set Up a Study Area
Help your child to create a clean, well-organized study area where she completes her homework on a regular basis. This could be a desk in her bedroom, the kitchen table, a study desk in another room, or the like. This study area should be stocked with all the supplies she may need to complete her work – pens, pencils, loose leaf paper, highlighters, a sharpener, and so on. Help her organize the supplies into labeled containers or sections within drawers so that every item has a home. As the supplies quantities dwindle, be sure to refill them right away to avoid any unnecessary distractions in trying to look for these items.

Maintain an Organized Assignment Book
Many students, especially those with executive functioning challenges, think they can remember all of their homework assignments and feel no need to write them down. Others use an assignment book only sparingly. Yet as students move through school and the workload increases, it becomes imperative that they learn to write down their assignments on a regular basis. Help your child develop stronger homework management skills and avoid missing assignments with this strategy: in his assignment book, he should create five columns for each day: ET (estimated time), AT (actual time), O (Order), D (Done), and Assignments (which should be the widest column). When he is at school, the only place where he should write down his assignments is in the assignment column. When he gets home and begins his work, he should start by looking at each assignment and deciding how long he thinks he each one will take – then write the ET, or estimated time, for each one in the ET column. Based on these estimated times, he should decide which assignment he wants to work on first, second, etc., and write the numbers (1,2,3, etc.) in the O column. Once he completes each assignment, he should write the AT, or actual time each one took to complete (usually in the beginning there is a big discrepancy between the ETs and ATs but as he practices this strategy, the times will start to merge as he becomes more realistic with his time). Finally, once the assignment is done *and put in the right place to be turned in* he should place a check mark in the D column. This strategy can help him develop stronger time management, organization, planning, and homework management – skills that are essential for school success.

Learn to Prioritize
As students progress through school, they receive an increasing amount of assignments and projects. Help your child manage this rising workload by teaching her to prioritize and organize her assignments. For instance, a project that consists of researching, creating note cards, outlining, writing, and self-editing can seem overwhelming at first. To help ease her anxiety, look at the assignment with her and help her break down the large project into smaller, more manageable steps. Then assign a due date to each step and have her enter them into her assignment book with completion dates connected to each one. In doing so, she will feel calmer and more in control of her workload, and will feel successful as she completes each step.

At Home Organizational System
As the school year progresses, the quantity of papers students receive seems to multiply, and many students leave this growing pile of (often crumbled) papers inside their backpacks or stuffed into their notebooks. Help your child develop an effective filing system to avoid this overload of papers. Try this 2-tier system: Tier 1 is his active note book, or the note book he carries to school with him on a regular basis. Tier 2 is an accordian file that stays at home and consists of three sections for every class: homework, notes, and tests/quizzes (math homework, math notes, math test/quizzes; science homework, science notes, etc.). He should designate once day per week to be his “clean out my active notebook day,” where he goes through his active notebook and removes any papers he doesn’t absolutely need to be carrying with him on a regular basis. He should file them into the appropriate section of his accordion file. Then, as quizzes or tests come up at a later date, he will know precisely where to find these important papers. As a result, he will be more organized, empowered, and in control of his paperload.

‎Starting a new school year can feel overwhelming for some students. Yet with these back-to-school ideas, your child will start the year feeling organized, confident, and ready for success.

The post How to Help Your Child Establish a Homework Routine appeared first on EBL Coaching.

These tips will help reduce careless mistakes

Your child comes home from school, eyes his newest video game, and speeds through his school work to “get it over with” and start playing. Does this scenario sound familiar? Many students rush through their schoolwork, doing the absolute minimum required, and make careless mistakes along the way. Rushing through work in this fashion can harm students’ grades and negatively affect their overall performance in school. Help your child slow down and improve his homework skills with the ideas detailed below.homework

Use a Timer
Identify a specific amount of time that your child should spend completing homework in a given night, and set a timer for that period of time. A general rule of thumb is 10 minutes of homework per grade per night. Thus, if your child is in first grade, she should spend roughly ten minutes per night on homework; if she is in third grade, she should spend about 30 minutes per night. When she sits down to begin her homework, set a timer for that specified amount of time. If she finishes before the timer rings, have her do another academic activity, like writing in a journal or reading a book.

Find the Right Homework Time
Children tend to perform best at various times in the day. For some children, completing homework as soon as they arrive home from school is best. Yet others many feel frazzled or overwhelmed after a long day of school and, if expected to do homework right away, may rush to “get it over with” and relax. Rather than forcing your child to work at a time that is not ideal for him, try to assess when he works best. He may need some down time after school to play outside or have a snack before beginning his homework. This approach can help him slow down and feel both focused and refreshed when starting his homework.

Encourage Self-Checking
Many students rush through their assignments and neglect to go back to self-check their work. Rather than telling your child to simply “check” her work, provide her with tools for doing so. The COPS checklist, for instance, is a useful one for self-checking writing assignments. Once she is done writing a paragraph or essay, have her go back and check individually for C (Capitalization), O (Organization), P (Punctuation), and S (Spelling). You can create similar checklists for math sheets, book reports, projects, and so on, and individualize them as much as possible to common errors that your child makes.

Prioritize
Encourage your child to prioritize his assignments. Some students prefer completing longer, more arduous tasks first. Others enjoy the confidence and momentum they gain by starting with smaller, easier tasks. Try to understand your child’s preference and help him order his assignments each night accordingly. For instance, if he prefers the harder assignments first option, help him number his assignments in order from most to least arduous, such as: “1) Complete essay; 2) Answer reading comprehension questions; 3) Complete math problems.” Encourage him to prioritize assignments in a manner that suits him best.

Talk to the Teacher
Some kids rush through their work simply because they are challenged by it. Rather than trying to grasp a confusing topic, they may choose to rush through the assignment just so they can be done with it and put it aside. If you notice this pattern, talk to your child’s teacher to see if she is noticing these patterns at school, too. If so, help your child (or seek outside support) to truly understand the content being taught.

Many students experience slipping grades and poor work products as a result of rushing through their work. Use these tips to help your child slow down, stay focused, and ultimately excel in school.

The post Help Your Child Slow Down and Focus on Schoolwork appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Set your child up for school-year success by getting organized during the summer

Moving from the sun-filled days of summer to the cool, brisk days of fall can bring back-to-school jitters to almost all children. During the summer, planning out tasks, organizing notebooks and backpacks, and turning in completed homework assignments all fall to the back burner. Yet with the start of school just around the corner, these organizational skills will quickly become paramount. Try the five tips below for helping your child become organized for the new school year.

1. Create a Working Notebook and a Filing System

When you embark on your annual school supplies shopping trip, ‎help your child select a working notebook, or a notebook he will take to school with him on a regular basis. The working notebook should include only essential papers he needs to carry with him daily. To create an at-home organizational system, he should also pick out an accordion file which will stay at home for filing. Inside the file, he should label three tabs for each class: homework, notes, and tests/quizzes (for example: English homework, English notes, English tests/quizzes; math homework, math notes, etc.). Then he should designate one day per week to be his “clean out my working notebook” day. On this ‎day, he will remove any papers from his working notebook that he doesn’t absolutely need to be carrying with him and file them into the correct section of his accordion file. Those at-home papers can later be used to study for tests and quizzes.

2. Set Up (and Maintain) a Planner

Setting up and maintaining an organized planner can help students develop strong homework and time management skills. If your child’s school doesn’t provide one, purchase a planner that has a large amount of space for each day of the week. Then have your child create five columns for each day, labeled as follows: Assignment (where she writes down the assignment while in school), ET (estimated time, or how much time she thinks it will take to complete the assignment), O (order, or the order in which she wants to do the assignments), AT (actual time, or the actual time it took to complete the assignment), and D (done, which she checks off once the assignment is done and put away in the right place to be turned in). If need be, offer your child an incentive at the end of each week for following through on this strategy each day. Practicing this strategy will help your child learn to manage her time and homework more effectively.

3. Designate a Color for Each Subject

Have your child designate a specific color for each subject and maintain consistency with that color for all notebooks, folders, and assignments. For example, he might designate green for science. He should then use a green folder and notebook for science, and perhaps even highlight all science assignments in his planner using a green highlighter. He could use green note cards to study for exams. Math might be blue, English purple, and so on.

4. Time Management: Estimated Time vs. Actual Time 

For all school (and some non-school) assignments, have your child estimate ‎how much time she thinks a given task will take, and then compare it to the actual time it takes. While this technique is integrated into the planner system, it can be applied more generally.  For example, she might estimate that it will take her 30 minutes to complete a math worksheet (ET). She should then time herself to see how long it actually takes and record the AT (actual time). This strategy can be applied to non-school tasks, including cleaning her room, taking out the garbage, eating breakfast, making her bed, and so on.

5. Introduce a Highlighting and Note-Taking Strategy 

Introduce a highlighting and note-taking strategy before the school year begins so your child can apply this strategy as soon as he starts receiving assignments. When he reads, even if it’s a newspaper article, have him highlight the topic (one, two, or three words describing the passage) in blue, main idea (what the author is saying about the topic) in green, and important details (important information describing the main idea) in yellow. Then he can create a two-column note-taking diagram by writing the topic on the top, main ideas (in his own words) in the left column, and important details (also in his own words) in the right column.

Try spending some time at the tail-end of summer helping your child set up organizational systems for the new school year. In doing so, he will start the year off on a positive note and will be well on his way to academic success!

The post 5 Tips For Organizing Your Child For The New School Year appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Try these fun, hands-on experiments this summer!

During the school year, afternoons are often filled with studying, completing homework assignments, and rushing from one activity to the next. There is soccer to get to, piano to practice, and papers to be organized. Yet over the summer, this frenetic pace tends to slow down and there is more wiggle room for exploration and experimental learning. Summer is a great time for performing hands-on, fun, eye-opening science experiments. Try these experiments at home, and watch your child develop a real zest for science while building important academic skills. ‎He will be ready and excited to continue his scientific exploration once the school year begins.

Chemistry

Make slime! Almost all kids love playing with slime, especially when it’s green and gooey. Try making your own by combining a quarter cup of glue and a quarter cup of water, adding a few drops of food coloring, and then mixing in a quarter cup of liquid starch. Knead the blobby concoction with your hands, and you will notice it becomes starchier the more you play with it. Then explain to your child that the glue is a liquid ploymer, meaning its molecules are linked together like a chain. When you add the glue to the mixture, its strands hold the mixture together and makes it feel slimy.

Grow crystals. There are so many different types of crystals to build and explore, but try building these “quickie” crystals that should take only about three hours or so to grow. Simply mix together a half cup of Epsom salt, ‎a half cup of hot water, and a drop of food coloring in a small bowl. Then put the bowl in the refrigerator and leave it there for three hours. Remove it from the fridge and examine the bowl of crystals with your child. Explain to her that by cooling the solution quickly in the refrigerator, the magnesium sulfate atoms in the Epson salt join together to form crystals.

Physics

Make a milk rainbow, otherwise known as tie-dye milk, milky fireworks, or magic milk. This experiment is incredibly cool to watch! All you need is whole milk, food coloring, liquid dish soap, q-tips, and a shallow dish. Pour a half cup of milk into the shallow dish,  squeeze in drops of different colored food coloring, dip a q-tip into the dish soap and then into the milk (on a food coloring spot), and watch as the colors explode! As you continue this process over and over again, explain to your child that the detergent is interacting with the fat molecules in the milk.

Learn how straws work. This is a simple but educational one. All you need is a cup of soda and a straw. Have your child put the straw in the cup and suck from it, then cover the bottom end with his finger and remove it from the cup. Finally, have him take his finger off the bottom when he brings the straw to the counter. ‎Note that when his finger was covering the bottom of the straw the soda stayed inside but when he released his finger, the soda came out. Why does this happen? Explain to him that when his finger was covering the bottom, there was less air pressure from above the straw and more under the straw. That higher pressure held the soda inside.

Earth and Life Science

Study rocks. Have your child collect rocks from your backyard and lay them out on a table. Encourage her to explore them and think of questions about the rocks. You might want to try the “scratch experiment” with your child to compare hard rocks (like granite) to soft rocks (like limestone). To do so, use a nail to scratch the surface of each rock. You’ll notice that on some rocks, the nail will leave a silver line, meaning the rock is harder than the nail. For other rocks, you will simply see a scratch line or dust, meaning the nail is harder than the rock (and, as such, the rock is softer).

Create a giant worm tower!‎ To do this activity, you will need to collect worms from your backyard or a garden. You will also need a 2 liter plastic soda bottle, dirt, gravel, and dark colored paper. To start, cut off the top of the soda bottle and fill it with gravel on the bottom and soil on top. Once it’s about half full, add the worms. Put the top of the bottle on, turn it upside down, and add some water to the soil. Then, cover the bottle with the paper to make a dark environment for the worms. After a few days, remove the paper and see what the worms are up to!

The post Summer Science Activities Your Child Will Love appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Rather than dragging out the process into the late hours of the night, here are some strategies you can try to make homework time shorter and easier.

Here are some quick and easy ideas:

1. ‎Use a planner, and use it well. Many schools use online portals for posting assignments and due dates.

However, putting all assignments, projects, and upcoming exam dates into one planner helps students see the big picture. Here’s a strategy to try: while at school, your child should write down each assignment. When he gets home and begins his homework, he should start by estimating how much time he thinks it will take to complete each assignment (and write the ET, or estimated time, for each task).

Next, he should order the assignments based on the ones he wants to complete first, second, etc., by writing the appropriate number next to the assignment. Finally, your child can begin tackling the assignments in that order (it is typically better to complete the longer, more challenging ones first). Once each assignment is complete he should write down the AT, or actual time the assignment took to complete.

When the assignments are done and put away in the appropriate place to be turned it, he should cross out the assignment or put an X next to it.

2. Power down electronics. While students think they‎ may need their computers or tablets for completing their assignments, with social media, news flashes, text messages, emails, and the like, devices can often be more of a distraction than helpful tools for getting homework done quickly. Encourage your child to power them off or put them in another room, and only use them when absolutely necessary.

3. Get a little exercise! Before beginning any homework, try having your child do some jumping jacks, dance to music, or even do a few push-ups.

These types of physical exercises will help increase alertness and ‎focus, and will help students tackle homework in a more efficient manner. While some students are fine starting their work right after school, others benefit from this type of physical activity before beginning their school work.

4. Find a quiet area to work. Some students might prefer a desk in their room, while others may use a table in an office space or play room. Any of these choices work fine, as long as they are in a quiet area with minimal noise.

5. Integrate break times. Students can divide their homework assignments into segments and reward themselves with a break after each segment is complete. For instance, they might start with their first assignment: two pages of math homework. Once that is complete, they can give themselves a five minute break for a snack or quick email check. Set a timer to make sure the break doesn’t extend beyond the allotted time. Students can motivate themselves by creating incentives with “fun” break ideas.

6. Get organized! Rather than carrying an endlessly growing stack of papers inside notebooks, students can stick with one working notebook that they clean out one day per week (on their “clean out my working notebook” day). On that day, have them clean out papers they don’t absolutely need to be carrying and file them in an accordion file.

I suggest three sections for each class: homework, notes, and tests and quizzes. They can also include a homework section in their working notebook, containing a homework inbox and outbox. Alternatively, students can use one colored folder for ‎each subject, or create an organizational system that works for them and jives with their school’s preferred system.

Implementing these strategies will help your child become more focused, organized, and efficient – all of which will lead to completing homework in a faster and more effective manner.

The post Tips for Shortening Homework Time appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Does your child’s backpack look like the bottom of a dirty trash can? Does he conveniently “forget” to write down or complete homework assignments? Or, better yet, does he complete his assignments and accidentally forget to turn them in the next day?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your child may be in need of some organizational coaching. As students advance through school, the organizational demands placed on them become progressively greater. More and more information is presented, homework loads rise, and at-home projects become increasingly prevalent. Without the right types of organizational tools in place, it is easy for a child to feel overwhelmed and sometimes lost in this plethora of demands.

By utilizing the following organizational tools, your child will learn a systematic approach for all homework, class notes, tests, and quizzes that may come his way. While encouraging independence, you should show your child how to implement these strategies to help carve the path for organizational success.

1. Homework Assignments. Remembering to write down specific assignments, break down long-term projects, and turn in homework on time can be some of the most difficult organizational tasks. For many students, learning the right strategies for homework organization can help lead to academic success.

For starters, make sure that your child is using an assignment book on a regular basis. Ideally, the assignment book should have dates pre-written in it and should contain enough space for each day where your child can write in all homework assignments, tests, and even after school activities. Before the week begins, have your child divide each day in the assignment book into five columns: ET (Estimated Time), AT (Actual Time), O (Order), D (Done), and Assignment (by far the largest column).

At school, the only place where your child should write any information is in the last column which reads “Assignment.” For example, in that column, he might write “Math, complete pages 24-26 in text book,” and underneath that, “English, complete five-paragraph essay,” and so on. Then, when he gets home from school and sits down to do his homework, he should read each assignment and predict how much time he thinks each one will take. He should list these times under the “ET” column. For example, he might think his math assignment will take 30 minutes (he writes 30m) and his English assignment will take one hour (he writes 1hr). Next, he decides which order he wants to do the assignments. He can choose to do either the shorter or longer ones first, and will order the assignments 1, 2, 3, etc. underneath the “O” column accordingly. He will then complete each assignment in his designated order and write the actual amount of time it took to complete the assignments under the “AT” column.

Typically, when a child first begins using this strategy, there is a big discrepancy between the actual and estimated time (ET and AT) for each assignment. The more he uses this strategy, however, the more realistic he will become with his time and the closer these two times will start to merge. Finally, when he has completed all assignments and puts them away in the proper folder in his backpack (this is a very important step!), he places a check under the appropriate “D” columns. This is a dynamic strategy which helps build homework, time management, and, of course, overall organizational skills.

2. Notebook Organization. Alas, the notebook! You may notice that your child begins the school year with a well-organized set of color coded notebooks and folders, only to see the famous “trashcan backpack” emerge shortly after the year begins. Some students choose not to even attempt to create any sort of system, since they feel at a permanent organizational loss. Finding the right system for notebook organization, however, can be the secret tool for success in this arena.

Many students have thrived using the three-tier notebook organization system, which is composed of the following three parts: working notebook, reserve notebook, and long-term filing drawer.

The Working Notebook. This is the notebook that should be taken to school on a regular basis. It can be set up in the form of one three-ring binder with separate tabs for each class. Alternatively, it can take the form of one color-coded spiral notebook (for taking notes) and one folder (for handouts and homework) for each class. What is most important about the working notebook, however, is that it only contains papers that your child absolutely needs to be carrying with him to school. One day per week (you should help your child choose this day and have him write it directly in his assignment book each week) will be designated as his clean-out-my-working-notebook-day. On this day, he will clean out all papers that he no longer needs to take to school with him and file them in his reserve notebook.

The Reserve Notebook. The reserve notebook should actually take the form of a large, multi-section accordion folder. For each class, there will be three sections in the accordion folder: one for homework, one for class notes, and one for tests or quizzes. For example, for math, your child would have sections labeled “math homework,” “math class notes,” and “math tests/quizzes.” He would have similar sections for English, Science, Social Studies, and all other classes. Remember that the working notebook should be cleaned out and transferred to the reserve notebook on a weekly basis.

The Long-Term Filing Drawer. At the end of the semester or school year, if your child has written a stellar essay, completed a notable project, or scored sky-high on a particular exam, you may want to save this work for the long-run. This information should be placed into a filing drawer for long-term safekeeping (you should be in charge of this drawer).

Other organizational strategies that you may want to implement include setting up a regular space for your child to complete his homework with easy access to (well-organized) supplies. You may want to encourage your child to work on his homework at a consistent time of day: for example, as soon as he comes home from school or right before dinner. You can also include some incentives, at least at the beginning, for regularly following and maintaining these organizational systems. If your child still faces organizational issues even with these tools in place, there is always one-on-one coaching and small group clinics to help create individualized organizational tools.

Remember that organization is one of the most important facets of school success. The earlier you teach your child these tools, the easier it will be for him to implement and maintain them as he progresses through school. Try out these tools and help your child begin his journey to organizational success!

Emily Levy is the founder and director of EBL Coaching, located at www.eblcoaching.com, which offers one-on-one and small group tutoring and organizational coaching.

The post A Schedule That Works appeared first on EBL Coaching.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your child may be in need of some time management strategies. With so many tests, papers, handouts, assignments, and after school activities to keep track of, managing time can seems daunting to almost any student. So what is the best way to balance all of these demands? A helpful tool for time management success is to break tasks down into daily, weekly, and monthly views.

The Daily View

Maintaining a daily planner is of utmost importance to effective time management. Some teachers now post assignments or syllabi online. Students might feel that they just need to look on a website to figure out their assignments or test dates. To effectively manage time, however, all students, even those who attend a web-oriented school, should maintain and regularly use a daily assignment planner for all tests, assignments, and after school activities.

How should this planner be set up? A great strategy for integrating a time management strategy into a daily planner is to create five columns in each day’s box. This means that the planner should be large enough to have a wide box for each day – not one so tiny that it is nearly impossible to write legibly.

Each box should be divided into the following columns: ET, AT, O, D, and Assignment. For instance:

Students should create these columns at least two weeks ahead of time in their planners. At school, the only place where they should write their assignment is in the “Assignment” column. Each day, when they sit down at home to do their homework, the first task they should do is complete the “ET,” or “Estimated Time” Column. In this column, they should predict how long they think each task or assignment will take. Then, based on the estimated times, they should choose the order in which they would like to complete their assignments. They might choose to complete the shorter ones first to get those over with, or they may choose to work on the longer tasks fist. Either option is fine, as long as they stick with the plan.

The next step is completing the assignments in the order that they chose. They should keep a watch or clock handy and time themselves to see how long it actually takes to complete each assignment. After each assignment is complete, they should write the “AT,” or “Actual Time” for that assignment in the column. Students should always compare “Estimated Time” to “Actual Time” for each assignment. At first, they will likely be amazed at the difference between these two times. Yet the more they practice this strategy, the more realistic they will become with their time expectations, and the more these two times will likely merge. Finally, when they have completed each assignment, and it is put away in the proper place to be turned in, the student can put an “X” under the “D,” or “Done” column. A typical well-used planner might look like this:

The Weekly View

It can be easy to lose sight of long-term assignments if students only see them as part of a daily plan. Thus, looking at a weekly calendar can help students view any assignments, projects, tests, or activities that are coming up in a given week. Every Sunday night, students (parent help is okay too!) should create a weekly calendar. This weekly calendar can be created either on paper, on a large white board, or even using computer software.

Any and all upcoming events and due dates for that week should be written on that weekly calendar. Baseball games, science fairs, quizzes, projects, and assignments should all be included. Any long-term task, such as a research project or cumulative exam, should be broken down into steps, and each step should be included in the calendar. This practice will help students plan for the week and start that week on a positive note.

The Monthly View

Purchasing a magnetic monthly calendar with a white board surface is a wise investment for helping your child to build effective time management skills. At the beginning of each month, all dates should be filled into the correct square and all upcoming due dates, activities, projects, appointments, practices, and exams should be put on this calendar. After each day passes, a red dry erase marker can be used to cross out each day. This perspective will help students plan for the month ahead and know what to expect from a broad viewpoint.

Time management can be a challenging task for many people. As students progress through school, the demands on their time increase quickly as the academic rigor of school begin to rise. Learning to manage time from daily, weekly, and monthly viewpoints can help students gain perspective on their near-term and long-term expectations. The earlier students can learn these tools and put them in practice, the easier their transition through school will be. So help your child put these practices in place – the clock is ticking!

Dr. Emily Levy is the director of EBL Coaching, which offers one-on-one tutoring and 3-week intensive summer programs. For more information, call 646-342-9380 or visit www.eblacoaching.com.

The post Time Management Strategies for Students appeared first on EBL Coaching.

As summer winds down, the thought of going back to school gives many students the jitters. Homework demands build and staying focused in class becomes an important goal once again. Learning strategies to help your child stay focused, organized, and motivated will allow him or her jump-start the school year on a positive note.

The Multi-Sensory Approach

The multi-sensory approach is a great way to help your child stay focused and on-task. By integrating as many senses as possible, you can help your child learn new information and lock it into his or her long-term memory. This multi-sensory approach, which integrates the visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic senses, can be applied to nearly all aspects of school. For instance, it can be applied to math, by using counters, base ten blocks, white boards, play money, and dice. It can also be used for phonics, with magnetic tiles, colored sand, and shaving cream for learning new sounds. Additionally, multi-sensory teaching can be used with reading comprehension and note taking.

Reading Comprehension

A great strategy to help students become active readers and to build their study skills involves three colored highlighters: blue, green, and yellow. As the school year progresses, students will inevitably be required to read passages with increasing levels of text. This strategy will help them organize this information and identify key elements when reading. The strategy works as follows:

The student should first read the passage without any highlighting.

Next, he or she should identify the topic of the passage, which is one to three words describing what the passage is about. Some examples of topics include: the beach, New York City, and bluebirds. He or she should always highlight the topic in blue.

After highlighting the topic, the student should then look for the main idea. The main idea is a phrase or sentences which describes what the author is saying about the topic. For example, if the topic is flowers, the main idea might be: Growing flowers is an easy process. The student should highlight the main idea in green.

Finally, the student should identify the important details. Note that only important details – not just any details! – should be highlighted. Students should also try to highlight words and phrases (not full sentences) whenever possible. They should highlight the important details in yellow.

To take it to the next level, students can write a one to two line summary in their own words describing what the passage is about. They can either write it in their book at the bottom of the page, or on a post-it note that they can stick in their book. This strategy is a great one for building active reading and overall study skills.

Webbing

Often times, students are not introduced to note taking until middle school or later. By using this highlighting strategy as a basis for note taking, we can introduce the concept of note taking at a very early level. The Webbing Strategy is a great way to do this.

Here’s how it works:
Say, for example, a student has to read the following passage for school: Fires can be harmful and helpful. They can destroy homes and buildings and turn forests into piles of ash in very little time. Yet fire gave humans the first form of light and heat. It allowed us to cook food in unique ways. It also helped us create tools and pottery and harden bricks. Fire became an essential part of our daily lives.

After the student reads the passage, he or she should highlight the topic in blue (in this case, fires), the main idea in green (in this case harmful and helpful), and the important details in yellow (students can highlight words such has destroy homes and buildings, first form of light and heat, etc.). This is where the Webbing Strategy, a great form of note taking, begins. Students should draw a diamond in the middle of the page and write the word fires inside the diamond (the topic goes in the diamond in the middle). Next, he or she should draw a rectangle on the top of the page and write the main idea inside of it. Finally, he or she should draw bubbles branching out of the diamond and write the important details inside them. You can encourage your child to use abbreviations, symbols, and contractions, since this is a form of note taking. A sample Web diagram might be as follows:

Note that students are free to add as many or as few important detail bubbles as they’d like. Also, they can color code the bubbles as follows: diamond in blue (for topic), rectangle in green (for main idea), and circles in yellow (for important details).

These strategies are great tools for helping students stay organized, focused, and on-task. They also build helpful reading comprehension and note taking skills. Try these strategies at home with your child as the new school year begins and remember, the more multi-sensory, the better!

The post Strategies to Help Students Succeed in School appeared first on EBL Coaching.