This winter has been filled with lots of snow and time off school for many parts of the country. Some kids may sit in front of a device or lounge in bed on these chilly days. Take advantage of snow days by helping your child strengthen their reading, writing, and math skills with the ideas detailed below.

Reading

To help your child develop their reading skills, try finding a snow-themed article from a newspaper or online source. This article could be a weather report on the anticipated snowfall, an article about snowfall affecting businesses, or a passage about post-snow hazards – really anything related to snow can work. Teach your child that there are three elements they should look for when reading: the topic, main idea, and important details. Have them take out blue, green, and yellow highlighters and explain to them that they will highlight each of these elements in a different color. A topic is typically one, two, or three words describing the passage, like snow, winter, or hot cocoa. They should highlight the topic in blue. The main idea is what the author is saying about the topic. For example, if the topic is snow, the main idea might be: one of the greatest snowfalls in recent history. They should highlight the main idea in green. Finally, they should look for important details describing the main idea, and highlight them in yellow.

Have your child read the passage first, then go back and highlight the topic, main idea, and important details. Next, ask them inference questions about the passage, like, “What do you think will happen after the snowstorm?” or “How do you think most people will prepare for the storm?” They can either tell you their response orally and you can have a discussion about it, or they can write their response in the form of a paragraph on a separate sheet of paper or on a computer.

Writing

Help your child build stronger writing skills during a snow day! Teach them the structure of a simple paragraph, which is comprised of a topic sentence, three detail sentences, and a conclusion sentence. Explain that when they write, they should start by brainstorming, then write, and finally self-check their work. Give them a topic, like: should schools be canceled tomorrow? Have them start by brainstorming their ideas and include three details on why school should be canceled (if that is their stance). For example, they might use web bubbles to write: safety, time with family, outdoor exercise. Then they should work on writing their paragraph using the information from their brainstorm webs. Their topic sentence should introduce their stance, like: School should be canceled tomorrow due to the snowstorm. Then they should write their detail sentences, ideally using transition words. For example, they might write: First, it likely won’t be safe to drive on the roads. Next, a snow day would allow me to spend quality time with my family, baking or reading together. Finally, I can get some exercise if I play outside in the snow. For the last sentence, they can wrap up their ideas with a sentence like: Since we will be getting a lot of snow, I feel strongly that schools should be closed. As a last step, have your child self-check their writing using the COPS checklist, which stands for capitalization, organization, punctuation, spelling.

Math

To build your child’s math skills during a snow day, try making snow-day word problems! Create problems like:

Hot chocolate costs $1 per packet. If there are four members in a family, how much will it cost for everyone to have a cup of hot chocolate?

or

Two inches of snow will likely fall each hour for four hours. At this pace, how much snow will we get?

When solving these math problems, teach your child to circle the key words, highlight the relevant numbers, then break down the problem into four steps. First, they should write down the relevant numbers. Next, they should choose which operation to use. Then they should write the number sentence and solve the problem. Finally, they should write their answer as a full sentence, using proper capitalization and punctuation.

Don’t let snow days stop your child from learning! Have fun with these activities, while still building your child’s reading, writing, and math skills.

EBL Coaching specializes in one-on-one in person and virtual tutoring for students in grades pre-K-12 with specialized learning needs. They use research-based, multi-sensory techniques, including the Orton Gillingham method, to develop students’ reading, writing, math, note taking, test taking, and executive functioning skills. Each student is evaluated and then receives an individualized learning plan to address their specific academic needs. Learn more at http://www.eblcoaching.com/.

Dr. Emily Levy, Founder & Director, is happy to hear from anyone who is in need for their child. You may reach her through her website, and mention you heard of her through MotherhoodLater.

The post Snow Day Activities That Build Reading, Writing & Math Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.

As a parent, you might notice that your young child is struggling to learn the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds. They might have difficulty identifying and writing numbers. Other young children might have a quest for knowledge and yearn to learn new, more advanced academic skills. There is no official age when your child is too young for tutoring; it all depends on their individual needs and overall profile. The key to working with students as young as age 2 or 3 is to keep the sessions fun, engaging, and interactive. Tutoring can help your young child develop their academic skills in several areas.

Reading

When children are of preschool-age, the foundations of reading are being established. Learning key phonemic awareness skills can help strengthen their reading skills down the road. Tutoring can help your young child build phonemic awareness skills with targeted lessons, like the following:

The tutor might ask your child to name the first, middle, and final sounds they hear in the words mat, leg, pig, and so on. They might give the student two syllables, like “tall” and “est” and ask them what word is formed when they put the syllables together. Tutors can also work on rhyming skills by asking the student to name words that rhyme with mat, tug, pot, and other short words. From there, the tutor can work on teaching your child individual letter names using audio-visual flash cards with the letter on the front and a colorful key picture on the back. They might hold up the card to your child and say, “This is the letter a, like apple, it makes the sound /a/.” They can even take out a toy apple and ask your child to say the sound the word apple begins with. Later, once many sounds have been covered, the tutor can use magnetic tiles to work on blending sounds together to form words. The more multi-sensory and engaging the lessons are, the better!

Writing

Writing skills can also be developed at a young age. When introducing individual letter names, the tutor can also use a multi-sensory approach to teach students how to write each letter using specific formations. For example, for the lower case a, the tutor might trace the letter a in the sky, saying the formation out loud: around, up, and down. Then the child would trace the letter in the sky, first together with the tutor, then independently. Next, the tutor can take out a tray of colored sand and model tracing the letter in the sand. Then the student can do it on their own. When the child is ready, they can practice writing letters using dotted lines and eventually write them on paper without any assistance. A similar process can be used for learning to write numbers correctly: first in the sky, then in sand, then on paper.

Math 

Math concepts can be taught starting at a very young age. Tutors can use real-life scenarios to make math engaging and playful. For example, they can play “grocery store” while building math skills. The tutor can bring a set of pretend red and green apples to the tutoring session. They can tell the child that they are “buying” two red apples and three green apples. The child would take out the appropriate number of red and green apples. Then the tutor might ask the child to count all the apples and explain that two apples plus three more apples equals five apples all together. The tutor can even take out a mini whiteboard when the child is ready and write on the board: 2+3=5. The same exercises can be done with larger quantities of objects, and the tutor can teach subtraction in a similar way. For example, they might say, “If I started with three apples but ate two of them, how many apples would I have left?” Making the exercises fun and playful for the child will help them enjoy learning while building key skills.

When learning is approached in an engaging, interactive manner with shorter durations of activities, there really is no age that is too young to start tutoring.

The post Is My Child Too Young for Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

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.

As summer gives way to the crisp embrace of fall, it’s the perfect time to brush up on your list of fun things to do with family indoors. While the allure of screens may be strong when boredom hits, Claire Diamonstein Weinberg, LCSW-C, a licensed social worker, says it’s better to choose engaging activities that can unite the family.

“Children who routinely engage in fun, child-centred family activities tend to feel more emotionally connected with their family,” she explains. “Family activities support children’s development by providing opportunities to practice social skills and positive communication within a supportive environment.”

If you’re having trouble deciding which activities to put on your list, we’re here to help. We’ve put together a list of expert-recommended activities that are ideal for those days when you’re stuck indoors, including fun indoor games, creative arts and crafts, engaging STEM projects and much more.

Creative Arts and Crafts

Joseph Tito, a parenting expert from The Dad Diaries, suggests that crafting is one of the best things to do at home as a family. It sparks creativity and provides meaningful learning opportunities for kids of all ages.

“When children take part in arts and crafts, they are honing their fine motor skills, which boosts their dexterity and coordination,” he explains. “These activities also provide an amazing platform for creativity and imagination, enabling kids to express themselves in distinctive and innovative ways.”

Although craft kits are available online or at local stores, Tito recommends starting with these simple projects using everyday materials you probably already have at home.

DIY slime 

Materials Needed

• White school glue (4 oz bottle)
• Baking soda (½ teaspoon)
• Contact lens solution containing boric acid (1½ tablespoons)
• Food coloring (optional)
• Mixing bowl
• Spoon

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Pour the Glue: Empty the entire bottle of white school glue into the mixing bowl.
2. Add Baking Soda: Mix in ½ teaspoon of baking soda to help firm up the slime.
3. Add Color (Optional): If you’d like coloured slime, add a few drops of food colouring and stir until evenly distributed.
4. Add Contact Lens Solution: Slowly add 1½ tablespoons of contact lens solution while stirring continuously. The mixture will start coming together and pulling away from the bowl’s sides.
5. Knead the Slime: Use your hands to knead the slime for about 2-3 minutes until it reaches a stretchy, gooey consistency.

Developmental Benefits

• Sensory Exploration: Enhances tactile experiences, helping kids understand different textures.
• Fine Motor Skills: Kneading and stretching improve hand strength and coordination.
• Scientific Understanding: Introduces basic chemistry concepts like mixing and reactions.

Paper plate animal masks 

Materials Needed

• Paper plates
• Coloured construction paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Markers or crayons
• Elastic string or ribbon

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Choose an Animal: Decide on an animal to create (e.g., lion, rabbit, owl).
2. Cut Out Eyes: Cut two eye holes in the paper plate where the child’s eyes will be.
3. Create Features: Cut out ears, noses, whiskers, or feathers from the construction paper.
4. Decorate the Mask: Glue the features onto the paper plate. Add details with markers or crayons.
5. Attach the String: Punch holes on either side of the mask and tie the elastic string so it fits snugly around the child’s head.

Developmental Benefits

• Creativity and Imagination: Encourages self-expression and storytelling.
• Fine Motor Skills: Cutting and gluing enhance dexterity.
• Social Skills: Great for group activities and role-playing.

Indoor Physical Activities

Even when the weather is dreary, families can find fun ways to stay active indoors. Taryn Parker, a curriculum director and professional instructor at The Little Gym, suggests creating obstacle courses and organizing relay races as entertaining indoor activities for the whole family.

Design the course together

Regardless of whether you’re organizing a relay race or setting up an obstacle course, Parker says that designing the challenge together as a family is just as important as participating in it.

“Working out the rules and obstacles as a family can be a great bonding experience,” she explains. “As you tackle the course together, you’ll find it’s a fantastic way to connect and have fun as a family.”

Prioritize safety

Safety should always be your top priority when participating in physical activities with your children to avoid accidents or injuries. Parker advises that you take proactive steps, such as removing any sharp-edged items from the area, to help maintain a secure environment.

She explains, “You can also use tape to create safe zones on the floor—just think of it like a game where the floor is lava, and the taped areas are your only safe spots! Additionally, allowing your child to navigate over, under, around, or through obstacles (like using two stools with a towel draped over them) can elevate an obstacle course from simply fun to truly exciting!”

Use household items

You also don’t need to spend any money to design the perfect obstacle course. Parker shares that a roll of masking or painter’s tape is one of the simplest items for creating obstacle courses at home. “With tape, you can design a variety of shapes on the floor or set up barriers for your kids to navigate. They can crawl under, climb, weave, or go around it in countless ways.”

Educational Games and Activities

Dr. Emily Levy, a developmental expert and director of EBL Coaching, recommends using educational games and activities to maintain children’s focus and enthusiasm for learning as they return to school.

She emphasizes, “It is important for parents to reinforce key academic skills at home. The more fun the activities are, the more kids will want to engage in them, leading to stronger academic performance.”

Finding enjoyable educational games and activities can be easy. Levy offers ideas that help sharpen reading, math and language skills while keeping children engaged.

Reading hour

Set aside dedicated time to read together to boost your child’s reading skills and strengthen family bonds. As Levy suggests, this simple activity enhances literacy and provides a wonderful opportunity for family bonding.

She advises, “Families can set up this designated reading time either after dinner or before bed, where all members of a family pick any book or reading material to read (newspapers and magazines count too!) and focus on reading together for either an hour or other set amount of time.”

Math

Incorporating math into everyday activities can be an engaging way for families to practice numerical skills together. For instance, a trip to the grocery store offers numerous opportunities for mathematical learning.

According to Levy, “Parents can turn shopping into a fun counting game. For example, they might ask their child to count out three green apples and two red apples and then calculate the total number of apples. This simple activity reinforces basic addition skills in a practical, hands-on manner.”

To challenge more advanced learners, Levy suggests that parents introduce estimation exercises. She suggests, “Before checkout, ask your child to estimate the total cost of the groceries. This encourages critical thinking and helps develop a sense of numerical magnitude. After the actual total is revealed, parents can pose more complex problems. For instance, if our bill is $85.75 and I pay with a $100 bill, how much change should we receive?”

Language: 

You may be surprised to learn that something as simple as a dress-up game can improve your child’s language skills. According to Levy, “When parents participate in dress-up with their children, they can discuss various characters and the roles they play while also exploring new foods or adventures that these characters might encounter.”

Parents can also further develop language skills by using building blocks and reading books together. “When building with blocks, parents can engage their child in conversations about what they are constructing, introducing vocabulary words like tall, short and strong,” Levy explains. “Reading together also provides a wonderful chance to explore characters, storylines, emotions, settings and much more—helping to strengthen essential language skills.”

Family Game Night Ideas

Joy Turner, vice president of education at Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care, says family game night is another way to strengthen family ties.

“Game nights are a great way for families to spend quality time together,” she explains. “Parents can use this time to check in and have casual conversations about their children’s day or week. Children will feel more empowered during game night if they decide which games are played—parents can make a small list of options and allow their children to pick their favourite.”

If you’re looking for indoor games to play with kids, Turner suggests looking for activities that teach skills in a fun way. “Matching games that have pictures on the cards are exciting and promote short-term memory development and attention to detail,” she says. “Charades are another perfect way to get moving and showcase creative expression.”

Board games are also great for older children who understand winning and following directions. “Games like Sorry and Candyland elicit cognitive skills like counting,” adds Turner. The iconic card game Uno also helps with number matching, colour recognition, and following rules.”

Imaginative Play and Storytelling

According to Tara Donatiello, LAC, a licensed associate counselor who specializes in providing psychotherapy to children and adolescents, imaginative play is beneficial for children as it’s how they learn.

She explains, “Play is an important part of human development. It gives children the opportunity to explore, test possibilities, learn new skills, and solve problems. It also helps kids develop emotional regulation skills, empathy, and resilience.”

Try any of these ideas from Donatiello for activities that benefit from imaginative play and storytelling.

Go old school

“I believe the best activities for encouraging imaginative play and creativity are the toys we might consider to be ‘old school’ and that minimize batteries, electronic buttons and the use of technology,” Donatiello says. “Examples of these include blocks, people and animal figures, vehicles, dolls, play foods, etc. These types of toys give children the freedom to decide how they will be used.”

Puppets and dress up

Playing with puppets and engaging in dress-up activities are excellent ways for families with young children to bond while exploring various roles.

Donatiello, however, emphasizes that families need not purchase new items for these activities. She suggests, “The enjoyment often comes from searching through your home’s closets for old clothing (or Halloween costumes) and accessories or crafting puppets from discarded socks together.”

Storytime

Families can enhance their indoor activities by incorporating storytime, which fosters imaginative play.

Donatiello recommends a collaborative storytelling approach: “Start with one family member providing the opening sentence of a story. Then, take turns, with each person adding a single sentence per round. Continue for a predetermined number of rounds or until the story reaches a natural conclusion.”

Science Experiments and STEM Activities

According to Elizabeth Fraley, Kinder Ready’s founder and CEO, science experiments and STEM activities are excellent choices for kids who prefer hands-on learning approaches.

“These engaging exercises not only bolster scientific aptitude but also serve as powerful tools for developing critical thinking and enhancing problem-solving capabilities in children,” she says. “STEM activities and experiments are important for a child’s development because they help push higher-ordered thinking skills, not to mention inquiry-based thinking skills.”

DIY volcano experiment

You might recall this classic science experiment from your childhood. To share the same excitement with your kids, Fraley suggests all you need are household ingredients and a volcano mould with compartments. However, she advises conducting this experiment outdoors to prevent mess and suggests using gloves and goggles as a precaution.

Materials Needed

• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Dish soap
• Food coloring
• Volcano mould with compartments

Scientific backing

Surprisingly, this experiment has some scientific backing. According to Fraley, “When baking soda and vinegar are combined, they create an endothermic reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas. The reaction causes a volcanic eruption!”

Magic milk experiment

This is another perfect science experiment for both preschool-age and early elementary children. “With it, students learn how to make valuable predictions and findings,” Fraley explains. “They also learn that milk is built up of proteins and fats that hold the colour in the milk. However, it’s always a good idea to have safety goggles and plastic gloves on hand.”

Materials Needed

• Rainbow colours of food dye
• Dawn dish detergent
• Milk
• Large Platter

Scientific backing

When dish soap is added to the milk, the food colouring begins to blur, which Fraley explains is due to the breaking up of the proteins and fats present in the milk. “Students are fascinated by the vibrant colours and patterns created by the food colouring in the milk when combined with dish detergent,” she notes. “However, keep in mind that if food colouring is present, any changes may not be visible to the naked eye.”

Cooking and Baking with Kids

Jamie Watson, a registered play therapist and adjunct professor at the University of Western States, emphasizes the multifaceted benefits of cooking and baking together for children and families.

“Cooking and baking together provide parents and children with more than just a fun indoor activity; they also foster a deep sense of attachment and emotional connection,” Watson explains. These shared experiences create opportunities for parents to be both physically and emotionally present, showing care and attention, which helps children feel secure and valued.”

These activities also impart crucial life skills. Watson elaborates, “It teaches essential life skills, such as following directions, measuring ingredients, and understanding basic math and science concepts like fractions and chemical reactions. Cooking also promotes creativity, as children can experiment with flavours, colours, and decorations, giving them a sense of ownership and accomplishment (improving self-esteem!)”.

To help families get started, Watson offers three cooking and baking activities that both kids and parents can enjoy together.

Pizza Bagels

“Pizza bagels are fun and easy for kids to customize with their favourite toppings,” says Watson. “Simply slice bagels in half, add pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese and let them add their own toppings like pepperoni, veggies or pineapple. Bake until the cheese melts for a quick, kid-approved meal.”

Homemade Granola Bars

Watson suggests making these granola bars together if your kids are craving something sweet. “Mix oats, honey, peanut butter and a variety of mix-ins like chocolate chips, raisins or nuts,” she advises. “Press the mixture into a pan, refrigerate and cut into bars for a healthy, homemade snack.”

Fruit Kabobs

Fruit kabobs are another sweet treat your kids will love making with you; best of all, they’re easy to make. Watson suggests, “Using skewers (or even plastic straws for younger kids), let children build their own colourful fruit kabobs with a variety of fresh fruit like strawberries, pineapple, grapes and melon. It’s a simple way to encourage healthy eating.”

Scavenger and Treasure Hunts

Kristen Miller, Director of Education for Celebree School, recommends scavenger hunts as an excellent activity for children. She explains, “These hunts offer multiple benefits: they promote creative and higher-level thinking, encourage physical activity, foster teamwork and collaboration, reduce screen time, and are typically easy to set up and clean up.”

Try any of Miller’s suggestions below for easy scavenger and treasure hunt ideas.

Colour hunt

This treasure hunt idea is great for little kids, as Miller says it’s age-appropriate and helps support cognitive development.

“Encourage your toddler to two-year-old to find red items,” says Miller. “Then make it a little more difficult by asking for a specific number of blue items; for preschoolers, ask them for items to make the rainbow, for example, a red item, then an orange item, then yellow, etc.”

Shape search

You can also create a scavenger hunt or treasure hunt for your kids based on shapes. “Find items that match specific shapes or cut out shapes and hide them around your home,” suggests Miller.

Alphabet hunt

Alphabet hunts are equally great for kids of all ages. “For younger children, have them find cut-out letters, and for older children, have them search for the letter in their environment, such as grabbing an apple for A,” says Miller. “For more of a challenge, encourage children to find the letters in alphabetical order.”

Rainy Day Activities

Having a list of rainy-day activities is also smart, says Dr. Sara Jane Blackman, Director of Learning & Development at Parents as Teachers National Center.

She explains, “It ensures children remain engaged and entertained when outdoor play isn’t possible. These activities provide opportunities to foster creativity, problem-solving and social skills while preventing boredom and reducing frustration.”

Families can try various fun and educational indoor activities. Blackman suggests, “Homemade sensory bins filled with rice, beans, or pasta can engage children while promoting fine motor skills. Home scavenger hunts encourage observation and problem-solving, while games like hot and cold hide-and-seek help with listening and spatial awareness. Building a blanket fort for storytime or creating a cardboard castle also lets children explore their imaginations, making these rainy-day ideas both entertaining and enriching.”

Blackman recommends puzzles, drawing, simple crafts, or reading together for quieter moments. “Board games and storytelling inside a blanket fort are also great for peaceful activities,” she adds.

Most importantly, Blackman emphasizes flexibility. “Allow families to switch between quiet activities and more active games based on energy levels. Creating special traditions, such as rainy-day baking or story time, adds an element of fun and helps build lasting memories, transforming a gloomy day into a cherished family experience.”

Whether you choose to explore baking ideas in the kitchen or enjoy playing board games, there are countless indoor activities for families to share with their children.

These activities teach kids something new and bring the family closer together. Additionally, engaging in indoor activities is an excellent way to reduce screen time and reinforce learning from school.

What are your favourite fun activities for kids? We would love to hear your top ideas in the comments below!

Experts

• Joseph Tito is a parenting expert from The Dad Diaries.
• Claire Diamonstein Weinberg, LCSW-C, is a licensed social worker.
• Dr. Sara Jane Blackman is the Director of Learning & Development at Parents as Teachers National Center.
• Elizabeth Fraley is the founder and CEO of Kinder Ready, an educational service company that focuses on early childhood education.
• Tara Donatiello, LAC, is a licensed associate counselor who specializes in providing psychotherapy to children and adolescents.
• Jamie Watson is a registered play therapist and adjunct professor at the University of Western States.
• Kristen Miller is the director of education for Celebree Schools, a nationwide early childhood education franchise.

The post Fun Activities for Kids: Keeping Children Entertained at Home appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Math is a challenging subject, so even the best students can face some academic difficulties here and there. However, the proper elementary and middle school math intervention can help seal your kid’s potential knowledge gaps, developing a strong math foundation.

Let’s find out how effective interventions are and what strategies you can use to ensure your child’s academic success!

What are math intervention strategies?

According to Dr.Emily Levy, founder of EBL Coaching:

“Math intervention strategies are strategies used to develop a student’s core academic skills that they have difficulty with.”

There are strategies for math computation, including foundational skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.

This practice can help students develop a deeper understanding of mathematical principles, improve their problem-solving skills, and boost their confidence in math. By starting intervention strategies for mathematics early, educators can help kids overcome study difficulties and develop a strong math foundation.

What makes a math intervention strategy effective?

• Customized syllabus tailored to student’s needs
• Explicit instructions
• Hands-on manipulatives
• Mnemonics, visual and audial aids
• Positive reinforcement
• Technology integration, including games and online resources

Customized syllabus tailored to student’s needs

All math intervention programs have customized syllabus tailored to students’ needs. Each kid has different strengths and knowledge gaps. Tutors need to identify them to create a tailored curriculum for the kid.

Explicit instructions

Provide explicit instructions and guide a child through the study process. Set clear expectations and break down complex concepts into smaller, more manageable steps. Demonstrate how to solve the problems with step-by-step instructions.

Hands-on manipulatives

Use hands-on manipulatives and real-world examples. That way, your child will understand how math can benefit them in daily situations like shopping. All your study sessions should be fun and interactive.

Mnemonics, visual and audial aids

Mnemonics, visual, and auditory aids are invaluable tools for math intervention because they can enhance students’ memory and recall skills. Don’t be afraid to use memorable phrases, acronyms, music, rhymes, or even memes to make math lessons more “catchy.”

Positive reinforcement

Everyone likes to be complemented, so positive reinforcement is a crucial part of the study process. Encouragements boost student’s confidence, so they are more ready to learn something new and more likely to show a desire to solve more complex tasks.

Technology integration

Technology integration can be a powerful tool in math intervention, ensuring that a child will get more personalized and engaging study sessions. Online resources can provide extra practice while remaining fun and gamified. Currently, there are a myriad of interactive tools that allow students to explore concepts at their own pace.

When to use math intervention strategies

Math intervention strategies should be used with those students who struggle with some math concepts or this subject in general. If your kid is perfect in math and just wants to learn new material earlier than their peers, they can use general tutoring.

Consider intervention strategies for math if your child has knowledge gaps to fill. Here are some indicators that may show you that your kid needs additional assistance:

• Consistent low grades
• Difficulty with specific concepts
• Avoidance of math and test anxiety
• Disruptive behavior during math classes
• Loss of study motivation
• Learning disabilities

It is vital to identify and address these signs early to prevent further academic difficulties and help students develop a positive attitude towards math.

Math Intervention and Special Education

Math intervention strategies are crucial in supporting students with special education needs. During traditional studies, everyone in the class follows the standardized curriculum.

Meanwhile, you can modify intervention best practices to individual student’s needs. If a kid needs special treatment, teachers will provide it to them. They will create a customized curriculum to close knowledge gaps and be comfortable with the child.

Some elementary and middle school math intervention programs may be personal with just a teacher and a student, while some may be held in small groups. It all depends on students’ needs and conditions. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the math intervention curriculum.

Stefano Lodola, owner of Think in Italian, supports this idea.

“It has been found that the most successful treatments were small-group ones, especially those led by experts or teachers.”

It is important to understand that the first key is to determine areas where students need to improve for additional support.Scholars and teachers have been providing effective, easy math learning mechanisms through small-group instruction, online courses and programs for Math, and scaffolding techniques in learning Math.

What makes this intervention effective is a closed teaching involvement with the students by allowing them to discover how to best learn and adopt the value of Math.

– Stefano Lodola, owner of Think in Italian

It’s OK to gather in small groups during offline and online math intervention programs

While looking for a math intervention tutor, ensure they know how to deal with kids similar to yours. If your child has dyscalculia, ask a teacher whether they have experience teaching kids with it. If the student has ADHD or autism, ask a tutor to provide a certification that they can work with neurodiverse students.

We, at Brighterly, offer a personalized tutoring approach that is vital for math intervention. We create a personalized syllabus to close students’ knowledge gaps. This targeted support ensures that students receive the specific help they need to overcome math challenges.

Brighterly’s tutors use interactive teaching methods to create the best math intervention programs. We like to use online interactive tools to make math more engaging and enjoyable.

We offer flexible scheduling options to accommodate the needs of any student. Another benefit of our tutoring sessions is that they are done online, so kids can receive knowledge from everywhere, even from the comfort of their couch.

10 Math intervention strategies

• Diagnostic assessment
• Intermixing challenging and easy problems
• Copy, cover, compare
• Self-monitoring
• Peer-assisted learning strategies
• Use of manipulatives
• Visual aids
• Say, ask, check
• Differentiated instructions
• Scaffolded instructions
• Integrating technology
• Graphic organizers

Diagnostic assessment

A diagnostic assessment is a test that can help you identify a student’s strong and weak points. We recommend you conduct those mini-exams every month. Weekly quizzes may not show progress. Meanwhile, quarterly exams put too much pressure on a kid. So, the month-to-month math assessment is a golden medium.

Morally support your child, showing that the grades are not the most important during those assessments. Explain to them that you won’t allow them to write off this test since you want to see their true knowledge and help them become better at math.

Intermixing challenging and easy problems

Intermixing challenging and easy problems is an effective strategy since it won’t burden the child with overly challenging tasks. This practice improves students’ engagement because they feel confident after successfully solving dozens of easy tasks. This confidence allows them to try some complex math problems.

It also prevents boredom and keeps math students engaged. It’s crucial to balance difficulty when intermixing challenging and easy problems during math intervention. Don’t overwhelm the child with too much of complicated tasks. Switch to another topic only after the student seals their current knowledge gap.

Cover, copy, compare

Cover, Copy, and Compare is a simple but working strategy for improving math fluency. During it, you provide them with a test where you have already written the correct results but have covered them. Later, the student solves the problem and provides their answer. After that, you uncover the correct answers to check whether your child answers them correctly.

If the student answers incorrectly, figure out the knowledge gap that prevents them from understanding this problem. Practice until the child understands the logic behind the task.

This strategy forces the kid to recall the answer from the memory. It provides immediate feedback, as the kid can instantly check their answers.

Self-monitoring

Self-monitoring is a must-have skill for any student. That way, kids learn that “everybody makes mistakes” and that the most important thing in life is to react to potential missteps promptly.

It also benefits them during mathematics intervention strategies. During self-monitoring, they analyze their answers, independently identifying their knowledge gaps.

This skill is crucial for any human, as it can help in any aspect of life.

Here is how your child can control their math knowledge during self-monitoring studies:

• Flashcards
• Sorting cards
• Focusing on weak areas
• Math games and apps

Teach your kids to ask themselves questions like “Do I really understand this question?”, “What strategies can I use to solve this?”, “If this method doesn’t work, what should I try next?”. The most effective interventions improve a child’s self-awareness, which is vital not only for math but for their whole future life.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a cooperative learning approach where one student acts as a tutor, teaching others different math concepts. In each lesson, the student switches roles to ensure that every student is in the group at least once as a “group tutor”.

This approach is based on the principle that the best way to comprehend something is by trying to teach it. The responsibility of potential tutoring forces the kid to understand the idea so they can explain it in simpler terms to their peers. It’s one of the most interesting examples of math intervention that fits small student groups.

Use of manipulatives

Manipulatives transform abstract ideas into real-world experiences. You can use anything to make math palpable. It can even be groceries or stories with kids’ favorite movie heroes. Math interventions and math tutoring strategies use manipulatives to provide a visual representation of complex ideas.

Let’s imagine that you are the parent of a 3rd-grade kid who has problems with understanding the multiplication and division processes. If you ask them to evenly share 45 apples between 9 students, they perform it within minutes. During this process, you can explain the interconnection between multiplication table and division.

Visual aids

Visual ads are another way to make math more tangible. Visual representation allows students to see the connection and relationships between seemingly incoherent concepts.

You can use number lines to represent math operations and relationships between numbers. Venn diagrams help you to compare and contrast different data sets. Flowcharts can be used to show the sequence of steps in a problem-solving process. Each aid has its own meaning.

To ease future math lessons, you can print those visual aids and put them on the wall. Select the ones that suit the task and encourage students to create their own visual aids.

Say, ask, check

Say, Ask, Check is a structured approach to problem-solving for math intervention. It can help students develop their troubleshooting skills and improve their confidence by using three steps:

1. Say: The student explains the problem in their own words.
2. Ask: The student asks questions about the problem, such as “What do I know?” and “What do I need to find out?”
3. Check: The student checks their work to ensure their answer is reasonable and accurate.

This practice is called one of the best math intervention programs since it encourages students to think about the problem and understand what is being asked. It can help students build confidence in their math abilities, as they get immediate feedback where the teacher supports them even if they use not-so-perfect wording.

Differentiated instructions

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach where tutors create multiple learning paths to ensure that the student can switch between them and learn the topic. It’s a practice for small groups (2-5 students), but it can also be done even during individual tutoring sessions.

Before the first lesson, tutors determine students’ knowledge gaps and the preferable type of content delivery (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). During the lessons, the tutor provides students with a choice between multiple possible activities, and kids can choose how they will learn today. Students can learn by creating their own game, completing the worksheet, singing a song, writing a story, etc.

Scaffolded instructions

Scaffolded instruction is a teaching approach where the tutor gradually reduces their support, allowing students to take over their learning process. It involves breaking down complex tasks into small and manageable steps. As students become more independent, tutors begin to withdraw the support, just like parents who teach their kids to ride a bike.

Break the problem and visualize how to solve it. Provide prompts and cues, so students won’t get lost without your help. Gradually withdraw support while still providing feedback. Scaffolded instruction approach teaching kids to become more independent. This skill benefits them during adulthood.

Integrating technology

Technology integration can become a powerful tool for math intervention, providing students with personalized support within arm’s reach. Special tools easily identify knowledge gaps and offer videos and assessments to help them improve in math.

The most well-known self-study technology solutions are DreamBox, Prodigy, ST Match, Mathletics, and Duolingo’s math course. Meanwhile, Brighterly tutoring service also has multiple online games that supplement the session, combining human and tech experiences into one study session.

Graphic organizers 

Graphic organizers are visual representations that can help students visualize relationships, patterns, and connections between different mathematical ideas. The most common types of graphic organizers used in math are Venn diagrams to compare and contrast data sets, and pizza charts to show the part of the whole.

You can also try to use flowcharts to show the sequence of steps in a troubleshooting process. If you need to show relationships between ideas, use mind maps.

Graphic organizers provide visual anchors, which help students recall information. They also structure information, helping students to boost their problem-solving skills.

Conclusion

These 10 math intervention strategies can help your child become their best at math. Provide individual approach with explicit instructions. Make math tangible by using manipulatives and visual aids. Modern kids are technology natives, so it’s better to implement some online service or game into your study sessions.

Ready to unlock your child’s math potential? Book a free first lesson with Brighterly’s expert tutors!

We offer personalized online tutoring with a variety of virtual tools, games, and manipulatives to show our students the logic behind math. We regularly perform math assessments to ensure that a child understands math, not just memorizing rules.

The post 12 Math Tutoring Strategies for Struggling Students appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Arkansas’ Education Freedom Account program gives parents autonomy in choosing how they want to use funds allocated to their child’s education. Some parents choose to use these funds for school supplies, a homeschool curriculum, or a private school for their child. Others choose to use these funds for one-on-one tutoring. If students have learning challenges, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia, or an attentional challenge like AHDH, specialized one-on-one tutoring can be incredibly beneficial. This tutoring can be provided in the following skill areas:

Reading

For students who have a learning disability such as dyslexia, applying your Arkansas EFA funds to specialized tutoring using the Orton Gillingham method can help your child excel in reading and spelling. Using this approach, students learn a structured, systematic, multi-sensory methodology for building stronger decoding and spelling skills. At a foundational level, students start by learning the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds, often in groups of five consonants and one short vowel. They then work on blending these sounds together to form basic two and three letter words, all using a multi-sensory approach and integrating tools such as colored sand, magnetic tiles, a mini whiteboard, and similar tools. From there, they learn how to read and spell words containing blends, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, silent e patterns, multi-syllabic word patterns, and more. The tutoring sessions can also integrate work on reading fluency and specific Orton Gillingham spelling rules to further develop students’ spelling skills.

A sample foundational Orton Gillingham lesson may include teaching your child an individual letter, like the letter f. The tutor might hold up a flash card that has the letter f on one side of it and a colorful picture of a fish on the back of it, serving as the key picture. The tutor would say aloud to the student, “This is the letter f, like fish, it makes the sound /f/.” The child would repeat that sequence back together with the tutor and then independently three times. Next, the tutor would model how to write the letter f, starting with skywriting, by saying aloud while writing the letter in the sky, “When we write the letter f, we go around, down, and across.” The student would then write the letter in the sky together with the tutor, then independently three times. Next, we would move onto colored sand writing, followed by exercises where we blend sounds together to form words, including previously taught sounds, to work on decoding words.

You can also apply your Arkansas AFA funds to help your child develop stronger reading comprehension skills with specialized reading comprehension tutoring. Your child will learn how to read various passages and highlight the topic, which is one, two, three words describing the passage in blue; the main idea, which is what the author is saying about the topic, in green; and the important details in yellow. They will also learn how to draw conclusions, make inferences, make predictions, and write written summaries based on what they read – skills that are key for thriving in school!

Writing

Writing is one of the most important skills for school success! You can use your Arkansas EFA funds to help your child build stronger writing skills with specialized writing tutoring. Some students begin at the sentence level, where they learn how to write a well-constructed sentence, then learn how to expand their sentences and work on writing compound and complex sentences.

When students are ready, they move onto learning how to write a simple paragraph, made of a topic sentence, three detail sentences, and a conclusion sentence. They learn how to brainstorm, write, and self-check their writing, and learn how to write four types of simple paragraphs: example, process, reason, and compare/contrast. From there, they move onto the extended paragraph, where they expand their writing by adding three supporting detail sentences after each detail sentence. They continue to work on brainstorming, writing, and self-checking their work, and also learn how to write example, process, reason, and compare/contrast extended paragraphs. At that point, students can learn how to write a five paragraph essay, which is made of an introduction paragraph comprised of an opening, lead-in, and thesis statement; three body paragraphs; and a conclusion paragraph.

Using your Arkansas EFA funds towards helping your child build stronger academic skills can help them excel in many different school subjects.

The post Applying Your Child’s Arkansas Education Freedom Account Funds to One-on-One Tutoring appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Reading

If your child has dyslexia or struggles with reading, applying your ESA funds to dyslexia tutoring using the Orton Gillingham method can help your child develop much stronger reading and spelling skills. With this method, students develop core reading and writing skills using a multi-sensory approach. Young children will begin by learning the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds using tools such as audio-visual flash cards, colored sand, magnetic tiles, and white boards. Once they have grasped the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds, they will learn how to blend sounds together to form basic two and three letter words. From there, they will learn to decode and spell more complex words, including words containing blends, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, silent e patterns, r-controlled patterns, multi-syllabic words, and so on. Applying your child’s ESA funds to Orton Gillingham tutoring can help their reading and spelling skills improve significantly.
For reading comprehension, your child can learn to become a more active reader with specialized tutoring using the tri-colored highlighting strategy. With this strategy, they will learn identify the topic, which is one, two or three words, describing the passage, and highlight it in blue. Next, they will identify the main idea, which is what the author is saying about the topic and highlight it in green. Finally, they will look for the important details from the passage and highlight them in yellow. Your child will then learn how to write a well-written summary describing the passage along with a structured written response. Using your ESA funds towards specialized reading comprehension tutoring can truly help your child excel.

Writing

Many children, including those with and without learning challenges, struggle with writing. By applying your Arizona EFA funds to specialized writing tutoring, your child can build much stronger writing skills. They can learn how to brainstorm, write, and self-check their thoughts on paper in an organized fashion, and can learn how to write well-constructed sentences, simple paragraphs, extended paragraphs, and five paragraph essays.
A simple paragraph is comprised of five sentences: a topic sentence, three details, and a conclusion sentence. Your child will learn how to brainstorm, write, and self-check four different types of simple paragraphs: example, process, reason, and compare/contrast. Once they have grasped the simple paragraph, they will move onto the extended paragraph, which extends the simple paragraph by adding three supporting detail sentences after each detail. Finally, when ready, your child will learn how to write a well-structured five paragraph essay, comprised of an introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.
Specialized tutoring using your child’s ESA funds can help them create visual brainstorm diagrams before they begin writing, which will help them organize their thoughts; they will then learn how to convert each of their brainstorm bubbles into a full sentence when writing. Your child will also learn how to self-check their writing, building stronger executive functioning skills along with key writing skills.

Mathematics

Many children have difficulty with various aspects of math, including computation, math fact fluency, and solving word problems. Specialized math tutoring using your child’s ESA funds can help them build these key skills. We start by ensuring that your child’s foundational skills in math are intact, then build upwards to strengthen their fundamental math computation skills. We also teach them strategies for breaking down and solving math word problems, such as the COINS technique, which stands for circle, operation, information, number sentence, and solution sentence. With this technique, we teach your child to move from language to arithmetic and back to language when solving math word problems.
Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program can help you create an individualized educational plan that is most suited to your child’s needs. Applying these ESA funds to specialized one-on-one tutoring will help your child thrive academically.

The post How to Use Your Child’s Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account Funds for Tutoring appeared first on EBL Coaching.

New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account empowers you to use funds allocated to your child’s  education to craft an academic plan that is most suitable for them. You may choose to use the funds for private school, a homeschool curriculum, or academic tutoring, amongst other educational options. If your child has a learning disability or ADHD, using your EFA funds towards specialized tutoring can help them excel in school. Tutoring can help with your child the following skills:

Decoding Words & Reading Comprehension

If your child has a language-based learning disability like dyslexia or has difficulty with reading, applying your EFA funds to specialized Orton Gillingham tutoring can help them build  much stronger decoding and spelling skills. Using this method, students develop fundamental reading and writing skills with a multi-sensory approach. For children who need foundational skills building, they typically  begin by learning the names of each letter and the corresponding sounds. After they have learned the names of the letters and all sounds, they typically move onto learning how to read words  containing two and three letter words, followed by words with complex sounds and patterns, including blends, consonant digraphs, vowel pairs, silent e patterns, r-controlled patterns, multi-syllabic word patterns, prefixes, suffixes, roots, and so forth. Applying your child’s New Hampshire EFA funds to Orton Gillingham tutoring can help them tremendously with building their reading and spelling skills.

There are many research-based techniques that can be used to develop your child’s  reading comprehension skills. For instance, your child can learn the tri-colored highlighting strategy for identifying the topic, main idea, and important details of various passages. They begin by learning to identify the topic of a passage, which is one, two or three words describing the passage, and highlight it in blue. Then they are taught to identify the main idea, or what the author is saying about the topic, and highlight it in green. Finally, they learn to identify the salient details from a passage and highlight them in yellow. From there, your child will learn to make inferences from information they read and create well-written summaries describing the passage. Using your New Hampshire EFA funds towards specialized reading comprehension tutoring can help your child process information they read much more effectively.

Writing

Many students struggle to express their thoughts on paper when writing. Students with a learning disability or ADHD often display significant challenges with this skill. Using your New Hampshire EFA funds towards one-on-one writing tutoring can help them build much stronger writing skills. Students are taught how to brainstorm, write, and self-check their ideas on paper in a structured manner, and they learn how to write well-written sentences, simple paragraphs, extended paragraphs, and five paragraph essays.

After learning how to write a well-written sentence, students typically move onto writing a simple paragraph, which is made of a topic sentence, three detail sentences, and a conclusion sentence. They are taught how to brainstorm, write, and self-check various types of simple paragraphs, including example, process, reason, and compare/contrast paragraphs. Once they have learned how to write a well-constructed simple paragraph, they move onto writing an extended paragraph, which expands the simple paragraph by adding three supporting detail sentences supporting each detail. When they are ready, your child will learn how to write a well-written five paragraph essay, which is made of an introduction paragraph (containing an opening, lead-in, and thesis statement), three body paragraphs, and a  concluding paragraph.

Individualized one-on-one writing tutoring using your child’s New Hampshire EFA funds can help them with many aspects of writing, including brainstorming their ideas to help plan out their thoughts. They also learn how to translate their brainstorm webs into well-constructed sentences and paragraphs when writing. Additionally, they learn how to self-evaluate their writing, correcting any mistakes, and building much stronger overall writing skills.

Math

Some students thrive with reading and writing but struggle with math. Specialized math tutoring can help students with all aspects of math, including number problems, fact fluency, and word problem solving. Using child’s New Hampshire EFA funds towards specialized math tutoring can help them build these critical skills. Once we have ensured that your child’s foundational math skills are intact, we work on teaching more complex math concepts, strengthening their fundamental math computation skills. Your child will also learn how to break down and solve math word problems; one method they may learn is the COINS strategy, which stands for circle, operation, information, number sentence, and solution sentence. Using this strategy, your child will learn to transition from language to arithmetic and back to language in order to effectively solve math word problems.

New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account gives you the opportunity to craft an ideal education plan for your child. By integrating specialized one-on-one tutoring, you can help your child thrive with their reading, writing, and math skills.

The post How Can I Use My Child’s New Hampshire Education Freedom Account for One-on-One Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Students with dyslexia typically struggle with decoding words and reading fluently. They may also have difficulty with spelling and expressing their thoughts effectively when writing. As students progress through school, these skills become increasingly important and can affect nearly every subject. Help your child thrive with dyslexia tutoring that is customized to their individual needs. How can dyslexia tutoring help your child?

Decoding Basic Words

Many students struggle to decode basic single syllable words when reading. They may have difficulty learning sound-letter relationships, including short vowels sounds, and often struggle to blend these sounds together to form words. This challenge can create frustration and lead to poor self-esteem. Dyslexia tutoring or, more specifically, Orton Gillingham tutoring using the Orton Gillingham technique, can help your child strengthen these key skills. This multi-sensory approach to tutoring engages the visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic modalities and can help students master these foundational reading skills.

If your child struggles to learn the names of the letters and their corresponding sounds, Orton Gillingham tutoring can help build these skills, starting at a basic foundational level. For example, a tutor might hold up a flash card that has the lower case letter “a” on the front and the key picture of an apple on the back. The tutor might say to the student, “This is the letter a, like apple, it makes the sound /a/.” The student would then repeat that language out loud along with the Orton Gillingham tutor and then say it independently on their own. Next, the tutor may move onto skywriting and the tutor would write in the sky with their finger, “around, up, and down”, saying the formation of the lower case letter “a” aloud. Then the student would write the same letter in the sky along with the teacher and then independently on their own. Next, the Orton Gillingham tutor may take out a tray of colored sand or shaving cream and practice the same writing exercise in the sand or cream, again saying the formation of the letter aloud as they write it. Next, the student might complete Orton Gillingham workbook pages and then do exercises where they blend sounds together to form words, using tools such as flash cards or magnetic tiles. The more multi-sensory the Orton Gillingham tutoring can be, the better!

Decoding Multi-Syllabic Words

Some students can accurately read basic, single syllable words, but struggle to decode multi-syllabic words. An Orton Gillingham tutor can teach students strategies for breaking down and decoding multi-syllabic words. For example, an Orton Gillingham tutor may teach the student what a compound word is: two little words that are combined to form a big word. They might learn that certain words have endings, like est, ed, ing, or ful, and how to syllabicate these types of words. They might learn the “rabbit” syllabication rule, where the word is split between the two middle consonants, like in the word rabbit. By learning how to break down longer words into their smaller parts with Orton Gillingham tutoring, students can learn to more accurately decode longer, multi-syllabic words.

Reading Fluency

Many students, especially those with dyslexia, exert so much energy into decoding words that their reading fluency is slow. Learning to accurately decode words through Orton Gillingham tutoring can help students develop their reading fluency, but your child’s dyslexia tutor can also use specific strategies, like the choral reading technique, to build their reading fluency skills. The dyslexia tutor may select a passage form a book and use this strategy as follows:

1. Your child reads the passage aloud to the tutor as an initial read.
2. The tutor reads the same passage aloud to your child to model good fluency.
3. Your child reads the same passage aloud WITH the tutor‎, trying to keep up with their fluency.
4. Your child reads the same passage aloud one more time, and their dyslexia tutor empowers them with the improvement in their fluency!

As students move through school, they will be required to read and write increasingly complex material. Dyslexia tutoring can help your child develop stronger reading and writing skills and enable them to thrive as the demands of school continue to increase.

The post How can Tutoring Help your Child with Dyslexia? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Most children look forward to the last day of school and the first day of summer break. They can’t wait to swim, play outside, and relax with their friends at a park. Yet summer is a long stretch of time, and without continuous learning, students face a real risk of summer slide. In fact, research tells us that over the summer students can lose up to 39% of the information they learned during the school year! Help your child avoid the summer slide with the ideas detailed below.

Create a summer reading plan 

It’s important that kids continue to read throughout the summer, despite the temptation to ditch all books and focus on play. Help your child set a goal for the summer – it could be reading four books, for example, or devoting a certain amount of time each day to reading. Encourage your child to find a series they like or take a trip to the book store and peruse different genres of books with them. If your child chooses to carve out a certain amount of time each day to read, like 30 minutes or so, help them pick a daily time. It might be right before bed or even right after they wake up; the key is choosing a consistent time slot. You might even try setting aside family reading time – maybe right after dinner – when everyone in the family comes together and reads a book of their choosing.

Make math real!

There are so many great real life opportunities for practicing math over the summer. For younger children, bring them to the supermarket with you and build math into your shopping. Grab three peaches and two plums and ask them how many pieces of fruit you have altogether. Then ask how many pieces would be left if you ate one of the peaches. You can do these basic addition and subtraction problems with just about any items in the supermarket. For older kids, you might ask questions like, “This $6 box of cereal is 10% off. What will the new price be?” or “I have a coupon for $5 off two packs of paper towels that are each $15. How much will I spend on paper towels if I use this coupon and buy two packs?”
You can also try playing math games on the road. For instance, if you are driving on a highway with numbered exits and you are at exit 5, ask your child how many more exits you need to pass to reach exit 21. For older kids, you might tell them you have 100 miles left in your road trip. If you are driving 60 miles per hour, how much more time do you have until you reach your destination? Rather than telling your child to work out of a math workbook or complete worksheets, which they may complain is “boring”, try integrating math into your day-to-day summer activities. Read more about these ideas at https://eblcoaching.com/how-to-avoid-the-summer-slide-and-get-ready-for-back-to-school/

Write in a journal 

Writing is a key skill for success, and one that becomes increasingly important as students progress through school. Help your child maintain their writing skills over the summer by encouraging them to write in a journal. This could a general task, like spending 15 minutes per day writing in their journal about any topic they wish. Alternatively, it can be activity-specific. For instance, if you take them to a water park one day, have them write about which slides they went on and foods they ate while at the park. Likewise, if they spend a day at camp, visiting grandparents, or playing baseball outside, have them create a journal entry on activities they did that day and parts that they did or did not like about it. Writing tutoring to build this skill may help as well. The more writing, the better!

Build skills by baking

Most kids love to bake, whether it’s brownies, cupcakes, or corn muffins. Why not build some learning into this fun activity? Start by pulling a recipe  and ask your child to measure out the ingredients required for the recipe, like 1.5 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and so on, to help build measurement skills. You might also ask them how much more of each ingredient you would need if you doubled each recipe, or how much less you would need if you cut the recipe in half. You can have them weigh different items and work on conversions from ounces to pounds, or vice versa. Keep it fun (and delicious) and they will build key math skills along the way.

Summer is a time for fun and play, but learning should never be completely neglected. Help your child continue building their key academic skills and avoid the dreaded summer slide with these ideas. You can also try summer tutoring or specific tutoring in reading, writing, or math during summer break. In doing so, you will help set your child up for success in the new school year.

The post Help Your Child Avoid The Summer Slide appeared first on EBL Coaching.