Top Text Title: Top Text: For Parents Teach your kids how to be organized and study effectively. By doing so, you will equip them with valuable skills that will serve them both now and later in life. Below are some tips to help your children become more responsible and successful academically. Tips 1. Learn how your child studies. Does he or she focus for short periods of time only, or can he or she work for longer intervals? Is your child a visual or auditory learner? Or maybe a combination? 2. Require your child to keep an assignment notebook. Sit down with him or her and review what is expected for homework. 3. Ask your child to bring home all homework, even if it was finished during the school day. Then, help him or her organize the work for easy access in class the following day. 4. Set a routine each evening to organize backpack, books, etc. for the following day. Avoid the chaos of the rush off to school (and those trips to school to deliver a forgotten book or project). 5. There is no such thing as "no homework." Establish a routine of study time each evening. It never hurts to clean out a binder, review notes, or read ahead in English class. 6. Designate a special study space in your home. This location may vary from student to student depending upon how they learn. Some students may study easily with music playing, others may be very distracted with a lot of noise. 7. Teach your child to prioritize. Encourage him or her to make a list of things to do and then rewrite it in order of importance. 8. Help your student break large projects into small steps. Utilize a large calendar to plot out when upcoming projects are due, tests are scheduled, etc. 9. Schedule special needs in advance. You don’t want to be driving to the corner store at midnight to get poster board for that science project! 10. If your child can’t stay focused for long periods, use a kitchen timer to allocate minutes for study and minutes for break. 11. Let your children know that you are there for help, but it is not your job to do their work. Encourage them to try on their own and ask for help when needed. 12. Limit phone and e-mail time. Those are earned privileges and should only occur on "break" or when homework is completed. Resources • Positive Discipline A-Z, Jane Nelsen, Lynn Lott, and H. Stephen Glenn • Help Me, I Have a Teenager, Annie Drake • Positive Discipline for Teenagers, Jane Nelsen & Lynn Lott • The Roller Coaster Years, Charlene C. Giannetti & Margaret Sagarese • How to Say It to Teens, Richard Heyman • Parenting 911, Charlene C Giannetti & Margaret Sagarese Web sites Parent Institute- www.parent-institute.com Great resource for all types of parenting issues. How To Study- www.how-to-study.com This site provides good tips on study skills. Teachers & Families- www.teachersandfamilies.com This site has specific links for middle school information and parent tips. AIE's Homework Help Intenet Resources Page- www.aie.org/Links/Homework/index.xfm AIE provides dozens of links to Web sites that can help students with homework. For Students Summer is over and school is in full swing. Are you as organized as you hoped to be? Are things starting to pile up? Remember, you have a lot of control over how things go at school. Take charge of your academic life! Here are a few tips and resources for you to try. Tips 1. Be sure to have a regular time to study each day. It is much easier to do your homework daily than to let it pile up and try and do it all at once. 2. Find a good place to study. Try and find a place that is free from distractions. Be sure that you have all your materials at your fingertips. 4. Make a list of what you need to do. Rewrite the list in the order of importance. Then, as you complete each task, check it off. 5. Enlist the help of your parents if you get stuck, but don’t expect them to do your work. 6. Keep an assignment notebook and write in it each day. Check your assignment notebook before you leave school every day so you are sure to bring home the books and information you need to get your work done. (Parents hate having to drive back to school to pick up that forgotten math book!) 7. Be a good listener in class. Sometimes teachers change or alter the assignment during class. Make a note of any change in your notebook. 8. When studying for a test, be sure you know what will be covered on the test. Is it going to be a quiz or a test? Ask the teacher how the test will be graded. 9. In each class, be sure you understand the grading system. Some teachers put more emphasis on certain things than others. Understand what each teacher expects. 10. Keep track of your grades. Average your grades often so you know where you stand in class. If you feel your grade is low, ask your teacher how you can bring your grade up. 11. ASK FOR HELP! Teachers can answer your questions. Never hesitate to ask for clarification or additional information. 12. Make your own flash cards for vocabulary words, important dates, definitions, etc. 13. If you are absent from school, take the initiative and ask your teacher what work needs to be made up. Teachers want you to learn to take responsibility for your assignments and will appreciate that you are checking in. 14. Form a study group or find a study partner. It is easier and more fun to learn and study with a friend. Web sites How To Study This site provides good tips on study skills. www.how-to-study.com Study Skills Checklist Good "test" for you to rate your study skills. Sponsored by Virginia Tech Division of Student Affairs. www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/checklis.html Teachers & Families This site has specific links for middle school students. Just click on k-12 and find great links to all subject areas. www.teachersandfamilies.com AIE's Homework Help Intenet Resources Page AIE provides dozens of links to Web sites that can help students with homework. Links Section Title:
Bottom Text Title: Bottom Text: Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 Emily Halevy | CWK Producer “I think that is probably one of the key issues - is their expectation from having taken the PSAT or the SAT, is for them to understand that there's a lot of material on the SAT that they haven't covered yet, because they're not in high school” – Erin Mason, 8th Grade Counselor Would you like to know what profession best suits your 12 or 13 year old child? According to the Journal Psychology Science, one way is to have your kids take the SAT test. If they do well in the math portion, the study suggests they think about becoming an engineer or scientist. In fact, if they score 700 or better, it is likely that one day they'll get a Ph.D. But, for most kids, is taking the SAT in middle school too much too soon? Middle schoolers like 13-year-old Madison Bajc are already thinking about the future. "I've really looked into Michigan University 'cause that's where my mother went," she says, "and I'm interested in law." She's already taken the PSAT and plans to take the SAT next year. Experts say that for some younger kids, a college entrance exam gets them thinking about college – and, in turn, they take school a little more seriously. "There are signs everywhere that the bar is being raised," says eighth grade counselor Erin Mason, "and I don't think that that is necessarily a bad thing, because I think that there are a lot of students who are very capable and just need to be pushed." She says taking the test can help middle schoolers in a number of ways. Some magnet high schools or programs for gifted students, for example, require it. It's also a way to get middle school students ready for the next few years. "If you're taking it because you just want the experience of taking it, and you kind of want a sneak preview of what's going to be ahead when they get to high school," says Mason, "I think that's a perfectly good intent for taking the SAT." On the other hand, she says, some 12-year-olds take the test for the wrong reasons. "And those kinds of reasons would be things like, you know, just wanting to take it to try to rev up the score, to improve the score, to compare themselves to other students – or, you know, if mom and dad feel like they have something to prove." Experts say young kids need to be reminded that their scores will probably be low -because they haven't studied most of what's on the test. And they need to relax. As Madison says, "don't stress out about it, just be well prepared - and I know that they always say 'have a good morning breakfast,' but that really does help." According to Duke's Talent Identification Program (TIP), many gifted children simply do not reach their full potential because they hide their talents, underachieve or exhibit behavioral problems. The behavior problems are sometimes due to what is known as "asynchronous development." (Asynchrony means being out of sync, both internally and externally.) Gifted children develop cognitively much faster than they do physically and emotionally, which poses some interesting problems for parents. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse says it is important for parents to become aware of the inherent developmental differences of their gifted children so they can prepare themselves to act as their children's "advocate." Unfortunately, just identifying whether or not your child is gifted can be difficult. ERIC offers these early signs of giftedness: Unusual alertness in infancy Less need for sleep in infancy Long attention span High activity level Smile or early recognition of caretakers Intense reactions to noise, pain, frustration, etc. Advanced progression through the developmental milestones Extraordinary memory Enjoyment and speed of learning Early and extensive language development Fascination with books Curiosity Excellent sense of humor Abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills Vivid imagination (e.g., imaginary companions) Sensitivity and compassion If you notice a majority of these characteristics in your child, you may wish to have him or her assessed by an experienced examiner to find out if he or she is gifted. Early identification is recommended (ages 3 through 8) because it allows for early intervention, which is as important for gifted children as it is for any other children with special needs. Tips for Parents If your child is planning to take a college-level entrance exam at an early age, preparation is essential. Superkids, a publication that reviews and rates educational software, recommends taking these steps to help your child tackle the SAT: Encourage your child to read. This will pay off on the SAT verbal section and help your child throughout college. Use the free guide from the Educational Training Service. The guide is free, and it is written by the same people who wrote the test. Buy an SAT preparation book or software. The practice tests and explanations will increase your child's familiarity with the test, help him or her save time on the test and reduce anxiety. Choose software if your child needs a more attention-grabbing study tool, or choose a book if your child lacks the necessary computer skills or just likes to learn by reading. Use vocabulary flashcards. Whether you make or buy these is irrelevant. If your child doesn't know the words, there's a limit to how far a great guessing strategy will carry him or her. There's no downside to this activity; the worst thing that can happen is that your child will have a better vocabulary! References Duke University Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse Journal Psychology Science Superkids Top ˆ
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