Helping Children Learn

Helping Children Learn Some children understand the purpose of homework, studying, school and learning. They realize that school is a worthwhile endeavor that will help them achieve their life goals, and they consider the acquisition of new knowledge important and often, enjoyable. Unfortunately, other childrenparticularly those who are strugglingthink that going to school is a waste of time. They do not understand or appreciate why they should learn algebra or history or how to write papers. It is helpful to guide students like this toward the meaning of learning, since the task itself is not compelling enough. How can parents help their childwhether he or she is a smart, but uninspired student, or one who struggles with school workbecome more excited about and engaged in learning? Here are a few tips on how to promote learning that stays with a child for his or her entire education: Develop the critical thinker In todays educational environment, students are expected to be able to apply the knowledge they learn in school to a range of real-world settings. So, to help your child succeed in school and help him or her overall - you should draw out the inner thinker whenever possible. Ask him or her questions about passages and books he or she reads. Encourage your child to think about where certain skills and knowledge might be useful in real life. Encourage your child to express his or her opinion Passion fuels learning, so encourage your child to talk about his or her feelings and ideas and why he or she sees the world or a topic a certain way. Often, students who form strong opinions about various topics are more motivated to express those feelings through speech and in writing. Nurture this skill-building at home by working with your child to make arguments, express those arguments logically and reason with others with different opinions. These skills become more critical as your student progresses through school and eventually goes to on to college and the workforce. Embrace challenges From the time your child is young, encourage him or her to dream big. Let your child know that you genuinely believe that people can accomplish anything with hard work and perseverance, and that he or she is no different. Often, students find school uninteresting because they feel forced to do it. However, having a small or big goal in mind can make school feel more worthwhile because your child will start to realize that most endeavors in life require skills gained in the classroom. As your child progresses toward his or her goals, he or she will gain confidence, vision and drive. Build up the confidence If your child comes across as apathetic or negative about school (even if he or she seems confident as a person), he or she may lack self-efficacy, the belief that he or she can achieve or learn. Students who have little or no self-efficacy often lack motivation, too. Without motivation, students dont learn easilyor at least, they dont take ownership or interest in their own learning. As your child masters new skills and experiences success, his or her confidence will rise. Always let your child know that you believe in his or her abilities. If your child is one who struggles to find the meaning in school and views learning as a have to, it can be challenging to engage him or her. Share with your child that the goal of school is to learn, not to earn straight As on every test or report card. Explain that you are less interested in that sort of evidence of his or her knowledge and more concerned with his or her effort, persistence and curiosity. Above all, your objective should be to help your child acquire and retain knowledge so that he or she can apply that knowledge throughout his or her life. As you strive to achieve that goal, your child will increasingly come to value and appreciate learning.

5 Tips from an Elite ACT Tutor

5 Tips from an Elite ACT Tutor ACT SAT Prep and College Admissions Blog So you're getting ready to take the ACT! That's great! Good luck! Here are 5 tips to help you do your best on ACT exam day: Tip #1 Be confident, yet just a tiny bit paranoid. That slight edge of paranoia will help you not to underestimate the ACT. The ACT has 4 sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science, plus an optional written essay component. You've been studying English, math, reading, science, and writing for years and years, so you should be well prepared, right? Well, yes and no. Your background knowledge in each subject is very important and will help you on the test. However, the test makers will often try to lull you into a sense of false security. To do so, over the years the makers of the ACT have developed some rather slippery tricks to try to get you to make mistakes even on topics you're very familiar with. Which leads us to the next tip. Tip #2 Get very familiar with the test format well in advance of test day. Take a practice test. Take two! The more the better. As you take each practice test, you'll familiarize yourself more and more deeply with how the ACT approaches each of the 4 main sections. Work to find your personal best approach for each individual section. An approach that works well for one section may be disaster for another. For instance, you may find that reading the passage before the questions works very well for the Reading section, but slows you down way too much in the Science section. Each section has its own quirks, its own set of common traps and misdirections that try to lead you astray from the right answers, bog you down in unnecessary work, and slow you down. Learn how to spot these common pitfalls and avoid them, and your accuracy rate and pacing should improve substantially. Tip #3 Get to know your calculator and its abilities. The makers of the ACT state that the problems on the Math section can be solved without a calculator. That's true, but remember that many of the problems can be solved much more easily with a calculator, especially a graphing calculator. Make sure that your calculator is a model approved for use on the ACT and that it has fresh batteries. Keep in mind that part of knowing the abilities of your calculator is being able to recognize when it is not the fastest means of finding a solution. Sometimes a quick sketch or simple process of elimination can get you to the right answer faster. Tip #4 Learn how to conserve your energy. When you take the ACT, you'll be at the test center more than 4 hours, including breaks. Don't do more than necessary to answer each question. Lots of practice will enable you to tune out distractions and unimportant information so that you can focus on the material that's most relevant. If you're working on a math problem, remember that you don't have to show every step of your work like you would in school. When practicing for English, try to streamline and simplify the rules of grammar and punctuation so that you can apply them quickly and directly. Tip #5 Use all of the resources available to you. Practice ACT questions and tests are available at the official ACT website. To get even more practice and preparation, there are many other resources available. Schools often provide practice materials. You can search at your local library or bookstore, or online, to find books, flashcards, software, and apps for additional ACT practice. Another important resource you may want to use is a tutor. Individualized, one-to-one tutoring can help you approach your full potential on the ACT. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, '6baac2ae-05a3-4610-9d1f-265c8cbd809f', {});