Are You Reading this Summer?

Did you know that Tuesday, June 23 is National Summer Learning Day? At Sylvan, this is pretty exciting! Since we work year round, we know the importance of making sure students' brains stay active during the summer months. Ten to twelve weeks is a LONG time off for most people. I know when I take a week long vacation, it takes me a few days to get back in the swing of things when I get back to work...imagine what it's like for students after a summer long break!

With that in mind, I'm encouraged by the fact that Sylvan has partnered with the National Summer Learning Association to celebrate Summer Learning Day! Summer is such a fantastic time to enrich a child's skills, my favorite skill to encourage is READING! For a child to discover the enjoyment of being swept away by a good book is one of my greatest hopes! Part of making that happen is practice and making sure a child becomes proficient at reading. No one likes to do something they are not good at! I know I don't!

You can make a game out of improving those reading skills and make it fun. Mail time can be fun...take that junk mail that seems to fill the box and have your young child circle various words. Pick a word you know will occur a lot (like "the" or "of") and have the child seek and find.

To get your child practicing oral reading, have your child read any and everything out loud: street signs, store names, restaurant menus, etc. For an extra special treat, make a book on tape play it back or send it to a loved one who lives far away. I'm sure you have someone who would love to have that in their mailbox!

For older students, one of my favorite things Sylvan offers is the Advanced Reading Skills class. Students really get a kick out of how much they can improve their reading skills (speed and comprehension) in just the first class. It's especially good for those kids who are competitive...even with themselves! There is a class starting next week, so jump on that bandwagon and sign up! Your student will LOVE it!

Most of all, make sure that you have lots of books on hand. Sylvan has a great resource for families called BookAdventure. It's a free reading incentive website designed to help students become more motivated about reading.

Any of us would be happy to talk to you more about how to help your student become a more engaged reader and perhaps avoid that "Brain Drain" this summer!

866-949-4776

Need Help in Fractions? Most do!

Over the past 16 years, I've worked with a lot of students who have a variety of ages and skill levels. Many who come in for math help have struggled for years and finally hit a wall during their high school years. By the time they come in to see me, we are dealing with a student who not only hates math, but is beginning to hate school as well...we have a lot to overcome by this time!
Of course, the first thing that we do is take a look at where the root of the problem is--then figure out how we can fix it. Most of the time we can, and we are hopeful that the student is willing to believe that we can and be patient with the process. We evaluate the students' skills, looking at everything that the student should know by this point in their school career.
You know what I find most often? That the student does not have a clue what to do with a fraction! A FRACTION! These fraction skills are taught in the 5th grade--then often not taught again, except as they apply to higher math. And as each math class piles on more and more difficult fraction skills, the student gets more and more discouraged.
The up side is, by high school, most kid-brains are able to figure them out! They just need to be given simple, step-by-step directions. I love it when we show a student how easy fractions are when you break them down. I love seeing the student slowly (but surely) not hate math anymore. I love it that math is no longer big and scary!
Next week is a fun week at Sylvan. We are teaching a class JUST ON FRACTIONS! So we will have a group of kiddos who no longer fear the big bad fraction!
Do you have a student in this boat? If you are reading this you probably do. Don't wait another year and hope it gets better. It won't. Give us a call and we'll make it better--for everyone!
1-866-949-4776