Keeping skills sharp over the Summer

In the last few weeks, I have been asked several times by parents at school about summer tutoring for their child. Some parents simply wonder how to help their child maintain or improve academic skills. I started thinking about this and realized it is such an individual response. It really depends on several factors. Below are some basic questions to consider:

• Is your child already struggling in any content area?
• Did he/she leave their current grade weak in any area? (based on teacher comments, conferences or report card grades)
• Do you, as the parent, feel you are too busy to work with your child daily?
• Does your child attend summer camps or receive child care that give little focus to academics?

If you answered "yes" to at least 3 of these questions, your child could benefit from summer tutoring. Much research has shown that kids lose a great deal of what they have learned through the academic school year if these skills are not practiced over the summer. Some students return to school and very quickly pick up where they left off. Others need just a minimum amount of review from the teacher (which all teachers do the first quarter of school). However, there are some students who have a more difficult time remembering previously taught material, and as the school year progresses and the pace of the academic workload increases, they begin to fall father and farther behind. Often this affects the student's confidence, which in turn, creates even more difficulty in their learning. With deep budget cuts now in place, teachers have larger class sizes and are not always able to give each student the time he or she needs to "catch up." So, with this said, if your child's primary care giver over the summer does not continue the learning process, your child's skills could be affected, which could impede growth and progress upon returning to school in August.

As you all know, I believe parents are a child's first (and often best) educator. I completely support and encourage parental involvement. Staying involved and connected is important, even if you do hire a tutor. Although individual tutoring by a licensed, professionally-trained educator is a great means of reinforcing the learning process, it is not a viable option for all parents. So if you are interested in how you (the parent) can can work with your child during the summer, consider the following. Here are a few FAQ's that I seem to get most often from parents:

What is the best way to help my child if I have limited time with them? There are many strategies but the simplest is just to read with your child. Books are a great option, but simply reading everyday print is helpful too. Reading restaurant menus or discussing road signs when travelling are a great way to learn print in the environment. And parents, please....encourage your child to keep a journal! A short entry every day of just a few sentences will promote their ability to put thoughts on paper, as well as assist with spelling, and improve penmanship.

What is the minimum amount of time I should work with my child daily? There really is no minimum or maximum. But a suggested amount of time is 20-30 minutes daily. Any amount of time is helpful. Being mindful of your child's attitude/motivation at an particular time is important. If they seem to be tired or are having an "off" day, maybe that is the day to push less. Simply reading to them is fine. Let them do more of the work when they feel their best.

Is it ok to skip days if we are just too busy? Of course, your summer and your child's summer should be fun. However, skipping too many days may not benefit your child. Having some sort of basic routine, combined with flexibility, is usually best.

What is the best time of day to work with my child? This should be based on your own schedule as well as the ability and motivation of your child. If you have time, mornings are usually best. Kids are often too tired at night after a long day at the pool, being in an active childcare program, or from summer camps. When they are tired, they are distracted and not focused. They also are not motivated to learn. If you only have time in the evenings, the earlier is usually better.

What type of materials/books should I use? Again, any reading material is fine as long as it is interesting to your child. Magazines are great, as well as online Internet articles (if an adult is available to supervise them). Local libraries are full of great books and even offer reading/story time for young children. They will also provide you with suggested reading material (on or near grade level for your child). Younger children can be read to while older children can read their own material. (However, even my teenage daughter still likes to be read to. She reads a page, then I read a page.) You can vary your instruction based on the age and ability of your child.

But I work full-time. How can I fit in time for working with my child? Take advantage of resources. If your child stays with a grandparent or older sibling, let them help. Often they will gladly take on this responsibility and it can foster a deeper bond between them. Many people are willing to help if you simply ask. Also, allow your child to be more accountable of his or her own learning. Pick out books the night before that he or she can read independently. Make a chart or checklist and let your child mark them off as he reads. Be on the honor system. When you have time, quiz your child about the characters in the book or new words he has learned. It is never to early to start creating responsible learners.

Should I work on things other than reading and writing? Absolutely. Studies have shown that students lose a tremendous amount of math skills over the summer. This is something parents can greatly limit. Some types of math that can be done with children are: money (counting coins, etc), time, and basic math facts. Card games are also great for working on math facts. Math does not have to be done as computations (paper and pencil), you can do mental math with your child. Make it fun ~ play games with your child.

For more tips on how you can be an advocate for your child's education, visit my website at: http://cindyzuluaga.yolasite.com/ E-mail me directly (cindyzuluaga@aol.com) if you would like information on finding a tutor and/or scheduling an appointment with me.

Retention ~ the dreaded 9-letter word.

Mention the idea of retention and parents tense up, children go pale, and teachers fear repercussions for not having provided "adequate" academic growth for a child. But when students are not on grade-level and promotion to the next grade would only ensure failure, what is the best solution to meeting a child's academic needs? This question is actually two-pronged (academic vs. social) with many smaller prongs that get trickery along the way. First and foremost, most educators believe a child's academic needs should be placed above any underlying concern of social stigma from repeating a grade. The debate over this is heated as you will see from the articles below. There is no black and white answer ~ only varying shades of gray. Professionals on both sides argue the validity of their points concerning retention when a students has not met (or cannot consistently maintain) grade level expectations. One must first look at the factors that led to the underachieving, low performance of a student. There are many questions that immediately come to mind: Is there some sort of learning disability that was not identified? Should the child have had a PEP/IEP? Did the child have one, but for whatever reasons, possibly limited resources of the teacher or school system, were modifications not put in place? Were there behavior issues (ODD, ADD/ADHD) or social/home factors that led to academic difficulty? Is the student unmotivated, and if so, why? Is the teacher/classroom setting a poor fit for the child's needs? (Yes, with many diverse learners out there, there are often simply "personality clashes" between students and teachers.) The list of questions goes on and on, but the answers are limited to what was observed (and identified) as a possible cause of academic failure. And should we even use the word failure? If so, whose failure is it? The student's, teacher's, or parent's....or all three? As you can see, this is a difficult topic. Most educators are remarkable at identifying struggling learners early on and putting into place intervention strategies. These strategies, coupled with home/parental support, often prevent students from hitting bottom and ending up at the end of an academic year without the possibility of forward, upward mobility. But with budget cuts forthcoming, class sizes growing, teacher demands increasing, and resources shrinking, are we going to see an upward trend in retention rates and in schools who are spiralling downward due to not being able to meet their AYP goals? Below are some articles that shed light on the subject. I have tried to find some without bias or prejudice. It is important that we open the floor to discussion respectfully, without pointing fingers at wrong-doers or outdated policies (although there are some of both out there). In doing so, we are better prepared to find solutions. If we only focus on what/who is to blame, we are all ill-equipped to find a resolution. http://www.education.com/reference/article/kindergarten-entrance-age-retention/ http://www.theteachersguide.com/ParentGuide2Retention.htm http://sitemaker.umich.edu/bajacob/files/ret_nber_10_2_2007.pdf http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/grade_retention.php http://education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/retention/ http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED408102.pdf

Overscheduled kids ~ where do we draw the line?

Do you ever wonder how many activities are "too many" for your child? As a society, our kids are more overscheduled than ever. Between soccer practice, gymnastics, church events and play dates, do they really have time to just enjoy being a kid? As a teacher, I see the effects every day in school of kids who are shuffled from one activity to the next during school nights, yet can't seem to get their homework done or keep their eyes open during class. Or maybe they are boucing off the walls from lack of sleep. Regardless of how it manifests itself, being overscheduled has been shown to create havoc on on children's ability to learn, concentrate, and maintin a healthy and balanced mind and body. What happened to just playing in the backyard and enjoying some downtime with neighborhood friends friends and family? In our haste and desire to give our children all the opportunities to try new things, are we overstimulating them to the point of fatigue?? (Which is highly correlated to ADD and ADHD, both which have risen sharply in the last decade.) You decide... I have found several interesting articles showing the detrimental effects of overschuled, busy kids. They also cite several examples each to support the theory that fewer activites and more downtime may actually stimulate higher order thinking skills while encouraging natural creativity. The first article is from an educational point of view. The second link is one posted from momsblog.com from a moms point of view. The third one I simply found interesting. Just food for thought... http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr237.shtml http://themomblog.ocregister.com/2010/10/05/are-your-kids-in-too-many-activities/67948/ http://hubpages.com/hub/How-much-is-too-much-activity-for-children

Reaching kids through music

This is a great study of reaching inner city kids exposed to violence through music. The rationale, reasoning, and implications are spelled out as well as effective methods and practices. It could easily be argued this same approach could be taken with mainstreamed students in any classroom, with ESL students or with students of special abilities. The focus here is on the positive nature of integrating music; not on the circumstances of the student. http://idea.library.drexel.edu/bitstream/1860/2990/1/Carrie%20Davoli.pdf

Teaching Math Through Literacy

Ok, so most of you who know me know that I am a huge fan of integration. I believe fully that no subject matter should be taught in isolation or fragments. Rather, it should all be nciely blended (integrated) in order to be more meaningful for the learner. Through some recent conversations I have concluded that many parents (and even a few educators) are not aware of the tremendous benefit of teaching math through literature (or at least introducing a topic) and some simply do not know how. So I have included a few links here to get you started. The first one is one of my all-time favorite math authors, Stuart J. Murphy. The other two are by Amy Axelrod and Cindy Neuchswander, both excellent authors of children's literature with a focus on math content. Please explore at your convenience. Most of the books can be found in your local library..no need to spend money on the sets. http://stuartjmurphy.com/ (great for k-2) http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Amy-Axelrod/1271388 (primarily K-2, possibly higher) http://www.cneuschwander.com/ (any age, but especially helpful for grades 3-5) http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/math.html ) overall a great resource for parents or teachers)

Voicethreads ~ the easiest thing you've never done!

Ok, so you hear all the hype about podcasts, digital storytelling, voicethreads, etc. But what are all these new digital devices and how can they work for you? Look no further. I have found the site with all the answers. And the good news is there is a tutorial for every question you can possibly have about how to create, record, and share your own digital story. So the next time you want to share information, photos, or a new project you (or your class) has created, visit this cool site to learn how to design your own story, in your own words, with your own self-designed illustrations or photos. Enjoy! http://voicethread.com/#home

Jigzone ~ an interactive online puzzle site

Teachers/Parents: Ever want your children to enjoy computer time without worrying what they are doing? Jigzone offers a balance between fun and learning. There are many shapes and sizes of online puzzles to choose from to fit the needs of diverse learners with different abilities. Your kids will love it! http://www.jigzone.com/