There is more to reading than learning the alphabet and identifying words. We need to start by understanding the meaning of words and the ways in which they are used in spoken language. We have to experience the rhythm of speech. Along the way, we need to develop eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination, and cognitive skills to become proficient readers. And we need to develop and expand our vocabulary through life experience.

We can best support that learning process by reading to our young children every day, by giving our kids opportunities to participate in a variety of activities, and by engaging them in conversation regularly. The best way to encourage children to read on their own is to show them that we enjoy reading a variety of materials on a daily basis.

Parents can help young children read by pointing out words on signs, in books, and in other printed materials, then discussing their meanings. Show your child how to use tracking skills — following text on a page — by using your finger to point out the words as you read a story to them. Improve their visual skills by cutting out shapes together, playing sorting games, and creating patterns with blocks, beads or other shapes.

You can sing songs and recite nursery rhymes or poems to help your child grasp the rhythm of spoken language. Listening to books on tape while following along in the printed book is another fun way to encourage reading and vocal variety in speaking.

Reading together and talking about a story gives you an opportunity to expand your child’s vocabulary, develop his reasoning skills, and improve his recall abilities. Allow your child to make predictions about the story and characters. Ask her to describe images inspired by the text, make comparisons with people and situations she knows, and tell you how she would change the story.

Working together on puzzles and mazes, and playing card and board games are fun ways to develop reasoning and recall skills. Ask your child to describe different approaches to solving a task. Discuss the events of the day and ask your child to recall the details. Spend time each day talking with, listening to, and encouraging your child to expand their horizons and you can develop a good reader.

Diane Trautman can be reached at StudyPros In-Home Tutoring, 661-296-9206 or studypros.com.

Should kids spend more time in school each day? Should the school year be extended?

I asked these questions of my younger son, then a high school senior. He groaned and buried his head in his hands. And when I asked a mother I know, she protested that her kids can’t have a longer day in the classroom and still complete four to six hours of homework each night.

Extended school days was among the education reform recommendations contained in the 1983 report “Nation at Risk,” published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Since that time, there has been no national movement to incorporate that suggestion. Some charter schools have experimented with longer days, but the concept seems to have been shunned on a large scale.

I raise this issue because two recent news articles caught my eye. One cited a study about high school seniors underperforming despite taking more challenging courses than their predecessors. The other concerned a recent pilot program in Massachusetts that merits attention.

The state of Massachusetts earmarked funds for an initiative, targeting mostly poor urban schools, that extends the school day for elementary and middle students. The extra two hours each day provide some time for core curriculum, but also expand physical education, allow time for tutoring, and give students an opportunity to explore a greater range of electives, including the arts.

More recently, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) introduced the Teaching Fellows for Expanded Learning and After-School Act as part of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. Under this proposal, a national service corps of aspiring teachers would work with students in the extended-day programs and help teachers during during the regular day.

At a time when U.S. students are becoming less competitive than their peers in other countries — who spend significantly more time in the classroom — it makes sense to reconsider extended school days. Perhaps with more time to learn and more variety in their lessons, our children wouldn’t need the volume of homework some endure. With more in-depth lessons, and fewer but more meaningful tests, our kids will be able to hold their own against the competition.

You can read more about the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time To Support Student Success Initiative and access a copy of the report by visiting:

<www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/01/massachusetts.html>

For more information call StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at (661) 296-9206.

Parents and children often equate education with tedious months spent in the classroom and summertime as a break for the brain. In fact, learning can and should continue during the summer, though perhaps in a more enjoyable form.

There are many opportunities during the next few months for kids to participate in activities that will help them appreciate the relevance of future academic lessons and allow them to develop new interests and skills that build confidence.

The City of Santa Clarita offers an array of fun summer recreational programs for all ages. Kids can sing, or act, learn woodworking or cooking, all the while improving their reading, listening, communication, and math skills, and their physical coordination. Some classes are geared toward children with special needs. Some are parent and child courses. What a great way to learn something new and spend quality time together!

Summer evenings are good for reading books together as a family or playing games that build vocabulary and reasoning ability. If the weather is acceptable, you might consider setting up an outdoor garden. Kids may not eat tomatoes from the store, but they’ll give their own homegrown variety a try.

Working together to set up and review the daily family schedule can give children a clearer sense of the time required for certain activities and teach them how to arrange their days to fit in all the things they want to do. We can show them how fit in more time for fun by getting and keeping their belongings organized with minimal effort.

If academic assistance is in order, you might want to make arrangements before school ends to get a copy of next year’s textbook. Work through the book with your son or bring in a tutor who will help him get the head start he needs to enter the next grade fully prepared.

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Diane Trautman owns and operates StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at 661-296-9206 or studypros.com.

Like me, you may be asking yourself:  How did June get here so fast? Where did the school year go? Suddenly we have to scramble to figure out new schedules for childcare and arrange for healthy activities to keep them out of trouble while were working.

The kids are no doubt thrilled that summer break is on the horizon. For some students, the break may be a brief respite before summer classes start. Still, even if your children aren’t enrolled in summer school or community college classes, continuing education of one sort or another is important. It doesnt have to be the standard academic curricula, although some review and preparation for the following year is most definitely beneficial.

Before the school year ends, you might want to meet with your childs current teacher to discuss ways in which you can help your child review lessons over the summer and prepare for the next school year. Maybe that teacher or another can make arrangements to loan you the textbook for the next level.

Experts tell us that continuous learning creates new synapses or connections in our brains and keeps us mentally healthy. Conversely, reviewing previous lessons imprints the acquired knowledge for more permanent storage and allows us to combine the old information with the new.

To get those new synapses popping, you might encourage your child to sign up for a Parks and Recreation program that hasnt been on their radar. Maybe theres a class out there that you can both attend. Try painting. Or learn German. Tap dancing could be a good way to have fun together and reconnect after a hectic year of Is your homework done? and Im off to another meeting.

The point is that its easy for children to get into ruts and not know how to get out of them. We parents forget that kids have limited exposure to and knowledge about the world. They need our help to discover the possibilities. Perhaps its as important that we share more fun, silly, relaxing moments with them. Before you know it theyll be off on their own and youll never get this time with them back.

So as we head into the … lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer… we wish you and your families a summer filled with new experiences, new discoveries and new connections. If a little extra help is needed with academic subjects, were here to help.

Diane Trautman, Education Director

For more information, please contact StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at (661) 296-9206.

In August I escorted my younger son to his first year of college and, as late September approaches, I will be preparing to get my older son back to the dorms for his sophomore year. During this transitional time, my thoughts are vacillating wildly between delightful memories and halting concerns. Both of my young men need the tools to navigate through the world of post-secondary education and the real world beyond. I worry: Did I teach them enough to guide them through their day-to-day lives?

When I was in high school, we had home economics classes where we learned basic sewing and cooking techniques. In math classes, we learned how to develop and manage a household budget, and learned about bank accounts and balancing checkbooks. While some boys took the Home-Ec class (perhaps just to be surrounded by girls), many others enjoyed metal and wood working classes. The practical arts were considered foundational both for trade-bound and college-bound students.

My sons took cooking in junior high school, but these and other life skills lessons are now few and far between. Most of our young people lack an understanding of even the most basic personal financial management. They wouldn’t know what to do if a check bounced, and they throw clothes away because they don’t know how to repair them. Our society has become so fixated on test scores that it’s easy to neglect showing them how to manage their lives responsibly once they’ve left the nest.

Many parents have full-time jobs that leave little time at the end of the day to teach these skills. Nevertheless, we must take steps to prepare our children for adulthood. We can begin by teaching young children how to count money and make change, and eventually manage an allowance and a bank account. We can teach our sons and daughters how to use needle and thread to mend their clothes and learn how set up a sewing machine and measure fabric to create something new. We can engage them in meal planning and preparation. We can teach them how to take care of the family car. These and other skills help our children better understand the practical applications of the concepts they’re learning in the classroom. As a result, caring for self and others becomes important, and school becomes meaningful.

For more information, contact StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at (661) 296-9206.

A friend and colleague recently gave me an earful about a certain activity in which we’re both engaged. When she finished expressing her frustrations, she apologized for her honesty and offered to back off. I told her that I actually appreciated her remarks, even if I didn’t agree with everything she said.

That’s not to say that some of the statements didn’t hurt, but I knew from experience that it’s important to separate the way people say things from the information they are trying to convey. I listened to her words, determined her key points, and discussed what should be done to move forward productively.

Many children (and some adults) are not practiced at filtering comments for content. Their immediate response is to assume a defensive posture. Once that occurs, it’s difficult to regain their attention or gain their cooperation. On the other hand, if the comments are balanced — acknowledging strengths, while offering ideas for improvement — we are more likely to listen.

When parents tell me that their children tune them out, I can sympathize. Most of us go through that to some degree with our kids. Part of it may be related to our children’s stages of development, but often it is a product of the role we play with them and how well we really listen to them.

In “The Parent’s Handbook: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting,” authors Don Dinkmeyer and Gary D. McKay explore ways in which parents can build their children’s confidence. They also discuss communication styles and strategies, cautioning us to avoid playing “judge” or “commander-in-chief” or “consoler” when conveying information, and encouraging us to practice “reflective listening” when our children want to engage us in conversation.

In reflective listening, we provide “open responses” which acknowledge the child’s feelings and invite the child to tell us more. A “closed response” dismisses the child’s feelings and has the effect of slamming the door on conversation.

With parent-teacher conferences concluded and mid-year finals approaching, this is a good time to have an open conversation with your son or daughter about their classes. Take a look at their work, discuss the feedback from their teachers and develop a plan to help them prepare for their tests and successfully complete the semester. And if you decide that a tutor could provide that extra boost, call us right away.

For more information, contact StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at (661) 296-9206.

Do you know how memory works? Do you want to avoid forgetting information you have memorized? How confident are you that you can retain what you have committed to memory?

Daniel T. Willingham, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Virginia, gives us three basic principles and some tools to help children and adults, improve their memory in a fascinating article entitled “What Will Improve a Student’s Memory”, American Educator (Winter 2008-2009). The full article can be read at the American Federation of Teachers website.

The first principle is that memories are formed as the residue of thought. We remember what we think about. Merely re-reading notes or cramming won’t suffice. Students must ask questions as they read. Why is a statement of fact true and why it is relevant to the discussion? Techniques such as outlining and diagramming help students learn to explore ideas and the ways in which they’re related.

Experts tell us that the mode in which information is received — visual, oral, experiential, etc., is less important than the meaning we attach to the information and the amount of time we ponder it. Therefore, students should study early and often and they should study at different times to avoid associating the memories with a particular time of day. To ensure retention, students should continue to study even after they think they’re fully prepared.

The second principle is that memories are inaccessible mostly due to missing or ambiguous cues. Though memories may fade with time, the biggest reason we can’t recall information is that we haven’t developed detailed and distinctive cues that enable us to easily locate the specific information in our memories. When students understand the main ideas, supporting information and the connections they can readily recall the points at test time. To memorize information that has no meaningful connection, cues can be created using acronyms, acrostics, music, rhymes and other mnemonic devices.

The third principle is that people tend to think their learning is more complete than it really is. Children and adults often overestimate the amount of knowledge they have amassed in their memories. The best way to assure you have retained information is by testing yourself and having other people test you. When you can explain something to someone else, then you’ve learned it.

Diane Trautman can be reached at StudyPros In-Home Tutoring, 661-296-9206 or studypros.com.

Imagine an organized activity that would make it safer for your primary school child to walk to school, help him to socialize, and give her more exercise. Imagine also that this activity could save you time; save you money; and decrease the amount of traffic, air pollution and global warming gasses emitted around town. Wow, you’d say, where do I sign up?

At the moment, unfortunately, you can’t. However, with a little organization from the local elementary school districts, and some advocacy from parents, the Santa Clarita Valley could host a thriving program called the Walking School Bus.

This is just what it sounds like: a walking “bus” of children, with an adult “driver” in the front and another “conductor” in the back, making its way through your neighborhood, stopping at your house and picking up your child, growing larger as it approaches the school. At the end of the day, children gather outside the school and reverse the route. Sound like fun? You bet.  When researchers surveyed children already participating in this program in other cities, most kids say they like talking with their friends on the way to school. This is especially good for kids who are new to the area. Also, with child obesity rates hitting an all-time high (15% of American children aged 6 to 19 are considered overweight), you’d be doing them a favor by giving them an opportunity for more exercise.

The benefits to you as the parent are perhaps even more enjoyable. First, it attacks the number one complaint I hear from citizens in my role as a city planning commissioner: traffic. Less traffic around the school site also increases safety and means a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted, and less air pollution in our valley. Also, it saves you time. Instead of throwing on your clothes and running out to the car in the morning, you can have that extra cup of coffee as your child eagerly awaits the “bus.”

To start this program here in Santa Clarita, parents, site councils, PTAs, PTOs, and school districts would have to work together to create an interest survey, develop the bus routes, and create safety regulations. The result would be a program which makes our neighborhoods safe for our children and reinforces the connection among school, community, and the citizen.

It is a well known fact, backed up by research, that what parents do at home directly affects their children’s performance in school. In particular, if parents read to, and in front of, their young children, and if they spend time having extended conversations with them, the children will develop better reading and critical thinking skills, which are the foundation of their educational experience.

Experts tell us to take time to read to our young children, and to read with them. It is equally important to be seen enjoying reading yourself. In a larger context, we’re talking about creating a more literary environment around the house: having books, magazines, and newspapers available, in plain sight, and using them frequently

It seems so logical when stated in black and white, but practicing this can be difficult. Most parents’ days are filled with their own activities, whether they work outside the home or not, and by the time their children are back from school and dinner’s on the table, they may want nothing more than to collapse in front of the TV. Of course, there is nothing wrong with dumb entertainment, but as a parent, you must be aware that you are constantly being observed. You are the primary role model for your children’s behavior. 

This brings me to my larger point. Guiding your children to success in school is just one job you have as a parent. You can help guide your children to success in relationships by examining your actions within your own relationships at home. Do you show affection, really listen when others speak, and avoid letting your ego take control?

You can guide your children to success as citizens by getting involved with your community and showing them that you care about others. With older children, you can discuss current events and issues in the community. Especially important is demonstrating to them that you care enough about your community to register to vote, and then to consider carefully and discuss with them fully each measure and candidate before casting your ballot. As Gandhi once said, we must be the change we wish to see in the world. That change starts at home.

Selecting the right tutor is the first step toward improving your child’s grades, but, to ensure that the tutoring is successful, parents should communicate regularly with the tutor, providing information and feedback.

Just as your pediatrician needs information about your child’s symptoms and health history, the tutor needs a variety of information to evaluate your child’s needs and to develop a plan. Just as importantly, the tutor will need ongoing feedback, from both the parent and the student. This will allow the tutor to adjust her approach to meet the student’s requirements.

When a parent calls me to discuss tutoring, I ask about the child’s academic history, study skills, general level of confidence, personality and extracurricular interests, as well as learning style and any observed or diagnosed disability. That information guides me in selection of the appropriate tutor. 

I advise parents to begin that first lesson by showing the tutor their child’s homework, completed tests, report cards, IEP, and any other pertinent materials. Experienced tutors are eager for insights that will allow them to quickly assess and effectively address any deficiencies.

It’s important that you discuss your concerns and observations privately with the tutor. This will preserve your child’s dignity and protect his relationship with his tutor.

Prepare your child for tutoring by encouraging her to openly discuss her needs with the tutor. If the pace of the lesson seems to fast for her, for example, she should tell the tutor to slow down. If she hesitates to express herself, pull the tutor aside and share your child’s feedback with the tutor yourself. 

As lessons continue, keep the tutor updated about changes in your child’s daily classroom performance, his grades, study habits, feedback from his teacher, and events that may be affecting the child’s behavior. If the tutoring doesn’t seem to be working, the tutor needs to know right away so he can make adjustments. If that important personal connection just isn’t there, it’s better to change tutors early before your child digs in his heels and decides to resist all outside assistance.

Diane Trautman owns and operates StudyPros In-Home Tutoring at 661-296-9206 and studypros.com.