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Conquer Summer Brain Drain: Let Go of the Guilt!

May 21, 2023

Summer vacation is coming—for some of us it’s already here—and that means it’s time to tackle Summer Brain Drain again. How do we keep our kids’ brains active for the three months that they’re out of school? How can we make the gap between school years an advantage, and not just dead space? Most parents…

Legal Homework Rights: What’s the Limit on Homework?

November 4, 2018

Hi, I just read your article Titled “Can You ‘Opt Out’ of Homework?” (Click HERE for the original article.) I enjoyed the article but I guess I need a more concrete answer to the question of my legal homework rights: CAN I LEGALLY OPT OUT OF HOMEWORK FOR MY CHILD? – Dawn, SOAR® Parent The answer is…

A Tale of 2 Parents: Which One Are You?

September 26, 2014

After teaching in a high school for more than a decade, I met thousands of parents at parent-teacher conferences. As I think back, two particular meetings with parents really stood out to me. Megan was a student that struggled to turn assignments in on time, but she had a very nice presence in class. Going…

25 Ways to Ask Your Kids ‘How Was School?’ Without Asking ‘So How Was School?’

September 12, 2014

“It was fine.” “It was good.” “It was okay.” If you are a parent, you usually hear one of these 3 answers everyday when you ask your child how school was. The answer always leaves you wanting more. In order to get the answers and details about their school life, you have to get creative.…

Dealing With Report Card Stress

November 11, 2013

Report card stress is an all to common occurrence this time of year. You flip through the pile of bills, advertisements, and magazines and there it is…the dreaded report card. Reluctantly, you open the envelope. Your heart sinks. You had a feeling that things weren’t going well this quarter, but you weren’t prepared for this.…

How to Control Computer Distractions

August 20, 2013

While computers and the internet are amazing resources for students, they are full of potential distractions. Today’s students spend hours per day on the computer for learning tasks both in and out of school. However, social media sites, online games, and other “addictive” websites are everywhere, and many students have a hard time staying on…

Do We Prepare the World for a Child -or- a Child for the World?

January 28, 2013

There are some forces in our society—some obvious, others completely hidden—that pull us toward trying to fix the world to accommodate our children.  We get the vague sense that we should constantly arrange our children’s world around them. Sometimes these pressures are obvious and easy to resist, but sometimes they’re as subtle as our own…

When College Gets in the Way: An Alternate Approach

January 21, 2013

In about six hours, my family will grow by one. “It’s a boy!” As I write this, my husband, Brian, is driving home to Detroit, from North Carolina, with the newest member of our family…my 20 year-old cousin, Kevin. Kevin will be doing an internship with SOAR® and getting a heavy-duty course in study skills. …

Student Motivation: Are You Accidentally Sabotaging It with the Wrong Mindset?

December 11, 2012

Did you know that praising your students and children for good grades is the worst thing you can do for them? It sounds counter-intuitive, but Carol Dweck, Ph.D. has discovered, unequivocally, that it is true. Praising results sabotages effort! In her fascinating book, Mindset, Dr. Dweck explains all motivational challenges, wonderments, and mysteries according to…

How to Motivate Students… With Love

November 19, 2012

As we enter Thanksgiving week, I’ve got several things on my mind… In the last ten days, I attended two different conferences where dozens of parents and teachers talked about how challenging it is to motivate their children and students. Meanwhile, at home, my family is grieving the loss of my husband’s grandmother. We have…

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