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When Parents CAN’T Get Help

November 6, 2012

There is a scene in the Disney movie, “Beauty and the Beast,” where Belle’s father is desperately trying to save her. She’s being held prisoner by the Beast, so her father begs people in town to help rescue her. At first, the townspeople lead him on, letting him think they will help. But, in truth,…

Response to Opting-Out of Homework

October 1, 2012

Last week, I passed along a blog post by Heather Shumaker, a mom who has chosen to opt her children out of homework until age 11. In response, I received a thoughtful letter from a well-respected colleague. Martin Kirkwood is the director of guidance and college counseling for St. Theodore Guerin High School near Indianapolis,…

Shifting Out of Low-Gear Learning

October 1, 2012

“My son doesn’t remember what he reads in a textbook.” “My daughter doesn’t pay attention well in class.” “She doesn’t take good notes.” “He doesn’t know how to study for tests.” All of these situations are problems with learning…learning in a conventional school setting, at least. Most students find each of these tasks boring and…

Can You “Opt Out” of Homework?

September 24, 2012

We get a lot of phone calls from parents of elementary students, complaining about the volume of homework their child gets from school. We specialize in study skills and homework management, so it’s natural that parents would call us. We can help parents of these youngsters facilitate more peaceful homework sessions. We can also help…

A Secret Ingredient to Peaceful, Happy Mornings!

September 18, 2012

Being Convinced of What We “Know” I always knew that exercise was good for my brain, the same way I knew that flossing was good for my teeth. But it wasn’t until I was 33 and saw an x-ray of my teeth that I saw exactly why my dentist kept nagging me about flossing; all…

Motivation: A Simple Lesson from Dumbo

April 23, 2012

We recently took a family trip to Walt Disney World. My seven-year-old son loved Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and having his picture taken with Darth Vader & Storm Troopers from Star Wars! Despite these –and many other- magical attractions, do you know what ONE thing my son loved more than anything else? The one…

Homework Is Sabotaging My Family!

March 13, 2012

For the last few months, my son has been drowning in homework! He’s in second-grade. As you may know, he has dyslexia and ADHD. But, his “disabilities” are not the problem. As a matter of fact, our targeted interventions and his hard work have put him very close to “grade-level.” He hates writing (the process…

Thanksgiving Tribute to Parents and Teachers

November 22, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! In the spirit of this wonderful holiday, this week’s newsletter is a tribute to parents and teachers. I have shared many details about struggles we have had to help my son over the past several months, including a shocking situation that caused us to pull him from his school abruptly last spring. We…

How to Improve Students’ Attitudes Towards Study Skills

September 27, 2011

Study skills have earned a bad “rap” over the years for many reasons: Students think they are “boring” because many boring things are lumped together with study skills. Students think they mean a lot of extra work because many of the “free” study skills online are very labor-intensive and time-intensive. Students think they must be…

A State-Championship, A Dragon, and Noah Webster

August 3, 2011

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There are a few lose ends to tie up from last week. THE DRAGONS WON! On Friday, I mentioned we were gearing up to see our hometown football team play in the state championship on Saturday. The game was played on the home field of the Detroit Lions,…

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