3 Reasons Why Waiting to Get Help is a BAD IDEA

 CAN YOUR CHILD AFFORD FOR YOU TO WAIT?

School has begun.  Students are settled.  The grades are in.  Students should have received their progress report by now.  The first progress report is an important indicator into your child's academic performance.  Are they failing, barely passing, passing, or excelling? Everyone should want their child to excel.  No one certainly wants them to fail.  So, don't take this first progress report for granted or brush it off.  If the grades aren't good, it indicates that your child needs help and waiting may not be the best solution. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" -Benjamin Franklin You may have heard this saying before.  Simply put (in the world of education), it means that if you plan, prepare, and get help early, you may prevent failure.  Just a little help early on makes a world of difference in the end.  We get calls from parents all of the time and they tell us that they will "wait to see" if their child will pull his/her grades up without establishing an effective plan to do so.  Another saying states that "a failure to plan is a plan to fail." Other times, parents call us after they've waited until it was almost too late to get their child some help with their academics.   We want to help you prevent failure by helping you to understand why it isn't a good idea to wait. 3 Reasons Why Waiting is  NOT a Good Idea! Reason 1  Loss of Confidence  A child's confidence is connected to how well they perform--their success. If your child starts off doing well their confidence increases.  If they perform poorly on assignments, eventually their confidence will become affected by it.  They may begin to give up easily or stop trying altogether.  Their class participation may dwindle or they may withdraw during class.  Why should they keep trying if they keep getting the wrong answers? It is important to take notice of your child's behavior and attitude as it relates to their schoolwork. The more they fail, the less enthusiastic and motivated they become.  This increases the likelihood of continued failure.  You have to intervene as soon as your child begins to struggle and either provide the extra assistance they need or find someone who can.  Your child cannot wait! Reason 2  Falling Behind                                     Most of the information that students learn in school builds upon one another.  This not only occurs from lesson to lesson and unit to unit, it occurs from one grade level to the next.  It is important that foundations of knowledge are established and understood before moving on to the next level.  Many students misunderstand or lack the foundation of skills learned at the beginning of the school year or during the previous school year to be successful in their classes. So, they fall behind.  If they do not catch up as soon as possible, they continue to fall behind making it extremely difficult to understand any new material covered by the teacher.  When they say, "I just don't get it," this may be an indication that there are some issues with understanding basic concepts that were taught.  Understand that this leads to frustration, stress, and the possibility of failure.  Can your child afford to retake a test or class or to redo an assignment?  As one saying puts it, "if you don't have time to do it right, you must have time to do it again."  Give your child a chance to do it right and not to have to do it again.  Don't wait until the last minute to get them the help they need.  Find a tutor now! Reason 3  It's Stressful                                      Have you ever been stressed? It's not a good feeling.  So, just imagine how a child feels when dealing with the pressures related to passing a test or doing well on an assignment when they don't understand the information.  They get upset or frustrated and that makes it hard to complete the assignment.  Stress affects a student's ability to focus and concentrate because he/she is so worried about getting the wrong answer.  Stress also affects behavior and the ability to sleep well at night.  It even affects a person's health.  If I child falls behind in school, stress is a possible outcome.  It may affect a child mentally, physically, emotionally, behaviorally, and/or psychologically.  Make life easier and stress free for your child.  Get them the help they need and deserve by not waiting until they fail.  Find someone to provide academic tutoring and support today! Can you afford to wait? Accelerated Learning Services wants to help you! Even if your child is doing well in his/her classes getting help to reinforce concepts won't hurt.  It's okay to have them participate in tutoring every 2 weeks in order to maintain good grades or improve.  For children who are not doing well based on the last progress report received, we encourage you to get tutoring assistance immediately.  Give us a call at  855-388-8676 or visit us on the web at www.alstutoring.com for tutoring and test prep. We will be glad to speak with you and assist you in any way possible. Connect with Us for Specials & Updates

6 Tips To Get Ready for Back 2 School

BACK-2-SCHOOL TIME

6 Tips To Get Them Back-To-School Ready 

By Aquarius Cain, CEO Accelerated Learning Educational Services

You made it through the summer!  Now it's time to get the kids ready to go back-to-school.  Shhh!  I won't tell the kids that you're more excited about it than they are.  So you survived and now it's time for shopping, registration, open houses, and getting the kids back to their regularly scheduled program.  .Many kids have settled into a summer routine and it's your job to whip them back into shape and have them ready to go back to school. 

Here are some tips to help you get the kids ready. We will walk you through it, so your life won't be hectic for the next few weeks.

1. Schedule Vaccinations and Physicals NOW

Everyone will be scheduling doctor appointments and chances are your child's physician is booked solid for the next 2-3 weeks. Don't get discouraged! Go ahead and schedule the closest appointment they have and ask them to put you on the waiting list if there are any cancellations. If your child is already up-to-date on their shots, all you have to do is request a copy and have them to either fax it to the school, mail it to your home, or hold it for pick up. There is no need to make an appointment for copies.

Remember, you need a copy of their up-to-date vaccinations to get them enrolled or registered in school unless you have a waiver.

2. Begin Putting Them on a Regular Schedule

Chances are the kids have been going to bed late, sleeping late, and taking a few naps throughout the day.

• Begin to gradually move their bedtime up by 30 minutes to an hour every few days to get them used to going to bed around their "school bedtime."
• Do the same thing to get them up in the mornings.
• Make sure they eat a balanced breakfast every morning to get used to eating breakfast again.

3. Get the Kids Excited

Get the kids excited about going back to school with a countdown and setting back to school milestones. It is important to set the tone so that kids don't dread going back to school.

• Start counting down the days to go back to school: Create a calendar that allows the kids to change the number of days left each day.
 
• Do something special to celebrate the major milestones before school begins, such as: go out for ice cream 5 days before school begins, family game night 3 days before, and a special family dinner the first day of school.

4. Do Extra Reading & Math Practice

 

 

Start doing a review with the kids (if you haven't been doing this during the summer) to get their brains ready to go back to school as well.  Remember, children lose 2-3 months of reading and math knowledge while out on summer break, called the "summer brain drain." 

For Math, Work On:

• Counting and number skills
• Adding and subtracting, multiplication, and division skills
• Fractions
• Basic Algebra Skills
• Number Operations - working with negative and positive numbers

For Reading, Work On:

• Phonics & Pronunciation
• Comprehension
• Reading 10-30 minutes daily

 

5. Register the Kids Early

Trying to register the kids on the first day of school is chaotic! DON'T DO IT!  It becomes very frustrating because there is a long waiting time. 

Understand that there is a process to registering and finding classes that are not FULL for your child to enroll in.  Remember, the early bird gets the worm...the later you wait to register, the likely your child is to get the "runt" of the classes.  You know, the classes no one wanted but was enrolled in because all of the "good" classes were full. 

Keep in mind also, that kids who do not have a schedule will likely sit in the media center, auditorium, or cafeteria the majority of the day, missing out on pertinent 1st day of school information.  Do your kid a favor, enroll/register them early.

6. Attend the School's Open House

It's always a good idea to meet your child's teachers before school starts.  It gives you and your child an opportunity to get a feel for the teacher and to establish a relationship.  Teachers appreciate parents who take the time out to attend open house and conferences.  Generally, teachers are prepared to give out their syllabus and course materials list.  They will also let you know what their expectations are from the students.  This is good to know ahead of time.

Not to mention, attending open house helps your child to familiarize him/herself with where their classes are and cuts down on them getting lost in the hallways (how embarassing that can be).