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

How To Prevent Students From Failing Part II

12 Ways To Prevent Students From Failing Part II

(A Guide for Parents and Students)
By: Aquarius Cain

            1.      Communicate With Teachers Regularly

It’s important to build a good relationship with teachers.  Communicate with them weekly to make sure that homework assignments were turned in on time, classwork is being completed, etc.  Ask for make-up work ahead of time when you know absences will occur.  Get an advanced notice on major assignments and upcoming projects.  Let them know that you are not a threat; you just want to stay informed and are willing to assist in any way to ensure a fair grade.

Schedule a conference with the teacher monthly to receive feedback on student performance.  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL GRADE REPORTS ARE SENT HOME.  By the time grade reports are sent home, the damage may have already been done and you may not be able to reverse the damage.

            2.      Get Organized

·         Organization is the key to success! To be organized, first de-clutter lockers, back packs, and notebooks; sort through the papers and separate them by subject.  DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY…YOU MAY NEED IT LATER!

·         Try to keep the notebook in a particular order so that it’s easier to find things

·         Have a system to communicate between parents, students, and teachers by having a: Home/School Communication Folder

·         Students remember more if they do homework in the same place and same time each day! So, it’s important to have a workstation and a study schedule.

Read this article to find out more about how to stay organized: How To Be Successful in School

            3.      Understand How You Learn

Students learn differently! However, many teachers do not teach differently (that is, according to the way each student learns).  Teaching to the multiple modes of learning is called differentiated learning. The modes of learning are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. 

Students should take a Learning Styles Assessment to determine exactly how they learn:

·         Visual learners learn by reading and seeing things written down or drawn into pictures.

·         Auditory learners learn by hearing and discussing information.

·         Kinesthetic learners learn by practicing and doing things over and over until they understand it.

After taking a Learning Styles Assessment, use study techniques that will help you learn new information based on your learning style.

Learning Styles Assessment

            4.      Know When To Ask For Help

One of the easiest ways to prevent failure is to know when to ask for help and to actually ask for help. Students should always raise their hand in class and ask questions when they do not understand.  It is important to understand that no question is a stupid question and that there is probably someone else who doesn’t understand and is waiting for someone to ask for an explanation.  If not you, then who?

If students are afraid to ask questions in class then they should ask the teacher after or in-between classes or schedule an appointment to get further help.  This is also where extra tutoring with the teacher may be needed.

            5.      Stay Positive/Be Encouraged

To prevent failure, it is imperative to keep a positive attitude.  “If you believe, you can achieve.”  Even when things get tough, students should continue to encourage themselves by using compliments and positive mantras.  Being surrounded by friends who are encouraging and positive is a helpful way to stay positive and encouraged as well.

Students should know and understand that they may not be successful at everything and with every assignment, and that’s ok.  Everyone fails eventually but it is important to keep trying and to always do your best.

            6.      Reward Progress

As small goals are met, such as turning in all homework assignments this week, celebrate those accomplishments.  Go and grab ice cream or rent a favorite movie.  Rewards also help to keep students motivated and encouraged.  It is imperative to reward small things just as much as major accomplishments.  Some students may make all C’s and rewarding them for consistency is good while making the next incentive greater if they can make a B, for example.

Figure out what works but don’t overdo it to the point where it backfires and students begin to expect rewards for performance.

How To Be Successful in School: Part I

Part I: GET ORGANIZED

By Aquarius Cain

(CEO of Accelerated Learning Educational Services)

 

Do you spend a lot of time looking for homework and assignments?

Is your locker or book bag packed with crumpled pieces of paper?

Do you feel stressed because you constantly lose things?

Are your grades slipping because of missing/lost assignments or incomplete assignments?

Do you find yourself making excuses about why you don’t have your work?

If you can’t answer these questions with a solid “NO”,  

IT IS TIME TO ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE!!!! 

 

In order to organize your life, you need to:

Ø  Organize your papers/notebook

Ø  Organize your backpack

Ø  Organize your locker

Ø  Organize your workspace

Ø  Organize your schedule

 

To be organized, you must first de-clutter your locker, back pack, and notebook; sort through the papers and separate them by subject.  DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY…YOU MAY NEED IT LATER!

 

Organize Your Notebook

 

Notebook Contents 

·         3-ring binder: 2” rings or larger w/pockets in the covers

·         5-6 colored tab subject dividers (colored construction paper works)

·         Zipper pouch to store supplies (hole punched zip-lock bags work)

·         2+ pens & pencils

·         Filler paper

·         Assignment Calendar for EACH CLASS

·         Divider pouches (for papers with no holes)

·         Highlighters

·         Ruler/hole puncher

·         Calculator

Color code your notebooks to make it easier to stay organized    

·         Assign every subject a color

·         Match your notebook/binder tab color to the folder color

·         Use colored tabs

·         On journals & workbooks, use a marker to stripe the pages with the color for that subject

 

Try to keep your notebook in a particular order so that it’s easier to find things

·         Put a front cover on your binder

·         For Each section/subject

o   Divider (preferably with pockets)

o   Completed assignments that need to be turned in (front pocket)

o   Calendar/assignment log

o   Notes

o   Handouts

o   Returned assignments/tests

o   Blank paper

Home/School Communication Folder 

Another way to get organized is to have a system to communicate between parents and students by having a: Home/School Communication Folder

How This Works 

1.      At school - put papers for parents in your Home/School Folder

2.      When you get home - put papers in your School Zone (designated area to put papers)

3.      Have parents check School Zone

4.      Put signed papers back in Home/School Communication Folder

5.      Take Home/School Folder back to school & turn in necessary papers

School Zone

·         Special place where you put parent papers, a place your parents check every day

·         Could be a basket or a bulletin board

·         Great place for notes for teacher, field trip permission slips etc.

·         Leave yourself reminder notes in your School Zone

 

Student Work Area

·         What does your current work area look like?

·         How should it look?

o   It should be neat & clean

o   It should be in a well lit area

o   It should be in a place with no distractions

o   Make sure it is equipped with Necessary supplies

·         You remember more if you do your homework in the same place and same time each night!

Visit www.acceleratedlearningservices.com for resources to help you stay organized.

If you would like for a representative to speak about organization skills at your school, church, or organization, please contact 404-933-2235.