Can You Taste The Difference?

While studying Elementary Education I was told by professors about how important it is to enlist the parents in the education process.  In my experience working in different school districts and in the online environment,  I have seen that active and involved parents will greatly improve student academic success, appropriate behavior, self-esteem and college enrollment.

If it is so obvious that parent involvement is a key to student success why are schools not capitalizing on this great resource?  Since the time I have been working in the online environment,  I have seen many wonderful success stories of students and without fail,  I have been speaking with and developing a strong relationship with parents.

Tips For Teaching Math To Your Child

Of all the subjects we study in school, math is the most despised by a long shot. In one poll, 37% of adults said that they “hated” math in school, more than twice that of any other subject.  A number of factors can play a role in forming a person’s negative associations with math – everything from a poor teacher in school, a traumatic or embarrassing experience in math class, misconceptions about the importance or ease of learning math, and parental bias against the subject can lead to a strong dislike of mathematics.

For parents and learning coaches who struggled with math, or simply hate the subject, you may be wondering how you can teach your own child a subject that you have difficulty with yourself. If your child is in middle or high school, you may even find that your kids are learning math that you don’t remember or never fully understood to begin with. Here are some tips and things to bear in mind when teaching your own child math.

10 Fun Activities to Help Countdown To Election Day 2012

The official countdown has begun to Election Day. With a few short days left, we decided to create a list of 10* fun activities to do with your kids. Everyday moments can be teaching opportunities and we hope these inspire you and yours.

Oct 28: Learn/Sing some patriotic songs. 

Our Picks:

• This Land is Your Land
• Yankee Doodle Dandy 
• Home on the Range

Parents and Teachers Help Students Learn 

You may have seen and read about the newly released movie “Won’t Back Down”. It’s about parents and teachers who are frustrated by a school that doesn’t meet their children’s needs. Driven to make a difference, they come together to improve their school and help students get the education they deserve.

Not every school suffers from the problems depicted in the movie, but clearly the traditional solutions don’t work for every child and rapidly developing technologies are forcing us to look at how we prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce. The reality is that too many schools are failing their students. Nearly a quarter of all students drop out of high school. And the number of so-called “dropout factories” (schools in which at least 60% of students do not graduate on time) numbered 1,550 in 2010.*