Seven Days of Holiday Fun and Learning For the Last Seven Days of the Year

Like many parents, we spent this past weekend gorging on turkey in preparation for that second great American holiday ritual, shopping on Black Friday! With the coming and going of this past weekend, it also means that December is just around the corner. This December, schools across our region will be closed for the last week for the holidays, and so will your local Sylvan. So, Mom and Dad, what are you to do with your kids during the last seven days of 2010?

Once the presents have been unwrapped and the initial excitement of new toys and games has faded, how do you keep your children busy for the rest of their holiday vacation? While children are out of school for the holidays, parents can keep children learning with fun and engaging projects throughout the last seven days of the year – from December 25 through December 31.

“Holiday vacation is an ideal time for parents to help instill a joy for learning in their children and show that they enjoy learning themselves,” said (Insert name, title) for Sylvan Learning. “Sharing fun, learning activities can help children improve their attitude toward learning and provides a great opportunity for busy families to spend quality time together during the holidays.”

Seven Days of Activities for Family Learning Fun is a free, activity booklet available online from Sylvan Learning Center at http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/learning-activities/brochure.cfm, and includes seven days of fun learning activities that the whole family can enjoy. Interactive, educational projects detailed in the booklet help nurture reading, writing, research and math skills. Activities for the final seven days of the year include:

December 25 - Start a memory book. Create a memory book of your family’s favorite holiday memories. Purchase a photo album and decorate it together.

December 26 - Family reading. Spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day reading to your children. For help selecting great family books, visit Book Adventure - a free, reading motivation program created by Sylvan Learning - at www.bookadventure.com.

December 27 - Family history. Create a family tree and incorporate pictures of aunts, uncles and grandparents. Ask family members about what they were like when they were children.

December 28 - Make your own play dough (try this website: http://fun.familyeducation.com/sculpting/recipes/37040.html ). Use the play dough to make letters, shapes, numbers or figures. Create games using the figures you have created.

December 29 - Dress up as your favorite book character. Choose your favorite book character and play dress-up, re-enacting your favorite parts in the book.

December 30 - Have a book-inspired feast. Bring ideas from literature to life by experimenting with foods from classic books. For instance, make your morning breakfast memorable with Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss.

December 31 - Explore nature. Take a walk with the whole family to explore nature. Use the Internet to learn more about this time of year and the plants and animals in your area. Or, check out books about nature and local foliage from your public library.

For more information on fun learning activities from the experts at Sylvan Learning , or to download Sylvan's free activity booklet, Seven Days of Activities for Family Learning Fun, log onto http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/learning-activities/brochure.cfm or call 1-800-31-SUCCESS.

Why Word Problems are Worrisome to Children

Why are mathematical word problems worrisome for children?


Word problems take math concepts, such as arithmetic, geometry and algebra, and relate them back to the real world. But somehow, in the conversion from numbers and symbols to the written word, even students adept at math can become confused and discouraged. In fact, children often find it easier to solve a problem that explicitly asks them to multiply two numbers rather than tackle a word problem that requires the same mathematical skills.

In addition to knowledge of core math concepts, word problems also require strong reading comprehension skills. Before a child can solve a word problem, he needs to be able to translate the problem into a math equation.

Once a child deciphers a word problem and is able to convert it into a simple equation, most students can easily calculate the answer. Unfortunately, determining the right equation is often the most challenging part of problem-solving. By applying reading comprehension skills to their math homework, students are better able to solve word problems correctly.

What Parents Need to Know
A child's ability to understand the language in word problems influences his or her ability to solve them. One of the best ways to help children learn math and make it more enjoyable is to demonstrate how everyday activities incorporate core math skills.

Parents can make it easier for their children to understand word problems by making math a part of their child’s daily life. By showing how math skills and concepts are involved in real-life situations, you can help children learn to use math in practical ways.

Students must first have a good understanding of the basic math principles that each word problem utilizes. For example, if a child struggles with basic division, then a word problem that involves division will also be difficult to solve. Get to the root of the problem first, and then work on a solution.

What Parents Can Do
Parents can help their children approach word problems with more confidence by offering tips and suggestions for tackling them. Encourage children to draw pictures and look for key words that indicate certain mathematical operations. For example, “and” indicates addition, while “less than” is a sign of subtraction.

Parents should urge their children to do more than the assigned problems, particularly those that are more challenging to them. The extra practice will help children learn the mathematical formulas and techniques they need to know while helping to improve their problem-solving skills. In turn, this will lead to greater confidence in their abilities to tackle the more difficult problems.

To help children boost their critical thinking and word problem-solving skills, the math experts at Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, offer parents the following tips to help their children decode word problems, gather key information, solve equations and check their answers:

1. Read the question carefully. Ask your child to read and reread the question to make sure that he understands what he is being asked to solve. Encourage him to read the question aloud and pay close attention to the final question of the word problem.

2. Understand the problem. Encourage her to simplify the word problem by highlighting the main words and important ideas. Have the student ask herself the following questions: What am I being asked to do? What are the important facts? Do I have enough information to solve the problem? What operation will I use?

3. Convert the verbal statement into a mathematical equation. Help him break the word problem into manageable, ordered steps. It's a good idea to do the work step-by-step, particularly if it’s a complicated problem with several parts. It's easier to keep the pieces of the problem in order if he works this way and easier to avoid mistakes. Have him begin by identifying key words such as “add,” “less,” and “product of” that indicate certain mathematical operations.

4. Generate the result. Encourage her to solve the mathematical problem using a technique such as drawing or mentally acting out the problem. After she finishes, make sure the results make sense and that she writes the answer in the appropriate units (e.g., hours, meters, kilometers, etc.). As a final step, have her translate the answer back into English. For example, “The son is 13 years old.”

We hope that these tips make solving word problems just a little easier for your son or daughter. If they continue to struggle with word problems, their reading comprehension may also be the cause of these struggles. It is important to have your child's reading level evaluated to determine the cause of this frustration.

Sylvan offers parents a variety of tools and fun activities to help encourage math learning and discovery outside the classroom, including a free online math activity booklet. The booklet is available in the “Parent Resources” area of www.SylvanLearning.com and contains 30 days of math writing topics, trivia, question and puzzles. For additional information on how you can help your child play the game of math, visit the “Math” area of www.SylvanLearning.com

Why We Read

Throughout our lives, we read directions or instructions to perform a task, we read newspapers, magazines, and other publications to be informed and we read stories, poetry, and plays for the literary experience. Students are now required on state exams to have solid reading skills and children who do not master “reading for different purposes” may have difficulty completing job-related tasks or reading for enjoyment as an adult.

As students become more sophisticated readers, their reading behaviors become more analytical and their thinking more abstract. Children in elementary and middle school begin to dissect words and word parts for meaning and continue to expand their vocabularies. Also, the older students become, the more they read for enjoyment in areas of personal interest.

The more students read, the more enjoyable reading becomes and the more those skills are used in real-life situations. Additionally, these skills transfer to classroom learning and, ultimately, lead to higher standardized test scores.

To help parents nurture their children’s reading behaviors, the experts at Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, recommends that parents spend at least one hour per week – 10 to 15 minutes a day – engaged in a language arts activity with their children. Sylvan offers these tips and ideas for encouraging “reading for different purposes” and increasing comprehension:

• Encourage children to read a variety of texts, including books, poems, magazine and newspaper articles, instructional manuals, cookbooks, and comic books.
• Look at every reading opportunity as a chance to strengthen reading and comprehension skills.
• Identify a purpose for reading anything that includes text, ranging from a menu, to an advertisement, to a recipe, to a science textbook, to a full-length novel. Is the purpose to entertain, inform, describe, or persuade?
• Actively engage your child in the reading process. Ask open-ended questions that require students to be active readers. For example, if your child is reading a short story, ask him or her to tell you about the main characters, plot, conflict, setting, or lesson. If your child is reading a magazine, point out an advertisement, ask him or her to explain what the ad is trying to accomplish. If you're setting up a computer or television, ask your child to take part by reading the instructional manual and summarizing the steps for you.
• Ask your child to summarize or paraphrase what they learn from everything they read.

The Internet also provides opportunities for children of all ages who are looking for new reading materials. Book Adventure is a free, Sylvan-created interactive, reading motivation program that can be found at www.BookAdventure.com. Parents can help children choose books from more than 7,500 titles, take short comprehension quizzes, and redeem accumulated points for small prizes. Book Adventure also offers teacher and parent resources and tips to help children develop a lifelong love of reading.

GIVE THE GIFT OF LEARNING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Inspire Your Child by Choosing Toys and Games That are Fun and Educational

With toy store shelves overflowing and catalogues filled with the latest gadgets, the search for the perfect toys and games can be a daunting task for parents. If you're anything like me, you are probably already starting your holiday shopping with all of the great deals already hitting the stores. Luckily, the holiday season comes only once a year and it provides a great opportunity for parents to give the gift of learning that will last throughout the year. Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, encourages parents to make the most of toys and games to inspire their children to learn through play this holiday season.

While toys and games are fun for children, they also help kids develop valuable skills including imagination, creativity, problem solving and confidence. When selecting educational toys and games, parents are encouraged to consider gifts that are appropriate for their children’s ages and skill levels as well as their specific interests. In our center, we allow students to take short "Brain Breaks" to play these same types of games. Not only are they continuing to learn through play, it also allows them time to bond with their teachers and the directors at the center as well.

Children who regularly engage in play are more likely to be emotionally, mentally and physically fit. From a very early age, infants use play to develop motor skills, recognize shapes and colors and improve hand-eye coordination. As children grow, they become more interested in formal games with rules, opponents and explicit instructions.

Children are encouraged to engage in a variety of play activities to foster learning, but parents have an important role in play, too. Sylvan recommends that families make regular time for play. For example, a weekly game night teaches that playing is a part of everyone’s routine, and instills the basic rules of fair play and teamwork.

Because each child is unique, with different learning styles and academic needs, it is important to personalize the learning process. Children of all ages learn in different manners, so parents should be aware of their children’s learning needs and how it relates to play. Sylvan Learning offers the following suggestions to help parents identify toys that encourage active learning and make the most of play this holiday season:

Pre-School Students

+ Consider puzzles to help build critical thinking and reasoning skills.
+ Pre-school students are beginning to recognize colors, letters, textures and sound. To encourage these skills, look for magnetic letters and numbers, flash cards or games like See ‘n Say™ or A to Z Puzzles™.
+ To develop motor skills, try activity mats, building blocks and Tinker Toys™. As infants become more advanced, parents should find more challenging games and activities and recognize when it’s time to retire certain toys.
+ For games that help children learn to match pictures/shapes and practice counting, look for Big Deal® Slapdragon™ Card Game or Imperial™ Kids - Go Fish! Card Game.
+ To spark creativity and imagination, consider arts and crafts kits and toy musical instruments. With a Kids’ Play Workshop® Itty Bitty Puppet Show™ children can have fun creating, decorating and playing with finger puppets.
+ Make time for independent play to help children develop personality, foster motor skills and stimulate creativity.
+ Younger children are easily overwhelmed, so parents should consider rotating toys regularly, and limiting the number of toys at playtime.

Elementary School Students

- Elementary school-aged students are beginning to understand and use strategy and probability skills. To foster these developments, look for board games and computer games, including Connect Four®, Scrabble, Monopoly™ and The Game of Life™.
- Science kits, chemistry sets and telescopes help develop critical thinking skills.
- Games like Talkin’ Tango®, Blurt!™ and Petcha Didn’t Know® encourage children to pay close attention and practice listening and concentration skills.
- Parents need to recognize their child’s personal learning style, strengths and weaknesses. If children struggle with math, parents can encourage math games and activities to further develop their math skills. If science is a challenge, make science fun with a chemistry set.
- To build, boost and bolster self-esteem, play The Self-Esteem Game™.
- Consider project-based toys such as model airplanes, ships or jewelry kits to help improve fine motor skills. Not only do these projects reinforce motor skills, children also learn to follow instructions and have a project they can work on for days.
- Make playtime a regular part of a child’s routine – at school and at home. Teachers make time for playtime at recess, and parents should make sure playtime is incorporated into their child’s day.

Middle and High School Students
* Teenagers don’t like to think of it as playtime, but even older children are still learning through play as they enter their high school years.
* Science kits become more advanced for older children – and provide an opportunity for children to experiment, be creative and follow directions.
* Encourage a combination of group and individual play – team sports like a baseball or soccer team and individual activities like reading, scrapbooking or journal writing.
* Help children improve vocabulary skills with board games such as Apples to Apples® and Buzzword®.
* At this age, students may be set in their ways, so if parents want to encourage learning through play, pay close attention to their habits and hobbies. Whether it is music, reading, or painting, match toys to your children’s interests.

Ask the Directors of the Sylvan where your students may attend for suggestions on the games or activities that your children enjoy while they are learning.

How is Sylvan Different?

Test Stress: A Parents Real Guide to Test Prep - Part 1

How Parents Can Help Build Their Child’s Self-Esteem

Approximately 20 to 45 percent of school-aged children do not reach their full potential because they suffer from low self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself. It includes self-confidence, self-respect, pride in oneself, independence and self-reliance. Success builds self-esteem. Because underachieving students do not experience as much success in the classroom, low self-esteem is often the result. Many parents assume that their underachiever may have a lower IQ. In fact, most underachievers have high or average IQs, but their low self-esteem prevents them from succeeding in the classroom.

A school-aged child’s self-esteem is cultivated primarily at home. It is important that parents have a complete understanding of what self-esteem is and how to help build positive self-confidence in their child. It is the way a child feels about himself/herself regardless of how others view him/her. A secure home environment that establishes confidence, respect and an open exchange of ideas, thoughts and feelings is crucial to building self-esteem. The more positive a child’s self-esteem, the more successful he or she will be at dealing with life. Confident children will try harder, be happier and have greater self-respect. At Sylvan, students work with one teacher and no more than two other students and are able to build their confidence.

For the first 5-6 years, parents are the most important influences in a child’s life. When children begin school, teachers and friends begin to play a role. When a child reaches adolescence, peer groups begin playing a more significant role in guiding a child’s self-esteem. The more positive a child’s self-esteem is before adolescence, the easier it will be for him or her to resist negative peer group pressures. Children who constantly put themselves down have low self-esteem. Children who face new experiences with confidence and positive expectations, and shrug off disappointments with an “it will be better next time” attitude, have high self-esteem.

Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, offers the following communication tips to help build or restore your children’s self-esteem:

• Have easy-going conversations on topics that are of interest to your children.
• Ask questions that require in-depth responses.
• Be optimistic.
• Encourage children to express their true feelings.
• Listen to how your children fees without making judgments about those feelings.
• Be patient.

Positive self-esteem not only helps students in the classroom, but also contributes to success later in life. Self-esteem must be established at an early age and strengthened throughout every child’s life.

To build positive self-esteem, parents must strive to:

• Help their children to set goals.
• Assist their children in identifying obstacles to success and developing ways to overcome them.
• Remind their children to think positive thoughts.
• Praise their children everyday.
• Everyday, say “I love you” and mean it.
• Allow their children to be free to succeed and to make mistakes.
• Compliment their children and don’t compare them to other siblings.
• Make time to talk to their children every day.

In today’s society, there is a definite demand on students to succeed, and positive self-esteem is crucial. It may be beneficial to send your child to a supplemental education provider that reinforces positive self-esteem. Sylvan Learning has helped more than two million students develop the skills, habits and attitudes needed for lifelong success. Sylvan also helps bolster self-esteem by focusing on strategies for success and providing consistent positive reinforcement to demonstrate that learning is its own reward.

Are You College-Bound?

Top 5 Tips to Help You Prepare For College Life During Application Season


Obtaining a college education requires a lot of time, effort and careful planning by parents and students working together. But, preparing for college is much more than the flurry of activity during those last few months of a student's senior year. In many cases, college preparation actually begins before high school, and it is never too early to start thinking about what kind of college experience you or your parent is looking for and how the college preparation process works.

Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, offers simple tips to help students prepare for their college entrance exams and develop the skills needed for lifelong success.

1. Start Early – Consider taking summer enrichment classes for key subjects like math, reading and creative writing. Nothing shows that you're serious about academic work like dedicating the last few weeks of your summer to intellectual and academic pursuits. Also, during your Junior and Senior years, take courses that relate to the major that you would like to pursue in college.

2. Prepare for Tests - November provides the perfect opportunity to take a prep course or obtain academic assistance to prepare for the SAT and ACT winter exams. If you have not already taken the SAT or ACT, it is important to spend plenty of time preparing for these standardized tests. Spend at least a few minutes each day reviewing vocabulary or practicing math problems.

At Sylvan, our college prep experts will tailor a personalized plan that builds the skills, habits and attitudes to your needs in order to score higher on test day and apply to college with confidence. Our highly personalized and targeted approach focuses on the exact skills needed to successfully answer test questions. For many students, skills can be mastered to raise test scores in as little as five to twelve weeks.

3. Don't Miss Opportunities - It's important that students take charge of their education. Seek out opportunities proactively rather than reactively. As you prepare for college and admission tests, look for classes and other resources like free, SAT/ACT improvement sessions and practice tests provided by Sylvan Learning, SchoolMathPrep.com and SylvanMathPrep.com.

Such resources are excellent opportunities to practice and assess your skills while preparing for college. There are many great resources that you can utilize for your benefit. Fully engage in the resources of the library, guidance counseling center, teachers' office hours, tutors, after-school programs and fellow students. Make sure to get the best education possible by using all of your school and personal resources.

4. Seek Support and Help from Your Family - The college preparation process can be stressful for you – and for your parents. Your parents want to help you reach your goals and act as a resource during this critical time. To help navigate the college prep process, encourage your family to attend a free, college prep workshop for parents.

Sylvan Learning will be offering "Test Stress: A Parent's Real Guide to College Test Prep," dedicated to helping families navigate through the SAT/ACT and the complex college admissions process. The free, interactive parent seminar on November 9th will feature advice from Sylvan educators and leading college admission experts, college coaches and guidance counselors to help parents understand how to create a successful plan for the test-taking season. The seminar will be hosted by the PNC Bank at 101 Walter E. Foran Blvd in Flemington and will also feature advice from their financial advisors on how to tackle the money issues that college brings to a family. Families can then use Sylvan's free, customized College Planner, Parent Resource Guide and High School Tracking Program to ensure their teenagers are college admission ready.

5. Enjoy the Journey – Have fun and enjoy the rest of your summer, but make sure that you keep yourself active. Take an extra-curricular class, get a job or consider volunteering at a variety of community-based organizations or charities. These initiatives can allow you to learn more about potential careers and areas of interest. The last weeks of the summer months can be an excellent time to help you prepare for college while providing compelling experiences to use on your college applications.

Make the most of the remainder of your High School career. Take the challenge. Use these simple tips to prepare for the next phase in your academic life and enjoy the years of discovery ahead!

For more information and back-to-school resources, visit www.SylvanLearning.com. To learn more about Sylvan's school fundraisers, free parent seminars and Sylvan's SAT/ACT Prep program, email sylvan4127@verizon.net .

Educators interested in securing the free math resource for their schools are encouraged to visit www.SchoolMathPrep.com.