What "I'm bored in school" might really mean for your teen

Teenagers are notorious for calling things "boring." Everything from a TV show to a particular shirt can be given such a blanket stamp of disapproval. But when they label school "boring," it's time to investigate what they really mean.

"The first step is to talk with your child, get their take on what's going on at school," says Dr. Lucy Jo Palladino, a California-based clinical psychologist and author of Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos: How to Help the Child Who Is Bright, Bored, and Having Problems in School . "More often than not you'll get 'I don't know,' but sometimes it's the best place to begin — at the source." Most formal learning disabilities and attention problems are diagnosed by about the fourth grade, so a teen who claims to be bored probably has something else going on besides a diagnosable problem. That doesn't mean you can't get to the bottom of it, though. Palladino offers parents a few common translations for the "I'm bored" mantra — and how to go about fixing them.

1. "I'm not being challenged enough." 
   What's happening: If a child is gifted, sheer class size might be working against him, as the teacher focuses on the average student while the gifted child quickly masters the material and is left twiddling his thumbs.
   
   What to do: If your child is bright and needs more of a challenge, you have to address that with the teacher. Also dig deeper to find out what excites your teen — Is it writing? Science? Engineering? — and get him involved in extracurricular activities that address those interests.



2. "There's not enough swiping and clicking."
   What's happening: "In today's world, teens are so hyper-stimulated by technology outside the classroom that inside the classroom, by contrast, their brains are under-stimulated," says Palladino, whose latest book, Find Your Focus Zone, is on finding success in today's digital age of distraction. When today's tech-driven teens sit at a desk to exercise quiet, convergent thinking, their brains just aren't conditioned for it.
   
   What to do: Be intentional with the rules and habits regarding technology at home, Palladino says. Look at the lifestyle choices you're making, and aim for more balance. Is your family watching too much TV? Is your child playing a lot of video games? Take stock of how important you've made the gadgets in your own life, and set the example you want your kids to follow. That might mean not bringing the phone to the dinner table, or to bed, and letting them see you reading a book rather than playing Words With Friends.



3. "I'm totally lost." 
   What's happening: We turn off when we don't understand something. "This is especially true in something like math," Palladino says. "If your child has missed an essential step early on, they might be turning off for the rest of the lesson because it doesn't have meaning for them. And that lack of listening is a Catch-22, because you miss something else, and then you're even less interested."
   
   What to do: Let them know you believe in them and are here to help. "The art of conversing with your teen is to mutualize the experience, to reflect back to the child in a non-judgmental way. Use open-ended questions that are more in the spirit of exploring what's going on than accusatory, like 'How come you're not paying attention?'" You'll also want to talk to the teacher, and explore options for getting extra help, she says, "but just from those conversations, your student might try a little harder if he knows you're rooting for him."



4. "I'm spent."
   What's happening: Sometimes boredom is more an expression of tiredness, and these days teens are not sleeping as well as they should, Palladino says. We have overscheduled them to the point where their only free time is late at night, after sports, dance classes, dinner and homework are done, and they don't want to give that up to sleep. In addition, more teens are heading to bed with their phones by their sides, texting and surfing throughout the night. Exhaustion leads to an inability to concentrate, so they mentally check out during class.
   
   What to do: Have teens turn in their cell phones and other gadgets at bedtime. Ease back on daytime and evening activities, to give your teen more down time. And make sure physical activity is part of the regular family routine — everyone sleeps better when they exercise.



5. "Who can study at a time like this?!" 
   What's happening: Something outside the classroom is stealing your teen's focus. "Keep in mind that a teen's No. 1 priority is to not be embarrassed," Palladino says. Teen girls are especially vulnerable to becoming preoccupied with what's going on between classes. And drama that used to be contained to the school hallways or Friday night party is now carried on 24/7 via social media, which can do some serious psychological damage.
   
   What to do: Tread lightly, but let them know you're there. "Give them the sense of being an ally," Palladino says. "You want to be establishing a strong alliance with your teenager, because that's all you've got — that bond of trust — as they get older and more independent."

Middle School Year – Transition Your Way Up To Success

Tips and ideas to help your student navigate through typical

Middle-school challenges

While it may be summer now, school will begin soon enough. For students who said goodbye to elementary school earlier this year, this fall represents the start of a critical transition to middle school.

Middle school means new beginnings, experiences and challenges. And while these changes —new friends, new teachers and new school environment — can be exciting, they also can be a bit unnerving for new middle-schoolers.

“These transition years can be exhilarating and full of promise, but they also can cause some measure of anxiety,” says Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., senior vice president of education outreach for Sylvan Learning.

“Research and common sense tell us that the first year in middle school is critical,” Bavaria says. “During this single year, a new middle-schooler must assimilate, make new friends, set goals, establish new habits and attitudes, take tougher courses, discover talents and interests, learn new skills, and begin to build confidence in this new environment. Making sure a child handles this transition year well should be an important goal for parents. In fact, a primary indicator of a successful middle school experience is a positive transition from elementary school. And the key to that positive transition is good preparation.”

Here are some of the most daunting changes students will encounter during this year of transition — and some tips from Sylvan Learning on how to work through them successfully.

Challenge: Negotiating the New Environment

The Locker Scare: One of the biggest concerns incoming middle-schoolers have is the locker. Instead of lugging their stuff around in one bag, students now have a place to store everything safely. The best part about the locker is being able to personalize it with photos, drawings, magazine clippings, and anything else that makes it feel comfortable. Ease locker fears and purchase a combination lock and practice before school starts.

New Campus: If your student has to go to an entirely new school, it may seem overwhelming at first. Explore the school's Web site with your child and better yet - explore the new campus.  The better your child understands the school layout and rules, the more at ease she’ll feel on the first day.  Ask the school if there are any campus tours or orientations available to parents and incoming students. Get a map of the campus and take your child to explore. Be sure to check in with the school office to get an OK for your explorations.

New Schedule: With different classes in different rooms on different days, middle school schedules can seem confusing and scary at first. A few weeks before school begins, check with your school to see when schedules are ready so that your child can have some time to get comfortable with the new routine. If your student needs help finding something or keeping track of where he has to be, encourage him to ask a teacher or other school staff for help.

Challenge: Acquiring New Academic Tools

Time Management: Work together on a schedule and develop an organizational system with your student. Acknowledge and make allowances for her anxiety; at first, she may need to carry everything for all classes all the time in order to feel prepared.

General Skills Preparation: Summarizing, paraphrasing, and identifying main or important ideas and details are three skills that are essential in all content areas. After reading a book or watching a show/movie, have kids summarize what happened orally. Or have them recount the most important events. 

Note-Taking: The workload and pace really pick up in middle school, so note taking is going to be critical for them to keep up.  Start encouraging your child to develop a method of shorthand to prepare for note-taking.  Writing grocery lists and directions are simple ways for kids to practice. Show them your own writing shortcuts. Note-taking is not automatic; the more examples kids see, the quicker they’ll acquire the skill. 

Build their Problem Solving Skills: Common Core State Standards outline the knowledge and skills K-12 students need to acquire for post-high school success. Included in the CCSS are Standards for Mathematical Practice, many of which focus on academic behaviors and attitudes such as perseverance, constructing viable arguments, critiquing others' arguments, and paying attention to precision. As a parent, you can do your part to help a student acquire these key behaviors and attitudes. Encourage perseverance by having your child work through problems — rather than you stepping in to fix them. Encourage your child to formulate opinions and back them up with sound reasoning. Encourage your child to do things correctly rather than just finish them.

Challenge: Addressing Social Concerns

New friends:  One crucial area of worry for middle-schoolers is the social scene. You can help ease their trepidation by opening lines of communication and providing a sympathetic ear. Kids' worries and concerns about fitting in and making friends may seem trivial to adults, but for kids, these worries often trump worries about academics. Listen to their concerns and advise them on basic social skills. Encourage your child to join group conversations. Discuss how to join in without interrupting, to add something relevant to conversation in progress, etc.

Socializing Online: Online use of social media will ramp up during middle school. In fact, the average teenager sends over 3,000 text messages a month[1]. Make sure your kids understand that what they say and do online may come back to hurt them — or hurt others. Be aware of and set guidelines for use of social media on both computers and hand-held devices. Make sure you are able to regularly monitor your child’s access to text messaging and social media sites like Facebook. Increased awareness allows parents to step in and talk to their children before issues spiral out of control.

By starting now, you can help your rising elementary student prepare for these key challenges before they transition into middle school. Helping them know what to expect in terms of the social, academic and physical dynamics of middle school — and how to deal with this new environment — will do a lot to ease the anxiety every kid feels approaching this year of transition.

For additional resources, visit us on the web at www.sylvanlearning.com or your local Sylvan Learning Center:  Clinton, NJ 908-638-6788 or Flemington 908-806-4010 to reach us directly or call 1-800-31-SUCCESS at night or on weekends. 

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[1] http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/new-study-average-teen-sends-3339-texts-every-month/

5 Parent Tips to Increase Students’ Math Success

And Overcome Math Challenges Mathematics Awareness Month is held each year in April and a perfect opportunity to encourage the love of math in your children. In helping children learn, one goal is to assist them in figuring out as much as they can do for themselves. Here are top five math tips that you as a parent can start using right now, to help your child become an independent math learner.

1. Strengthen Core Skills – Effort in Math matters because math skills build in time. Miss one component and you will continue to have difficulties with math. As a parent challenge your child to become better problem solvers.

2. Leverage Technology – Technology should support math instruction, and today’s ‘Net Gen’ students find technology-infused instruction especially engaging, helping them gain an understanding of the underlying reasoning and computations used in problem-solving.

3. Instill Math Confidence in Your Child. – Praise your children’s academic progress. Tell them that you are proud of their math efforts even when they struggle. When students are confident in their abilities, they enjoy learning.

4. Make Real-world Connections – There are many opportunities for parents to make math connections to everyday life – and help students to see the value of math. Think of tasks that you do every day that can be ‘teachable math moments.’

5. Encourage Your Child to Take Math – Early and Often – Many students don’t take math classes beyond their school’s minimum requirements. But math offers critical learning skills that are needed throughout life. Children should take algebra early in their educational careers if they are academically ready. Students who do not take courses covering algebraic concepts early, risk missing important opportunities for growth.

Algebra is Fundamental It is now clearly understood that algebra is the foundation for not only higher-level math and science skills, but it helps lay a solid foundation for the technological world we all now live in. Looking for resources to check your student’s algebra health? Sylvan Learning is offering a FREE, online Algebra Readiness Check-up to help determine if your child is ready for the math challenges that lie ahead. After taking the screener, you will receive a personalized Algebra Fitness Breakdown, which highlights your child’s strengths, as well as areas that require more training. You will also gain access to free online resources to help your child get in tip-top shape for algebra!
To take the screener visit - http://letsgolearn.com/fit4algebra/

Is Your Teen Ready for the Test?

Your teen is in school mode and everything is going a mile a minute. The next SAT/ACT test date is right around the corner and parents should know where their teen is in preparing for and taking the exam.

Planning for tests such as the SAT and ACT is extremely important in a teen’s educational career. As a parent, knowing how ready your teen is to take the SAT/ACT is vital to helping them plan and prepare to do their best.

In order to help parents assess their teen’s “SAT/ACT readiness,” Sylvan Learning has created a quick quiz.

SAT/ACT Readiness Quiz:
Please answer the following questions with a “yes” or “no.” For each “yes,” give yourself and your teen 2 points. At the end of the quiz, add up your points and see how prepared your teen is for SAT and ACT.

1. Do you and your teen feel confident that his classes and school have prepared him for the SAT/ACT?

2. Have you and your teen identified her weakest subject areas and developed a strategy for those portions of the tests?

3. Is your teen familiar with the rules of the SAT vs. the ACT?

4. Have you bought a test prep review book for your teen?

5. Have you made a SAT/ACT study schedule with your teen to set aside a minimum amount of time each day or week?

6. Has your teen made his own flashcards outside of those provided in a review packet?

7. Has your teen taken more than one practice exam for the SAT or the ACT?

8. Has your teen practiced writing an essay in 25 minutes?

9. Has your teen developed a time strategy for the tests?

10. Has your teen enrolled in or taken a test prep course?


SCORING

0-5 Points
It's never too late for your teen to begin preparing for either test! Here are tips that your teen can use to begin preparing now. And remember, there are always multiple test dates!
• Buy a test preparation book.
• Make flash cards.
• Enroll in a test preparation class.
• Take a practice SAT/ACT test.

5-10 Points
Congratulate your teen on beginning to practice for the SAT/ACT. Now is a perfect time for your teen to concentrate on creating a "SAT/ACT study guide." Here are some tips you can give your teen to get started.
• Divide the study guide into three sections: math, critical reading and writing.
• For each section, write down your weak areas.
• Under the weak areas, write down any formulas, vocabulary words or grammar rules that you need to learn.
• Flip through the quick guide once a day.

10-15 Points
Practice makes perfect. Give your teen these testing tips to consider while he continues to map out his strategy for the big day.
• Skip an answer. If you are unsure of an answer, skip the question and go back if time permits.
• Share your time. Don't spend too much time on any single question.
• Read, read, read. Read the questions and answers critically.
• End each section by reviewing. Revisit the questions that you either circled or marked with a question mark.
• Stop and check. After every few questions, stop and check to make sure the question number on the answer sheet corresponds with the question being answered in the test booklet.






-more-

15-20 Points
Your teen is on her way to achieving a great score on the SAT or the ACT! Give her these last minute tips to top off her test preparation.
• Enter the exam with confidence. Know the instructions for each section before you enter the exam room -- don't waste time reading the instruction the day of the exam.
• The night before, read a book or a magazine. This is a good way to work your mind with a non-stressful subject.
• Get a good night sleep before the exam.
• Always eat breakfast.
• Relax! You’re prepared. Go in confident.

To find out more about SAT/ACT test preparation opportunities at Sylvan Learning, visit the “College Prep” area of www.SylvanLearning.com

Beat the Winter Blues

With the impending snow forcasted for our area this week, we thought that we would share some of our favorite tips and suggestions to beat the winter blues with the cabin fever you might be experiencing shortly, if not already after last week's storms!

How did your child do in the first half of the school year? Were you pleased with his or her performance, or do you think there is room for improvement? No matter what letters appeared on your child’s report card, January is the perfect time to help him or her get excited about going back to school and learning.

This can be accomplished by creating an atmosphere in your home that encourages learning. Sylvan Learning offers a few tips concerning how to get involved with your child’s learning process and help motivate him or her in the new year.

• Have family reading time at least once a week. Utilize Book Adventure, a free Sylvan-created interactive, reading motivation program that can be found on Book Adventure. Students choose their own books from more than 7,500 titles, take short comprehension quizzes and redeem their accumulated points for small prizes. Book Adventure also offers teacher and parent resources and tips to help children develop a lifelong love of reading. A snowy day is a great time to set this up together and begin earning points.

• Set aside a specific time for homework and studying. Take advantage of this quiet time to sit with your child and work on your paperwork. This visually demonstrates the importance of “work time” to your child.

• If homework was a struggle during the first semester, set up a reward system for this semester. For example, deposit change in a small jar when homework is complete. As soon as the jar is full, treat the whole family to something everyone will enjoy.

• Refresh your child’s “study space.” Make sure that all materials, such as pencil sharpeners, erasers and extra paper are easily accessible and in adequate supply. When something is new and exciting, kids will want to use it. As one of our students recently commented after starting in our Study Skills program, he went out and bought a new agenda book because he knew he would be so excited about it he would actually use it.

• Create study plans. Have your child do his most challenging assignment first, while he is most focused, then have him work on easier tasks. Finish each homework session with a fun activity.

• Search the Internet with your child to learn more about topics being covered in school. Try TeacherTube (kind of like YouTube but more kid-friendly) for videos on different items from Social Studies or freerice.org to learn new vocabulary.

• Invite your child to participate in cooking or shopping to strengthen his or her math skills.

• Encourage your child to choose a classmate with whom he can study and swap reading books. On Amazon.com, you can download an app for your home computer or smartphone to read Kindle books, many of which you can also download for free from Project Gutenburg or other free sources.

• Get your child organized inside and outside of school. By being organized, your child will have plenty of time to complete all assignments, and she will also learn the value of time management.

• Talk to your child’s teachers. The second half of the year can be more challenging than the first. Find out if your child needs extra help in a specific subject in order to keep up with the class.

For more educational resources for children in grades pre-K through 12, please visit www.SylvanLearning.com or call your nearest center.

Clinton, NJ 908-638-6788
Hamilton, NJ 609-588-9037
Flemington, NJ 908-806-4010

Good Attendance Matters

The holidays are over. It’s a New Year, and a time for renewed academic resolutions.
Here’s a goal that many students will find compelling and achievable this year: Good Attendance.
While academic goals take a while to show results—students organize, study, break down big tasks into smaller ones, and wait for grades and report cards to appear—maintaining a good attendance record is more immediate. It’s easily understood. Each day is a small achievement.
Good attendance is not an empty achievement, either. There’s a strong correlation between attendance and achievement, behavior, post-secondary schooling, and drop-out rates. There’s plenty of research, and our common sense backs it up. Good attendance numbers also tell us something about the school and the instruction that’s going on there.
Here are some ways to motivate students to keep attendance up.
Show you care. Good attendance is important to you as a parent. Show that you don’t approve of lateness, fake illnesses, or dodging responsibilities. Have high expectations. Your child should bereally sick before missing school. High fever? Okay. Lethargy? Unprepared? Not so much.

Communicate with the school. When your child must be absent, call or e-mail the school to tell them. Let your child see you do this. Now the school will know that they can expect to hear from you in the future, and your child will know that adults are monitoring his health and academics.
Schedule when you can. Help your child keep up her good attendance record by making routine pediatrician, optometrist, and dentist appointments for days when school is not in session. This won’t always be possible, but your child will see that you’re serious about school attendance when you try.

Have back-up plans. Snow? Car trouble? Alarm not working? Have back-up plans, so your kid doesn’t get the idea that any disruption is a convenient excuse for taking a day off. If you want a good laugh, ask a teacher for some of his or her favorite absence excuses. You won’t believe what you hear.

Don’t be an accomplice. Don’t allow your child to talk you into making excuses for him. Follow your instincts. Your job is to teach him responsibility and self-discipline. His job is to go to school. Don’t upset this balance of power.

Show why good work habits are important. Good attendance is a good habit. Help your child by establishing helpful routines, having a study area, monitoring her homework, keeping her on schedule for important school projects, and celebrating success. Show how you maintain good work habits to be successful in your job or other important activities.

Watch confidence rise. Good attendance isn’t the only criterion for success, but its part of a wide range of characteristics of highly-achieving students. Watch your child’s confidence rise as he sees more success, starting with the perseverance needed for good attendance.

Don’t give up. Like so many other child-rearing goals, staying positive is key. Let your kid know that his health is paramount, but his academic achievement isn’t far behind. Absences from school are going to get your strictest attention.