How to Help Your Children
Excel in School
Even the best teachers can only do so much with
your children between 8:00 and 3:00.
Children need individual attention they cannot always get in school.
They need richer cultural and intellectual exposure and experiences
than schools can provide.
They often need help understanding what their assignment is.
They often need help making sure they have done it correctly.
They often need help understanding what their lessons mean -- particularly
new
concepts.
They often need to have someone make their lessons interesting.
In short, children need their
parents to be their mentors.
I teach you how to be an academic
mentor to your child.
I also tutor children about specific
topics, and teach them
how to learn for understanding
and enjoyment in general.
Private and Group
Instruction For Parents
3239 Lorna Road
Hoover, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
(205) 822-7466
by
appointment
|
Begin Early
Though what I teach has nothing to do with creating
the so-called "super babies" or "genius" babies, you can begin enriching
your children's environment from birth, just through exposing them to some
things in easy ways that are enjoyable for you and for them. You can even
teach your children valuable math and verbal skills while driving them
all the places you have to go. Driving time is great learning time. |
Fees (for individuals or couples together)
| Private instruction for
parents. Introduction to the concept, the practice, and the problems
of mentoring. How to teach, what to teach, how to confirm learning.
Understanding when school subjects are more complex than they seem, and
how to deal with that:
Teaching you to teach specific
concepts or lessons you cannot figure out
yourself how to teach:
Group rates:
Some specific concepts and
explanations are available free on my
Internet site. |
$125
$35 and up,
depending on
complexity
Call
|
I also teach children
specific conceptually and logically difficult material when parents and
teachers cannot. Fees vary for that. Call to ask the fee for
teaching the specific topic.
There are certain key
places and concepts where students tend to have difficulty in school.
In
math, it is typically:
Understanding counting by
groups, such as groups of two, five, and ten
Seeing numerical relationships
in general and knowing to look for them
Place-value and adding/subtracting
that requires regrouping or what used to be called borrowing and carrying
Understanding multiplication
and division
Fractions
Decimals rate/time/distance
problems
What algebra is about; how
it works in general
Geometry proofs and theorems
and their point
In
verbal areas (including science and social studies) it is typically:
Understanding
what they are reading, particularly in nonfiction
Making
deductions from, or understanding the implications of, what they are reading
Understanding
and appreciating the significance of what they are reading
Understanding
the logical structure of what they are reading
Being
able to write and speak with greater precision and clarity
Having
ideas to write about
Being
able to explain what they mean
Giving
reasonable supporting evidence for their ideas and views
Writing
with power and beauty
Understanding
the point, not just learning the rules, of grammar
Understanding
how to analyze things in general, whether verbal, symbolic, mathematical,
or artistic
Schools
typically teach by giving students recipes, rules, or formats to follow
for solving math problems and for writing reports. In some cases
that is sufficient but in most cases, in order to flourish instead of just
getting by, students really need to develop an underlying understanding
of the concepts and rules or principles they are working with. That
will help them understand and master more difficult and complex ideas and
skills as they come to them. For example, it is important to understand
numerical relationships in order to do algebra well, and it is imortant
to know multiplication in order to factor algebraic equations. There
are ways to help your students develop such insights and understanding.
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