5 Reasons to be Really Proud of Yourself Right Now
Finding yourself suddenly homeschooling your kids (and working from home!) during a pandemic isn’t easy! Here are some reasons you can feel really proud of yourself.
Motivation
Academic Anxiety: How To Help Kids Build Confidence In Their Schoolwork
Sometimes stress can manifest itself in unexpected ways. Have you ever had a flash of anger come over you as someone cuts you off in traffic… only to realize that you just weren’t paying attention as they changed lanes because you were busy thinking about a fire you were going to have to put out … Read more
Parenting A Procrastinator: It’s More Complicated Than You Think
When our kids struggle with procrastination or study habits, it’s easy to think of it as a character flaw. But in reality, there’s always an underlying reason why they’re putting off doing their work. As parents, we have to figure out where the procrastination is coming from in order to help them get past it. … Read more
Is the “No-Zero” Policy doing more harm than good?
The No-Zero Policy is a new grading strategy that is increasing in popularity in schools across the U.S. and, in fact, Fairfax County has adopted it as well. From the FCPS website: “Collaborative teams may choose to apply a penalty when work is turned in after the due date. Though if a student has made … Read more
The Do’s and Don’ts of report card reactions
Now that we have a perspective on how to interpret the grades that your child comes home with, the next question is: How should you react? If your child comes home with good grades… …it’s often a parent’s natural reaction to say things like: “Wow, that’s awesome! You’re just so smart. I always knew you were … Read more
Why we fight about school
There are some kids who are completely self-motivated and drive themselves to high levels of academic achievement without any pressure from their parents. But most kids aren’t like that. Self-motivated kids are the exception, not the rule, so it’s pretty safe to say that most of us will fight with at least one of our kids … Read more
Do Retakes Help or Hurt Our Kids?
Along with the test grades your child’s teachers have passed back over the last few weeks, may have come the following opportunity: To retake those tests and try to improve the second time around. On the face of it, this seems like an excellent policy. It gives kids who might not be the best test … Read more
Adopting The Principle of Practice
Would you prepare for a road race just by studying a map of the course you had to run? What about getting ready for a violin recital by just looking at the sheet music? Of course not! But that’s exactly what kids are doing when they study for tests by rereading. At the root of … Read more