Effective Family Communication: How to Keep Everyone on the Same Page
Out of 5, how many stars would you rate the effectiveness of your family communication? Improve effective family communication in a busy household by using a shared calendar, making time to finish important conversations, and having regular marriage check-ins. Poor communication weakens the family and leads to conflict. Which one of these areas would help improve your effective family communication star rating? Use a shared family calendar How to keep everyone on one page is LITERALLY keeping everyone on the same calendar page. Way back in the days of a paper calendar hung in the kitchen, my husband would tell people he had to check the calendar before committing to an event. When our kids were in middle school, we gave them access to my digital Google calendar so they could check the calendar before even asking us permission to attend an outing. My aging mom has access to my calendar so she can schedule doctor appointments when I am available to drive. When my adult kids call me now it usually starts with “I checked your calendar and saw you didn’t have a client right now.” Knowing what’s on the family calendar can be the first step to effective…
Time Management for Kids: Simple Tips to Help Students Stay on Track
Is it harder for you to estimate how long it will take to do a task or to manage your time appropriately while doing the task? As mentioned in a previous post on executive function, time management for kids is the ability to estimate how much time a task will take and manage time appropriately. In school, this can look like completing work within a deadline, knowing how long to study for an upcoming quiz or test, and budgeting time for other daily tasks and breaks. Common struggles students face are procrastination or underestimating how long a task will take. Here are tips and tools to help improve and reinforce time management for kids. Why time matters Part of school education is learning how to manage time and finish assignments within a deadline. Younger grades typically have one assignment at a time, whereas older grades have assignments for each class and further out deadlines. The benefits of time management are reduced stress, improved academic performance, and increased confidence and independence. Teaching students the benefits is as important as the skill itself. Knowing the why encourages independence as they learn to manage their workload effectively. Common challenges for students When students…
10 Practical Executive Function Activities for Students: A Guide for Parents and Tutors
What are some of the main categories of executive functioning? Good kids may often say “I forgot” and genuinely not know how to stop forgetting to do homework assignments or turn in their work on time unless parents and tutors use executive function activities for students to help train their brains to focus and manage tasks. When it comes to supporting school-aged children, understanding the key categories of executive functioning is crucial. Executive functioning refers to the mental skills that help children plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks. These cognitive skills are essential for success in school, relationships, and life in general. Here are 10 main categories of executive functioning that parents and tutors should know about along with examples and executive function activities for students. Tutors can easily incorporate a tip or strategy into a tutoring session to help build executive function skills and parents can continue to reinforce the strategy at home. 1. Self-Control Definition: The ability to control impulses and resist distractions, staying focused Examples in school: Not interrupting others in class, waiting your turn, and resisting the urge to play during study time. Practical Tips and Strategies for Improvement: Use visual reminders, such…
Building Blocks for Success: How Executive Function Skills Support Learning and Life
What are some of the main components of executive function skills? Success in learning, living, and leading starts with strong executive function skills, and without this building block, many students struggle academically, personally, and socially. Executive function skills help us stay organized, manage our time, control our emotions, and make good decisions. These skills are important for getting work done, handling challenges, and doing well in school and with friends. Many students (and adults) struggle with developing these skills without intentional guidance. Edutopia sums it up nicely with this quote: “Executive function is the brain’s air traffic controller, intercepting a tangle of thoughts and impulses and steering them toward safe, productive outcomes.” What Are Executive Function Skills? Five key components of executive function include planning, organizing, time management, emotional regulation, and flexibility. Planning: Setting goals and figuring out steps to achieve them. Organization: Keeping materials and thoughts in order. Time Management: Using time wisely to complete tasks. Emotional Regulation: Staying calm and focused under pressure. Flexibility: Adapting to new situations or solving unexpected problems. These key components help us be successful in learning, living, and leading throughout our lives. Why Are Executive Function Skills Important? Executive function skills impact schoolwork,…
Influence of Adoptive Parents
Who influences your image of who you are? Adoptive parents know the feeling of lavishing love on a chosen child before the child can even love them back. Words, like loved, chosen, and adopted, have a sweet ring to them. Families who have experienced earthly adoption connect with this language and concept of being adopted much easier than those of us who just observe it from the outside. Adoption involves sacrifice, expenses, sorrow, blessings, assurance, and joy. It’s a beautiful metaphor for the Christian faith. There are many blessings bestowed by God on His children. We are loved, chosen, adopted, forgiven, alive, and so much more. We are God’s masterpiece! The book of Ephesians, in the Bible, is full of truth and rich with the privileges of being a child of God. Our worth is defined by how God sees us, not how the world sees us or how we feel about ourselves. Christians describe this as being adopted into God’s family. By faith, we become children of God with all the rights and privileges of being His child. This isn’t just a future blessing when we die and go to Heaven, it starts immediately. I get a smile on…
Book Review: Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child
What do you wish you knew about parenting a disabled child? Parenting a disabled child is a daunting task, and author and advocate Kelly Coleman turned her experience into a disability resource book so that other parents and caregivers would have access to explanations and resources that make navigating the systems a bit smoother. This newly published book Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child – Your Guide to the Essential Systems, Services, and Supports is an incredible resource for parents and caregivers. Schools, medical offices, and therapy clinics should have a copy of this in the lobby. Not only is it helpful to parents, but it gives others insight into the struggle and loneliness families feel when navigating systems and services. No parent ever thinks they will be there, but if you are, you are not alone in the journey. No matter where you are in your journey, this book is a roadmap and a comfort to find you are not alone. As a teacher and tutor, this book gave me talking points to use with clients as I help them understand what an IEP meeting looks like and how to advocate for their child at…
Overcoming Learning Challenges: 4 Strategies for Parents and Tutors
Is it better to avoid distractions or learn to deal with them? Not seeing joy in your child’s education because of learning challenges, grumpy attitudes, and lack of confidence? Here are 4 strategies for parents and tutors to help children with overcoming learning challenges. Much of the application of these strategies comes from talking over the changes, context, and benefits of the strategies instead of just giving a list of rules. For the younger years, parents should take the lead in setting up expectations for learning. For the middle years, parents and students should talk about options and expectations. For the launching years, students should take the lead if they have shown the maturity and self-discipline to complete tasks. If not, parents and students should discuss expectations and problem-solve learning challenges together. Establish study routines Whether your child does homework right away or not until after dinner, establish study routines. Talk about options for locations. Is the kitchen table a good fit or too distracting? Is the bedroom desk a good fit or too removed for accountability? Talk about establishing time routines to work on homework, do daily reading, organize papers, and study over notes taken in class. Talk about…
3 Easy Tips For Reading Picture Books With Children
What picture book could be enjoyed by all ages? I love a good picture book discussion with little kids, big kids, and grandkids! Megan Dowd Lambert, in her book Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake up Storytime and Get Kids Talking About What They See, explains The Whole Book Approach to reading picture books with children through examples, tips, and stories of her own journey. It’s a phenomenal resource for parents, teachers, tutors, speech therapists, artists, and librarians that will turn your storytime into a picture book playground. I happened upon this book while browsing the “new book” section at the library. Surprisingly it is not a new publication, but I have been delighted with the find and immediately added it to my educational resource list for my tutoring business. I also knew I would write about it in my newsletter. It’s fine to read a book cover to cover and enjoy the story, but it’s a much richer experience to read and discuss the text, the art, and the book layout. Along with teaching the reader about all the parts of a book, from the jackets to gutters to endpapers, Lambert addresses the importance and steadfastness of…
Good Character Never Goes Out of Style
What character trait best defines you? In the world of fast fashion and FOMO (fear of missing out), good character never goes out of style. What is good character? Good character is about your values and motives for making choices not just being a good person. A few good character traits are integrity, compassion, loyalty, respect, responsibility, and courtesy. When people hear your name or your child’s name mentioned, what character traits come to mind? Are they the ones you are proud of? Are there some you need to work on? 5 character trait quiz questions To see where you land on building good character, answer with your most honest answer. Speak to others (courtesy and respect) When the store clerk asks how you are doing Look down at your phone and ignore the question Say “Fine” Say “Fine” and ask the question back, making eye contact Help others (compassion and respect) When you are with friends and a stranger drops a whole box of colored pencils in a busy walkway Staring at your phone, you do not notice Walk by, then laugh about it with your friends Pause and see if the person wants help picking them up Leave…
Cure Senioritis in 4 Steps
When was the last time you got a case of senioritis? What is senioritis and how can you cure senioritis? Senioritis is defined as a decrease in motivation and academic performance at the end of the senior year of high school when the college acceptance letters and final exam exemptions begin arriving. We all know that it’s much broader than that and senioritis strikes older and younger students alike. Even teachers and parents can get a case of the “I don’t care anymore” attitude when the summer vacation or job change is just around the corner. Spring fever is a similar attitude where students lose focus in the classroom because they can’t wait to get outside and enjoy the longer days. They have a “let’s just get this done quickly” mentality. Here are 4 steps to cure senioritis and spring fever and finish the school year strong, plus more resources for additional reading. Go outside This is a game-changer. Did you know that spending 20 minutes a day outside will make you healthier, more productive, and lower your stress level? Whether you are the student, the teacher, or the parent, take some time to go outside each day. Put a…