Summer Balance For Kids
How many days will it take for you to first hear “I’m bored” from your kids this summer? Finding the balance between commitments and boredom is a tricky thing each summer depending on the age of your kids. Much needed rest after a busy school year is needed by both parents and kids, but many kids find it hard to occupy themselves after a few days. Some parents want to avoid this and sign their kids up for too many commitments during the summer, exhausting both the kids and the chauffeurs. Here’s a few tips to help your family find summer balance for kids. Pick a few commitments wisely. Nothing wrong with a summer camp or two. Consider researching a few your child might like and letting them pick one or two, not every week of summer. Same goes for recreational classes. Ask your kids to prioritize their top few interests and go from there. If budgets are limited, consider hosting a camp week swap with other families. You plan one fun theme day at your house complete with lunch and activities, then another families hosts the next day and so on. Easy and inexpensive themes are water day, water…
Business Basics
What business have you thought about launching? I used to wonder what it would take to start my own tutoring business and if I had the courage and energy to launch a business. I’m so glad I jumped on this roller coaster! It’s been a wild ride and a fun adventure. Now I want to help others get started. Are you ready to start your own tutoring, coaching, or lessons business? My course is here to help you launch your own business and to be your own boss. From start to finish, you will learn how to set up and grow a successful tutoring business that brings you joy and freedom. Every lesson teaches you what we are learning, why it’s important, and how to do it. You will also get examples of how to put the lesson into practice. There will be a brief quiz to see if you understood the material. You will then be given a few action steps to complete. The discussion board is where you can share your ideas and ask questions. It’s that simple! In this course Business Basics, you will have 12 lessons to open that should take 15-30 minutes each to complete,…
Summer Tutoring Openings 2022
What is on your summer schedule to promote academic growth in your children? Summer Tutoring Openings 2022 Shocking but not surprising are the gaps in the reading development of US children in the past 2 years. Now is the time to sign up for summer tutoring! Summer tutoring clients will participate in literacy lessons, vocabulary practice, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension practice, and writing exercises geared towards the four building blocks of literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). We hope to see significant improvement in multiple reading outcomes to bridge some of these gaps over the summer and avoid the summer slide which happens when students do not practice their skills over breaks. Getting a jump start on future reading progress will also help build confidence in children and set them up for success in the new school year. This summer at Tailor Joy, I am only offering reading tutoring as that seems to be the biggest educational need this year. The 2022 summer reading program is for confident and reluctant readers alike. Everyone has room for improvement and repeated practice. Summer READING Tutoring June 13 – August 26, 2022 What the summer sessions will look like: Oral fluency practice…
The Importance of Learning Vocabulary
Did you know that having a good vocabulary improves your communication skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking? Vocabulary helps you think and learn about the world around you. Expanding your knowledge of words broadens your ability to process new information. Learning the subject vocabulary is of great importance for any school or business course, but also just growing your vocabulary will enrich your communication abilities. Building your knowledge of subject area vocabulary increases testing confidence and reduces your stress no matter what course you are taking. It allows you to focus on the critical thinking aspects of the course or test instead of focusing on your stress. Understanding the test question will help you respond with confidence and that is why it is crucial to learn unit vocabulary for each subject area in school. No one wants to be buffaloed when the teacher asks a question. Understanding WHAT the question is asking will eliminate mistakes as long as you know the content. Memorizing words and definitions can be a very helpful first step in learning vocabulary, but studying vocabulary words in context is the BEST way to learn vocabulary. Sometimes you may start studying vocabulary as the introduction to a…
Summer Education Ideas
What do you look forward to doing in the summer when school is out? What are some ways to bridge the gap between the school years or the Bible study you attend that doesn’t meet in the summer? Private tutoring, summer classes, day trips, book clubs, or Bible studies are great summer education ideas to bridge the summer gap. A quick google search is sure to pop up a few fun things to do in your area this summer. While it’s nice to take a break, it’s also the perfect time for learning because you do not have other expectations and homework on your plate. Gather a few friends at your house, in your car, or virtually. Life’s more fun with a friend! This is true for you OR for your kids. When was the last time you and a friend signed up for a class together? This is the time to hone those writing skills, brush up on math facts, learn how to make cheese or arrange a cheese plate. Have you ever taken a sketchbook to a museum? Take a car load of kids and sketch books to a museum. Let them pick any piece of art in…
Tips for Homework Time
Are you looking for a few useful tips for homework time or is it time to hire a tutor? Homework Tips Set a regular schedule and routine for homework time. (Read Homework Help for more homework tips, too.) Be available but do not hover. Set a work timer if needed. Some students work best on homework right after school, some after dinner, and some at breakfast. Ask your student’s opinion of this and maybe try something new. Be consistent and kind. Encourage the student to help come up with solutions rather than just doing it yourself (most students CAN ask their teachers a question in person or via messaging and take responsibility to follow through). Listen more than you talk. Use an agenda system to record work and break projects into chunks. Use a paper or project management system even if school is online. Write reminders to talk to teachers or turn in work. Have your student write down tasks like “read slide show” or “do attendance” if your student struggles to remember daily tasks other than rushing to complete the “due” work. Mark off completed work with a highlighter or check box. Using an agenda will help both student…
Free Table Talk Conversation Starter Questions
Are you more like a pencil or a school bus? I love to ask people conversation starter questions like this one! I have asked it around the dinner table, to help a student prepare for an interview, on an airplane, in line at an amusement park, at gatherings, walking down the beach, and many more places to people both young and old. Mostly I just love to get people thinking and talking. I always ask them to give one reason to support their answer. I have heard plenty of interesting answers, the best being from my daughter who said she was sharp like a pencil but you never knew when she might snap! Why ask conversation starter questions If you think this is just a silly idea, let me explain. Conversation starter questions like this cause one to think about a pencil and then to think about a school bus. Probably floods of memories come when they think about their own experience with buses or lack of experience. Then they have to think about themself and what they want to review or hide about themself when they answer. Next, they have to evaluate both options and analyze the object and…