Data-Driven Instruction: Everyday Tips for Teachers
At many schools, conversations about data-driven instruction are focused on formal progress monitoring tools and the school’s data wall. While assessments are necessary, there is also valuable data to be found in the classroom everyday. Through formative assessment, teachers are gathering data during lessons and activities, while learning is taking place. They can use the…
Tips for Parents | How to Recognize Comprehension Weakness
Students with decoding issues, including dyslexia, can be easy to spot. They often miscall words (e.g., breakfast as “basket”); their oral reading is slow and “choppy;” and, spelling is tough to master. It is important to identify these students who struggle, so they can get the help they need. Unfortunately, there are many…
Planning Ahead: Prepare Your Child for a Successful Year
For many students, a new school year comes with the promise of a fresh start. They eagerly fill their backpacks with sharpened pencils and notebooks for each subject. But for students who struggle in school, their bags quickly get weighed down with anxiety, stress, and waning self-confidence as the long year looms on the horizon….
Back-to-School Tips: Imagine Better Mornings
Perhaps your kids just spent the summer at camp. Or they spent long hours in the pool or at the beach. Maybe lazy days were spent reconnecting with friends and family. Regardless, the back-to-school transition may be a big change for your family. Why not take this opportunity to establish new habits that contribute to…
Tips for Parents | When Your Child Needs Homework Help
Kids with learning or attention issues can have a tough time with homework, no matter how hard they try. As a parent, you know the importance of completing homework and developing strong study skills, but it can be hard to know how to be supportive without doing too much. Students should get the learning benefit…
Back to School 2020 | Tips for a Successful School Year
For many students, back-to-school season comes with the promise of a fresh start and another fun and successful year of learning. They eagerly fill their backpacks with sharpened pencils and new notebooks for each subject. But, students who struggle in school may instead be preoccupied with waning self-confidence as another tough school year looms…
Your Child’s First Year at School: Tips for Parents
A generation ago, preschool and kindergarten days were filled with activities like coloring, water play, making friends, and learning to be peaceful at nap time. And, while reading and spelling may have been introduced in kindergarten, there was nothing like today’s pressure about school readiness. Sure, there are still art, music, and games,…
Tips for Parents | How to Spot Comprehension Weakness
Students with decoding issues, including dyslexia, can be easy to spot. They often miscall words (e.g., breakfast as “basket”); their oral reading is slow and “choppy;” and, spelling is tough to master. It is important to identify these students who struggle, so they can get the help they need. Unfortunately, there are many students…
Tips for Preventing the Summer Slide
Time away from school can lead to measurable learning loss in skills like reading. Teachers know all about “the summer slide”— students come back to school out of practice, maybe forgetting some of what they learned. For this reason, your child’s teacher may have encouraged families to make reading a summer priority. We’ve gathered…
Tips for Parents | Navigating Progress Reports
“It was fine.” “We didn’t really do anything.” “It was okay, I guess.” Students can be notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to sharing details of the school day. It can be hard for parents to glean how things are really going: did your second grader eat his or her entire lunch? Is…
