Archive for April, 2007

Some of my clients have been formally identified with a learning disability. In order for that to happen they had to have had a psych ed assessment which assesses the discrepancy between the child’s intellectual ability and their academic achievement. The report is shared with the parents and depending if it is done inside or [...]

In the States, the first week of May is PTA Teacher Appreciation Week.  A recent survey stated that teachers devote an additional 15 hours per week of unpaid duties such as coaching, after school help…and that is not counting the time spent in marking and preparing lessons.  They also spend app. $500.00 of their own [...]

When I get new clients, I invite them in for an initial interview—an information sharing session. At that time, I learn more about the client, their needs, their challenges and their strengths and together we decide if my services are what they need.
The clients, which include the parents and the child are very open and [...]

There is a growing trend among secondary and post secondary institutions in using multiple choice tests as ways to assess a student’s understanding of the material covered in a particular course.  After all, they are easier to grade since many of them are done by computers, and therefore save the teacher/professor precious time, which is [...]

I was reading about a study that scientists did with a group of junior high school students. When told that their intelligence could be improved, these students did better on math tests than the group who thought that their intelligence couldn’t change. The reason—the first group tried harder. Whether you believe you can or you [...]

I really believe that homework is necessary and that parents should be involved. I feel the real issue is the type of homework and the amount of it.  Homework can be a reinforcement of what was taught that day, however to be truly effective it should also be an application of what was taught. It [...]

It isn’t the homework that parents are objecting to, it is the amount of homework. Many parents feel that children are overburdened with it, that there is just no down time. Why do children need to do so much repetitive work, such as fifty math. questions on a particular concept? Why do they get so [...]

There have been many reasons given for the need for homework:
*Material that has been taught needs to be reinforced and practiced so that it can be fullly consolidated.
*There is simply not enough time in the day for follow up activities to be completed.
*Concepts need to be applied to be fully understood, hence the need for [...]

This is such a contentious issue .  I hear this all the time in my sessions with students and their parents—”Children just get too much homework!”.  This applies to elementary as well as secondary school students.  Many parents feel that children simply aren’t allowed to be children any more.  Their evenings are consumed with many [...]

Know your teacher.  It doesn’t matter if your child necessarily likes or agrees with each teacher’s rules since the teacher is, after all, the boss and what the boss says goes.  Your child might as well learn this at school before s/he enters the work world. Saying, “but in this classroom we get to…..”,won’t make [...]