Alfie Kohn Loves Research! Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) has a gift for analyzing research and pulling out practical applications for educators and parents. I’ve been impressed with every book of his I’ve read, so I came to The Homework Myth: Why our kids get too much of a bad thing with high expectations. It didn’t disappoint. […]
School Choices As a dyslexia tutor, parents often ask me what schools are best. It’s helpful to map out the choices. Depending on the community, choices might include public, private, parochial, specialty school for dyslexia, online school, free schools, home-school with various curriculums, unschooling, co-op or micro-school, or a combination. The first task: discuss what’s […]
Suddenly Homeschooling Over fifty million students attend public schools in the U.S. Over half of those are home due to the COVID19 virus school closures. Likely, this number will rise over the next few weeks. Parents homeschooling in a pandemic face a job they didn’t ask for and haven’t had time to prepare for. So […]
A DTK Book Review: How We Learn, by Benedict Carey Learning to Study Benedict Carey’s book, How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens deserves a look by serious students and teachers. Students at all levels of education spend a lot of time in the classroom and the library. They […]
Why Temperament Awareness is Important for Tutors Often children who come for tutoring exhibit temperament traits that make classroom learning difficult. Tutors, because they work one-on-one, can adjust teaching style to temperament style. Thus, both learning and enjoyment increase. Activity Level Affects Classroom Learning High energy children need to move as they learn. This need […]
More Parents Choose Home Education Many parents who would not have considered home education in the past do so now. Surprisingly, many parents indicate that time or scheduling informed their decision to homeschool. Students spend up to seven hours a day at school. Then they bring home one to two hours of homework. That leaves […]
How to Choose a School How can you choose a good school? Clear research exists on which indicators are most important. Here’s the quick list, with details below. School size Teacher/student ratio Parent Participation Appropriate accommodations for students with special needs School Size is Most Important First find out how many students attend the school. […]
Every Child is Exceptional As parents and teachers know, every child exhibits both gifts and challenges! Average children do not exist. Each brain brings unique talents to the planet. Together, we are far, far more than we are individually. So, a label such as twice-exceptional can be confusing. But, in a school setting, “twice-exceptional” indicates […]
Teaching: Modeling, Supported Practice, Mastery Teaching involves 3 steps: Modeling (the teacher shows the student how) Supported practice (teacher and student do it together; the student gets help as needed) Mastery (the student does it independently or takes a test on it) Modeling works beautifully in the classroom, and testing happens efficiently in the classroom. Supported practice […]