Posted by: Sara Carbone on: April 13, 2012
Is your child off in space or really resistant during homework time? Try giving voice to a wish or fantasy of his. A sample from one of my tutoring sessions with a 4th grader: Me: You seem kind of bored by what we’re doing. Am I reading things right? Him: Yeah. Me: Hmm. Long division [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: April 10, 2012
Ever wish your kid actually cared about what she was studying? Not the grade, but the actual topic? In the book Unconditional Parenting – Moving From Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason education expert Alfie Kohn writes: In place of excessive focus on school achievement, we should take a lively interest in what the child is learning. [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: April 5, 2012
Think that homeschooling is some weird lifestyle choice you could never relate to? Think again! Blogs by homeschooling parents have quite a bit to offer when it comes to helping your child with school: Outside the box curriculum ideas and supplemental materials for subjects Product, event, activity, museum reviews Descriptions of home projects or field [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: March 23, 2012
The following is a list of 5 top rated books about parenting and education on Amazon.com. I chose books that had consistently positive ratings from readers (many of them parents) for practicality, strong research and readability. Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child – The Heart of Parenting by John Gottman This book is all about helping your [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: March 16, 2012
These presentations are blowing my mind. My husband recently introduced me to the fascinating world of TED. TED – Ideas Worth Spreading (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit that holds conferences gathering luminaries from all over the world. At these conferences individuals give talks and performances about ideas close to their hearts [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: March 10, 2012
With arms crossed, Rebecca stares stonily at the bedroom wall. Anna peers down anxiously at her. “Your work habits are going to keep you from ever being able to hold down a job. If -” says Anna. “Stop talking.” Rebecca’s hand coming up could halt an oncoming train. “Just leave.” “Look, we know you can [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: March 6, 2012
There are certain words and phrases that come with baggage. Our culture uses them over and over again in ways that mean they’re loaded with negative connotations. I tend to avoid them when working with children. This may seem like silly semantics, but I like using language that aims to keep academic work clear of [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: March 2, 2012
D was having a rough afternoon. We were at the big table down in his basement trying to study math facts for a quiz the next day. But no matter what we did – using cards, singing them, trying hand games – D couldn’t concentrate. Every 2 minutes he’d slide to the floor to roll [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: February 24, 2012
Is it torture to get him to read? Does she speed through a required school book? Is reading “boring, stupid and hard?” There are two types of reading these days for elementary school age kids: reading for school and reading for fun. Sometimes the two overlap, sometimes not. In any case, the goals are for [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: February 22, 2012
More tips on how to advise the child whose book report has so many negative comments it looks like it was dipped in red paint. Do start with something positive. Any time a student and I are going over work, I start off with the strengths. Examples: “Excellent structure and very clear topic sentences. Now [...]