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This week we will cover everyone’s favorite subject…MATH!

math tutoring

Our goal is to provide the highest quality, practical math tutoring and academic support. Our goal is to provide the highest quality, practical math tutoring and academic support. We have been providing affordable and effective online learning since 2012. Review and Sign up for courses here: A+ Club Online Summer Classes and Academic Enrichment from School4Schools.com LLC Visit www.school4schools.com for more information or call (703) 271-5334

SCHOOL OUT? LEARNING STILL ON! ONLINE TUTORING, CONTENT ENRICHMENT & SAT/AP PREP

A+ Club academic support opens future opportunitie for students

Since 2012, School4Schools.com LLC & The A+ Club has been working with students online to engage them in academic ownership and success. All our tutors are full time students and high school teachers who now have extra time on their hands… We tutor: Math: all levels to Calc Chemistry & Physics, including AP Social Studies: all topics, including APUSH and AP World Latin, Spanish, French SAT prep: verbal and math All sessions by videoconference (works great!) We can help! Let us know your academic concerns for your child’s academics, and we will be glad to offer  you a free, no-obligations academic consultation to discuss some ways your child can improve scores and grades, build academic confidence, and become the student you know he or she can be. Click here to schedule a free, no-obligations Academic ConsultationOr call (888) 59-APLUS (592-7587) or (703) 271-5334

Why are my child’s math grades low? Guided versus Indpedendent Practice and how to improve in math class

Guided Practice versus Independent Practice We so often hear from students that they “get it” when the teacher shows it to them, but they can’t do it on their own. When a student struggles in math class, it is usually a product of a disconnect between “being shown how” by the teacher and “doing it yourself” by the student. “Guided Practice” is where a teacher demonstrates a lesson and the students follow along. “Independent Practice” is where the student engages the material alone. So when a student “gets it” when shown but can’t “do it” alone, there is a disconnect between the Guided and Independent Practice. The Connector: Feedback What connects — or in its absence, disconnects — Guided and Independent Practice is feedback. When a teacher provides feedback by showing the answers to an entire class, students may not be getting any real feedback because the teacher is not addressing that student’s own process directly, […]

The Third Quarter Grind: How to find success in the toughest part of the school year

The third quarter is when best laid plans either triumph or fall apart. In fact, research shows that students who procrastinated during the first semester may have done well during the fall but they will likely perform worse in the spring, since all the build up of last minute panics, incomplete work and overall stress that had accumulated turns into a heavier and more stressful load in the spring.  On the other hand, students who worked consistently throughout the fall term will reap the benefits of that investment in less pressure, fewer challenges, and higher overall performance. It’s funny, though, because the same thing applies to teachers and schools. Year after year as a high school teacher, I saw how all the beginning of the year administrative, department and individual teacher planning was out the window by the Third Quarter, and it was panic and push time in order to meet the year end goals […]

Announcing: Sycamore School Lecture Series

March 1, 2017: featuring Michael Bromley of the A+ Club!  Wednesdays, March 2017, 7pm, Arlington, VAWednesday March 1st 7:30–9 p.m. Understanding and Overcoming ProcrastinationMichael Bromley will discuss strategies to help ourselves and our children overcome the urge to delay. Michael is a high school teacher, historian, published author and founder and president of School4Schools.com LLC & the A+ Club. Location: Arlington Central LibraryWednesday March 15th 7:30-9 p.m.Navigating Technology: How to help children address cyber bullying & manage electronicsBrooke Carroll, Ph.D. will lead an interactive discussion regarding parenting our tech-connected children. Brooke is an Educational Consultant & former Head of School at Seneca Academy; she has over 30 years’ experience in education. Location: Arlington Central LibraryWednesday March 22nd 7:30-9 p.m.Ways to support your anxious childChristina Tripodi Mitchell, Psy.D. is the Founder and Clinical Director of The Child & Family Practice of Washington, DC & is a Clinical Professor of Psychology at The George Washington University. Location: […]

What is procrastination?

“Why don’t you just do it!””You waste so much time playing video games!””Do your homework!”It’s so easy for parents and teachers to get down on students who procrastinate – they’ll drive you nuts because it seems so simple: just do your work!Procrastination is an emotional self-regulation struggle, not a moral deficiency.Procrastinators aren’t “lazy,” “distracted,” or “uncaring.” What they suffer from is a deficiency in emotional self-regulation. What we mean by that is that they are not fully in control of their emotional responses to their academic workflow.So the worst thing we can do to a procrastinator is to call him or her “lazy.” That only reinforces the procrastination.Instead, procrastinators need help to overcome the impulse to put off work that is causing them anxiety. Here’s how it works:Facing an “aversive” or unenjoyable or difficult task causes anxiety.To dismiss that anxiety procrastinators  defer the aversive task to later, which relieves themselves of the anxiety.By choosing to do […]

“Have you done your homework?” or what else a parent can do to build student academic independence?

Tired of asking your child about homework?All parents want to support their child’s academics. But they also want to be able to walk away and watch their child manage school on their own.It’s a tricky thing to find that right balance between helicoptering and watching helplessly from the outside. The one risks becoming nagging and backfiring while the other risks missing help that a child really needs.So how to find that balance?Student OwnershipThis term is so often tossed around in education so as to lose meaning. So let’s spell out what we mean by “academic ownership”:awarenessself-advocacyproblem solvingwill powerexecutive functionAwareness means knowing what’s due tomorrow or next, it means knowing the current grades, and, most importantly, it means knowing what is expected of the student by teachers, textbooks and assignments.Self-advocacy means standing up for oneself. It starts with knowing what you need to know or do, and then acting on it by asking for clarification or […]

Parents, take the Academic Needs Survey to help identify your student’s academic situation and solutions

When students struggle with one class, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s just that subject that’s the problem.A low grade in one class is frequently not an indicator of content knowledge but of a process or academic engagement that that particular teacher or class is requiring over other classes.In other words, the bad grade isn’t just because of that one subject or skill set.For example,Math is as much about consistent practice and learning how to engage teacher feedback as it is about the math itself. English is as much about identifying teacher expectations as it is about reading and writing skills.At the A+ Club, we work with students to identify what’s really going on with a student’s academic outcomes and what skills, processes and problem solving techniques could really help.We start with the Academic Needs Survey to help parents and kids start thinking about school and academics holistically.Try it out yourself here:The Academic Needs Survey

Is your student getting missing work lists from teachers already? Try the A+ Club instead.

Developed by real high school teachers, the A+ Club approach to academic support gets beyond tutoring and standard academic coaching by bringing together and supporting the core aspects of academic success:1. Reflection & Goal SettingGuided by experienced and caring educators, we engage students in ongoing reflection, problem solving & goal setting.2. Executive FunctionWe scaffold executive function (organization, time management, prioritization) with daily assignment updates and weekly grades and missing work lists for both students and parents.3. Content support and enrichment.Our team of real teachers and university graduate and undergraduate students provide one-on-one tutoring in all subjects. Additionally, we review essays for grammatical correction and general improvement.Here’s how it looks: Click here to schedule a free, no-obligations Academic ConsultationOr call (888) 59-APLUS (592-7587) or (703) 271-5334

Why get a tutor at the beginning of school? How academic coaching is more effective – and affordable

A+ Club academic support opens future opportunitie for students

Helping your child with math tutoring or chemistry tutoring at the beginning of the school year isn’t a bad idea. Anything a student can do to get ahead of class and really make sense of the teacher when school starts is great.However, there are several important reasons why parents should be wary of starting tutoring early in the school year:1. Direct tutoring, even online tutoring, can be very expensive.2. Direct tutoring can backfire on a parent because once school starts some students come to rely on their tutors and don’t learn to act independently.3. Academic success is a process, not an outcome.4. Successful students overcome barriers and empower themselves to problem solve, negotiate with teachers and succeed on their own.Certainly it’s better to do something than nothing, and you don’t want to be one of those panicked parents who call us for help in February. We’d rather help your child right from the beginning.Here’s how it […]