academic tutoring

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 […]

How to avoid “summer learning loss” with math tutoring & enrichment

Kids hate having to think about math during the summer. School’s out and they just want to relax, so getting them to work on their summer math packets can be like pulling teeth. At the A+ Club we understand this, but we also know that summer math tutoring & enrichment is essential to maintaining skills and concepts. An entire school year of learning new concepts followed by three math-free months is like taking two steps forward and one step back. In fact, research shows summer “learning loss” in mathematics is equivalent to 2.6 months of school year learning (see “Summer Learning Loss” Wikipedia). Our summer math tutoring program will keep the math fresh and ready your child for the upcoming school year. We focus on skills that may need reinforcement from the previous year and prepare students for the coming year with new concepts and practice so that when September comes around, the student is […]

Academic improvement is not easy!

If a middle or high school student has a low grade in one or more classes, what can a parent do?You can’t just say, “do your work!” — kids often respond to that with anger and excuses.Plus, your parenting time is precious and you’ve got enough to do with work, extracurricular activities and other children.One option is tutoring: if a student is struggling in a class, you can hire a tutor, say for math or chemistry, who can show your child how to get the work done. But think about it: isn’t your child supposed to be learning from the teacher?Direct math tutoring, for example, can help a student start to make sense of what’s going on in class. We love it when that happens! But we worry that the same habits may lead to the same outcomes — and then the parent is paying for more expensive tutors.The A+ Club academic program gets beyond […]

The Parent Tool Box: the A+ Club has all the tools for your child’s academic success

Struggles with procrastination and homework are all too common. Tutoring can help your child play catch up with schoolwork, but tutoring alone doesn’t solve the real problem.At the A+ Club, we help students fight procrastination and build time management and study skills. Students are assigned an academic coach and mentor who helps them monitor and manage their schoolwork. We believe in a holistic skills based approach to student success, rather than a rote, content-based tutoring approach.We help students become successful, and we help parents too: with the A+ Club, parents have peace of mind knowing that their student’s academic work is being monitored and regularly assisted by professional educators.So say goodbye to traditional tutoring and discover the A+ Club advantage.Click here to learn more or here to request a no-obligations Free Academic Consultation.

The A+ Club Advantage: academic coaching, tutoring & mentoring

For a full page version of this chart, see The A+ Club Advantage Copyright School4Schools.com LLC, 2016 We build the skills needed for academic success, including:goal settingexecutive functiontime management study skillsAll this while still offering direct online tutoring in all subjects, including math tutoring, science tutoring, reading & writing tutoring and essay review.That’s Academic Support done right: the A+ Club Advantage! Tutoring is great, but we want our students to learn how to learn on their own.That is why our experienced classroom instructors, whom we call “Student Supporters” engage our students in fundamental skills development such as goal setting, time and calendar management and other executive function skills.All of our student interactions are shared with parents so that our parents can follow student progress and provide positive support for their child’s academic efforts.Additionally, we report assignments, due dates, grades and missing work lists to students and parents, so that student standing is understood the same […]