Did you know that thirty percent of Maryland children ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese? I read all about this in an article published by the Center For Science in the Public Interest called, Junk Food Marketing Prevalent In Montgomery County Schools. I am actually not surprised because our children are surrounded by unhealthy food choices and mass marketing. When you walk down a hallway — you used to see the student’s work on the walls — now you see vending machines and posters for different snack foods.

I have to admit, when I started Ashley Tutors, I brought my students candy. There is nothing wrong with an award for doing awesome on a test or a great effort, but now I am finding healthier food ideas instead of candy. Finally, the schools are also implementing some healthier options such as a black bean burger, soy chicken nuggets, and soy milk. Montgomery County is to be commended for that — it is a great first step. But, when given the choice between carrots or a cookie, most children would choose the cookie. What if we stopped giving students so many choices and instead taught them healthy eating habits?

Healthy candy is not all we do at Ashley Tutors to help curb the obesity rate. We know another contributing factor to our obese adolescents is that they are much less active. I hear about students spending all afternoon sitting in front of the computer or playing video games rather than playing sports and moving their bodies. Our tutoring combines instruction and kinesthetic learning — which is learning and moving the body at the same time. Check out or web site at www.ashleytutors.com to learn more about kinesthetic learning.

I am always looking for new and fun healthy eating tips or treats — if you have any, please let us know!

Did you know that music lessons can help improve the memory of children? When the guys from B&B Music World, a D.C. based, in-home music lesson service told me that – it was music to my ears!

That is why I am proud to announce that we have formed a special partnership with B&B Music World. Through our new friendship, we are going to encourage our students to work with B&B to learn awesome music and improve their memories (that will help them in school too). And, since their team is a lot like ours at Ashley Tutors – energetic, experienced and always looking to make learning more fun they will get to learn in a 1-1 setting, which is exactly the same successful experience they have at Ashley Tutors.

Go see and hear for yourself! Check out our new friends at their website. Be sure to watch their free music lessons, too! Don’t forget to read this great article all about music and memory.

In November, we are really going to begin rocking and rolling with B&B Music World. So, listen up because we have some terrific contests and prizes planned for our students!

Did you know that music lessons can help improve the memory of children? When the guys from B&B Music World, a D.C. based, in-home music lesson service told me that – it was music to my ears!

That is why I am proud to announce that we have formed a special partnership with B&B Music World. Through our new friendship, we are going to encourage our students to work with B&B to learn awesome music and improve their memories (that will help them in school too). And, since their team is a lot like ours at Ashley Tutors – energetic, experienced and always looking to make learning more fun they will get to learn in a 1-1 setting, which is exactly the same successful experience they have at Ashley Tutors.

Go see and hear for yourself! Check out our new friends at their website. Be sure to watch their free music lessons, too! Don’t forget to read this great article all about music and memory.

In November, we are really going to begin rocking and rolling with B&B Music World. So, listen up because we have some terrific contests and prizes planned for our students!

Hello all:

As much as we think our team can tutor the presidential candidates in a thing or two, we know that it might be too late to help Obama or McCain.  But, it is never too late for us to help students in the Washington, D.C. area in anything from reading, to writing, to SAT prep, and even college essays.

So, during this political season, we created a political spoof on the seemingly endless political ads to show students, and especially high school students, that we have tutors who are not too old or too inexperienced — but just the right age to understand any student’s work and any student’s world!

Check it out and please send the commerical around (who knows, maybe we will get it to McCain or Obama?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfU8jb-Vths

I can’t tell you how proud our team is of Demetric Evans on the Washington Redskins.  We partnered with #92 last May to promote the importance of education and now he is educating the NFL about the importance of Demetric Evans.  See, I have my own personal tutor to teach me about football and I learned that Demetric is one of the big reasons the Cowboys couldn’t run on our defense this weekend as the Redskins ran over Dallas.  Demetric is a key defensive run stopper (to quote my tutor)!

Well, last May when Demetric talked about education, he was able to impress even the smallest of Ashley’s friends (check out the cute picture) and be sure to see the video of Demetric meeting Ashley Tutors students!  Now, he is impressing all football fans in our town.  Demetric said he wants to tutor for Ashley Tutors — maybe in the offseason?  He might be #92 for the Redskins, he is #1 on our team!

School is almost over, and it’s time to think about keeping your student sharp during the summer.  As a teacher, I see “brain drain” every September when those kids who took the summer off don’t get back on the learning track for almost three months. 

Ashley Tutors wants all students to stay smart this summer.  Whether you START REGULAR tutoring sessions or simply schedule sessions when you are not on vacation, this is a perfect time to review concepts FROM THE YEAR BEFORe.  ALSO, STUDENTS CAN prepare for next year AND Sharpen THEIR organizational skills.  WE HAVE ENERGETIC AND ENTERTAINING READING TUTORS, MATH TUTORS, CONFIDENCE BUILDERS, ORGANIZATIONAL HELPERS…YOU NAME IT WE HAVE IT!

In addition to your student working with A tutor, you can help too.  Please check out my list of fun and kinesthetic learning activities BELOW TO keep your whole family engaged in learning all summer.

To schedule A tutor, of course just E-MAIL US AT INFO@ASHLEYTUTORS.COM and WE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN FASTER THAN IT HEATS UP ON A JULY DAY.  Let’s make sure we make learning very entertaining all year round!

1. Take a walk to the library or bookstore and pick out a fun book that the student didn’t get to read during the school year.  Then, parents need to make time for family reading time.  Discuss story elements, character traits, and do vocabulary activities to learn and understand the meaning of new words.  In a word: read!    

2.  Just because it is the summer doesn’t mean kids have nothing to do.  Have your child keep a daily planner for walking the dog, mowing the lawn or going to swim practice.  A planner for each day will keep them in the habit of staying organized.  

3.  Take a “field trip” to get ice cream, go to a museum or the grocery store.  Make sure to read words all around you such as signs on the streets and the menu at the ice cream shop.  Before you pay for the ice cream, have your child count the money and keep those math skills up.

4.  Have your child keep a writing journal to keep them in the habit of writing on a regular basis.  Kids can write for 20 minutes about 3 times a week.  They can write about their summer, compose a creative story, or even write a play.

5. Take time to invent a new math game using dice, cards, and dominos for the whole family to play.  Make fun flash cards to help practice math facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

6. Get out there and play!  Being outside and physical activity is proven to have a positive effect on students.  Explore nature, go to a park and the zoo – just be active.

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Colleen Lerro

Director of Communications

240.780.3233

E-mail: info@ashleytutors.com

ASHLEY TUTORS EDUCATES BY FOCUSING ON

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES

UCLA study shows many kids misdiagnosed with ADHD

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. – Ashley Tutors (http://www.ashleytutors.com) launched in October 2007, offers one-on-one in-home academic tutoring to Washington, D.C. area students in grades kindergarten through 12. While other tutoring centers use their own curriculum and parents must travel to their location, Ashley Tutors develops unique, individualized strategies to meet the needs of each of its students in the comfort of their own home.

A recent UCLA study of Finnish adolescents showed that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), clearly exhibit the cognitive defects commonly associated with the condition. The study also concluded that the prevalence and symptoms of the disorder are similar in different populations whether or not medicine was used. Ashley Tutors works with all students to find the learning style that best suits each student. While some students may appear to be affected by symptoms of ADHD, the problem might actually be that they don’t learn well in a traditional classroom setting.

“The goal of Ashley Tutors is to develop a unique, individualized and very interactive strategy to meet the needs of each student,” said Josh Chernikoff, the Ashley Tutors team member who personally interviews, investigates and selects each individual tutor. “Our methods are highly interactive, and our tutors work with your child to find out how they learn best. We feel that our unique use of kinesthetic learning, which is learning by movement, is really helping us make an immediate impact in our students lives.”

Parents see the results from these individualized strategies. “Ashley Tutors has taken the time to get to know my son’s strengths and the things that motivate him,” said Maria Cornelius, parent of a student at St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Bethesda, Md. “His grades have improved and he continues to gain confidence. It has been a real blessing.”

“Ashley Tutors worked wonders with my child who is learning disabled,” said a parent of a Bethesda Chevy Chase High School student. “Our tutors used new individualized strategies to build on my son’s capabilities and boost his self-confidence.”

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A parent of an Ashley Tutors student mentioned an article in today’s Washington Post called, “Parents Rise Up Against A New Approach To Math.” The article details a new textbook that is being used in Prince William, Howard, Loudon and Arlington Counties and across the country — “Investigations in Number, Data, and Space.” The reason parents are so upset is that they, “say its methods are convoluted and fail to help children master basic math skills and facts. Educators who favor the series say it helps young students learn math in a deeper way as they prepare for the rigors of algebra.”

As a teacher, I have not come in contact with this book or this method. Our methods are the opposite of convoluted! In fact, our use of kinesthetic learning has been producing amazing results and making math easier to comprehend and attack. One of our tutors has been working with a second grade student on his math by making math fun. The two play games using special manipulatives such as playing cards, dice or blocks to help this young student learn addition and subtraction. His understanding of the concept and his confidence (which is also huge!) have skyrocketed since this tutor started using the kinesthetic approach.

So, whether the approach to math detailed in the Post makes its way to MCPS — Ashley Tutors is ready with our own method that makes learning very entertaining!

What are today’s classrooms like? Most days if you walk into my classroom, which I consider its own little community, you will see a variety of activities and a ton of learning. We all learn differently so I give my students the opportunity to work in pairs or cooperative groups, as well as individually if they wish. For some students, it takes so much concentration to sit still in their seats they are unable to concentrate or apply themselves to the academics. I encourage my students to stand at their desk, sit in a quiet corner, or even a small rocking chair with a clip board to complete their work. My goal as their teacher is to help them master objectives and become more confident learners and beings. Another favorite in my classroom is listening to music, taking dance or movement breaks, and we are now learning yoga. If you have been reading my journal, you know I am talking about kinesthetic learning — learning through movement.

If my classroom then sounds like fun to you, imagine what it is like when we work with students through Ashley Tutors in a 1-1 setting. Our tutors take my classroom energy and bring it right into the comfort of your home. That is right, our 1-1 tutoring is kinesthetic learning at its best! Our instructors are not only bringing grades up all over Montgomery County, Md. and the Washington, D.C. area, they are also bringing students up out of their seats and making them move. Whether it is acting out a speech, using grapes to do addition or demonstrating physics with a basketball — our tutors make learning entertaining! If you want to learn more about Ashley Tutors, give us a call at 240.780.3233 or e-mail us at info@ashleytutors.com. Can’t wait to hear from you!

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Colleen Lerro

Director of Communications

240.780.3233

info@ashleytutors.com

ASHLEY TUTORS TAILORING TO SPECIFIC LEARNING STYLES

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. – Ashley Tutors (http://www.ashleytutors.com) launched in October 2007, offers one-on-one in-home academic tutoring to Montgomery County, Md., and Washington, D.C. area students in grades kindergarten through 12. While other tutoring centers use their own curriculum and parents must travel to their location, Ashley Tutors develops unique, individualized strategies to meet the needs of each of its students in the comfort of their own home. From a fourth grader raising his reading level in three months to a Spanish II student improving her grade from a D to a B, parents are already seeing results generated by the energetic and experienced team of dedicated tutors who put to practice the Ashley Tutors motto: LIVE! Learning Is Very Entertaining.

Franchised tutoring centers generally have a one to four student ratio and do not pair the same tutor with the same student every session. Ashley Tutors, which strives for open communication and continuity between the student, parent and tutor, offers one-on-one consistent help with the same knowledgeable tutor. Working with the same instructor every time, and the fact that the parent does not have to travel with their child to another location, allows for more time for the tutor and parent to develop a relationship, discuss the student’s progress and set goals after each session.

“From the moment we met Ashley and Josh, I knew we were on the right track,” said Maria Cornelius, a parent of a student at St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Bethesda, Md. “They were very professional and knowledgeable about the issues we were facing at school. Ashley Tutors has taken the time to get to know my son’s strengths and the things that motivate him. His grades have improved and he continues to gain confidence. It has been a real blessing.”

The communication with Ashley Tutors does not stop once the session is over. After every meeting, the instructor sends an email “report card” to the parent discussing the student’s energy, preparation, progress, and offers teaching tools so the student can carry the momentum from the session into the classroom. In addition to facilitating constant communication between the tutor and parent, Ashley Tutors frequently speaks with their student’s teachers to determine the teacher’s goals, their experience with the student in the classroom, and assure them that Ashley Tutors wants to support the teacher in anyway possible.

“We have the utmost respect for teachers and what they do inside the classroom,” said Josh Chernikoff, the Ashley Tutors team member who interviews, investigates and selects each individual tutor. “I have met with many teachers to figure out the best methods to help support the teacher as our tutors do their 1-1 instruction. All of those meetings have resulted in better grades for the students!”

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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Colleen Lerro

Director of Communications

240.780.3233

colleen@ashleytutors.com

ASHLEY TUTORS TEAM FOCUSES ON KINESTHETIC TEACHING

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. – Ashley Tutors (http://www.ashleytutors.com) has hired an energetic and diverse team from six countries to put into practice the Ashley Tutors motto: LIVE! Learning Is Very Entertaining. The fresh tutoring team was assembled to make learning entertaining through the use of kinesthetic learning, a style that takes place when a student carries out a physical activity. Based on the kinesthetic teaching methods of Ashley Fagel, a Maryland certified teacher working in Montgomery County, Md., Ashley Tutors offers in-home, one-on-one academic help in any subject to students in kindergarten through 12^th grade.

“The goal of Ashley Tutors is to develop a unique, individualized and very interactive strategy to meet the needs of each student,” said Josh Chernikoff, the Ashley Tutors team member who personally interviews, investigates and selects each individual tutor. “Because the teaching method is so interactive, it is important to have highly educated and highly energetic instructors. So, it is no accident that our team is as diverse as the subjects we tutor all over the Washington, D.C. area.”

Every tutor on the Ashley Tutors team works with Fagel on how to best utilize kinesthetic learning and speaks with Fagel each Sunday to review their last tutoring session. Any member of Ashley Tutors can make everything from homework help to an abstract subject entertaining in their one-on-one sessions with the use of kinesthetic methods.

“An elementary school student I tutor had a very tough time focusing on her lessons,” said Joe Pacelli, a senior at Georgetown University excelling in the McDonough School of Business. “After taking two-minute breaks to stretch or play ‘Simon Says’ she comes back completely focused and excited to learn. These breaks are what kinesthetic learning is all about. It is hard for anybody to sit still for an hour and a five minute stretch time during a session helps my student’s concentrate longer in the end.”

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