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By Heather Margaret Hay

The latest buzz on campus is that succeeding in college is a whole lot easier than the actual process of getting admitted. However, using these six insider tips, your chances of college admission will be substantially enhanced:

1. See For Yourself
The summers between junior and senior years afford great opportunities to narrow down your choices by visiting campuses. A campus visit is the best way to see whether the college you are considering is a good match for you, and it gives you a chance to get to know individual Admissions Counselors before you submit your application.

2. Apply Early
Set aside the Admissions’ jargon of “Early Action,” “Early Decision,” and “Regular Decision.” The fact is, applying early gives Admissions Counselors more time to consider your application before the onslaught of applications arrives. According to the Admissions Department of George Mason University, in Fairfax County, VA., early applications are considered “a positive indicator of a candidate’s level of interest….” And for schools with rolling admissions, the earlier you apply, the sooner you receive a decision.

3. Standardized Test Scores, GPA and Class Rank Aren’t Everything
Most Admissions Counselors agree that the types and level of high school classes have a lot to do with whether or not you will be accepted. Take challenging classes as soon as they are offered by your high school, and don’t let up in senior year, often considered a strong predictor of college success.

4. Treat Each Application as if It’s Your Only One
Be careful to include everything that is requested, and remember to send in any required supporting materials, such as transcripts and recommendation letters. Leave enough time for proof-reading and editing, preferably by a third party. Consider hiring a professional Admissions Consultant to advise you on select areas of your application, such as the Admissions Essay and Personal Statement.

5. Show them the Real “You”
Admissions Counselors are instructed to consider the whole person when reviewing applications. Demonstrate your commitment to success out of school by highlighting community service and in school through leadership and membership in clubs and on teams that show a consistent and passionate involvement. Counselors at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., for example, try to predict a candidate’s “…potential contribution to the Georgetown campus community and the degree to which a student is likely to become globally engaged later in life.”

6. Tell the Truth
There’s a fine line between marketing yourself smartly to colleges and just plain stretching the truth. Think about it: the more honest and open you are about yourself, the more Admissions Counselors can judge whether or not their college is the best fit for both you and the school.

Next month: Sewing Up Scholarships!

Heather Margaret Hay is a principal in J & H Tutoring and Educational Consulting, specializing in Admissions and Scholarships. The firm has offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, but works with students across the United

States, Canada and the United Kingdom. For further information, go to www.jhtutoring.com and email us at jhtutoring2009@gmail.com for special pricing for newsletter readers.

Math skills are inherently important to your child’s schooling; especially as they get closer to high school, where more advanced concepts are taught. Math skills can also be important for college admissions, and a variety of careers. If your child is struggling with math, here are a few ways to help them brush up on and improve their skills.

Cover the basics
Make sure your child understands the basic concepts and facts of math or they will have difficulties as they advance through the grades. Flash cards can be helpful in practicing areas where their skills need help, and some students can benefit from using objects or visualization to better understand problems.

Do Homework the Right Way
Math homework is a central part of driving home the lessons taught in the classroom. Teach your child to start each assignment by first reviewing the examples given. It’s also a good idea to have them try to redo the examples before starting the assignment. This calls to attention any gaps in knowledge or places where they are working incorrectly. It also avoids the frustration of them struggling through an assignment they don’t properly understand.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Practicing math problems is one of the best ways to check for understanding. The teacher may have only assigned one page of problems, but encourage your student to do a few extra problems here and there. The more they work on the concepts, the more they will become second nature to them.

Math Vocabulary
Mastering the concepts with numbers is one thing, but when it comes to word problems, many students get intimidated or frustrated. You can avoid this by helping students in their approach to word problems. Have them read the problem multiple times and identify exactly what they are trying to figure out. If they have to draw diagrams or describe it out loud, that’s okay. If they are having problems with certain steps in a sequence, try substituting smaller, easier numbers to work with and then move up to larger numbers or decimals. Word problems also require a fair amount of vocabulary, so it’s important to check for understanding of basic and new terms. Sometimes working through actual examples is the best way to teach new vocabulary.

Encourage Math in Their Head
It’s not always appropriate, but your child should be able to do math in their head. Discourage them from using a calculator with numbers that are easy to work with. Using a paper and pencil reinforces their knowledge and leaves them less dependent on a machine to figure out the work for them. Doing math in their head doesn’t only have to involve homework. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the day to do some simple arithmetic, keeping the brain fresh. Ask them to calculate the change you are owed at the store, or to help you double a recipe or balance the checkbook.

Don’t Wait to Help
It’s very important that math questions and uncertainties be addressed as they arise. This is especially true for math because it is always building upon previous knowledge and concepts. Children who feel lost can quickly get discouraged and become uninterested in or intimidated by math. If you feel your child is not grasping the material, tutoring is a great alternative for them to practice specific skills, brush up on class material, and build their confidence.

Source: Gisler, Peggy and Marge Eberts. “Top 10 Ways to Help Your Kids Do Well in Math.” www.school.familyeducation.com.

Aside from those people who enjoyed reading Shakespeare and Wuthering Heights, many of us may remember inching through difficult literary tomes in middle and high school. You can imagine that to today’s technologically-savvy students, making their way through Macbeth or War and Peace is just as hard as ever. But with some preplanning, you can help your student make it through the reading in time and with a fine grasp on the material.

Plan the Attack

It’s important to start daunting assignments with some kind of logical plan. Figure out how long the reading assignment is and how many days the student has to complete it. Make a general plan of how many pages must be read per night. However, remember to be flexible: some students will benefit from reading just a few dense pages per night, while others may like to “get in the zone” and do larger chunks of reading, less often.

Consider Different Media

Maybe your child needs an extra boost in making it through the difficult reading material. It’s okay to bring in audio recordings that they can listen to while reading along in their actual book. Movies and onscreen plays can be helpful (just make sure they stay true to their original version) in extending your child’s grasp on the plot, character development and main messages. Some children are more visual learners and would benefit from seeing the play in action, rather than trying to illuminate it with just their imagination alone.

It’s Okay to Get Help from Other Sources

No teacher would be disappointed or upset to hear that your student is using a study guide to help them make their way through a difficult text. As long as the study guide or cliff notes aren’t used in place of the real thing, there’s no harm in having it explained more in depth and in clearer language. Some of these things were written a long time ago.

Help From Parents and Tutors

In place of study guides, students may also benefit from seeking help from the adults around them. If you’re motivated, suggest reading the book at the same time as your child, so you can help them through difficult passages or unclear meanings, and also try to get them excited about the subject, or make modern day comparisons to the topics being addressed. If you feel your child is truly struggling, you may want to approach the teacher for his or her suggestions, or have a tutor walk through and review the material closely with your student.

Source: “Tackling Tough Reading Assignments.”www.life.familyeducation.com

Now that the school year is pushing ahead, chances are your student has already had his or her fair share of tests. Even if students are starting to get into the pattern of learning, reviewing and then putting their new knowledge to work, many face anxiety when they are presented with quizzes and tests. This is common for many students, even if they are well versed in the material.

Test anxiety can bring a host of symptoms, from fear, headache and upset stomachs, to anger or even depression. New research helps examine how this emotional stress can affect students, including inhibiting their ability to understand and remember information. Anxiety can create distraction in the brain and nervous system, impairing our ability to not only retrieve information but also to comprehend it and think logically.

Conversely, positive feelings can lead to synchronization in the brain, allowing us to think more efficiently and clearly. One of the easiest ways to avoid undue stress for your student is to help him or her be prepared with the proper tools and approaches to test taking. Here are some tips, courtesy of the Institute of HeartMath.

Address Emotions and Fear

If your student is anxious about doing well on a test, help them stay neutral in their thinking. Negative feelings can cause a cycle that adds to self-doubt or discomfort. Helping them stay calm can avoid them entering the test day already expecting to do poorly. Some students get anxious over “what if” situations, psyching themselves out by asking questions like “What if I fail?” or “What if my mind goes blank?” While it’s important to acknowledge these often natural thoughts, it’s important to turn them into positive notions, such as “What if I am able to think clearly and remember the material well?” or “What if I go into the test feeling sure of my strengths in this subject?”

Arrive Well Rested and Fed

Big tests in particular can require mental stamina and focus. It’s important that students have a proper night’s sleep, typically 8 to 10 hours, the night before a big test so they are alert and ready to think. The same goes for breakfast. The brain needs fuel to maintain focus and clarity, and eating a healthy breakfast goes a long way towards being prepared. Cereals, eggs and wheat toast provide sustained energy, in contrast to high sugar foods like soda or cookies.

Review the Material and Questions

In addition to being psychologically prepared for a big test, it’s also important that the student has reviewed the material and addressed any areas where they remain unclear. This can include practice tests with parents or in tutoring sessions, including doing exercises such as having the student “teach” you the material so they can see where any holes in their understanding may be.

Source: “Helping Children Overcome Test Anxiety,” www.heartmath.org.

A new study conducted by researchers at Rutgers University has found surprising results regarding struggling students and mathematics. The study focused on minority and low-income students at low performing schools for seven years, and found that those students who struggled their way through difficult math problems eventually had improved test scores and achievements.

According to associate professor Roberta Schorr, researchers found “there is a healthy amount of frustration that’s productive,” and that students gain satisfaction after struggling with a difficult problem. She further explained that many student’s talents go unnoticed without them being effectively challenged. The important piece is that this challenge takes place in a nurturing environment.

Schorr points to the common misconception that a student’s motivation has to do with his or her general preference toward or against math. But what her group found was that students who worked on tough problems with support felt satisfaction in addition to their frustrations, and were driven to work harder in the future—whether they reported “liking” math or not.

Debra Joseph-Charles, a former Newark middle school math teacher who is now a math coach in the district, put these findings to work. She gave her students complex word problems and then allowed them time to work at them in ways that pulled from each student’s individual strengths. In other words, visual learners could draw out the problem on paper and so on, integrating the theory of multiple learning types into the way she instructed the math class.

Using the Rutgers group learning method, the students in Joseph-Charles’s class then split into groups and explained how they arrived at their answer. Others in the group could give feedback about their methods, and then each group presented the best method to the class. Joseph-Charles saw a vast improvement in the students who were formerly failing or struggling. This improvement lead to better confidence, and these same students began showing more interest in math and, in turn, test scores began to rise.

This interesting study points back to motivation and its direct relation to success in math. When students are presented with difficult mathematical problems, but are supported as they work through them, they come away with a positive feeling, recognizing that frustration can be an opportunity for success, rather than a precursor to failure. It’s an important lesson that can be employed in other subjects, and in life goals in general.

Source: Yeung, Bernice. “Arithmetic Underachievers Overcome Frustration to Succeed,” www.edutopia.org.

By Ellen Dye, PhD

The first step in combatting homework problems is developing an understanding of the reasons your child is having difficulty.   Some kids neglect their work due to personality characteristics or normal developmental challenges.  Still others may be bored by a particular subject and make their homework in that class a low priority.  For many kids, effective tutoring can be an important part of the solution.

Other kids may have more significant learning issues.  Some bright students have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or unidentified learning disabilities.  The best approach to identifying the cause of homework problems is to discuss the situation with your child.  Even teenagers can be surprisingly forthcoming when parents have a positive attitude and show a genuine desire to comprehend the student’s perspective.

Kids who continue to struggle despite the best efforts of parents, teachers, and tutors may need more thorough evaluation by a psychologist. Recommendations can include homework strategies, school accommodations, diagnoses, and referrals to appropriate resources.  Parents and students are also educated about the child’s learning style, which is critical in deciding how to approach a problem and to make future academic decisions.  Tutors can work with parents and teachers to implement the recommended strategies.

In some cases, psychotherapy may be a critical component of solving academic problems.  Students are often more willing to communicate with a neutral professional who is not involved in monitoring their academic progress than they are with parents, teachers, and even supportive tutors.  A therapist is essential if underlying psychological disorders, such as depression, are at the root of the problem.  Family therapy can be helpful in improving parent-child communication and helping a student to understand that parents are on her/his side and are the student’s best advocates and advisors.

Ellen Dye is a Licensed Psychologist in Rockville, MD Ellen Dye, Ph.D. For additional information, she can be contacted at (301)770-0275 or EDyePhD@aol.com

Standardized Tests Don’t Reflect Real Education. It’s true that some students naturally perform better on standardized tests than others, but there are important academic skills that are covered by these types of tests. For example, the ACT and SAT tests each have students write a timed essay, in which they must develop a thesis, organize information, and use persuasive strategies to drive their point home. This is an important skill that will pop up again in their college courses, as well as in their future place in the job market.

SAT and ACT tests also allow students to better recognize their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to grammar, reading and mathematics. Each of these disciplines, while they may not be the student’s favorite, will be important in their academic careers. Throughout their lives, students will be judged by their ability to communicate clearly, comprehend and respond to the written word, and employ basic mathematics.

Students Attending Good Schools Are Well Prepared. A good school curriculum does not necessarily directly relate to the material in standardized tests. In the SAT and ACT tests, students may encounter content that was taught to them several years ago, or that was never taught in an effective way. Some students are surprised to see material from middle school pop up on these tests, such as certain math or grammar foundations. That’s why it’s important for students to review their whole body of knowledge, not just rely on what they’ve learned recently to carry them through the test. Often sessions with tutors addressing SAT/ACT prep can help them review some of the foundation concepts that more advanced skills are built upon, making sure they are comfortable with their knowledge across the board.

Don’t Try to Beat the System. It’s true there is some strategy to taking the SAT and ACT tests, but be weary of general advice that doesn’t rely on a true demonstration of what the student has learned. For example, picking a random letter when unsure of a multiple choice question isn’t always in the student’s best interest.

Other advice regarding essay questions can also hurt a student’s performance. For example, some people believe it doesn’t matter what students write their essay about, as long as the essays sound good and fill the given space. The truth is the scorers of these tests are well educated and are looking for appropriate tone, style and substance more than length and fancy wording.

When it comes to the math sections, some advise students to plug in each answer and use their calculator to test them. While this may allow students to arrive at the correct answer, it not only wastes time but also eliminates their efficient modes of thinking and reasoning through each question. It undermines the very knowledge the students have worked so hard to gain.

The same goes for the reading sections and those who suggest skipping a thorough reading of the passage and simply testing each answer. Many of the questions on the comprehension sections not only ask for specific details, but also test student’s understanding of the author’s tone and overarching message-an important part of developing proper reading and comprehension skills.

So how can you help your student avoid these tempting but inefficient strategies? A timed practice test goes a long way in locating areas where students can use some brushing up with their parents, teachers or tutors.

Source: “SAT and ACT Myth Busting.” www.education.com

There’s a lot of focus on specific subjects that younger students struggle with, from math, to grammar and reading, but one topic that doesn’t receive much attention is handwriting. In the course of an average school day, students can spend a great deal of their time, in almost all classes, engaged in handwriting. If your child struggles with this, it can make their whole day seem difficult and overwhelming.
A few signs of handwriting troubles include:

–Your child reverses some letters, such as “b” and “d” or makes backwards “s” letters.

–Your child has no sense of direction-left to right, across the page-when writing.

–Your child’s writing is messy and illegible.

–The teacher reports that your child has difficulty completing his or her work within the given time frame.

The majority of the time these problems are not serious; they just need a little bit of extra attention and they resolve themselves. Students who particularly struggle with handwriting can benefit from some extra time spent practicing their letters and developing better motor control, whether with the support of a tutor or under the guidance of their parents.

Source: Joseph, Angela. “Handwriting Helpers: When Your Child Struggles with Penmanship,” www.education.com.

New research is looking more closely at the benefits of parents reading with their children and finding that it’s not only important that we read with our children, but also how we read with them.

Researchers at Temple University College of Education, point to the concept of warmth (acts of affection and positive reinforcemen) and responsivity (understanding what individual kids need and providing that for them ) as an important ones.

 “There is an emerging body of evidence to suggest that warm and responsive home and classroom settings help to support kids’ social development, which in turn supports kids’ cognitive development,” researchers say.

How can you read with more warmth and responsivity?

• Share story time. Share the reading experience with children-let your child turn the pages, or have a chance to pick out a book. Talk about what is happening in the plot and let your child make guesses as to what might happen next.
• Patience is key. It’s not a matter of quantity over quality. If your child wants to take his or her time reading a story, let them.
• Engage in your own dialogue. Don’t be afraid to stop and ask or answer questions. This is an important part of the learning process, and helps cultivate curiosity.
• Let them know asking for help is okay. Make sure your child knows that it’s okay to ask for help with reading problems. If they don’t know or understand a word, or got lost in the plot of the story somehow, don’t be afraid to stop and go over it with them. If you feel your child needs help with these kinds of activities, tutoring sessions that focus on literacy development can be beneficial for them.

Source: Hoffman, Todd. “Literacy Learning: It’s Not What You Read, But How You Read It,” www.education.com.

Many students are resistant to the back-to-school days of September. Summer starts to fade away, and the excitement of the first weeks of school dissipates as students realize it’s time to get back down to business. Here are a few tips for helping your child get back into a weekly school schedule, homework and all.

A Change of Voice

Experts recommend ditching the dreaded “homework” word in favor of the more general term “study.” This way when you tell your child it’s time to hit the books, they can’t answer with “But I don’t have any homework!” Study time is about brushing up on the current lessons and reading material, whether there’s assigned homework or not.

Keep it Fun

Back to school can be fun with just a little creativity. Instead of making the back-to-school transition seem serious and all about textbooks and stocking up on supplies, try to gently ease their schedule away from summer and into the school year. It’s hard for students to immediately switch over to study mode. Allow your student to still have some playtime, just not as much as he or she did in summer.

Study Corner

Not everyone feels inspired sitting at a desk. There are other ways to create a quiet and comfortable study area, whether it’s in a big comfy chair or a cozy corner with a laptop tray doubling as a desk. It’s important for students to be comfortable and relaxed when they is working, so homework seems like less of a chore.

Setting an Example

Got your own work to take care of? Find a spot near your child to work on your own things, whether it’s catching up on reading or balancing your checkbook. Showing your child that you too have a project to finish with a deadline makes it harder for them to find excuses. And you’re right there if they need some extra help.

Teaching Time

Have your child pretend to be your teacher and give you a weekly lesson on the topics he or she is covering in class. You can use props to make this fun and exciting. Often, teaching someone else what they are learning helps students improve their own memory retention and helps them better understand concepts or recognize areas where they are still unclear.

These are just a few ideas to help your child transition into a successful school year. Give your child time to ease back into schoolwork, and if you find that they need additional help with certain subjects, it’s never to early to work tutoring sessions into their new schedules.

Source: Lucas, Cheri. “Back to School Homework: Getting Kids into the Swing of Studying,” www.education.com.