It is possible for a student to “read” and take fantastic notes on textbook information and actually learn virtually nothing.  Just because your student can take great notes from the book doesn’t mean he/she is learning much from the process.  Textbooks do a wonderful job highlighting key information for students, perhaps too good a job.  Students can become adept at picking out the key information without processing any of that information, and, therefore, not learning/understanding it.

Assuming there are no undiagnosed learning disorders, students struggling in a foreign language are often lacking the study skills and/or motivation they need to be successful.  Learning a foreign language requires a student to organize and process large amounts of vocabulary, verbs (and verb conjugation), tenses and grammar rules.  Without strong study skills/habits this becomes overwhelming and the student falls behind.  Exacerbating the problem is the fact that languages repeatedly build upon recently learned information; if that information was poorly understood/learned in the first place, it is very difficult to build new information on top of it.

Study after study after study has shown the importance of sleep relative not only to one’s health, but also to the learning process.  Make sure your students are getting enough sleep (at least 8 hours each night).  Sleep deprivation can hurt your student physically, psychologically and academically.

We would never recommend you spend time and money on anything educational that is not truly helpful.  Spending time and money on preparing for the major standardized tests, like ACT and SAT, is definitely helpful and worthwhile.

So, where should you go?  To us, of course.  In all seriousness, you don’t have to work with Peak but we don’t know of any other company that offers the same individualized approach that we offer.  Specializing the approach for each student’s unique needs is important and a good way to get the best bang for you buck.

Whatever you do, DO NOT SPEND $1,000+ DOLLARS to send your child to a Princeton Review, Kaplan or other “big name” prep class.  You are wasting your money.  Why?  Because for that cost OR LIKELY MUCH LESS ou can get one on one help from Peak where the focus is entirely on your child and his/her needs rather than having him/her in a one-size-fits-all classroom scenario.

Does test prep work?  Absolutely!  A student’s scores will improve, without question.

Many parents that we work with who have struggling students are very involved, some are not.  This message is for those who ARE already highly involved in their student’s education.   Although we encounter many parents who consider education a priority and also consider themselves to be very involved (often they are), we also often find that these parents would see greater success in their students in they changed the WAY they were involved rather than HOW MUCH they’re involved.

As the old saying goes, it’s about quality, not quantity.  Quality leads to success; quantity leads to arguments.  Probably the biggest issue is that parental involvement is often reactive rather than proactive.  Parental conversations with students are often about assignments that have already been completed and graded and why the grade isn’t as good as they’d like.  Although it is important to discuss assignments and grades after the fact, it is much more helpful to discuss these assignments BEFORE they are due – and we don’t mean commenting that something is due and “they’d better get on it before it’s too late.”  They already know that, right?

Many highly involved parents’ involvement revolves around knowing what’s due, when it’s due and what their student’s grades are at any given time.  Is this information important?  Of course!  But knowing these things and having a successful student are not one and the same.  What’s more important is knowing what has been done on any given assignment with an upcoming due date, the quality of the completed work and, perhaps most important, how/when the student plans on completing the work.

Rather than getting involved by discussing assignments that are already posted as a grade, talk with your student each day about what they did in school (get actual details and don’t settle for he/she saying “nothing”), what assignments do they have, when are they do, have they started them, when do they plan on doing them, how long will they take, what’s expected in the final product, etc.

Working proactively rather than reactively will lead to improved success and less headaches.  Good luck!

This post is quick and easy.  Parents: take away the phone, the TV, the iPod/music, the computer and any other distractions that prevent your child from working efficiently.

The phone – Do you know how often students are texting each other these days?  It’s unbelievable!  How is a student possibly going to focus on his/her work with the phone constantly buzzing?  Take the phone AWAY and put it somewhere where you can keep an eye on it while your child studies.

The TV – Make sure that your child cannot even hear the TV in the background or he/she will get “sucked in.”

The iPod – I’m sure your child has tried to convince you that he/she gets more work done and can focus more easily with music on.  THIS IS JUST NOT TRUE, period.  No music is the best scenario.  If you must, quiet music without lyrics (jazz or classical for example) may be acceptable.

The Computer – now this one can be tough because students often need access to a computer for schoolwork.  The problem, of course, is that students often spend time on non-school related sites and activities while on the computer: Facebook, instant messaging, etc.  You need to closely monitor your student when he/she is on the computer.  Here’s the key: your child cannot see you as you approach to check on their work or they will quickly and easily hide what they were doing.  Instead, you need to be able to see the computer screen without your student knowing that you’re looking.  Have the computer situated so that the screen (and the student’s back) is facing toward you.

Removing distractions will allow your child to work more effectively and more efficiently.

I often hear from parents that their child is “old enough” to be doing X . . . . . .  X could be turning in their assignments on time, staying organized, managing their time better, studying effectively . . . .   The list goes on.  Although it’s fair to expect certain levels of maturity and the behavior that goes with that at certain ages, students mature at different rates.  On top of that, each student has a unique set of academic strengths and weaknesses that affect his/her success.  Also, I often find that the, let’s say organizational, skills that “should” be there were never there from the start, meaning that the expectation was that these skills would develop on their own.  Organizational skills do not come naturally to many students.  They need to be taught and then reinforced regularly to make them habits.  If a student was an organizational mess through middle school, you can expect that he/she will probably not have very good organizational skills in high school.

If organizational skills are not being sufficiently addressed in school, parents need to spend time developing those skills with their children.

I often work with parents who are have their second child in middle school or early high school and comment that the older child has always been such a great student and they’re not sure why the younger child is not.   The short answer: they’re two different kids with two very different personalities, attitudes, work ethics, etc.

So, what worked with one child may very likely not work with another.  Your approach should be adjusted as needed.  Getting into HOW it should be adjusted is another story.

I am all for extracurricular activities: sports, clubs, volunteering, drama, etc.  In fact, if y0ur child isn’t already involved in extracurriculars, get out there and find some that are a good fit!

With that said, students can end up overwhelmed when they don’t have enough time in the day to handle all of their responsibilities.  In the end, academics must come first.  The purpose of this post is to alert students and parents to the biggest “grade killer” activity of them all – plays (i.e. theater/drama).

Participating in a school play, whether it’s a spring musical or a one-act, can be one of the most rewarding and fun experiences in a student’s high school career.  However, plays consume an enormous amount of time both leading up to and during the actual performances.  For example, play practice can routinely last from immediately after school until 9 pm and later – much later the week before and during the performances. Oh, and don’t think that because they don’t have a speaking role it’ll be easier.  Costume design, sound/lights, orchestra all take up a lot of time as well.

If a student is struggling in one or more classes in school, that struggle is almost to certain to be exacerbated by participating in a play.  This is very important to consider before joining.  I’ve seen too many bad academic situations get worse, be careful.

Question: when should my child take the tests?  Answer: typically students should take the PSAT and the PLAN (“pre-ACT”) early fall of their junior year, though it is offered (and some take it) during sophomore year.  The SAT and ACT should be taken in the spring of a student’s junior year and can then be taken again (if needed) late spring/early summer of junior year or early fall senior year.

Question: which test should I take?  Answer: there is no clear answer to this question.  Students should take both the ACT and the SAT and see 1) how they score and 2) if they have a preference over one test or the other.  You can then decide to focus on one test or the other based on those two main criteria.  Generally, students do similarly well on both tests so it’s often preference that determines which one they will take again.  Although the tests assess basically the same material, how they word questions and the format of the tests are quite different.

Question: when do scores come back?  Answer: typically around 3 weeks or so if checking online and up to 8 weeks in the mail.  Usually, they come in the mail closer to 4 weeks than 8 weeks.

Question: how do we interpret the scores?  Answer: this could be a long one so I’ll keep it short.  The SAT will give you three main scores: critical reading, writing and math.  Each can score up to 800 points for a total perfect score of 2400.  In a nutshell, individual section scores above 500 are certainly respectable, above 600 are quite good to very good and above 700 are VERY good.  The ACT has four individual scores (English, reading, math and science) and a composite score (total) which peaks at 36 for the best score.  Individual section scores in the low 20s are respectable, mid 20’s are good, high 20’s are very good and 30 and above are VERY good.  Breaking that 30 mark is a pretty darn good score.

Question: why does the ACT have science and the SAT doesn’t?  Answer: not sure but don’t be misled.  The “science” section isn’t really about science.  You don’t need to know any Biology, Chemistry or Physics to do well.  The science section is really another reading section; however, instead of reading paragraphs students read tables and graphs.  It helps to “like” science and be comfortable with graphs and data tables, but you don’t need to be a big science whiz to do well.

Question: should students prepare for the tests or just take them cold?  If they should prepare, how?  Answer: students should DEFINITELY spend time preparing for these tests.  Their scores will go up!  Only the most motivated and organized students should attempt to prepare on their own.  If you’re one of them, you can purchase a test prep book for about $25 (I like Princeton Review) and work through it.  For the other 99% of you (no offense, I was one!), you’ll want to take a class and/or work privately with a tutor.  Obviously, this is something we do, so call us.