Letter from Betty for September 2015

Hello,

According to the calendar, summer comes to an end in a few weeks, and a new school year is upon us. I hope that you and your children have had a smooth transition into the schedule of a new year. Hopefully you have successfully shifted into a consistent routine for homework and a comfortable schedule for school-day waking hours and bedtime.

In our feature article for September, "Talking To Your Child About School" we cover the techniques for having meaningful and open-ended discussions with your children about their school experience.

For our September Puzzler: “Who Came First?” we have a Women In History challenge for you. See if you can put a historical birth order to a jumbled list of 6 high-achieving women.

Finally, please remember that whatever your educational needs are, Foundation for Learning, is ready to assist you with caring, one-on-one, individualized tutoring, SAT/ACT test prep, and educational evaluations. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at 973-425-1774 for a free consultation.


Best regards,

Betty

Betty Bodenweiser
Director
Foundation for Learning

Focus on One: SAT or ACT - September 2015 Dates

Free Diagnostic test offered at FFL

Currently many high school juniors take both the SAT and ACT to determine which test is better for them. We feel it is beneficial for the students to focus on only one test. In order to accomplish this, we administer a complimentary SAT/ACT diagnostic test to help students determine which test is better suited to their abilities.

Upcoming test dates are:
October 10, 2015
November 14, 2015

*Our diagnostic test incorporates the new SAT which will be administered beginning in March 2016. Please call Donna for more details.

Please call (973) 425-1774 or email betty@foundationforlearning.com as space is limited

September 2015 Test Schedule

Mark your calendars! Here are the latest test dates.

NOTE about ISEE - Independent School Entrance Exam: For test locations and to learn more go to erblearn.org.

Talking To Your Child About School

There’s so much anticipation in many families this time of year that it's normal to have some amount of anxiety as well. You’ve done your school supply shopping, stocked up on new clothes, and fitted your children with shiny new shoes. You’ve searched for exciting new lunch box recipes, met the new teachers, and said good-bye to summer with a final vacation-time play-day. Your sons and daughters are off to school, and when they return home you find yourself dying to hear all the news. How did their day go? Are their besties in the same class? Do they like their teachers? There are have so many questions!

But as parents, you will often find that the conversations your yearning for don’t happen. Instead of in-depth conversations you get single syllable answers to questions. Your children may well want to avoid reviewing their school day altogether and jump right into snack-time and playtime. It can be frustrating! Realize, though, that there are ways for you to direct those conversations so you can share in the school day, get confirmation that you child survived the day well, and even discover some things that may need attention.



First, give your children a breather. Give them the space they need to transition from school to home. Set up a daily routine of putting the backpacks away, grabbing a quick, healthy snack, and talking about anything other than school. Maybe take this time to enjoy a snack with them, reconnect,  and tell them what you’ve done with your own day. Down-time is just as important for children as it is for adults.

After this important buffer time has passed, you can begin to talk about the day. To have a true conversation rather than just a question and answer session, you must direct the exchange, and you do that by being conscious of the way you ask your questions.  Open-ended questions will nearly always result in an extended chat instead of just yes or no answers.  For example, instead of asking “Did you have a good day?”  try “Tell me about the best thing that happened in school today!”



Don’t just throw a series of questions at your children either. When you have something specific your want to hear about, ease into it by stating something you know. For example, “I know that today the 4th graders started orchestra. Tell me what that was like!”

Keep the exchange positive! Unless you have outward signals that one of your children is upset, there’s no need to use negative, emotion-packed words. Additionally, by staying up-beat, you’ll likely have a longer conversation. If you do notice that your child is upset, however, help her talk it out, but even then it’s important to focus on open-ended questions so you can really talk in-depth and your child can voice concerns or worries.

Don’t just talk about class subjects and homework. Talk about the fun stuff too! Take time to turn the focus to gym, recess, lunch, etc.  Not only are you able to keep an eye out for possible social problems during these situations, but you’ll reinforce for your child that school is not all desk-work, but that there are fun activities during the day too. Help your child see the big picture!



It’s important to stay in touch with your children when it comes to their school experience, and the best way to do that it to direct the conversation by asking open-ended questions, using positive words rather than negative emotion words which will halt your chat, and to talk about all aspects of their day including classmates, lunch-time and their favorite or fun subjects. Really focusing on this will invite free dialogue, allow your child to express any concerns that they may have, and help you to be a part of their day. It’s important that your children know that you have a strong interest in their time away from you and their school experience, so the extra effort you make is well worth it!

The Puzzler for September 2015: Who Came First?

Question: What is the correct birth order of the 6 high-achieving women in the images below?

Instructions: You may click or tap on the image to see a larger version and get a closer look. Use the jumbled chart with all the answers you need, and sort it all out. The correct birth years are in order but the rest is mixed up, so this is really a triple challenge:

1. Start with the easy part: Pick a name for each face in the photos.
2. Bonus Points: Straighten our which accomplishment goes with which woman.
3. Finally, who came first? Identify each woman with her birth year.
 

Answers in the next issue. 

Answer to August 2015 Puzzler: Who's That American?

Question: Who are the famous Americans in the images below, and what did they famously do?

Instructions: You may click or tap on the image to see a larger version and get a closer look. Use the jumbled list of people from the left column and famous accomplishments from the right column and match them with the photos to identify all 6 people. 

 

Answer:

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