May 2016 Dates Announced: Choose SAT or ACT with our Free Diagnostic

Currently many high school juniors take both the SAT and ACT to determine which test is better for them. We usually 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 date:

May 21, 2016

Our diagnostic test incorporates the new SAT which was introduced in March 2016.

Please call Donna at (973) 425-1774 for more details. You can also email Betty at Betty@foundationforlearning.com. SPACE IS LIMITED.

June 2016 Test Schedule

Mark your calendars! Here are the latest test dates.

How to Super-Charge Your Child's Brain with a Hop, a Skip, and a Jump

Do you want to help your children boost their brain-power? Get them moving!



By encouraging your children to run, jump, hop, hike, and chase a ball, you are greatly improving their ability to think, to focus, and to successfully multi-task. As parents, you’ve heard that exercise is important for good physical health and now a study published by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign confirms that physical activity greatly helps to improve thinking skills and academic performance in our children.

This is hardly new though. It’s already been proven that children’s test scores in reading and math rise if there is some physical activity beforehand. Other studies have determined that aerobic activity, which children come by naturally if left to their own devices, actually affects brain structure, increasing the size of the part of the brain devoted to learning and thinking. The ability to maintain concentration, to order mental and situational stimuli, and to control inappropriate responses is greatly enhanced. Conversely, children whose executive functions are inhibited tend to have academic problems in school.

So not only does wild, childish play improve mental function, it also improves aerobic endurance, basic motor skills, and overall well-being. Parents also have known all along that playtime, whether it’s in the form of organized team play, free recess at school or after-school romping, helps children let off steam, making for happier children, teachers, and parents too. Let me emphasize free play here. To allow children to self-direct their activities and to make their own choices also helps to build self-confidence, it also gives them room to breathe after a school day full of rules and restrictions, and furthermore, it gives them space to develop their creative thinking abilities. Of course, that means you need to make sure that they’re up and moving, and not sitting behind a screen (TV, laptop, tablet, etc). Get those children moving!

As an additional note, school districts nationwide are moving towards shortening physical education classes and in some cases, even considering eliminating them altogether. Many schools have already eliminated recess for younger children, opting to put more focus on required testing subjects like reading and math. This practice is shortsighted. If we want our young students to do well in reading, math, and school in general, we need to make sure they have physical activity built into their schedule. If your school is facing these changes due to budgetary or other reasons, let them know that you feel that physical education and recess are an important part of the school day. Your children and their teachers will thank you!  

Did You Know? All About the Month of May

Mother’s Day was first observed in 1908. It was designated by a presidential proclamation and was recognized officially by Congress and President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. It is celebrated in honor of Mothers on the second Sunday of May.

The Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931.

Harry S Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, was born in Lamar, MO on May 8, 1884.

Sir James Barrie, the author and creator of Peter Pan, was born in Scotland on May 9, 1860.

Amelia Earhart began the first solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20, 1932.

Charles Lindbergh completed the first transatlantic solo flight on May 21, 1927.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the British author who created Sherlock Holmes, was born on May 22, 1859.

The first permanent English settlement in America was established in Jamestown, VA on May 24, 1607.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic on May 24, 1883.

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic in San Francisco on May 27, 1937.

John F Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, born in Brookline, MA, on May 29, 1917. 

Fun stuff to do… 

Need a gift idea for Mom for Mother’s Day? Think hand-made! How about an iron-on bag with her child’s drawing?

You can decorate a canvas bag with hand-drawn masterpieces quickly and easily with iron-on transfer paper (readily available at craft stores).  Print a special drawing onto the transfer paper with any ink-jet printer, trim out the design, and then use a dry iron to transfer the image to clean canvas. She’ll love it!

Letter from Betty for April 2016

Hello,

The calendar has brought us once again to the spring season with its budding trees and early flowers. Beautiful weather is on the way! In fact in only a few short months the school year will end. Time flies when you're having fun!

Family time together with your children is so important for happy and healthy young lives. If you are wondering how to find exciting activities the whole family can enjoy, and at the same time keep your children's' minds expanding, check out our feature article for this month, "Boredom-busting Family Games That Sharpen Your Children's' Math Skills."

And have some fun with our "Did You Know?" bonus feature. This month is "All About Earth Day." April 22 is coming up and you'll want to be ready and well informed when the big green day arrives!

Finally, please remember that whatever your educational needs, 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

April 2016 Dates Announced: Choose SAT or ACT with our Free Diagnostic

Currently many high school juniors take both the SAT and ACT to determine which test is better for them. We usually 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:

April 16, 2016 and May 21, 2016

Our diagnostic test incorporates the new SAT which was introduced in March 2016.

Please call Donna at (973) 425-1774 for more details. You can also email Betty at Betty@foundationforlearning.com. SPACE IS LIMITED.

April 2016 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.

Boredom-busting Family Games That Sharpen Your Children's Math Skills

Summer break is quickly approaching and you’re probably looking for more ideas to keep your children occupied. How about some boredom-busting games? Here are some recommendations that will help to reinforce your child’s math skills and they’re super fun too!



Match‘Em
Match'Em is a fast and furious card game that has players testing their reflexes and mental calculators at lightning speed. Players each get five game cards and play them on the special mat that's included. Players must try to match the point value of the last player's card with one or more cards from their own hands. If a player can't match the last play, he or she draws two more cards from the deck, and play continues. The first player to get rid of all of his or her cards wins the hand; win three hands and you've won the match. The rules are simple; the cards and play mat are colorful and well designed; and the frenzy of flipping cards in this clever game is addictive. For 2-4 players, ages 7 and up.

Over and Out
Over and Out is an exciting numbers game. Roll the dice, and then take out the matching chip point total. But don't get stuck with too many points left over, because the player with the lowest point total wins! Keep track of the total in the discard pile, by adding or subtracting as the cards are played. Once the total is at the "Tip Top" number, watch out! The person whose card makes that discard pile go OVER is OUT. It’s fast and it’s fun! For 2-8 players, ages 7 and up.

The Game of Chips
A fun strategy game for the whole family and a great adding game for kids! Roll the dice and then take out any chip combination that matches the total roll of the dice. Chips left over at the end of your turn, count as points against you. The player with the lowest point total at the end of the game is the winner. For 2-8 players, ages 7 and up.

Polygon
This fun-to-play game is a great way for kids to practice addition and multiplication facts. It requires strategizing to decide how to play each turn. Polygon uses numbered tiles that are placed on the game board in ways that achieve a score for each turn. You can play tiles in several ways so you have to add (and sometimes multiply, too) on each turn, as well as at the end of the game. Polygon is a subtle way to painlessly practice math facts. For 4-6 players, ages 7 and up.

Sequence Numbers
Sequence + Numbers = FUN! The cards each have an addition or subtraction equation and the game board has the answer. Match a card to its correct answer on the board, then place your chip there. Groups of numbers are color-coded to help with number recognition. When you have 5 of your chips in a row, you've got a SEQUENCE! For 4-6 players, ages 7 and up.

Spending time with your child is important and something that all parents need to make a priority during their busy days. It gives parents the opportunity to have a conversation, and to really listen to what their children have on their minds, and it bolsters their self-esteem to know that they want to spend unhurried time together. Playing board games makes it easy and fun to do just that.

Board games also have additional benefits beyond the sheer fun. They satisfy your child’s competitive urges, allow them to master new skills and concepts, and teaches important social skills such as communicating verbally, sharing, taking turns, and enjoying the company of others. They help your child to focus, develop a longer attention span, work on organization skills, and to work within boundaries by following rules and taking turns. Games can also help a child to see the benefit of never giving up. Just when they think they’re going to lose the game, they just may hit the jack-pot!

Did You Know? --- All About Earth Day

• Every April 22nd we observe Earth Day.
• The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and was originated in the US.
• It was created to honor the planet's environment and to raise public awareness about pollution.
• Since then, other issues were included: the overuse of resources, oil spills, toxic dumping, chemical pesticide use, roadway creation, loss of wilderness and extinction of wildlife, among other concerns effecting the environment and the people and animals that live here on our planet.
• In 1990, Earth Day went global and 200 million people in 141 countries participated in the event.
• Every year on April 22, men, women, and children collect garbage, plant trees, clean up waterways, show movies, sign petitions, take hikes and participate in many other earth-friendly activities.
• On Earth Day 2012, more than 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions and save fuel.
• In an Earth Day celebration in 2011, 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan.
• One year in Panama, 100 endangered species of orchids were planted and maintained to prevent their extinction in honor of Earth Day.
• Food Recovery is the theme for Earth Day 2016, with a focus on reducing food loss and waste.

More facts:

• The average American produces more than four pounds of garbage per day. 
• Almost half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste. 
• It takes about 450 years for plastic beverage bottles to break down in a landfill. 
• The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle can power a computer for 25 minutes. 
• It takes approximately 1 million years for a glass bottle to break down in a landfill. 
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. 
• Almost 97% of the world's water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. Only 1% is usable for agriculture, manufacturing, and personal needs. 
• The average American uses about 100 gallons of water per day. 
• About 8 million metric tons of plastic goes into the ocean each year. 

Fun and helpful thing to do on Earth Day…

Make a peanut butter and seed bird feeder: Take a walk and gather up a couple of nice-sized pine cones. Back in the kitchen, mix peanut butter with a bit of oat bran in a bowl. (The oat bran helps to break up the sticky peanut butter and helps with digestion.) Spread birdseed on a tray or in a larger bowl. Wrap a piece of twine around and inside the pine cone. Using a blunt knife (butter or spreader), coat each pine cone with the PB mixture. Roll the sticky cone in the birdseed until it is evenly and complete covered. Repeat this process for each pine cone. Hang the completed cones in a tree outside your window.

Check out a regional bird identification book from the library (if you don’t already own one) and enjoy time watching, recognizing and learning about the birds in your own backyard.

 

Letter from Betty for March 2016

Hello,

Every year the winter weather seems to take its sweet time making way for springtime, but the warmer days will surely arrive before long.

In the meantime, you might be wondering how to deal with children stuck indoors. Check out our feature article, "Wintertime Learning Activities" for inspiration. 

Just for fun, have a look at our new "Did You Know All About..." bonus feature. This month is "Did You Know All About...Snow?" Also, we have the goofy answers to the February Puzzler, "Wait! Why Did We Use That?" which continues our theme of explaining old tech to young people. Enjoy!

Finally, please remember that whatever your educational needs, 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

March, April 2016 Dates Announced: Choose SAT or ACT with our Free Diagnostic

Currently many high school juniors take both the SAT and ACT to determine which test is better for them. We usually 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:

March 12, 2016 and April 16, 2016



Our diagnostic test incorporates the new SAT which will be administered beginning in March 2016.

Please call Donna at (973) 425-1774 for more details. You can also email Betty at Betty@foundationforlearning.com. SPACE IS LIMITED.

March 2016 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

Winter Activities So Fun Your Children Won't Know They're Learning

Winter can be a challenging time for parents. Cabin fever may be taking hold, families are faced with snow-days, and we’re all yearning for warmer weather so we can get outside. Because we’re all indoors, this is a great time to take advantage of wonderful learning opportunities that will keep your children busy and build fun family time too.



Below are suggestions for you to explore during these cold weather months:

Read a good book
The snow is falling outside, so it’s a great time to grab a blanket, curl up with your kids and dive into an engrossing story. Read aloud or silently, but set aside time for literary adventures. You can find age-appropriate suggestions for recommended reading in our previous articles: Great Children's Books for the Early Years and Great Books for Older Children.

Write and illustrate a story
Gather the family and as a group, write a story, one sentence at a time. Toss around story line suggestions with each other and edit as you go. Neatly transcribe the finished tale into a fresh notebook or blank book, making space for the artists in your family to create illustrations.  The aspiring author in your family will be thrilled! Not only is this a fun activity, but you’ll be helping to build vocabulary, stretching knowledge of ideas, and giving your child a sense of how sentences build larger structures, reinforcing an understanding of orderly sequence, cause and effect, and spelling.

Create a backyard weather station
Even on cold, wintry days, your children can enjoy learning about weather, nature, science and record keeping.

Start with a journal to record daily readings and other data. All you’ll need is a thermometer to record temperatures, a rain gauge to measure rainfall or snow fall, a weather vane to record wind direction, an anemometer to measure wind speed and for older kids, a barometer to measure atmospheric pressure and a hygrometer to measure humidity. These simple weather tools can be purchased at your local hardware store or you can make many of them using common materials you may already have on hand. Scientific observation, record-keeping and hands-on research made fun!

Play chess or other strategy games
It’s never too early to teach your child to play chess or another brain-stretching strategy play. The game promotes forward thinking and planning, cause and effect, accepting consequences and patience.

Take advantage of the snow to learn about area wild animals
When the ground is freshly covered with snow, bundle up the kids, grab a digital camera and head outside. You’re likely to find animal tracks in your backyard and in nearby wooded areas as well. Use the camera to capture images of the tracks, and then when you get back home, upload the photos to a computer. From those images your child can research and identify which animal made those imprints. Is it a nocturnal animal? Where do they live? What do they eat? Your children can have lots of fun examining and piecing together the “clues” left behind by local critters.

Look up and explore the night skies
Gazing up at the starry sky is mesmerizing and there’s so much to learn on a clear night. Young children can look for landmarks, such as the moon and constellations. You can point out the moon and explain why it changes shape.You can share the legends associated with constellations. You can also explain the difference between a star and a planet. In terms they’ll understand, a star has its own flashlight and a planet works more like a mirror and reflects the light from the sun. Share with your children the names of the week that are named after the various planets, which is the brightest, the closest, and the farthest.

Teens and older children will enjoy searching the sky with a telescope or a pair of binoculars. They can spot the different colors, determine whether they’re looking at stars or planets and you can point out to them that the light that they’re seeing probably began its journey millions of years ago!

Get into the kitchen
Cooking with your children is educational on so many levels. Reading, science, math, nutrition, following directions, cleanliness and hygiene all followed by a yummy treat that they made themselves, what could be better! Cooking involves reading a recipe, understanding measurements, and following instructions, It also gives you the opportunity to teach your children to identify healthy food and to help them to learn where their food comes from. They’ll also develop a taste for nutritious foods and begin to understand why certain foods are healthy or unhealthy.

Has the winter weather left you feeling a bit house-bound?

Take the family out for some live music
You may have a regional symphony offering a classical or pops concert nearby. Music can be found at local colleges and even area high schools. A quick check of the newspaper or online calendar will yield sources for free and low-cost local music at various venues around town, so take advantage of those opportunities. You just might find that you have a budding musician in your family!

Local and area museums offer a lot of opportunities
Children’s museums, history and natural science museums, art museums, the list goes on and on. Not only are the displays fascinating but many also offer special classes and activities for learning, many of which are designed specifically for kids. You and your family can spend hours enjoying museum offerings!

So don’t despair because of the weather during these long winter months. There are many opportunities for fun activities that will not only keep your family engaged and learning, but will also yield plenty of together time. Enjoy!

Do You Know All About...Snow?

Snow is not white! The many tiny surfaces reflect light and what little sunlight is absorbed is taken in evenly throughout the structure, giving it the white appearance. Snowflakes are actually clear and colorless.



Roughly 80% of all the freshwater on earth is frozen ice or snow, covering nearly 12% of the earth’s surface.

The world’s largest snowflake was found in Montana in 1987. It was 15 inches across and 8 inches thick.

Another world record awarded to the US is the largest snowfall, at 1,140 inches of snow during the 1998/1999 winter season. That’s a lot of snow!

Do you know the difference between a snowstorm and a blizzard? A storm must last at least 3 hours, winds remain at 35 mph or more, and visibility is limited to approximately ¼ of a mile in order to be classified as a blizzard, otherwise it’s only a snowstorm.

 

Fun Stuff to Do…

Do you want to bring the snow inside? Make paper snowflakes! Here’s a website with easy illustrated instruction to make interesting 6-sided creations. See how many designs you can come up with!  

 

Answers to the February 2016 Puzzler: Wait, why did we use that?

How quickly we forget! Before the internet and computers in our pockets we had other devices in our pockets. Can you explain to a young person what these 4 offline devices were and why people used to value and cherish them?
 

 

Answers, clockwise from upper left:

1. Pager
Before mobile phones could do much of anything but place calls, there was a nifty device called a pager. When you called your friend Bob's pager and punched in your own phone number, Bob would hear a beep, see your number, go find a phone booth and call you back. This really happened.

2. Portable cassette player
Ten songs in your (very large) pocket! Before the iPod, the Sony Walkman cassette player let you listen to a whole album of taped music on the go.

3. PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant
Back when phones were dumb and event planning was done on paper, along came PDAs. Write notes, watch your calendar, make to-do lists, all in paperless, electronic style, but don't try to get on Facebook. That and the mobile internet didn't exist yet!.

4. Transistor radio
Before the Walkman, the transistor radio let you listen to terrestrial radio stations. If you put the antenna up and twisted the device around a bit you might get better reception. AM and FM radio ruled the world of music, and a single ear bud was all you needed and all you got to hear it all.


Give yourself 25 points for each correct answer. If you scored 100, you are OLD.

Letter from Betty for February 2016

Hello,

Welcome to the snowy season! As we make our way through the shortest days and coldest nights of the school year, I hope your children nevertheless are staying active, progressing in their learning, and expanding their minds every day.

Of course, when you want to learn something, there is no replacement for personal human assistance — that's what we at Foundation for Learning are here to offer! But great accomplishments can be spurred on when the right tools and resources are close at hand. With that in mind, we hope you find some useful advice in our feature article for February, "Online Homework Help for your Student."

Just for some fun, check out our February Puzzler, "Wait! Why Did We Use That?" Technology has advanced, and devices have come and gone. It's sometimes hard to remember why we had suitcase-sized video cameras perched on our shoulders, or why we wanted to print giant stacks of paper from a fax machine. But what about the pocket devices of yesteryear? Do you even recognize those old devises anymore? Also, we have the somewhat whimsical answers to the January Puzzler, "Rewind It" which began our theme of explaining old tech to young people. Enjoy!

Finally, please remember that whatever your educational needs, 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

Free Diagnostic Test Offered: January 2016 date

Currently many high school juniors take both the SAT and ACT to determine which test is better for them. We usually 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 date: February 20, 2016

Our diagnostic test incorporates the new SAT which will be administered beginning in March 2016.

Please call Donna at (973) 425-1774 for more details. You can also email Betty at Betty@foundationforlearning.com. SPACE IS LIMITED.


 

February 2016 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.

Online Homework Help for your Student

Children just love technology and all that goes along with this ever-changing medium. The vast social media, website and app offerings on the internet are both awesome and overwhelming. We sometimes worry that all of these choices are distractions when it comes to our students, but with some time and research we can target tech tools that will actually help with their schooling.



Here, in no particular order, are sites and tools for you and your child to explore:

Remember how complicated and sometimes frustrating it was to produce bibliography citations using the correct format? Well it’s even worse for our children. With the advent of websites, podcasts, blogs and other online resources, there are even more formatting styles to follow. Easybib.com to the rescue! This free site allows you to type in the website address or information/article source name and then will quickly generate a citation in the correct format. So easy!

Don’t we all just love Google? The folks at Google provide us with a little bit of everything these days and for students, Google Docs is super handy. There are free tools to help them organize, create, edit, store and share documents in all sorts of formats. Collaborating is easy with Google Docs too, so group projects are possible because students can work on the same document from their different locations. Teachers can also add notes, edit and make comments to the documents while they’re still in draft form. After the project is done, just save it to the computer and it’s never lost. No more “dog ate my homework” excuses!

Does your child have multiple books, essays or articles on his assignment list? HowLongToReadThis.com can make an overwhelming amount of reading more manageable. Just type the name of the assigned work into the search box and a sample paragraph and timer are generated. Use this app to determine your pace and then estimate how long it will take to read through the entire volume. Organize your reading list accordingly and voila!

A really helpful online support site is KhanAcademy.org. Struggling with fractions or frustrating polynomials? Just click on the associated subject and you’ll be taken to a virtual blackboard where you’ll be guided through example problems. You can also get help in other subjects, such as art history, economics, computer programming, history and science, all in real-time and when you need it.

Is your child utilizing a Kindle for his reading tasks? The Kindle e-reader has helpful features to explore, including highlighting and access to a built in dictionary app for easy vocabulary assistance. Need to go back to a section you’ve previously read but can’t take the time to search through all those pages? Just type a portion of the passage into Search. What a time saver! Book reports just got a whole lot easier.

For group projects needing a sharp class presentation, Prezi.com is a fantastic resource. Because it’s cloud-based, students can each work from their own homes and contribute to the project. Prezi also offers zoom, pan and other fun features to create a really fun final product.

Remember using flashcards to study for upcoming tests? Old-fashioned flashcards have arrived in he new millennium. Quizlet.com is a free site where students can create their own flashcards and then test themselves online with any internet-ready gadget. Better yet, they can make use of the over 40 million study sets already created and saved on the site AND set it up to run in “game mode” to make studying so much fun!

For writing assignments, Storybird.com is super. Storybird is a creative site where a wide variety of illustrations are available to enhance any writing project, so short stories, essays, poems can be turned into a truly beautiful presentation.

Did you use Cliff’s Notes to help with a reading assignment back in the day? Well, those yellow and black books are now a resource online and in an even more useful way via Sparknotes.com. When a shortcut is needed, students can turn to Sparknotes for recaps, analysis, quotes, key facts, study questions, essay topic suggestions and even quizzes. Going beyond basic literature review, Sparknotes also offers guides in the sciences, economics, film and more. We don’t recommend using Sparknotes to avoid the assignment, but as a valuable resource for supplemental materials it’s pretty great.

Making use of on-line resources is a valuable asset available to today’s students. Explore these sites, test them out, play with them and get to know them so that when the time comes that additional help is needed, both you and your child will have the knowledge and those skills ready. Let us know if you make use of any other resources we’ve not listed here. We’d love to see what you’ve discovered and learn about these helpful sites too!

The Puzzler for February 2016: Wait! Why Did We Use That?

How quickly we forget! Before the internet and computers in our pockets we had other devices in our pockets. Can you explain to a young person what these 4 offline devices were and why people used to value and cherish them?
 

Click or tap the image to get a closer look.

Answers in the next issue.