Author: privatetutoringathome

Organization Tips for High School Students

Okay. So, I asked my daughter, Kameron, who is a Freshman in High School how she stays organized in High School. And, being the awesome daughter that she is, she went ahead and wrote this article. Now, you need to know something about Kameron: she is very organized, is a member of Key Club, is really involved in Church, and help her 8 younger siblings with everything. She pretty much rocks the house. I hope this article helps you as these tips have helped her.

Do you ever have trouble staying organized with school? And with school moving so fast, do you ever feel like by Wednesday you practically don’t know what’s gong on? Here are some tried and true tips to help you stay organized.

Tips for Getting Organized for High School Students

1. Go through your binder after receiving every report card. Since you’ve already gotten your report card you can get rid of old assignments. Go through all your papers and notes and toss what you don’t need. If you’re not sure about something, just keep it. It won’t hurt to carry that around.
2. Clean your room weekly. Have you ever let your room get so dirty, you can hardly see the floor? How did you do that week at school? Likely not very well. If your room is cluttered, your mind will be too. Do a weekly deep clean of your room. The first time it will be rough, but after that it will just become routine. Make your bed, clear your desk, dust…now you are ready to take on the world, let alone school!
3. Make lists. It will help you to stay organized if you make lists. Make a list of homework assignments to do, a list of after school activities, make a list of things you want to do in general. This will help you remember all you need to do at a certain time period.
4. Get enough sleep. This will keep you more awake during the day and aware. You will be ready to do the tasks assigned to you and have a more pleasant day. It will also be easier to wake up in the morning. I know that when I wake up late it starts my day off on the wrong foot. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready in the morning and don’t forget to eat breakfast!
5. Plan your weekends during the week. Throughout the week, think about and write down all the things you wish to get done on the weekend. Then you can have that goal in mind and you are less likely to forget all about school the moment the Friday bell rings.
6. Plan your week on the weekends. Sometime during the weekend, plan your week ahead. What do you want to get accomplished this week? What days will you be absolutely swamped with activities? What days will you actually get some time to yourself? By doing this, you can start your week off right and know what to expect.

Acting on these suggestions might be difficult at first, but after awhile, these will become habit and much easier to apply to your life. And you can see your life changed as you become more organized!

What are the basic needs of children? And, why should we care as they relate to education and in succeeding in school, or in need of an elementary math private tutor (random subject, I know)?

I’m not an expert parent. Not even close. I am experienced, however. Being a parent of 9 children has made me age and mature faster than normal. I pretty much look like I’m 90 years old, but I’m mid 30’s.

What I’m trying to say is that I have gained some wisdom along the way, and that’s what I’d like to share with all of you parents today, keeping in mind, of course, that while I’m speaking to you, this lesson is also for me.

Again, I’m not an expert parent – none of us are – but I am a parent that has had some experience and one that is happy to enter into a dialogue with other parents so that we can learn from each other.

So, here we go.

Basic Needs of Children

1. Respected
2. Important
3. Accepted
4. Included
5. Secure

My experience tells me that when these needs are met, it leads to an emotionally healthy child. Knowing these critical needs are important because they can serve as a guide during those difficult moments we all have as parents; it can serve as a roadmap to guide our actions.

In subsequent articles, I’ll highlight each of these critical needs that children have and how we, as parents, can better and more intentionally meet the needs of our children.

This is important, especially as we seek to help our children become successful in school. If we do not meet these basic needs, our efforts on the school front will be influenced negatively.

So, stay tuned to learn about each of the critical needs that our children have and how each one will help them be successful in school – elementary, middle school, and in college and beyond. Heck, forget school – meeting these needs will help them succeed in life, and that’s what it’s really all about.

Here’s a little bit of news to folks in New York interested or are planning on taking the GED Test in New York – She Be Gone!

Yup, the GED Test will be replaced by an exam that will be developed by McGraw-Hill, who will create their own version of the High School Equivalency Exam.

I guess in January, the state of New York won’t offer a free version of the GED Test. Instead, New York will offer a test called Test Assessing Secondary Completion, or, TASC, for short. It’s a test developed by McGraw-Hill. If you ask me, I think the acronym GED is much cooler than TASC.

TASC, SHMASK. That’s what I say.

In terms of content, the test will appear the same and will cover GED Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science, and GED History topics. And, the test will last up to 7 hours. Awesome.

I suppose what motivated the New York State was increasing costs. For the state of New York, it costs $6 Million to administer the GED Test. Representatives from the state of New York claim that the new version of the GED will cost less.

Just a little info for New Yorkers that were trying to figure out how to pass a GED or its equivalent exam this year!

Do you sense that you might be adding undue parental pressure on your children? If so, please know that you’re not alone. It only makes sense that you are deeply interested in the welfare of your children and, hence, you’ll be emotionally invested in their success. But, that interest and passion for their success can actually backfire if that pressure is unhealthy or is viewed by your child or your student as too much.

To learn more about the root cause of your feelings and the psychology behind them, and what is driving you to in turn drive your child with undue pressure, let’s explore the role of feelings and how feelings drive behavior.

Parental Emotions and Feelings

These emotions I am about to describe are natural reactions to an event or to stimuli. I emphasize “natural” because they are part of our human makeup and are neither good nor bad. They are part of what it means to be a human.

• Anger: Anger is a natural response that lets us know that a want or a need we have is not being met or hasn’t been met in the past. Other forms of anger are rage, frustration, hatred, and boredom are forms along the spectrum of anger.
• Fear: Fear is another natural response to perceived or actual physical or emotional danger. This might also be described as panic, terror, or anxiety.
• Sadness: Sadness is often a response to loss, either of a person, possession, or status.
• Excited: The word “Excited” is often used to describe the feelings of anticipation of something good that is about to happen.
• Happy: Happiness is often attributed to the feelings one has when something you wanted or needed is obtained.

Repressed Feelings Leads to Parental Pressure on Children

When most of us were young, we were likely taught that some of the feelings above were “bad” and that so we repressed them. Even worse, rather than repressing them, we actually used what I call “substitute” feelings such as:

• Guilt
• Resentment
• Envy
• Shame
• Jealousy
• Depression

These substitute feelings are often the culprit of negative behavior and are likely the cause of most parental pressure.

Examples of Repressed Feelings

Let’s take a few examples to demonstrate the impact of repressed feelings on our decisions later in life.

1. When you were hurt as a small child, you became angry (natural). But, you were told by your parents not to be angry (repressed).
2. When you were a child, you were forced by your parents to share your toys with others (not natural), without understanding that we all must feel like we own something first before we are willing to share (natural).

These are just but a few examples.

Emotional Dysregulation and Parental Pressure

Let’s get back to you and your child.

Now, having reflected on your past and how you’ve dealt with circumstances and the emotions that accompany them, can you discern whether your parental pressure today is at least a byproduct of your upbringing? Is your parental pressure on your child really more about you than it is for the welfare of your child?

In order to break the negative family patterns and cycles in your family, I encourage you to reflect on the pressure you’re putting on your child. Maybe reconsider it. I think what you’ll find is that your child will succeed even more than you realize.

Give your child some breathing room. You won’t regret it.

We all know that Pope Benedict XVI (aka, Joseph Ratzinger) recently resigned as the Pope of the Catholic Church. Apparently, the last Pope to resign was 600 years ago. The world went up in arms of hearing the news. All of that is interesting and all, but what I really cared about is this: What can we learn about study habits and routines from Pope Benedict XVI? Are there actually study tips from Pope Benedict we can learn from?

A Day in the Life of Pope Benedict XVI

So what exactly does the Pope do all day? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this before; or maybe not. Regardless, it’s a good question or at least it’s a half interesting one.

FYI: As an aside, Pope Benedict speaks several languages fluently including German, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

But, wait, there’s a point to all of this. What if we can actually learn something about learning to study, learning how to learn, and something about self-discipline from the Pope’s daily schedule? Let’s see. Here’s his daily schedule as reported by Time Magazine:

The Pope’s day begins at 7 a.m. with Mass; one hour later breakfast is served. At 9 a.m. the Pope goes into his private study, the one where he recites the Angelus prayer every Sunday, speaking from the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square. He does his work in the study, where another consecrated laywoman, Birgit, helps him in her role as secretary and typist — she can read Benedict’s tiny handwriting better than anyone else.

Following Birgit in the study is Gänswein, the Pope’s secretary, to discuss the day’s agenda. Typically, the Pontiff works until 11 a.m., when audiences, or meetings, begin. At 1:15 p.m. lunch is served, with the secretaries and the memores sitting at the table with Benedict.

After a brief stroll in the roof garden, the Pope rests, to return to his private study at 4 p.m. He says the rosary and then resumes his work. After a prayer, dinner is served at 7:30 p.m., in time to watch the 8 p.m. newscast on RAI, the Italian state broadcaster. An hour later, the Pope says good night and retires, though he works some more before going to sleep.

Let’s glean some the nuggets that might help you frame your schedule for success.

Study Tips from Pope Benedict

• The Pope wakes up early: This is key. When you attack your day by waking up, becoming alert and sensitive to the world around you, you senses can take in more information and you are sensitive to stimuli. This means you can learn better from lectures, books that you read, and also from experiments that you run.
• Pope Benedict Eats Breakfast: Crazy, I know, but part of attacking your day is to wake up to it and then arm yourself with the energy and nutrients you need to be successful. This means you should eat a healthy breakfast.
• The Pope Takes Time for Self Reflection: The Pope takes time to think, reflect, self evaluate, and to offer worship to God. Regardless of your religious affiliation, taking time to reflect and to think alone will help you be successful in your day.
• Pope Benedict is Social: Human interaction – no, not through social media – but actual human interaction, is critical to having a successful day. Humans are social creatures and sociality will help you in your study habits by sharpening your ability to take in outside stimuli.
• The Pope Rests: Pope Benedict XVI rests his mind and body during the day. This is important to regenerate yourself for the remainder of the day.
• Pope Benedict Works Hard: He does. I’m not sure exactly what that work entails, but he works until 8 PM. That shows dedication and also self-discipline.
• The Pope Goes to Bed at a Decent Hour: As important as waking up early is to go to bed early. When you are able to close your eyes, turn off your brain, that gives your mind and body a chance to recover and to heal and sets you up for success the next day.

Now, let’s talk about you. As you look at your personal schedule, does it resemble the Pope’s day? If not, is there something you can learn from how he attacks his day? Would making modifications to your day help you be successful?

Give it a shot. You have nothing to lose, but a ton to gain.

Looking for some college admissions essay tips? Believe it or not, but the college admission essay is more important than you think. Consider this: applicants to the best schools likely also have the best grades, the best SAT scores, or the best ACT scores. So, with such a high achieving population, they all tend to look like each other. That is – if all the college admissions committee looked at were quantitative aspects of your application. The truth is this: the qualitative aspects of your college application carries way more weight than you realize.

Enter the College Admissions Essay, but wait!

If you already know you need some one-on-one help with your college applications, search for a private tutor near you:

College Admissions Essay Tips: What Are They Looking For?

Great question. Remember what I just said about the applicant pool all looking like each other? Well, that knowledge should drive what you need to highlight about you. Here are some guidelines:

• Highlight experiences that demonstrate inner strength or upright character
• Describe experiences that set you apart as unique from the rest of the applicant population – remember, the college or university is interested about how you will add value. So, show how you will make your 4 years at the school special and why the university will be better off for having admitted you.
• You’ll think I’m crazy, but here we go: if you’re a female or a minority – play the game. Yup, I can’t believe I just said that. But, you can do so in a way that is not martyr-like or as if you were the victim somehow. You can show how you overcame adversity that was somewhat related to your special class. People love reading that stuff.

Let’s test my advice on the Harvard College Admission Essay Questions, which are below:

Please write an essay of 250 – 500 words on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below, and attach it to your application before submission. Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box. This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself. NOTE: Your Common Application essay should be the same for all colleges. Do not customize it in any way for individual colleges. Colleges that want customized essay responses will ask for them on a supplement form.

1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6. Topic of your choice.

Okay, let’s analyze this, but know one thing for sure: DO NOT choose topic of choice. Why? It’s kind of weird. You see, the committee wants to see uniqueness, but they also need something to compare you to. So, your response will be compared to others’ responses to the same question. Without having a base of comparison (like if you choose the topic of your choice), they won’t know what to do with you.

Moving on.

Let’s look at each question and evaluate an approach:

1. For this question, they are looking for a glimpse into how you think and the worldview by which you see the world. If you’ve taken significant risk, what was it and what drove your thinking and what drove you make that decision? You dig?
2. How do you think about issues – this is what they are looking for. Do you consider aspects of issues or are you selfish in your approach.
3. What values do you hold? What’s important to you and why?

As far as that goes, the rest of the questions, I don’t believe are germane. By that I mean – focus on the first 3 questions. Remember my advice about having something to compare to? That’s why.