Improve Phonics and Reading: An Apple a Day

Let’s face it, our kids have grown up with technology and are more adept than we are with the most common devices available, particularly cell phones.  Have you ever watched the speed at which your kids can write and send a text message?   Have you noticed how quickly they can exploit all the features of a mobile phone?   I am technically savvy, but my own kids sometimes grow impatient when I access a new feature on my phone.

Technology abounds in the classroom, most prominently with computers and Smartboards.  Inside and outside of the classroom, For years, educators, parents and students have tapped a wide range of educational resources for their iPods; lesson plans, audio books, study guides and vocabulary drills to name just a few.   And now, an influx of iPads, which has enormous teaching/learning potential, is just beginning. 

The record and playback function of latest generation iPods is a little-known feature that can also facilitate learning.  In a blog posting about the use of iPods and iPads for reading and math on Child’s Up, the author cites schools where students use iPods to record and playback their oral reading.  Using this ubiquitous technoloy, kids can independently identify fluency mistakes (mispronunciations, omissions, substitutions, etc.) and then self-correct.

At KnowledgePoints, our tutors use similar, if older, technology to help elementary school students improve their phonics and oral reading.  For our reading students, in addition to practicing vocabulary and reading comprehension, we teach phonics by having our students use flip cards with magnetic strips, and, wearing headphones with a microphone, feed them through a card reader.  Students do the following:

1. Look at the card which has the letters of the sound printed (example “b-r-u-s-h” for blends)
2. Feed the card through the reader, and listen to the correct pronunciation
3. Feed the card again, but this time,  record their own voice as the say “brush”
4. Finally, feed the card again and listen to his own recording of the sound.

Since many school districts either do not teach phonics or don’t offer them after 3^rd grade, integrating phonics  (using this record and playback method) is an important element of our reading program for elementary school students.

At KnowledgePoints we offer reading programs for young and old, from  Pre-K to High School.  Serving the communities of Florham Park, Morristown, Parsippany, Madison and other area communities, we have programs to fit all needs and budgets.   Call us at 973-593-0050 for more information.

Improving Study Skills: Your New Year's Resolution

How are your New Year's resolutions working out?  Adults love resolutions.  In fact,  Associated Content from Yahoo has released the top adult New Year’s resolutions for 2011.

1.       Lose weight

2.       Help the family lose weight

3.       Get a job or a better job

4.       Quit smoking

5.       Fall in love

6.       Enjoy life

7.       Get organized

8.       Spend more time with family

9.       Help others

10.   Run a marathon

But kids (students) can also set their own goals and create their own resolutions.  In a recent article “How About a Resolution,” Adele Brodkin, Ph.D. (a senior child development consultant for Scholastic) argues that New Year’s resolutions are the perfect opportunity for students to reflect on their individual habits and turn poor ones into good ones.   Brodkin recommends that parents open up a dialog by asking open-ended questions that will get kids to think more introspectively on the things that they would like to change.  One example:   Students, who struggle with homework and studying, can resolve to create and use a comfortable and calming workspace, free of distractions and conducive to good concentration.  A small change that could pay handsome dividends.

The important point is that change doesn’t come easily, and bold declarations of intent to change (I will get all A’s this semester) rarely work.  By thinking through a resolution, and coming up with simple but measurable steps to fulfill that resolution (and its implied goals) you are more likely to succeed.

We take this methodical approach with many of our tutoring programs, but in particular our study skills program, which helps students learn new techniques and develop new habits for homework, note taking, test taking, studying as well as time management and organization.

Seize the promise of a new year.   Start a dialogue with your child, see what resolutions to which he can aspire, and work with him to meet his goals.   

KnowledgePoints offers tutoring programs in workshops at its center in Florham Park, serving customers in the surrounding communities of East Hanover, Livingston, Madison, Whippany and Morristown.  Look for our Study Skills Workshop this March at the Adult School of the Chathams, Madison & Florham Park.  For more information, call 973-593-0050.

Building Vocabulary Through Holiday Shopping?

Yes, you can go holiday shopping and build your child’s vocabulary --  all at the same time. Mary E. Curtis, a professor of education and director at Lesley University and Ann Marie Longo, an associate professor of education at Goucher College, have put this practice to the test.  These scholars proclaim that board and argue that they can build a child’s vocabulary and pave the way for better comprehension skills. We agree.

Board games are the perfect way for teachers and parents to introduce new vocabulary words to students.  Games such as Taboo, Password, Jeopardy, and Scattergories actually allow you to customize the games with you own vocabulary word lists.  The more vocabulary you introduce to your child, the more opportunity he has to improve his reading comprehension skills.

Our KnowledgePoints instructors have added more board games to the holiday shopping list. Apples to Apples, Apples to Apples Junior, Crosswords, Scrabble, Upwords, Bananagrams, Blurt!, Sight Words Bingo, and Wordplay for Kids all made the cut.  Even video games such as Leap Frog, MyWordCoach, MySATCoach, Are you Smarter than a 5^th Grader?, and Book Worm were added to the teachers’ shopping list this year.

All of these board games are enriched with new vocabulary terms.  Not only will your child be happy at play during the holiday season, you may also see an increase in your student’s grades.

Think Tutoring offers reading comprehension tutoring programs for students of all grade levels, delivered by highly qualified, state-certified teachers.  We serve students from Florham Park, Madison, Chatham, Whippany, East Hanover, Morristown and other surrounding towns. Call 973-593-0050 to learn more about how we can help build your child's vocabulary.

Good Study Skills Habits: Activating Multiple Intelligences

By Kim Hermanns, M.A.T.

Your child can get frustrated, worried, distracted while studying for a major chapter test.  Studying can be a lot easier thanks to Howard Gardner, noted Harvard Professor of Cognition and Education and his world reknowned theory of multiple intelligences.  He challenges your child to activate his/her brain through a variety of techniques that tap in to various types of intelligences.  Once done, your student study in most appropriate method for his/her learning personality with few and perhaps no distractions.

Each of the intelligences can be useful to you as a learner:

1. Linguistic Intelligence - The ability to speak and write. Get a tape recorder to record the teacher speaking, read your textbook and notes aloud, write your content in an essay. This will boost the B to an A.
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence - Involves numbers and reasoning. Study formulas, perform calculations, and solve puzzles.
3. Visual/Spatial Intelligence - Think in images and pictures. You can activate your brain by creating mind maps, diagrams, and graphic organizers while studying.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence - Involves body movements. Use your motor skills while studying.  Walk around your room and read your notes aloud.
5. Musical Intelligence - Involves musical abilities. You can activate your brain by listening to music while studying.
6. Interpersonal Intelligence Involves responding to the other people. You can activate your brain by participating in class discussions.  Also, get a study group together.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence – Involves self-awareness. You can activate your intelligence examining your own strengths and weaknesses.  Then, you can adjust your study habits.
8. Naturalist Intelligence - Involves appreciation of nature. You can activate your intelligence by linking learning experiences to the natural world.

I now put you to the test.  Try to figure out which multiple intelligence best fits you and your child.  You may also be a combination of these intelligences.  Try a few out before studying for the next test.  I bet you will see improvement in your child’s study skills.

To find more about learning styles and our Study Skills program, call as at 973-593-0500 or click on the link.  Think Tutoring is a full service learning located in Florham Park, NJ that provides tutoring in math, reading, language arts, algebra, geometry, study skills and SAT Prep.  We service the surrounding communities of Madison, Livingston, East Hanover, Morristown, Whippany, Chatham, Summmit and Short Hills.



SAT Prep: Mastering Homophones & Other Misused Words

The SAT contains many questions that test a student's knowledge of  correct word usage. For example, many people use "compliment" when they really want "complement." Not knowing which word is the right one to use may lower your child's score on this section of the SAT.  Use lists below to improve your child's SAT Prep.

Our local language tutors at Knowledge Points know that our language contains 6,000 "lookalike words." But we focus here on the ones most frequent misused.

Have your child take the following test. Count as "wrong" any answers that were guesses.

1.   The speaker's presentation (implied, inferred) that we have a "do-nothing" Congress.

2.   Based on the statistics he presented, I (implied, inferred) that the threat is real.

3.   The fog will no doubt (envelop, envelope) the town this evening.

4.   His retirement had quite an (affect, effect) on staff morale.

5.   He went (past, passed) the exit because he’d been thinking about his tax audit.

6.   Were you (affected/effected) by the storm?

7.   Sociopaths are often described as having a "flat" (affect, effect).

8.   Houdini was a great (allusionist, illusionist).

9.   Her (allusions, illusions) to her former boss were often acerbic.

10. Albany is the (capital, capitol) of New York.

If she did not get a perfect score, be sure your child reviews the tips that follow. Discuss them. And, take full advantage of blogs like Pam Nelson's (blogs.newsobserver.com/grammar/home) to help your child understand the differences among words that sound and look alike. (In a recent post, she explores the difference between "trustee" and "trusty."

 Answers

1. implied (TIP: Speakers imply; listeners infer, based on what the speaker said.)

2. inferred (TIP: The person heard a speaker talk about statistics and the person inferred or reached a conclusion.)

3. envelop (TIP: An "envelope" is used with a letter and both words have several e's in them.)

4. effect (TIP: The noun "effect" means a result or outcome. The other noun, "affect," means a psychological state and is clearly not the correct meaning for this sentence.)

5. past (TIP: "Past" can be a noun, meaning the opposite of the future.

Or, it can be a preposition, as it is here. Prepositions, you'll remember, introduce a group of words [the "prepositional phrase," the last word of which is a noun. Here, the phrase is "past the exit," with "exit" serving as the noun.)

6.  affected (TIP: The verb is this sentence is either "affected" or "effected."

Typically, only people with considerable power can effect a change. Things, on the other hand, can cause a certain [but not drastic] outcome or impact. The "storms" here are things, not people with power. And the storms definitely have an impact.

7. affect (TIP: see tip #4.)

8. illusionist (TIP: An "illusion" is an impression and an "illusionist," one who creates an impression.)

9. allusions (TIP: To "allude" means "to refer to." "Allusions," then, are references.

10. capital (TIP: The only tip "capitol" spelled with an "o" is the word meaning a government building. A further tip: think about that building. Invariably, it will have a dome, which is roughly the shape of an "o.")

KnowledgePoints provides premier, curriculum-based SAT Prep at our center in Florham Park, and serving students throughout Morris County, including Madison, Morristown, Chatham, Whippany and East Hanover.