If you want your child to be an enthusiastic reader, then there is only one surefire way to make sure that your child loves reading…read together. If you want your child to become a reader you need to expose him or her frequently and continually to literature—of any kind.

The trick is that the books can’t just be there; you need to make the time to actually select and read the books together. However, simply reading the book isn’t quite enough, either. You need to discuss the book and stories and be sure to engage the child in the process. Ask questions about what you read to help your child begin to learn to derive meaning from the words.

Ask questions such as, “Why did Mortimer get out of bed?” and challenge your child to think beyond the level of the story. “What do you think his Mommy would think about that?”

By asking questions about the story you help your child develop a deeper understanding of the material.

Early Years

From the moment infants begin to comprehend their environment, they are also learning language. Babies are continually exposed to words and sounds, and they are always absorbing and processing the basic sound structures of our language. Whether or not they are aware of it, they are actively building the foundation of their literacy skills.

Because they have been learning language since birth, children as young as three (and sometimes even younger) are well prepared to begin to learn the formal rules of our language. They are ready to learn to read, so this is the perfect time to begin to help them become life-long readers. Studies show that the earlier that children learn to read and write, the stronger students they become.

Middle Years

The elementary school years are a critical time to develop attitudes about books and reading. These are the years that children become readers, so it’s important to introduce and maintain good reading routines during this stage.

During these critical years, children can develop strong associations that may follow them for the rest of their lives.

Children need positive role models to help them model their behaviors. Whether it is an admired teen, a favorite grandparent, a neighbor, or even an older sibling, a child needs a good reading role model, because the associative power of a positive reading experience can help shape a child’s attitude about books and reading for the rest of his or her life.

Teen Years

At the high school level, extra-curricular reading may seem like a luxury, when in fact, it’s a necessity. In high school, avid readers have an advantage over other non-reading students for the simple reason that they are more likely to have a better vocabulary.

The more that students read, the more new words they are exposed to, and thus the bigger their vocabulary. This is a benefit to students because vocabulary, comprehension, and school performance are related. For instance, while writing a test, a student comes across a sight passage. The more words that student knows, the more that student will comprehend the meaning and the nuances of the passage, and the better that student will perform on questions about the passage. Reading also exposes the student to different styles and genres of writing, which is a great help on essays.

By Angela Marseglia, B.Ed., MA

I often receive panicked phone calls at this time of year from parents who are worried that they have missed the boat on getting appropriate help for their child. Now that the winter holidays and March Break are behind us, they can see that the end is closer than they thought. “How can my daughter turn her C’s and D’s turn into A’s or B’s with less than 3 months left in the school year?” they ask. There is of time left to catch up and to pick up grades before June. Having the right attitude and identifying your child’s real needs will help them reach their goals.

Having that “can-do” attitude is essential for students and parents when setting goals for improvement. Maintain a positive outlook—no matter how discouraged your child gets—so they learn that it is okay to fail as long as we learn from our failures. For example, if your child does poorly on a test, find out why. Did they not study enough? Be sure to set up a study plan for the next test so they are prepared. Did they not understand the materials? Encourage your child to make this clear before the test so they may get help from the teacher. Maintaining a positive dialogue with your child well help encourage them and keep them motivated, even when they are not successful. Remember to celebrate all achievements—even the very small ones—to build your child’s confidence so they believe they can succeed.

Staying connected with your child’s teacher and staying focussed on their needs will help your child achieve success. If you have concerns, address them immediately. Is your child progressing, even though they are having difficulties? Does he or she understand the material presented in class? Is it difficult for your child to follow directions or stay organized? If the same problems are resurfacing year after year, it may be an indication that supplemental resources and programs are necessary to help get your child ahead. Speak with the teacher to find out what additional help is available for your child.

One last word of advice is not to get caught up in grade expectations for the end of the year. Remember that grades can be subjective, and more often the learning skills are important in determining the long-term success your child can achieve. Learning does not have to stop when last school bell rings. Programs are available all summer long to help your child develop the skills they may lack so that they can be successful life-long learners.

Thanks to contributing author Angela Marseglia. Angela has been an educator for 17 years and is the Director at Oxford Learning in the Beach. For information about tutoring, supplemental education or the summer programs call, she can be reached at 416-686-1430 or beaches@oxfordlearning.com

After 25 years of working with kids, we know that most of the problems that young students encounter at school can be traced back to their literacy skills, and in particular, reading comprehension.

Reading comprehension is the ability to read a sentence and understand its meaning. It is the ability to look at written words and quickly process the meaning, instruction, direction, idea, or inference.

Reading comprehension is not familiarity with a single word or its meaning, but rather the ability to recognize words, sentences, and paragraphs and make sense of the overall meaning.

When students have difficulty making sense of instructions, it can easily lead to poor grades, and poor grades can easily translate into frustration and an unwillingness to participate in class.

This doesn’t mean that a child has major issues with understanding or an underlying comprehension problem. It simply means that by working on basic literacy skills, that child will improve skills such as word pronunciation and vocabulary development and improve his or her reading comprehension.

Improve a child’s literacy skills and improve that child’s self esteem.

Q: My daughter’s project deadlines always seem to approach too fast, and we scramble to finish. What tips do you have to help us avoid the last minute scrambles?

A: Forgetting projects and assignments or putting them off until the last minute is usually a sign that your daughter is dealing with organizational and/or motivational issues. With a little help and some stronger study skills, your daughter will get organized and get those projects done with time to spare.

Here are six easy steps to avoid those last-minute scrambles:

1. Start by making sure that when your daughter is assigned a project she lets you know about it right away. If you can’t rely on your daughter to let you know, contact the teacher yourself and get a list of all upcoming projects and test dates for the year.
2. Now that you know when the next project is due, grab a calendar and start blocking off time to get the work done.
3. Break the project down into small, manageable pieces. Do a little at a time.
4. Pick a date to begin research, a day to have an outline finished, and a day to write.
5. Stick to the timeline you’ve created together, offer support, and stay involved. Offer prompts but don’t micromanage. Ask, “How is everything going?”
6. Begin early! The earlier that your daughter begins the project, the less likely that she’ll run out of time.

By Amanda Dervaitis, B.Ed.

While the spring weather is a pleasant sign that the end of the school year is just around the corner, it is also an indicator that the most grueling part of the year for high school students is close by. Yes, I am talking about dreaded exams. Just the thought of them can be stressful for even the most successful student, but it does not have to be. It is possible for EVERY student to be successful on their exams if they take the necessary steps to prepare. But preparation takes time and that means that students must start now if they want to be ready for June. Pass these tips along to your teens to help them ace those final exams.

Get organized. Have all of your notes, textbooks and old tests organized and ready to review. If your teacher gives you an exam outline, use it! Are you missing anything? Ask your teacher or classmates for any notes or materials you do not have. Also, have a comfortable, distraction-free area set up where you can study, equipped with everything you need from coloured pens and highlighters to blank paper and your dictionary.

Use an agenda. The agenda is one of the best tools you have for time management and organization. Divide your study time amongst your classes and write it in your agenda. Use your exam outline to determine how much time you may need to study for each class. (Note: do not spend time studying what you already know well!) Once you have a schedule set you should stick to it, but you may have to make changes along the way. Use any and all methods of scheduling organization that work for you; monthly calendars, daily calendars and ‘to do lists’ can all be helpful.

Don’t Cram. Cramming for tests and exams does not work. When you cram, you do not have enough time to process and understand the information. At best, you will memorize bits of disconnected information and you will be lucky if it stays with you long enough to write the exam. Breaking study material into small sections makes learning lots of information more manageable. Studying regularly, for as little as 20 minutes a day per subject, over only a few weeks will be much more effective than cramming for a couple of days before the exam.

Don’t just memorize information. Make your own notes—in your own words. Memorizing information defeats the whole purpose of learning. When you memorize, you are simply remembering sequences of words, but you are not processing and understanding the information. It will not stay with you for the long run. Take the time to read your notes, stop and think about the key points, and then rewrite the information in your own words. You will be amazed at how much you understand and remember. It takes more work in the beginning to make the notes, but trust me, you will be saving yourself lots of study time because you need to review them less.

Thanks to contributing author Amanda Dervaitis. Amanda has been an educator for 9 years and is the director at Oxford Learning in High Park. For information about exam preparation programs call the Oxford Learning Centre at 416-762-4447.

If you want your child to be an enthusiastic reader, then there is only one surefire way to make sure that your child will love reading: read together.

If you want your child to become a reader you need to expose them frequently and continually to literature—of any kind.

1. Don’t just have the books in the house—they don’t do any good in the toy box or on the bookshelf.
2. Make the time to actually select books together and to read them together.
3. Talk about the book. Discuss the story and the characters.
4. Point out words and ask what they mean, or if the child can think of a rhyming word.
5. Engage the child by asking questions about what you read to help your child begin to learn to derive deeper meaning.

Ask questions such as, “Why did Mortimer get out of bed?” and challenge your child to think beyond the level of the story. “What do you think his Mommy would think about that?”

By asking questions about the story you help your child develop a deeper understanding of the material.

Most students don’t know how to set goals for themselves. It’s not their fault—skills such as goal setting, time management, and organization are very rarely taught in school.

Because of this, most students go about their day-to-day business, floating from test to test, project to project without much thought to where they are going or where they currently are.

Setting goals can help put students in the driver’s seat and make them feel more in control of their education. But in order to do this, students need to take a close look at their current academic standing, identify problem areas, and ask themselves what they would like to achieve. Usually there is one area that could use special attention, such as science, math, or finishing homework.

Before students begin setting goals, they should become familiar with Oxford Learning’s CAM Rule for setting Goals.

Goals need to be Clear, Achievable, and Measurable. Here’s how students can apply the CAM rule.

• Clear. Make sure that goals are clear. It shouldn’t be “improve my science grade”, but “I want to understand the periodic table of elements and mitosis.”
• Achievable. Keep goals realistic. A C minus student has a better chance of getting a C plus on the next test than an A.
• Measurable. By setting a goal that has benchmarks, you can track success. Last week Tim only knew 3 periodic elements; this week he knows 10!

The CAM method for setting goals makes academic resolutions easy to keep. Students won’t get discouraged and abandon their resolutions because they can track their progress, no matter how minor the achievement is.