Summer’s almost here, and it’s time to relax! Not so fast. Decades of research show that in order to do their best in school, kids must avoid the “summer slide.” This means they have to maintain skills they’ve worked hard to develop all year.

In fact, when kids lose learning summer after summer, it adds up, and that can lead to long-term problems. Make it a priority to:

Choose summer programs carefully. Look for activities that give kids individualized attention. Schools, community centers and libraries are good places to start. Many kids enjoy camps that mix academic and non-academic subjects.
Plan fun activities that use what your child learned in math, reading and other subjects. Before a family trip, your child might help with budgeting, research and mapping.

Source: J. Smink, “This Is Your Brain on Summer,” The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/opinion/28smink.html.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Learn the hard facts about “summer learning loss” It’s almost summertime, and the living may be easy, but don’t let the learning go out the window!According to research, “summer learning loss”–where kids forget much of the reading and math taught during the school year–is real. Even worse, each summer’s losses tend to pile on top of previous losses. These losses hurt low-income kids the most. In fact, studies show that low-income students lose two months’ worth of reading skills each summer. But their higher-income peers? Those kids may actually gain skills because of access to things like high-quality summer camps and classes. If you’re concerned about your child’s math and reading skills slipping this summer, talk to his teachers. There may be an affordable, community-based enrichment program out there that’s perfect for him. Source: J. Smink, “This Is Your Brain on Summer,” The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/opinion/28smink.html.

A mechanic would never work on a car without a good set of tools. Yet some parents send teens into the world without a “toolbox” of life skills.
The summer months are a great time to focus on important skills such as:

• Responsibility. Try turning over responsibility for one or two areas of your teen’s life this summer. If she hasn’t had experience managing finances, help her set up a checking and savings account.
• Autonomy. Some kids come home from college with a month’s worth of laundry. Be sure your teen knows how to care for her clothes. Also teach her to prepare simple meals.
• Focus. Your 17-year-old may not know what she wants to do as an adult. But a summer job (even if it’s unpaid) can help her figure it out.

Source: J. Townsend, Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No, Zondervian Publishers.

Yes, it’s fun to spend time playing Solitaire or Angry Birds online. But there are also some great websites that can help your teen with homework. Here are five of the best and what your teen can do at each one:

1. The New York Times Learning Networks, http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com

Read the news for each day.
Learn about “This Day in History.”
Review the vocabulary word of the day.
See news-related maps.

2. Chemical Elements, www.chemicalelements.com

Find basic data about elements on the periodic table.
See how to group elements.

3. American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

Listen to sound recordings.
Read digital texts.
See still and moving pictures.
Check out maps.

4. Math Open Reference, www.mathopenref.com/index.html

Find definitions of terms used in geometry.
See examples of how to solve problems.
Diagrams.

5. Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org

Learn subjects from algebra to art history.
Take practice college entrance exams.
Watch more than 2,700 videos on a wide range of subjects.

Source: Reprinted with permission from the April 2012 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (High School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2012 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.

Featured Website of the month:

Learning with technology is a great way to engage our students.  Check out our featured website for free and fun online learning: www.e-learningforkids.org.

Children need to know how to solve problems for themselves. Answer yes or no to the questions below to find out if you are helping your child develop problem-solving skills:

___1. Do you try to teach your child that problems always offer opportunities for solutions?

___2. Do you look for low-tech toys for your child to play with? The best toys let children invent how to use them.

___3. Do you encourage your child to learn more about topics she is interested in? Kids often ask the best questions–and then try to find their answers–in subjects they like.

___4. Do you encourage your child to brainstorm her own solutions. “How could you fix that problem?”

___5. Do you let your child try the solution she selects if it is reasonable? Even if it doesn’t work, she’ll still learn something.

How well are you doing?

Each yes means you are helping your child solve problems on her own. For no answers, try those ideas.

Reprinted with permission from the February 2012 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2012 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Too much stress can decrease your child’s ability to learn Middle school students often have a lot on their plates–and on their minds. They can easily become overwhelmed, and the results aren’t good. As anxiety goes up, grades go down.If your child seems stressed, suggest ways he can relax. He could: Enjoy time with a friend. Suggest they do something that makes them laugh, such as watching a favorite funny movie. Participate in a hobby (other than playing video games). Hobbyists –people who paint, read, collect, do puzzles, you name it–usually “lose themselves” in what they are doing for a while. Focusing on these pleasant thoughts helps to defeat stress. Breathe deeply. Research shows this truly works. A few minutes of slow deep breathing can calm your child when he is feeling overwhelmed. Practicing it for a brief time each day can lower your child’s overall stress levels. Stretch. Doing yoga is linked to lower stress levels. Tell your child to try a few minutes of relaxing music and slow, gentle stretches. Source: “12 Healthy Ways to Relax,” WebMD, http://fit.webmd.com/teen/recharge/slideshow/slideshow-teen-relax.

Your teen earned a bad grade–actually, a terrible grade–in Spanish last marking period. What should you do?

Perhaps the most useful thing you can do is to help him “own” it. Most teens have quite a knack for placing the blame elsewhere–on the teacher, on the “stupid” test. Instead, help your high schooler figure out exactly what he did to earn the bad grade.

Until your teen takes responsibility for what he did, he’s not going to be able to make the changes he needs to make. Here are some questions he should consider:

• Did he invest the time he needed? How much time did he actually spend working on his Spanish? Did he review the new vocabulary he learned in class? Did he turn in his homework? Did he study for tests? He is responsible for how he uses his time.
• Does he know how to study? Sometimes, teens think that if they just skim the chapter, they have “studied.” Teens need to learn that studying is an active process. If he doesn’t know how, encourage him to ask his teacher how to study. He can also search the Internet for college study sites.
• Did he assume he is just “not smart” in the class? Remind your teen that nearly any subject can be learned with effort.

Source: J.B. Bader, Dean’s List: 11 Habits of Highly Successful College Students, Johns Hopkins University Press.

It’s the start of a new year–and nearly the halfway point in this school year. So it’s a good time to take stock and make any needed adjustments.

Spend some time talking with your child about how the school year is going. If the two of you set learning goals at the start of the year, review those goals now. Is she making progress? How can she make the rest of the school year even better?

Then make some learning resolutions. Here are a few to consider:

• Reduce screen time. Talk about the time your child spends in front of a screen. How much time does she watch TV? Play computer games? Chat and IM with friends? If she’s an average seven- to 18-year-old, she’s spending seven-and-a-half hours on these activities a day. Yikes! Set a goal of reducing her total screen time to no more than two hours a day.
• Spend time reading. There is no skill that will help your child more in school. And reading, like other skills, gets better with practice. Encourage your child to read, and don’t worry about what she reads. Let her read about sports, her favorite TV star or a hobby.

• Go back to beginning-of-school routines. Has your child’s bedtime begun to slip later and later? Does that mean mornings are feeling more rushed? Is your family’s regular study time now not quite so regular? Routines like these make life easier–and help kids do better in school.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, “Daily Media Use Among Children,” www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia012010nr.cfm.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Mid-year is the perfect time to check in with teachers The school year is already almost half over. How is your child doing so far? This is an ideal time to communicate with her teachers. Try email first, unless there are serious concerns.Here are some things to find out: How is your child handling the curriculum so far? What are her strengths? What are the areas in which she needs improvement? What part of each class does she most enjoy? Does she have difficulty with any part of each class? Are there behavior concerns? If so, what? Does she pay attention in class? Has she been turning in homework consistently? Is she missing any assignments? Are there any social problems that should be noted? What can you do, as a parent, to help your child? Remember that your involvement in your child’s education remains as important as ever. This is true even if it seems that your child does not want you to be involved. Do not listen to your child’s protests that “No one else’s parents email the teacher,” or “You don’t have to go to that parents’ meeting.” Much research shows that children have fewer problems, and more success in school and beyond, when parents are involved. Source: P.L. Benson and others, What Teens Need to Succeed: Practical Proven Ways to Shape Your Own Future, Free Spirit Publishing.

It’s the start of a new year–and nearly the halfway point in this school year. So it’s a good time to take stock and make any needed adjustments.
Talk with your teen about how the school year is going. Is she making the progress you both would like? How can she make the rest of the school year even better?

Then make some learning resolutions. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Review and update schedules. Between school, activities and time with friends, is your child setting aside enough time to get her homework completed? Is she getting enough sleep?
• Free up time for other activities by reducing screen time. Challenge your teen to keep track of all the time she spends watching TV, surfing the Internet and texting her friends. If she’s like most teens, she’s spending seven and a half hours on these activities every day. When parents set limits on media use, teens use about three hours fewer per day. One easy way to cut down on screen time is to put the cell phone recharging station away from her bedroom.
• Spend more time reading. Just one in four teens reports reading for pleasure. But the best way to build the vocabulary she’ll need in college is to read widely.

Source: “Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year-olds,” Kaiser Family Foundation, www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia012010nr.cfm.

We all want to help our children when they need it. But some parents take the help a little too far. They “parachute in” to save the day every time their child faces a bump in the road.

So instead of letting two friends work out a minor disagreement, the parents step in. The next thing you know, a small problem has grown into a big feud.

Or a forgetful child can’t seem to remember to take her lunch to school. A parachute mom is there to rescue her every day. The result? She never learns to be responsible.

These “parachute” parents are really sending their kids a negative message. “You can’t handle this. I have to do it for you.” Over time, that reduces a child’s confidence in her ability to solve problems for herself.

Parents should always help when their child truly can’t solve a problem. Otherwise, pack up the parachute and let your child figure it out!

Source: R. Craig, “Family Key to Building Child’s Self-Esteem,” National PTA, http://www.pta.org/3497.htm.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Winter break activities keep learning alive! Winter break should be just that–a break from the normal routine. But your child can keep learning, perhaps just not as formally as she did at school.Here are some ways to continue learning over winter break: Write. Your child may receive gifts during this break. It is often said that writing a thank-you note is a lost art. Why not have your child revive it? She should write a short note to anyone who sends her a gift or extends her a kindness. She should also write a letter of cheer to friends or family she won’t see during the break. Read. Your child should continue reading something every day. If she has a book she is enjoying, great. Otherwise, a magazine or newspaper article of interest works, too. Online, she can check for blogs about things she is interested in. For her safety, make sure you know what she is reading online. Do math. Ask your child to help you add up the day’s expenditures or stick to your budget while shopping. Reprinted with permission from the December 2011 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.

It is never too early for your teen to start thinking about college applications. And winter break can be a productive time for all teens to think about the future:

• A freshman or sophomore can use this time to start looking at college websites and brochures. If he has an idea of what he would like to study in college, he can focus on schools with strong programs in that area. He can also look at requirements for his potential course of study–that way, he can talk with his counselor in the spring about making sure he takes the appropriate classes in high school.
• A junior can narrow down the list of colleges he’d like to visit. The spring is when many colleges have open houses. Make travel plans now, if necessary–booking early often means getting the best prices. If your high schooler is super-motivated, you might also suggest he write a practice college application essay or update his résumé.
• A senior should be wrapping up his college applications–many are due in January. Remind him to make copies of his applications before he sends them, so he’s not starting from scratch if one gets lost in the mail or if the file doesn’t go through. And celebrate when he has completed all his applications!

Source: “College Application FAQs,” CollegeBoard, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/the-application/8487.html.

In homes everywhere, parents and kids are arguing about homework. Even worse, some parents are simply doing the homework!

Are you making sure your child takes responsibility for homework? Answer yes or no to each question below to find out:

___1. Have you told your child that homework is his responsibility? You offer support, but don’t do the work.

___2. Does your child have a regular study time every day and do something academic during that time?

___3. Do you give your child some choice in how he does homework, such as choosing which subject to study first?

___4. Do you look over your child’s homework to see that it’s finished?

___5. Do you know to talk to the teacher if your child faces regular struggles with homework?

How well are you doing?

Each yes answer means responsibility for homework is where it belongs. For no answers, try those ideas.

Source: Reprinted with permission from the November 2011 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Your child can improve writing skills with revision and resources Not every student is a born writer. But kids who write well tend to do better in middle school than kids who don’t.To help your child improve his writing, have him: Read it aloud. After he completes a writing assignment for class, ask your child to read it to you. (If just the thought of this makes him cringe, at least have him read it aloud quietly to himself.) Suggest he mark any clunky or ungrammatical passages as he goes. Revise it. Even a good draft can almost always be improved with careful revision. So have him go back through his work to see where it can be tightened up, expanded or clarified. Ask for help. If his work still seems a little flat or weak, encourage him to look for help online. Find a reputable writing site and, together, explore its ideas for improving his writing. Beyond that, remind your child that one of the best ways to become a stronger writer is simply to read a lot. The more he surrounds himself with words, the more examples he’ll see of solid writing. And that can only help when it’s time for him to put pen to paper. Source: R. Kavanagh, “Help Middle School Students Improve Writing Skills,” EduGuide.com, www.eduguide.org/library/viewarticle/1813.

High school math can be frustrating for both students and parents. Your child may feel like she “just doesn’t get it.” And you may not be able to help her like you could in elementary school. Still, you can offer your teen a strategy to try:

1. Start with a good attitude. Ask your teen to say, out loud, “I am capable of doing this math.” Research has shown that positive thinking has a big impact on motivation.
2. Do a little at a time. It might be easier for your teen to complete five problems in one sitting instead of all 30 at once. Encourage her to take breaks in between.
3. Read each problem at least twice. If your teen gets confused, she should check the textbook (or another source) for an explanation of how to do that type of problem. Looking at sample problems can be a big help.
4. Start solving the problems. Encourage your teen to take her time.
5. Go back if you hit a snag. Your teen should go back and carefully check her work. Sometimes, the issue is a mistake in adding or subtracting, or in using the wrong equation. If that doesn’t get her back on track, she could try the textbook again, use the Internet (try http://www.askdrmath.com) or call a friend with strong math skills.

With this strategy, your teen should be well on her way to conquering math challenges. But if your teen still struggles, suggest that she talk to her teacher for specific help.

Source: E. Jensen, Student Success Secrets, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.

They can also be a way to drive parents crazy! Kids may try to put off work on that huge project until the very last minute. Then everyone in the house has to go into panic mode, making sure the poster gets made, the costumes are ready and the report is written.

This year, don’t let your child’s end-of-year project become a family emergency. Here are steps to take:

• Make a plan. As early as possible, sit down with your child to develop a plan for completing the project. Write the due date on the calendar. Ask questions about what steps he’ll need to take to get ready. “You need to make a poster. Let’s check to see if we have the supplies you’ll need.”
• Make a schedule. Now help your child figure out when he’s going to complete each step. Having a number of smaller deadlines is much easier than waiting and trying to meet one big one. Write these dates on the calendar.
• Celebrate successes. Each time your child reaches a goal, help him figure out a reward. This should be small (a favorite dessert, not a trip to Disney World) and something he can mostly do for himself.
• Check in. You’ll need to see how he is progressing to help him stay on track.

Source: Diane Heacox, Up from Underachievement, ISBN: 0-915-79335-0, Free Spirit Publishing.

Forget everything you thought you knew about studying. Research is showing that there are more effective ways to study. These findings will help your child make the most of where, what and when to study.

Most of us thought that studying had to take place in a single spot. But researchers are learning that may not be the best way to promote learning. In one test, students were given a list of words to memorize. Half learned the words while sitting in a single spot for two days. The other half studied in a different room each day.

Who did better? The second group. So have your child study spelling words in the kitchen on Monday and the bedroom on Tuesday. Even a little change of scenery may make a difference.

What should your child study? Until recently, people thought learning one thing at a time was most effective. Memorize state capitals today. Learn historical dates tomorrow. But it actually helps to mix things up. A little variety seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain. Athletes and musicians have known this for years. A musician will spend time playing scales, studying theory and practicing a musical piece. An athlete will combine a strength workout with some speed or skill drills.

When is the best time to study? Students remember more if their studying is spaced out. So have your child work on those math facts tonight. Then review them on the weekend. Add another study session next week. She’ll get a better result.

Source: B. Carey, “Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits,” New York Times, September 6, 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=2.

MIDDLE SCHOOL Encourage your middle schooler to read with reading-rich websites Motivate your middle schooler to read by encouraging him to explore reading-rich websites. Here are three good ones to try:  Teenspace (http://teenspace.cincinnatilibrary.org). Created by the Cincinnati Public Library, Teenspace is filled with book reviews and reading links. It also offers homework help and a free online book club. Subject-specific booklists give kids plenty of suggested titles to try. Flamingnet (http://flamingnet.com). Launched by a book-loving kid (who’s now in college), Flamingnet’s goal, among other things, is to “promote reading and writing among young adults.” It includes a huge selection of book reviews, along with an assortment of grammar-related links. Teenreads (www.teenreads.com). What does the “ultimate” reading list look like? Which kid-friendly books are being made into movies? Find out at Teenreads, an online clearinghouse for all things literary. Especially helpful is the how-to section on starting a book club. And by signing up for the free e-newsletter, budding bookworms can get updates on the latest reading-related news as it happens. Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.