Peak Tutoring

Ahhhhh..... the lazy days of summer.  After a grueling school year, students finally get to relax. Even parents breathe a sigh of relief to get a break from homework and the battles that sometimes accompany it.   Breaks are hard-earned and necessary for rest and rejuvenation. However, we need to also make sure that our kids  do not lose their skills over the summer. There is a scientifically proven phenomenon known by several names,  including "Summer Slide," "Summer Learning Loss," and "Brain Drain." Over 100 years of research in this area finds students score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer  than at the beginning unless their summer is enriched with educational opportunities. Summer reading loss is one example, and, unfortunately, it is cumulative. Children don't typically make up for lost  skills in the fall, as their classmates move on. By the end of 6th grade, children who have not participated in educatio

Does your child struggle with any of the following? Getting out the door on time Leaving things behind that needed to go to school Bringing home all necessary materials to complete homework Remembering what was assigned for homework Turning in completed work on time Waiting until the last minute to work on long-term assignments Finding things in their messy bedroom, backpack, or locker Some kids are just naturally less organized than others. There are tools that can help, though. Here  are some of my favorite tips and tools for helping kids get (and stay) organized. ESTABLISHED ROUTINES Have a caddy of supplies like pencils, pencil sharpener, stapler, highlighter, and post its at this homework  station, along with graph paper and lined paper. This way, your child doesn’t have to get up and  go looking for them. The one below is from the dollar store and is described here :    Have sports gear, music instrument). Kids could put backpacks on the bac

In my family, these last few weeks of summer vacation have been packed full with back-to-back family  reunions in New Hampshire and Colorado. School is starting back up soon, and already started on  August 1 at a few schools here in Colorado Springs. However, I promised in my last blog post to share  some of my favorite tools for use at home to avoid summer learning loss. So, if you have a few weeks  left, you might want to give these a try. Of course, these suggestions could also be used throughout  the school year or next summer. Here you go: My favorite tools for HANDWRITING : This handwriting worksheet generator is completely customizable. You enter the text you’d like your  child to trace or copy on the line below. You can chose printing or cursive, font size, etc. You can enter  up to 2,000 characters. Sometimes I will have my daughter dictate a story to me, as it’s more fun for her  to work on writing text about a subject  she enjoys. Here are some helpful