Online Tutoring Services For Iowa - Find Out How

Online Tutoring Services For Iowa - Find Out HowOnline tutoring services for Iowa are a great option for children who need extra help with their grades. Sometimes, school work can be overwhelming and if you have a special needs child, they can definitely benefit from this. These services are also helpful for parents who work at home or who can't leave the house with their children at times.It may seem overwhelming to think about these types of options but it is a very smart choice. You may not have been able to take care of your child's schooling on your own. You may need to juggle your job, taking care of other family members, etc.The best way to find out if this is the right option for you is to look at the cost of the online tutoring service. Many are extremely affordable and offer a lot of useful resources for your child. With such a small investment, you will be sure to receive a lot of benefit from it.If you do choose to employ an outside tutor, make sure you set up some guidel ines to make sure your child is comfortable with the process. For instance, if you have a teen who is learning Spanish or has learning disabilities, it may be impossible to communicate with them. It may be necessary to enlist the help of a parent or trusted friend to be the guide for the child.If you decide to use a student, make sure you get along with the teacher and the child. Ask the teachers for any help in obtaining copies of student work. As you work with the tutor, be sure you are confident and comfortable with the situation.Finally, ensure that the tutor is one you feel comfortable working with. If you are uncomfortable, do not sign up for the tutoring service. A reliable and honest company will give you good feedback from past clients.For all of the options available for Iowa online tutoring, you should always make sure that you are comfortable with the entire process. Nothing is worse than having an unhappy experience. So be sure you are completely comfortable before enro lling your child in a service.

Tips to Take the Stress Out of Homework Time

Tips to Take the Stress Out of Homework Time Some parents find homework time to be the most stressful part of the day, but it doesnt have to be that way. If youve heard from any parents that homework is causing a lot of anxiety and arguments, its time to do something about it. Here are a few tips to share with your students parents to make things easier on the whole family: Time your children. Its a big red flag when your students take a long time on homework and dont have the grades to show for that effort. Give parents an idea of whats a reasonable amount of time to spend on homework and encourage them to keep an eye on how long their children are working. Teach prioritization. Students who struggle to rank their homework in order from most important/due soonest to least important/due later will find themselves taking far longer than needed to do homework. A simple handout explaining how parents can work with their children to review and rank tasks at the start of every homework session will help. Encourage a routine. Children today lead busy lives, but the more parents can guide their children toward a consistent daily routine, the better. Maybe that means homework happens after school or before soccer, but the key is to establish and stick to a schedule. This promotes good time management skills and gives children greater control over their days. Develop an organizational system. Staying organized is essential to de-stress homework time, and involves several components: using a planner (or planner app), keeping to a schedule, and keeping track of all important papers and materials required for homework. Again, a handout for parents could be useful as they try to keep their children on track at home. With a few adjustments, parents can transform homework time from an angst-inducing battle into just another part of the nightly routine. Pass along your best tips for making homework time run more smoothly at home, and youll most likely notice a positive difference.

How to Make Reading Part of the Summer Routine

How to Make Reading Part of the Summer Routine Many children look forward to summer as a time to unwind, relax and enjoyand reading for fun can definitely enhance the summer. The school year is busy and most students read plenty, but not necessarily the books or materials of their choosing, says Eileen Huntington of the Huntington Learning Center. Summer reading can be so much fun because children can read whatever they choose, take their time and explore topics they find interesting. Its easier than you think to make reading a part of your summer routine, says Huntington. Here of a few tips: Do some research. Teachers and education professionals know well that youll have far better luck getting children to choose to read if they find books that interest them. So, do a little homework on books that might appeal to your child. What topic, sport or activity is your child into right now? If you need help, ask your librarian for recommendations. Websites like goodreads.com are also helpful for searching genres (even getting as specific as childrens classics, juvenile, young adult fiction, realistic young adult, teen and young adult contemporary, for example) and reading reviews. Make it family time. Set aside 20 or 30 minutes each evening for the entire family to get out their books and read together. Make reading time a treat by setting out a tray of summer snacks and a pitcher of ice cold lemonade. If you have a shady spot in the backyard, transform it into your summer reading spot with a few lounge chairs or hammocks. The more you can treat reading like a fun, want-to activity, the more your child will embrace it and look forward to it. Sign up for summer reading programs. Summer reading programs do a great job of rewarding readers for achieving milestones and building a sense of community among readers. Huntington Learning Centers Reading Adventure Program runs all summer long and has children choose books from a pre-selected book list with many high-interest, popular books. Students record their reading in a reading passport and get recognized for meeting their goals. Dont forget to check out summer reading programs at your local library and bookstores as well. Visit the library. Librarians are the biggest proponents of summer reading and youll find lots of ideas to get your child inspired at your local library. Look into summer book clubs, summer reading programs, reading activities for teens and family reading programs. At a minimum, stopping by the library regularly is a great way to keep reading top of mind and set and meet goals. For every book that your child completes, why not reward him or her with a stop at the ice cream shop on the way home? Summer is an ideal time to incorporate reading into the daily scheduleand the perfect opportunity to get children to enjoy this ageless pastime. The key to making reading a daily habit is to make it enjoyable, and there are so many ways to do that during summer, says Huntington. Make it fun. Let your child choose the books. Make reading a fun family tradition. When you do things like this, youll start to see your child choosing to read over other activities, and his or her reading skills will improve greatly as well. About Huntington Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified tutors provide individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977, Huntingtons mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at www.huntingtonhelps.com. For franchise opportunities please visit www.huntingtonfranchise.com. 2016 Huntington Mark, LLC. Huntington Learning Center, the three-leaf logo, and 1 800 CAN LEARN are registered trademarks of Huntington Mark, LLC. Each franchised Huntington Learning Center is operated under a franchise agreement with Huntington Learning Centers, Inc.

5 Unconventional Tips for Becoming a Polyglot

5 Unconventional Tips for Becoming a Polyglot Becoming a polyglot is serious businessor, is it?All over the world, youll find average, everyday people speaking 2 or more languages.  Like, no big deal.In the United States, we often think that polyglots, or those who speak multiple languages, beis long to a rare and remarkable species.As an American myself, I was raised speaking English and only English.I dabbled in a few years of Spanish and Italian classes in grade school and university, however it wasnt nearly enough to bring me close to fluency. My situation is quite common for Americans.While living in Chinas Guangdong province, I witnessed just how mainstream polyglots are. In China, it isnt uncommon for natives to speak four languages: Mandarin (their native tongue), their hometown dialect (based on their province), Cantonese and English. The Chinese school system requires students to study English in grade school and usually college. So, by their mid-twenties most Chinese people will have a solid English proficiency.If you re someone thinking of becoming a polyglot, here are some tips to use as you learn the languages that make our world go round. 5 Unconventional Tips for Becoming a Polyglot1. Read the same book in multiple languagesThis is perhaps one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your reading skills in multiple languages. Rather than read a variety of books in a variety of languages, think of one book or book series you were quite familiar with growing up. This may be one youve already read several times in the past or one that was a staple to your childhood. There are some books that you can purchase with English on odd pages and a second language on even pages. That allows you to translate both languages line-by-line and easily decipher how sentences and grammar are structured. Alternatively, you could read a page in your target language and simply refer to the English side when you want to double-check your comprehension from time to time.If you arent sure where to start, Harry Potter is a popular choice and all-time favorite because people are usually at least somewhat familiar with the storyline. If Harry Potter isnt your cup of tea, try other novels or book series (i.e., The Hunger Games, Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey,  etc.) that use simple sentence structures and have a reading level of 8th grade or lower.2. Use your busy time for studyingBecoming a polyglot requires extra effort. Duh! Youre in the big leagues now, so its going to take more than just your normal language learning routine to hone in on your multilingual skills. When you subtract the time you spend sleeping, eating, cooking, commuting, bathing, pooping and working, you arent left with much time to actually focus and study. Therefore, its important to incorporate language reminders into your busy time. Even though getting in an extra ten minutes of language study time at three various busy times a day may not seem like a worthwhile effort, it actually adds to 3.5 hours a week!If y ou arent sure of your busy time, spend a day recording exactly how long you do each of your regular tasks. This can be incredibly revealing of the amount of time you spend doing specific things each day. We typically spend more time doing certain mundane and routine tasks than we realize (hence those moments where we say, time flies). Then, think about if and how you can include language studying into (or in-between) those chunks of time.One idea is to listen to language dialogues or songs during your workout routine, while you cook, during your commute to work or while waiting for a meeting to begin at work. Not only will you be more productive over those 24 hours in general, but youll also be sure to accelerate the language learning process.3. Host Couchsurfers from around the worldIf you dont have the means to immerse yourself in a new culture or travel to the country that speaks your desired language, bring the language to you! Hosting Couchsurfing guests from around the world i s a free and effective way to practice your multiple language skills. If you arent familiar with the service, its an online community of over 9,000,000 users. You first create a profile as either a traveler or a host, filling out details about yourself and your interests. In this case, youd start as a host.You might think, why would I ever let a stranger stay at my home? Well, thats a totally valid thought, but not one that should keep you from giving it a shot. Couchsurfing takes safety seriously, and all hosts are required to leave feedback for past guests. That way you ensure that youre hosting someone responsible with a history of positive reviews.Rather than hosting guests and having them speak your language, try communicating to them in theirs. Make sure to host guests from a variety of countries so that youre exposing yourself to different languages. If youre still beginning your journey in becoming a polyglot, it may be better to host guests of one language until you feel co mfortable exposing yourself to an additional new language.Think about it: if youre thinking of picking up Italian and dont have the money to invest in books or tutoring, you can easily host Italian tourists visiting your hometown. Its a win for you, a win for the Couchsurfer and a win for the global community youre enriching.  Perfetto!4. Use the Laddering TechniqueWhen learning multiple languages, it can be tempting to, in your head, imagine the phrase you want to express in your native tongue and then translate it to your desired language. For example, if youre an English speaker learning both Mandarin and Japanese, you first think of what you want to say in English before you mentally translate it to either Mandarin or Japanese. In this case, English is used as the base language for  all  other languages.  Unfortunately, this ends up confusing the speaker, making it common to mix up and confuse languages.This is where the Laddering Technique comes in! Laddering is a process of cr eating a mental hierarchy for your language translations. Imagine a ladder where the first rung is your native language, the second rung is your second language and so on. When translating something, only use the language of the rung before the one youre trying to communicate with.For example, lets say your native language is English (first rung), followed by Spanish (second rung), followed by Japanese (third rung). When learning Japanese, rather than mentally translating words from English to Japanese, translate starting from Spanish. This not only enhances both your Spanish and Japanese skills, but it also makes the language learning a little bit easier on your brain.5. Work with a life coachLearning multiple languages can easily become overwhelming and scary for someone going at it alone.  Life coaching is an effective way to develop strategies to manage your time and amp up your productivity. Sometimes its hard for us to see what exactly is keeping us from maximizing our true po tential. A life coach is trained to help you see what youre not seeing and ask you some thought-provoking questions to reflect on. Specifically, a life coach can help you process where youre getting stuck and brainstorm ways to overcome any internal or external barriers to your learning.There is no single go-to formula for how to become a polyglot. When working with a life coach, you can create solutions that are tailor-made to your values and needs. Coaching can help you awaken your inner genius and discover ways to master your time and energy. Plus, it helps to have someone who can hold you accountable and motivate you every step of the way!Congrats on beginning this exciting journey to becoming a multilingual master!Frank Macri  works with those looking to create off the beaten path lifestyles. For tips on saving (and making) money abroad, unique options to travel for a living,  and wisdom picked up around the world, visit  www.TheFrankLife.com.

Three Principles of Homework

Three Principles of Homework First Principle of Homework: You cannot force your child, he must want to do it. You cannot force your child to like homework. You cannot force your child to learn. You cannot force your child to read, to write, to draw and to multiply. Instead, your child must want to read, want to learn, want to do homework. Your child must developed a desire for want to do this. If you and your child get there then you hold the holy grail of homework in your hands. But how do you and you child get there? Concentrate on assisting her with positive emotions. Second  Principle of Homework: You child probably does not like to do homework. Kids do not naturally enjoy sitting and studying. They prefer to play, to watch TV, text their friends or play video games. The problem gets worse after your child has spent a long day at school which already consists of sitting around and studying. Understand that your child has  little  desire to do homework in the afternoon also. Third  Principle  of Homework: Your child’s brain must engage. To work on homework task your childs brain needs to engage.  New synaptic connections in your childs brain must form or be strengthened in order for the homework to be a success.  If you complete the homework for your child or he decides upon a short cut, the homework is pointless without any positive changes in your childs brain. Too many parents see homework as their own problem. So they create shout, scream and threaten, bribe, scold, create ultimatums or withhold privileges. These forceful methods have little positive lasting effects. Instead, concentrate on providing structure for homework, a system and regularity. And most importantly provide emotional support. In my next article I will provide seven  practical  examples of how to put the three principles of homework into action. Three Principles of Homework First Principle of Homework: You cannot force your child, he must want to do it. You cannot force your child to like homework. You cannot force your child to learn. You cannot force your child to read, to write, to draw and to multiply. Instead, your child must want to read, want to learn, want to do homework. Your child must developed a desire for want to do this. If you and your child get there then you hold the holy grail of homework in your hands. But how do you and you child get there? Concentrate on assisting her with positive emotions. Second  Principle of Homework: You child probably does not like to do homework. Kids do not naturally enjoy sitting and studying. They prefer to play, to watch TV, text their friends or play video games. The problem gets worse after your child has spent a long day at school which already consists of sitting around and studying. Understand that your child has  little  desire to do homework in the afternoon also. Third  Principle  of Homework: Your child’s brain must engage. To work on homework task your childs brain needs to engage.  New synaptic connections in your childs brain must form or be strengthened in order for the homework to be a success.  If you complete the homework for your child or he decides upon a short cut, the homework is pointless without any positive changes in your childs brain. Too many parents see homework as their own problem. So they create shout, scream and threaten, bribe, scold, create ultimatums or withhold privileges. These forceful methods have little positive lasting effects. Instead, concentrate on providing structure for homework, a system and regularity. And most importantly provide emotional support. In my next article I will provide seven  practical  examples of how to put the three principles of homework into action.

The Art of Constructively Responding to the Report Card of a Struggling Student

The Art of Constructively Responding to the Report Card of a Struggling Student When a student is struggling in their classes, the time of the year when report cards are released can be a time of overwhelming tension, stress, and anxiety for both the child and parent. These types of negative “report card interactions” impact the environment of the household as they not only put a strain on the relationship between you and your child; they can actually take a toll on your child’s academic performance as well. So how can we take these difficult situations and use them to evoke positive, constructive interactions? The Fear Factor: “Tiger Parent” A “Tiger Parent” is the type of parent that elicits fear within their child regarding their academic endeavors, whether this be through constant displays of heavy disdain and/or anger with their child, excessive punishments, or an overall aggressive approach to their child’s academic status. Many parents will unconsciously display some of these behaviors, ironically, out of love and care; however, such behaviors do not translate that way to the child. I once had a friend who had what I’d like to call “Tiger Parents.” He was struggling in his classes and was afraid of the reaction he would receive from his parents at the sight of his report card. This fear became so great, that he actually paid a friend of his to Photoshop his report card grades into more appealing ones, rather than choose to academically work his way up to an ideal report card each time. This is a display of exactly what the “Tiger Parent” persona can do to a childâ€"such distress being generated in a child can actually cause an adverse effect on the struggling student, causing distance between themselves and their parents. Changing The Atmosphere When struggling students enter into an environment where they are shrouded with the anxiety of fear, it sets the foundation for an automatically negative “report-card-presenting-experience;” and no parent would ever want to set that type of a foundation for their child. Although parents have good intentions for their children, sometimes the disappointed natures in which they approach their children’s report cards can be mistranslated to the child and make them more likely to become heated rather than cooperative. It’s Not all About the Letters: An Understanding Approach In order to communicate well with a struggling student, the first approach a parent needs to take is an approach of understanding. Parents usually have a default way of looking at the letter grades and making immediate negative assumptions, then proceeding to automatically react accordingly, without allowing any space for the child to explain. Let’s say your child brings home a report card, smack dab with lesser-than-ideal letters. Before reacting directly to the letters with an automatic face of disapproval, look to your child first. Go through the report card with them and allow them to explain such letter grades. When you look to your child first without the face of judgment, he/she will be more likely to cooperate and participate in healthy discourse with you regarding their academic standings. Let Them Be Heard: Controlling Impulses Once your child has expressed their struggles, the reaction that you might have would be the impulse to regard your child’s expressions as simply “explanations” and “justifications” for not doing too well. Make sure to back up when this impulse to go on a tangent occurs. Your child will feel most loved and encouraged when they feel as though they are being heard and listened to by you. When they feel heard, they will be more willing to allow you to work with them on how they can attack their academic struggles in order to produce more ideal letter grades for their next report card. Displays of deep disappointment and spurts of discouragement can cause what is referred to as “Self-Prophesized Fulfillment,” a phenomenon where (in this context) a child hears/sees such deep negative talk towards them that can cut so deeply to the point to where they will begin to believe that that is what they are: a disappointmentâ€"that they will always be a disappointment. This causes loss of hope and for children and will decay any remaining academic motivation to build themselves up. Remember that your words to your child as a parent make a huge impact on them during such malleable stages of life. Eating Humble Pie: Positive Reinforcement…and Ice Cream too! This is probably the most important part of all: Positively Reinforcing your child’s achievements. It’s easy for any parent to see a child with a report card studded with “A’s” and take them out for ice cream. However, let’s say a child brings home a report card that might seem like a mess. Although it may not be easy to accept that your child is not exactly presenting the cream of the crop, take the time to accept it. Then realize this: Whether a child scores “A’s” or “C’s,” every student still has strengths and weaknesses, and each report card is a display of suchâ€"really look into the report card to see the ways in which your child has grown in their strengths. For instance, take the time to see that although your child did not exactly score an “A” in math and rather, earned a “C”, notice that he/she did happen to score higher in their math class with that “C” in comparison to their last report card’s math score of a “D.” Celebrate that improvement, and make it known to them that you are proud of that achievement. This positive reinforcement will point out to your child that you have faith in them as a student and will encourage them to want to do well. There’s always a good reason to take your child out for ice cream!

Dreaming big Our decision to teach abroad, part 1

Dreaming big Our decision to teach abroad, part 1 As my wife Grace and I approached ten years of marriage, we started to look back on some of our dreams and goals that we had hoped to accomplish together. Goal #1: Start a family Being parents was always our number one dream. As I’m sure anyone with children can relate, the perception of parenthood doesn’t always align with reality. The lack of sleep, free time and the shift in priorities from each other to your new bundle of joy can be a struggle. However, it was worth every minute of sleep, every ounce of free time and every shift in priority. This became even truer when baby number two came into the world. Each and every day with our two boys Reed (four years old) and Everett (six months old) is an adventure with more than its fair share of joy - and struggles. Goal #2: See the world Our second dream as a couple was to travel and see the world outside of the United States. Yes, we had been to Mexico and Canada, but those two countries barely made a dent in our long travel bucket list! We hoped to start funding and planning a 10-year anniversary trip abroad in 2018. Unfortunately, the mounting costs of healthcare, daycare, mortgage payments, student loans and credit card payments, combined with the lack of consistent pay increases in the US teaching profession, made it increasingly more likely that our dream of traveling abroad would have to be postponed until our 40th (or even 50th) wedding anniversary! My big teach abroad “lightbulb” moment One day, a teaching colleague of mine asked me for a recommendation for an overseas teaching opportunity with Teach Away. He rattled off all the benefits of teaching abroad that many of you reading may already know about, including tax-free salaries, good healthcare, paid flights home over the summer and, of course, the significant pay increase! Everything clicked in that moment. I realized that all the awesome perks that came with teaching abroad could not only help us overcome our financial hurdles - it could also free us up to achieve our lifelong dream of traveling the globe with our two children. The only difference would be instead of planning a two-week vacation, we would be planning for a life-changing, years-long commitment. Immediately following our conversation, I jumped straight onto the Teach Away website. Seeing all the exciting career opportunities and the different locations we could teach in all around the world had given me a newfound taste for adventure. I was ready to go right then and there and sign a contract for the following school year! The idea of traveling abroad finally started to feel like a reality instead of a distant dream. Sign up to Teach Away today for access to the latest teaching jobs around the world. Back to earth - with a bang! Naturally, I went home to my wife and pitched the perks of teaching abroad to her. How could she possibly resist this opportunity to fulfill one of our lifelong dreams? Luckily for me, I married a woman who keeps me grounded and, most importantly, asks the right questions. What will we do with our house? We only have four more years until our student loans are forgiven, is this really a great time to move abroad? Who would watch the baby while we were teaching? How would we get by without our parents’ help? What if we don’t like it when we get there and we’ve gone ahead and signed a two-year contract? These were just a few of her (very valid) questions. And I realized that I had no real answers to any of those questions. Clearly, I needed to do a lot more research. Researching teaching abroad online At this point in time, our youngest was a newborn and we were both finishing the fifth year of our teaching careers in the US. So, for the moment the opportunity to teach and travel abroad turned right back into a distant dream. My wife’s uncanny ability to ask the right questions led me to start doing some in-depth research into teaching abroad. I started by seeking out blogs from other people who had also taught abroad. Unfortunately, this wasn’t as helpful as I had initially hoped. Their experiences veered widely from being the best experience they had ever had,to a nightmare that they will forever regret. It was also hard to relate to a lot of teaching abroad stories out there. So many were single teachers or teachers with a non-teacher spouse. Instead, I started researching the different schools on Teach Away and learning more all about the countries where the best teaching opportunities were located. Grace and I started to have some casual conversations about where we would like to go if we did teach overseas. However, it was still very much in our minds that if we did go, it would have to be two or three years down the road. As the new school year started, we slipped back into our regular routines of work, parenting and my studies (I’m currently completing my master’s degree in education administration as my wife and I decided now would be a great time to get my degree, while the boys are still young). With starting back at school, having two little boys and working on my degree, I had very little time to continue researching teaching abroad. We decided to take a bit of a breather from our international teaching job hunt. Want to find out how Grace and I landed our dream teaching jobs abroad? I’ll be focusing on that in the second part of this series, so stay tuned to the blog to find out more on that front!