• Parent Resources

  • Communicating with Your Child's Teacher

    Communicating with Your Child’s Teacher Summary

    • For parents: interacting with teachers, self-awareness about involvement, overcoming isolation

    • Coaching children on approaching teachers

    • Student and teacher: handling adversity, improving poor relationships

    • Keeping up with your child, talking about bad days

    Esatblishing Routines

    Establishing Routines Summary

    • Importance of a routine for a student learner

    • Minimizing distraction through routine

    • Getting home and school day prep routines

    • Rewarding good routines, encouragement and praise

    • Adding and evaluating behaviors and time-management

    • Structure, spontaneity, daily family activities

    Helping Young Learners Read

    Helping Young Learners Read Summary

    • Keys to reading, visual descriptions for young children

    • English language challenges, reading challenges for ages 5-7

    • Dyslexia, cognitive and physical impediments

    • How parents can avoid rushing reading time

    • Tablet readers versus physical books

    • Keeping books in the home to promote literacy

    Older Student Literacy Challenges

    Older Student Literacy Challenges Summary

    • Reintroducing incarcerated youth to reading, fostering receptiveness

    • Out-of-habit reading students versus lacking skills

    • Student-selected reading material, finding your inner narrator

    • Improving skills, reading practice, alleviating stress

    • Avoiding the distraction of screens

    • Struggling parents teaching students to read

    Testing and Assessment

    Testing & Assessment Summary

    • Meaning of assessment, beyond testing

    • Recent changes in Florida standardized tests

    • Missing skills affecting performance, test-taking skills versus base ability

    • Teaching to the test versus what students need to know

    • Advice for parents of gifted students who do not test well

    • Bright Future scholarship, SAT, ACT, determining alternate paths

    Students with Special Needs

    Students with Special Needs Summary

    • Meaning of and correct way to think of special needs

    • Ongoing accommodation versus developing skills

    • Identifying/differentiating special needs from ordinary struggle

    • Requesting evaluation, the process, next steps

    • Changes for the student at school and at home 

    • Handling difficult feelings and fear of stigma, embracing help and hope

    Preparing Your Student for College

    Preparing Your Student for College Summary

    • Advice for students entering college in the fall, prep tips

    • When high school came easy, but college does not, anticipating changes and higher demands

    • Lifestyle changes with living on campus, surprises, college freedom, social life

    • Advice for high-intensity STEM majors, discovering the right career

    • Office hours, building relationships with professors

    • Understanding graduation requirements, college today