_In The News June 2005 Vol. 8-6
 President’s Message
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My
how fast the time is passing! It is hard to believe that we have
reached the mid point in the year. These long days of warmth
give me much more time for contemplation and planning. The year
is shaping up to be a busy one. We have almost completed the
transfer of Brilliant Learning into Knowledge Headquarters, Inc.
The transfer has kept us all busy, with questions and concerns from
subscribers, while taking
huge leaps toward providing the e-Tutor program to a larger
audience. There is much to do and we often find ourselves,
in spite of longer days, without enough time. So, the extra
hours each day, give me that extra cushion to find the best plan to
follow. 
uring
these summer months we will be putting a lot of emphasis on increasing
the e-Tutor lesson bank. There are over 1800 lessons now in the
program, we want to increase that by several hundred by the end of the
summer. Each lesson is written by a teacher from around the
country. It is then edited and formatted before being submitted
to e-Tutor. It is a lengthy process, but worth the effort in
providing an outstanding curriculum developed uniquely for the
Internet.
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As the lazy, hazy days of summer descend upon us, may you find good time for cheer, for friends and family, and for relaxation. Have a wonderful month!
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Curriculum Writers
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There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. John Cage, Composer |
 Learning
with e-Tutor
e-Tutor One-2-One
The e-Tutor One-2-One
Program provides students with a greater range of the For Students: For Parents: For Tutors: This increasingly popular
program has a limited number of slots availa Thirty new lessons
were added to the |
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e-Te-Tutor
offers the best in online educational programming. Since 1997 we
have continued to offer students the high quality Internet-based
curriculum they deserve. Now, e-Tutor has added another program,
giving students and parents a choice between a self-guided program and
a tutor-based program. 
outstanding e-Tutor lessons while working with an assigned
tutor. This addition to our online program provides the
strongest program for students to date over the Internet. Tutors
meet with students during office hours via a private bulletin
board to discuss assignments and lessons assigned each
week. The remainder of the week, the tutor is available
24/7 via the e-Tutor email system. Essays and assignments are
submitted through an expanded
version of e-Tutor. Results
are recorded in a student portfolio
with which parents have access. e-Tutor seamlessly
integrates the Internet into learning by providing engaging educational content, assessment
programs and communications tools that connect students, tutors and parents to create a customized online learning community. 
»
Links within lessons that encourage use of Internet resources 
ble
for the 2005-2006 school year. Go to 
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If we would be guided by the light of reason, we must let our minds be bold. Louis Brandeis, Jurist |
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The majority of students who come into
the Knowledge HQ Center list reading comprehension as their major
problem. Sometimes it is just a matter of helping the student
organize the process of reading. Reading comprehension involves the
reader's efforts to understand what is being read while he or she is
reading. Children who do well in reading comprehension ask
themselves questions about the content of a selection as they are
reading. They analyze and modify their interpretations and ask
themselves if what they are reading makes sense. Self-checking comprehension connects all reading strategies and is an essential part of the reading process. Strategies such as making inferences, predicting outcomes, visualization and story mapping involve the type of active questioning integral to comprehension. Children can use the following strategies to solve comprehensions problems.
Children may have difficulty self-checking their comprehension for the following reasons:
Adapted from Silver Burdett and Ginn |
Instruction in writing begins early and lasts until graduation from high school. It is a continuous process aimed at making students functional and totally literate in communication skills. The e-Tutor Virtual Learning Program places a great deal of emphasis on the development of students' written communication skills. Exactly how is written communication developed? What specifics do we look for? At the kindergarten level children are
eager to tell stories. May it is something they saw or something
they did or something they have herd. We suggest giving them
pencils and paper and urging the to write their stories, draw
pictures, or dictate what they want to say. These children
believe they can write their stories. They make
"scribbles" and draw pictures. A parent or older
sibling may write some words on a child's story, but it remains his or
her story and the child holds it proudly as he or she
"reads" it to others. By the beginning of first grade the children are learning sounds that the symbols of the alphabet represent. They may write the letters that represent the sounds in a word. They write what they hear. They may write "dg" for dog and "awa" for away. More accurate spelling will come later as their understanding of the structure of the language increases. At this stage of the process, the emphasis is on developing fluency in recording thoughts and on communicating by the written word. By the intermediate grades, spelling, as well as punctuation, have taken on increased importance. These students are aware of and conform to the rules of form and style. They are using word lists and dictionaries to help with spelling. They are also using reference books and resource materials as they learn to write reports, outlines and bibliographies. In high school, those writing skills, which began as scribbles in kindergarten are now polished and continually refined as the students use them. From "talk written down" at the kindergarten level, students in high school, use skills in report writing, creative writing and letter and memo writing so necessary in today's "Information Age." Adapted from the Master Teacher |
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The beauty of the day is found in the heart. Thomas Hardy, Writer and Poet. |
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Your child learns in many place and in many ways. As a parent, you have an opportunity to make an enormous difference in how much and how well your child learns. Using the summer months to expand and enhance your child's skills for learning will benefit your child year round. Some ideas to get you started might include the following:
National School Public Relations Assoication |
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Parents play a major role in building confidence in their children by encouraging them in these ways: Be generous with praise
Let your priorities
show Keep skeletons in the
closet Show interest in
learning activities Avoid pressuring your
teen
Minnetonka Public Schools |
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In
a paper presented at a convention of the American Association for Counseling
and development, researchers pointed out ways to identify early those
students most at risk of dropping out of school. School-related
predictors include being behind in grade level, low perceived
relevance of school, dislike of school and teachers, truancy and
tardiness, non-involvement in activities, suspensions, poor study
habits, poor grades and failures, misbehavior in school, lack of basic
skills, low motivation, boredom and alienation. Personal predictors include friends who dropped out, disabilities, pregnancy, depression, lack of goal orientation, poor social and coping skills, drug use, basic needs not met and impulsiveness. Family factors include low socioeconomic status, lack of parental monitoring, low parental education level, parental unemployment, negative parental attitudes, family mobility, family conflicts, economic problems and divorce or death of parents. School Public Relations Service |
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It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish. S. I. Hayakawa, Educator and Politician |
MathNerds: Created by the Center for Advancement of Teaching, Xavier University,
MathNerds isn't a "problem solving" service for all things math. What this site will do is give hints, suggestions and explanations to help
your child (or you) figure out math problems. Team members who respond to questions are generally professional mathematicians holding
advanced degrees in mathematics. Important: You must read and agree with
their terms and conditions before you submit a question. POMP- The True Story of the Baby on the Sacagawea Dollar:
Who is that baby on the $1 (US) coin? This is an ebook about Pomp (Jean
Baptiste), son of Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau. Learn about the
child and the man he became. Also, discover the decision-making process
involved in the design of this coin. ESkeletons: Now every
student can have their own skeleton to study. View the bones of the human anatomy from different angles. Compare those bones with the bones
of a chimpanzee or a baboon. Funded by the National Science Foundation,
this resource allows students to access clear, detailed images that they can observe, describe, and compare. Note: for best results viewing
this site, you will need to increase the operating memory of your Your Sky: Help your child build a sky map. This
program lets you choose a nearby city, or enter your latitude and longitude, to find out what is in the sky presently. Using fairly
easy-to-use controls, you can then manipulate the data to find a star map for the next night, or the next week.
From the Knowledge HQ Staff Copyright © 2005 Knowledge Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.knowledgehq.com
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together. 
time
or some other organized learning activity and share
experiences. 
Encourage
"personal best"
Help
set goals
Wishing
You a Relaxing Month!