• President's Message
• Learning With e-Tutor
• The Bookcase
• Help Your Teenager Get Organized
• Start Where You Are

• Teach Life Skills
• Daily Workouts
• Getting Your Ideas Across
• Speak to Their True Feelings
• Awesome August Links

President’s Message

It has been another busy month.  There are times when I would just love to stop all the comings and goings in my life....but it is just those comings and goings that make my life so stimulating and in the long run enjoyable.  I rail at the many things that seem to be required of me, yet it is just those many things that give vibrancy to each and every day.  I read a book this week that said to thank instead of think.  I know I over think things sometimes.  I will endeavor to remember to be thankful for my active and full life.   

Do we ever get tired of being proud of our children?  This month, one of my adult sons finished a very long triathlon he had been practicing and in training for almost a year.  I can't tell you how proud I was to see him running toward the finish line.  The ability to set high goals and carry through on them is something that all parents want for their children.  While we admire athletes and those who perform, our children often forget it takes time, dedication, and patience to reach success.  I want our students to know that similar to preparing for a triathlon or any great event, learning takes time and is sometimes grueling, but the rewards are great.

What can we do to improve the e-Tutor Learning Program? We want to hear from you.  It looks like it is finally gong to happen.  After thirteen years, e-Tutor is going to get a complete overhaul.  You may not notice immediate changes, but in the background there will be some major changes.  Over the years, there have been some face-lifts and constructive surgery.  Technology today is far more advanced than when we began and we want to take advantage of what today's programming can do for online learning.  So, please take a few minutes and send us email with your thoughts and ideas.  Working together, we will continue to offer the strongest and most effective online educational program on the Internet.         

 Best wishes to all those starting another year of learning!    

Encourage your child to be an expert at something. 

Learning with e-Tutor

 Creating Success for Students  
The Best Place to Learn Online

e-Tutor Virtual Learning is a research-validated online curricular program for K-12 students that is establishing the benchmark for expectations in online learning.  e-Tutor has been used by over 10,000 students throughout the United States , Canada , Europe , Australia and the Orient.  The results being achieved by e-Tutor are remarkable:

• e-Tutor has been scientifically proven to be effective for early readers.  Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois conducted documented research showing that third graders using e-Tutor made significant gains in reading scores over their fellow students in a single school year, resulting in improved test scores on a widely used standardized test (Gates-MacGinitie).
• Schools have demonstrated e-Tutor’s effectiveness as a remediation tool with slow learners and students in alternative programs.  Low-performing high school students have defied predictions by using e-Tutor to learn to read and write with ease.
• e-Tutor is a proven tool for English Language Learners.  You will see economically disadvantaged children with Limited English Proficiency achieve reading and writing fluency in less time than anyone thought possible.

e-Tutor’s team is led by an experienced group of educators recognized for their excellence in education and collaboration with universities and school districts throughout the country.  The program is backed by educators and parents from across the country and supported by a outstanding programmers trained at the University in the U.S.  e-tutor.combines the best learning science in a student-friendly interface so students truly enjoy the learning process.

The e-Tutor Distance Learning Program enables students to work on their lesson modules from home or any other location where they have access to a computer with an Internet connection.  Overall, the e-Tutor advantage means students and their parents will see improvement faster…. building student confidence and creating a pattern for success. 

* Fall registration is taking place now.  The e-Tutor school year is ten months.  Many parents want their students to follow a traditional school calendar.    

Eighteen New Lesson Modules  
were added to the 
e-Tutor Lesson Library this month!

Join the e-Tutor world of learning today to view 
over 2,700 lesson modules.  

www.e-tutor.com

Military Parents

We have many military parents who have subscribed to the e-Tutor program for their children.  In the future we hope to provide the stability that e-Tutor can offer these students when their educational program is disrupted when parents are transferred.  If you are a military parent, we could use your help.  We are submitting forms to DoDea officials about the e-Tutor and would like to use your input about the e-Tutor Program to include in the application process.  Please send your comments, experience and recommendations to mangulo@knowledgehq.com.  We appreciate your time and involvement.  

Set high expectations and hold your children to them. 

Help Your Teenager Get Organized

• Expect responsibility:  Encourage your teenager to plan out a daily routine and stick to it. 

• Schedule study time:  Post a family calendar that schedules study time and school project deadlines, athletic activities, mid-term dates, exam periods and assessment deadlines.

• Keep track of assignments:  Turning in assignments on time is essential and an assignment calendar is the key.  Encourage your teenager to mark on a calendar the dates due and check this regularly to keep the work on schedule. 

• Help with activities and extended learning:  Giving help does not mean doing, but helping to understand required work, listening to reports and proofreading first drafts or discussing a problem. 

• Provide a study place.  Provide your teenager with a desk or table in a quiet place with a bright light and a comfortable chair.  Keep a supply of paper, pencils, pens, ruler, tape and stapler on hand to avoid lost time.  Handy paperback reference books are an asset. 

• Provide materials for organizing;  Successful students keep materials for each subject separate.  Some use notebooks with folders, others us color-coded notebooks.  Whatever system your teenager likes, provide the supplies and work with them to make certain the system works.

Adapted from Minnetonka Public Schools  

 Start Where You Are

Do not make the mistake of thinking the way to quick and sure success is to change what you are doing.  Because of rapidly changing environment, material possessions, and scientific knowledge, people have come to think of change as progress.  So they change "things" or "places" when they should start by changing themselves.  Only by changing themselves will they mold the habits of thought and action that will project them into taking advantage of the limitless opportunities all about them.  Start today to change yourself into being opportunity minded about your own environment....your own "acres of diamonds." 

Adapted from The Public School Administrator

Teach Life Skills

Parents need to make sure that children have strong foundations for learning.  Parents can begin to build their children's literacy skills when they're young.

Encourage your child to interact with adults and peers so he can develop social skills.  Teach your child to be responsible.  Maintain organization and structure in your child's life at all times.  As your child grows take an interest in and oversee his learning activities.

Above all, talk with your son to learn about any difficulties he is having in learning.  From then on, the essential ingredient for success is communication, with both your child and the adults in his world.  With a solid learning foundation and a support system in place, your son should succeed in life, no matter what his standardized test scores suggest.  

Adapted from Classroom Leadership

Set high expectations and hold yourself to them.  

Daily Workouts

Are you addicted to your daily workout?  The problem is that you could wind up over-stressing your body without providing enough time for it to rest and recover.  This could be you if you answer yes to any of the following questions:

• Do you worry if you miss a workout?

• Do you obsess on making your scheduled exercise session?

• Are you concerned that an injury will cause you to miss scheduled sessions?

• Do you experience wild mood swings after a workout?

• Does a bad workout depress you?

Working Smart

 Getting Your Ideas Across

You'll boost your chances of convincing others if you know how to deal with four personality types:

1. Directors.  These decisive, take-charge, get-things-done types want fast decisions and are "time-disciplined."  Always give them the bottom line.  Make sure they feel they're in charge.  If you must disagree, argue facts, not personal feelings.
   

2. Expressive-inspirational.  These entertaining, persuasive dreamers have their cluttered offices and inspirational posters.  Move fast, entertain them compliment the, paint the big picture and let them fill in the blanks. 
   

3. Amiable-steadies.  They're caring and loving and make up sixty percent of any organization.  Relationships are more important to them than the task at hand, so compliment them on their relationship skills.  Use a steady, calm approach, listen actively and talk with, not at, them.  If you disagree, discuss opinions and feelings. 
   

4. Conscientious-analytical-calculators.  Accurate and organized, they pride themselves on their follow-through.  But they're also picky procrastinators.  To win them over be systematic, exact and prepared...and don't rush them. 

Adapted from Virgil Beasley, Investor's Business Daily

Speak to Their True Feelings

As a parent you have a big job in understanding what is going on inside your child and yourself;  it's especially difficult if you were scolded, ridiculed, or shamed for your feelings as a child.  If this happened, you probably became disconnected from your emotions in some way and now, as a parent, it is easy to be confused when your child expresses something you don't understand.  But to raise a fully functioning person, you must be attuned to all of your child's feelings, including those he doesn't understand himself.  You will often have to use your intuition to discover what is going on, because your child won't always say it with words.  This is one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. 

When a child is unreasonable, unmanageable, uncooperative, anxious, withdrawn, fussy, moody, or behaving in ways you don't understand, he is struggling with feelings he cannot express.  It is your job to help him discover what they might be.

Parents tend to treat their children in ways they were treated growing up. Children are little mirrors that reflect our emotional life.  If you don't understand what your child is feeling, tune in to your own feelings first.  Step back and ask yourself, "What do I feel?  What is going on inside me?"  You might discover that all along you are the one who is upset and your child is reflecting that by acting out.  When you change your behavior, so will your child.  By tuning in to your inner voice, you will be better able to respond to your child's true feelings. 

Adapted from Wonderful Ways to Love a Child, Judy Ford

Teach this adage:  You don't have to be sick to get better.  

Awesome August Links:

Secrets @ Sea:  This fun online game explores topics in ocean science. Students meet interesting characters, uncover amazing ocean facts and face challenging learning activities. The story weaves together topics such as tides, food webs, salmon, whales and more. Designed for use in grade 4-8, the site provides an online teacher's guide and requires Macromedia's Flash plug-in.
http://www.secretsatsea.org/story/1a.html

Suessville:  These simple Shockwave games are fun activities for your little ones based on popular Dr. Seuss books.
http://www.seussville.com//games/

The Food Timeline:  Here's an interesting way to spice up an interdisciplinary unit. As the site introduction states, "Food is the fun part of social studies! The tricky part is finding recipes you can make in a modern kitchen, with ingredients bought at your local supermarket. " Be sure to stock up on ideas in the teacher resources section. From the Morris County Library in New Jersey.
http://www.foodtimeline.org/

The Symphony - An Interactive Guide:  Enjoy the music and learn from the listener's guide. Users can browse, alphabetically or by country, composer biographies and hear the most famous works of each. Take a "crash course" in symphonic forms, and take quizzes to test yourself. RealAudio is to listen to the music, which was performed by The Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Curro.
http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/index.html

Bembo's Zoo:  A flashy site (Flash plug in required) for artists and creative thinkers. High school students can have fun trying to figure out how they did it. Beginning animators may get some wonderful ideas, all surrounding the basic alphabet.
http://www.bemboszoo.com/

Celebrate the Beginning of Another School Year!

From the Knowledge HQ Staff

Copyright © 2009 Knowledge Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.knowledgehq.com