Mar
9
2010
I am a huge Internet fan myself, I have found it very useful for many things. For example, if something breaks down around the house, I often go online to find an easy do it yourself solution. For learning, especially for researching papers, the Internet can be a great tool or a great headache.
Some school do not allow Internet references when doing papers or homework. Some schools do actually check the references of Internet sites. But the biggest issue with the Internet is that it is filled with many sources and not all of them are accurate. A case in point, recently a parent described a story to me in which their 4th grader came home and said that the first president of the US was black. The parent was confused and asked him to explain. The child said that the teacher showed a photo of a black man she said was the first president of the US. It turns out the teacher did not do her homework, the man in the photo was a legislator from Liberia in the 1850’s who just so happened to have the same name as the first president of the continental congress, who is white. This is an example of the pitfalls of the Internet.
It is important that if your student is using the Internet to do research, that they are using sources that are accurate. As a parent, check your students papers to ensure they are using the right sources, it could save you a trip to the school when a teacher wonders where your student got certain information.
Mar
2
2010
Kids come home from school and have a snack, watch TV and play video games. If this sounds familiar, the best option is to have the kids to their homework as soon as they get home and save the TV and games for later.
Cognitive skills reduce as the night goes on, it is better for students to get their homework done sooner. This is why we do not have late night classes, kids just are not as focused later at night.
Feb
23
2010
A lot of kids are swamped these days, school, sports, family and other activities eat up a lot of time. Most kids do not have any free time by the time they get to high school. This is an issue we see all the time. Kids and parents alike would like to get tutoring but most programs are not schedule friendly. At WHIZard Academy, we know this and address this issue. Our programs are schedule friendly, but more importantly, working with us helps to save time!
There are a lot of programs out there that talk about helping students gain X number of grades from where they are, with enough time, any program can produce results. that’s kind of the problem, you have to give them a lot of time. Some programs require you to go 5 times a week! Five times a week for one hour plus another hour of home study, that’s 10 hours a week. That doesn’t sound like much but when you add in everything else, most kids don’t really have 10 hours to spare as is! Also, these programs often provide a temporary boost, so in two years time, you are back to them spending another $5k for the same effort. That’s not helpful and we know it.
We work with you on our materials and your class materials to help you breeze through your homework and maximize your study time. What this means is, instead of four hours on homework, we help reduce that to two. There is not a correlation between time studying on homework and grades. In fact, the more a student struggled the lower their focus becomes. So that $49 an hour you spent will help to free up 2 hours a night of homework, that adds up to a 10 hours in free time. What family would not like an extra 10 hours week with their children, plus better grades and better confidence in the classroom? That’s what we offer. Also with us, you get the study habits course for $285. With other programs you have to pay thousands of dollars to get similar information. Our $285 program helps students to study more efficient when they are not at our center. So again, you can sign up for a $285 class with us, or you can pay as much as $5,000 for the same information.
Helping kids doesn’t need to be expensive. It does cost money but with WHIZard Academy, it is money well spent. Stop in and ask us about our many programs, or email us with your questions, we always response promptly.
Feb
16
2010
At the Midwest Kid’s Fest this past weekend, we were able to speak with a number of parents who have kids that have been diagnosed with Autism, ADD, ADHD, or similar type of situations. There are a wide range for each of these but often most kids have what is a mild version, meaning, they tend to look and act like everyone else except in some situations. What is often the case is that these kids are given a label and that label tends to be negative, when in fact, it can be a positive.
ADD and ADHD have gained a lot of attention as some schools sought to stamp out the behavior of some students blamed on these labels. My personal opinion is that such practices were short sighted and really was not in the best interest of the child. Both conditions are very beneficial to people when they get into the adult world. A sales rep with ADHD can make a lot of money because they never stop! As I tell parents, that child is going to make them a lot of money and buy them a retirement house some place nice and warm. By helping kids see the benefits of what they have, they can thrive!
The same can be said for aspergers, which is part of the Autism spectrum. People with this label are said to have poor social skills and tend to focus on repetitive tasks. Some technical companies are seeking asperger people out because of that ability to focus on a repetitive task. They are finding that aspergers can focus on details over and over again, better than the average person. Sure, they may not have social grace, but you can learn that over time and most of us are not that good with social skills anyway.
Unlike some learning centers that want to tell you your child has a problem and train their brain to be something else. We focus on their strengths and build their confidence. Research has shown that by improving strengths, a person can often overcome any perceived weakness.
Feb
15
2010
This past weekend, we attended the Midwest Kids Fest. It was two days of fun for families from around the Twin Cities. We had a great time talking with parents about our many programs and many parents were very interested in learning more about what WHIZard Academy has to offer.
This was our first expo event in St. Paul and we were glad to see the positive response on the St Paul side of the cities, to the WHIZard Academy program. We had a steady stream of visitors to our booth so we didn’t get much of a chance to take a lot of pictures but here are a few to enjoy!
Feb
9
2010
Often, kids don’t like to do homework, it’s considered boring. And for some kids, the idea of sitting at a desk more than they already did at school all day, doesn’t always go over so well. Boys and girls like to interact with and have fun. In different ways but the end goal is the same, the enjoy life. So why not make homework fun!
The idea of homework as fun may sound strange to some, but having a child really engage their homework, often allows them to truly learn the materials. At WHIZard Academy, when students come to us, we often find ways to help them engage with what they are learning. This helps them in many ways, most of which is critical thinking skills. When a child faces their homework in a way they can really engage in and then you ask them to reflect upon that challenge and experience, it goes from a simple process to one that engages a child’s ability to reason and critique various information and that allows them to truly learn!
Kids should work in their dominant learning style. Recently I was reading the book, Now Discover Your Strengths. It goes through research about how we all have strengths and that by focusing our strengths we can overcome our weaknesses. This is also true with learning styles. By helping your child discover their learning style and helping them to do their homework in that style, you can help them overcome their weaknesses.
Avoid making homework a punishment. When a child gets frustrated with homework, let them take a break or vent in a constructive way about the assignment. Short breaks can be very beneficial for learning. The goal is to keep a child engaged with homework so that they don’t see it as a chore or punishment. If they do, they will only seek to get it done quickly, not correctly.
Any parent who follows these simple steps, will see improvement in their child’s homework. The goal is to make homework fun, kids like fun things and like to do fun things a lot! In the process of homework being fun, they will learn more.
Jan
26
2010
As part of our study skills course that we offer, we often teach students and parents about the importance of having a study space. In the early part of December, we had a student that took our course. She often studied at home at the kitchen table with her brother and sister and the TV on. This was a recipe for distraction.
During the study skills course, we learned about the environment in which she was studying and recommended the parent buy a study desk and chair, easily bought at stores like Wal-Mart or OfficeMax for anyone on a budget. The parent took our advice and reported back that she was very happy with the performance her children are showing. They are now in their rooms without TV or other distractions, resulting in a slight improvement in a short amount of time.
We love these kind of stories. Of course it is too early to say what the long term impact is on grades, but the parent came back, ever happy that her kids are focusing now. Plus she is telling all her friends about it, which of course makes us happy.
Sometimes, little things go a long way. Our study skills course, is really about those little things that sometimes are not taught or forgotten. The cumulative result is that we help provide better skills overall. A $100 desk and chair at Wal Mart can help a child focus, over the course of a high school career, that can add up to better grades or GPA, ensuring more options when it comes time to graduate.
Jan
19
2010
We were talking about this topic yesterday and I felt it would be a good topic to share with all of you. Accreditation is something most people don’t often look at when searching for a higher education school, but it is important for many reasons. Arming yourself with the knowledge of why you should pay attention to accreditation, can help save you time and money.
For starters, accreditation is a voluntary procedure that schools go through, there is nothing that says they have to do it, but it helps them in the long run to sell their services. The reason being, accreditation is done by an independent review organization that expects the schools to meet a minimum requirement to be accepted. I have gone through this process myself with two different accreditation organizations. This process can take as long as two years to go through, which involves such things as reviewers sitting in classes, interviewing students and alumni, and going over the curriculum to ensure it meets their standards of what they consider a quality education. Once obtained, the accreditation needs to be renewed after a certain number of years, this changes with each accrediting organization.
As a student, accreditation often helps you if you plan to transfer from one school to another. In most cases, school have been accredited by the same organization, will accept credits from one school to another, without much hassle. After all, they are suppose to basically have the same thing in terms of materials being taught.
Another important aspect of accreditation is to ensure you are going to a school that is not a degree mill or one that isn’t seen as a good school by employers. By seeing who else has accreditation, you get a sense of the schools caliber. Also, most schools have a regional accreditation, so if you plan to go from MN to CA, you may find your credits don’t transfer. But if you are going from Moorehead to St. Cloud State, you have a good chance of getting your credits transferred.
If you are looking at a graduate school, many professional fields have a certain accreditation or group of accreditations that are more respected than others. Generally look at the top programs in your field and find out what organization accredits them and then see how wide spread this is within your chosen field.
Overall, accreditation is important. It’s an often overlooked part of the school selection process but one that every student should investigate. One to check out the school and two, the accreditation organization will give you an idea of what caliber of school you are attending.
Jan
12
2010
Yesterday we were talking about how some of our younger students are so excited to come to us for classes. They can’t wait to get started and they don’t want to leave. Of course we really like this and the tutors find it fun to work with kids who so enjoy learning. But we also noticed that this kind of enthusiasm seems to be age related and we were puzzled as to why.
A lot of the students that show great enthusiasm are younger, using in 3rd grade or lower. The higher you go, the less excited kids seem to become towards learning. It is not that these kids fall behind or lose interest in learning all together but there is a noticeable shift that does take place. For some kids, school becomes a job, that is taken serious, the pressures of exams and final grades in high school can often take the fun out of learning. Or students may find themselves in a school that is not teaching them in a way they really grasp the information or feel engaged with their learning materials. As parents, this is where you can do the most for your kids to help them achieve remain excited.
Talk to your kids about how they feel about school and what they learn, notice they get excited or just say “yeah, it’s ok.” That’s a sign your child may not be engaging in their learning process. Many schools have stopped PE classes or any kind of hands on learning and for some students, sitting at a desk for 6 hours a day listening to lectures, is not their idea of learning. At parent teacher conferences, ask the teachers about their teaching style, there are many types of teaching styles. Knowing their teaching style and the learning style of your student, may help you identify were issues may be.
But just knowing styles isn’t enough, engaging kids will help keep them interested. Every kid is different, engagement helps, which is what we do at WHIZard Academy.
Jan
5
2010
Back to school after the winter holiday season is always tough for many kids. After some time off having fun on holiday festivities, even kids have a hard time getting back into the routine of school; just like some adults do with work.
We have found that a 25 hour program helps students get back into the swing of things. Students spend time with tutors on specific subjects or with our study habits expert. Many parents wait until the first bad grades come in, but in some schools, that sets up the rest of the semester to be catch up. Starting the new semester off with a 25 hour program, allows a student to start off the semester right, with solid grades. What this means to you is, less time and money in the long run and a student that is confident in their skills. Give us a call, ask for Sonja and schedule a no risk appointment to see how we can help.