Category: Journal

One of the great mysteries we are challenged to help with as tutors is test anxiety. We hear about it again and again – a student who knows the material but suddenly becomes nervous during the pressure of the test itself – suddenly their grades and confidence plummet in an instant! So we have spent some time thinking about it and how to work with this kind of anxiety.

There are two approaches – academic and emotional. We can’t stress enough that bolstering a strong foundation in the academic can do wonders for the emotional side – after all if the test was all questions that were SO easy to a student they couldn’t possibly make them nervous – then test anxiety would go out the window.

Yet sometimes, it’s just not possible for a student to obtain complete mastery of a topic before a test, and we have to find ways for them to do their best anyway on test day.

The truth is that this situation, let’s call it test anxiety, happens not just for students in school but throughout life.

I was struck by a story about my home football team from Washington D.C. and their quarterback this past year Kirk Cousins. He was known as a career back-up who always performed well in practice but every time he was on the field for NFL games he had terrible days. In fact, he had quickly become notorious for folding under pressure and piling on interception after interception. It even seemed that once something went wrong – he became more and more nervous and things got even worse.

His career in the balance, Kirk decided to take a strange approach for a football player – he enrolled himself in a neurological training course called “Neurocore.” The program aimed to see the differences in his brain activity during “peak performance” and during anxiety – and found there were significant differences that he could work on. After finding the differences, the program aimed at helping Kirk recognize the anxiety as it came on, and re-route his own mind so that he can stay in the “peak performance” region of brain activity and not go up higher into the frenetic areas that were causing him so much difficulty.

The results were tremendous. He moved from becoming one of the leagues most intercepted passers to being one of its highest rated quarterbacks – and one who throws relatively few interceptions. And when his back was against the wall this year during a terrible first half of football, he was able to stay poised and confident enough to lead the Washington Redskins’ all time greatest comeback in history. He credits his brain-training for much of it. Only recently, he was a awarded a 20 million dollar annual contract.

Sensing we might be able to learn from his story, I did some research on tips and strategies that his training recommends. The first, and most obvious, is learning to recognize what your “peak performance” mind looks like, and what your “anxious” mind looks like. This form of self-awareness is usually quite new to middle and high school students, and well worth the effort. To do this you can enroll in “brain-training,” but you can also do it on your own by having a conversation about moments when you were at your best and having a conversation when you weren’t. What did the differences feel like? Can you describe them?

Second, it is important to understand that “training the brain” to stay in a relaxed state takes time and effort just as any other skill does. The brain learns and changes through practice! Imagine the time that the world’s greatest meditators have put into their practice vs. a first-time meditator. Test-anxiety is not going to go away overnight. Yet it can go away!

The focus of the effort, according to the research we have seen, is that students are trying to calm the brain from feeling that sudden stresses are more dangerous than they actually are. The key is devoting practice time to the habit of staying in the right mindset. This can be done in numerous ways – through practices focussed on this skill such as yoga and meditation, through companies such as the one Kirk Cousins used, or through a self-taught practice-rewards system that can be done even on things like homework.

We can’t answer the whole challenge here, but we encourage you to research this topic on your own and in the meantime try the following simple strategy. When doing homework, try to notice the times when stress levels go up – usually when work is more difficult than expected. At these times, promise yourself a simple reward: to stay calm and focussed to work on this particular problem that has caused stress, and then to reward yourself with a break if you do so. This practice of calming and taking a break starts as something simple and you may find yourself taking lots of breaks, but over time the brain learns how to stay calm and to require less frequent breaks. When a big test comes, you may not be able to take as visible a break, but your brain will know what to do and you can take mini-breaks like a momentary breather to bring yourself back to focus.

Test Anxiety is real – but it doesn’t have to overwhelm you. Learning how to overcome it is like anything else – it takes practice! And with practice, comes perfection.

So you want to homeschool, but aren’t sure where to start. You want to make sure your kids learn what they need to learn and enjoy their experience, but there are so many different styles and options out there, it’s overwhelming! Fortunately, I’m a fully homeschooled graduate and the oldest of 7 children. My family was active in several homeschool organizations, and I went to a college with a high percentage of homeschooled students. That means I’ve seen a wide variety of different approaches with their advantages and disadvantages, and I’m going to give you a clear outline for choosing the curriculum that best suits you and your child.

Step 1: Know the laws

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s really the best place to start. State regulations are put in place to ensure that all children are given the basic education they need and to keep them safe. Here are the basics for NYC (found at schools.nyc.gov/StudentSupport/GuidanceandCounseling/HomeSchooling/default.htm)

First, you must submit a letter of intent to the Office of Homeschooling by July 1, or within 14 days following the commencement of home instruction within the school district. By August 15 (or within four weeks of the receipt of the Individualize Home Instruction Plan form), you must submit an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP). This IHIP “must include for each of the required courses either a list of syllabi, curriculum materials and textbooks to be used or a plan of instruction to be followed” [www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/homeinstruction/homeschoolingqanda, accessed 1/20/16]. Thereafter, you are required to submit 4 quarterly reports (indicating the total time of instruction in each subject) and provide an annual assessment including one of the following standardized tests: the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the California Achievement Test, the Stanford Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, a State Education Department test, or another test approved by the State Education Department [www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/homeinstruction/homeschoolingqanda].

In forming the IHIP, you will provide the Office of Homeschooling with evidence that the child will be instructed in the appropriate subjects for his or her grade range. The complete listing of subjects can be found in Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, part E, paragraphs 1 and 2 [www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010].

Now that you know the basic legal requirements, let’s move on the choosing the means of achieving them.

Step 2: Assess your family’s goals

People homeschool for many different reasons. What are your reasons? Ranking them in order of importance will help make your decisions easier. Figure out at least three broad goals and their level of priority. My family was motivated primarily by religion; they wanted to raise their children in a very strongly religious environment. Other major reasons people often choose homeschooling are things like academic excellence, allowing the child to develop at their own pace, allowing for a more flexible family schedule for travel or other activities such as arts or athletics, the physical or emotional safety of the child…the list is varied, and most people have more than one reason. However, if you have stated your goals and prioritized them, it provides you with a roadmap for all your curriculum decisions.

Step 3: Assess your child (and yourself)

Now that you have your broader goals in place, take a look at your child. There are a number of factors in the individual child that can affect your choice of curriculum or even your whole approach to learning. Here are some factors you’ll want to consider:

Age – younger children usually tend to do better with a lighter workload, lots of patience, and lots of individual attention. Older children generally require more specialized subject knowledge.
Previous education – Has your child always been taught in a more traditional setting, and how do they feel about it? What things have been helpful to them? What would they miss about being in a traditional school, and what are the options for replacing or retaining that feature?
Special needs – Does your child have any learning or mental disorders? How severe are they? How well do you understand their impact on your child’s behavior and learning ability? You may very well want to find a tutor who specializes in special needs children, particularly for more severe cases.
Learning style – Is your child auditory, visual, kinesthetic, or a mix? How do they feel about learning and school? (And is your learning style different or similar? People who have a very different style from their student often find it difficult to explain things in terms the student can understand; using a more structured curriculum with outside support sources, or tutoring, might be helpful in such a case).
Ability to self-motivate – This is one that often gets overlooked, but it’s vital for homeschool success. If your child is good at this already, most curricula will work well. If not, however, you’ll want to factor that in; many parents choose a curriculum that provides some kind of external motivation, enroll their child in a co-op, or engage a tutor to help keep their student on track.
Temperament – is your child naturally more outgoing, or more shy? Do they enjoy being around others, or would they rather be alone? Don’t choose a style that is directly counter to your child’s character, but also don’t choose one that allows a more introverted child to withdraw from human interaction.
Interests – Is your child fascinated by math and science, or do you have a history bookworm on your hands? Is your child pursuing an athletic or musical talent? Play to their strengths and you’ll find you also strengthen their weaknesses.
Step 4: Review types of curriculum available

Unfortunately we simply don’t have space to review every curriculum out there, but here are some basic types, with advantages and disadvantages.

First, there’s religious vs. secular. This may not be as obvious a choice as you might think, even if you consider yourself as falling strongly on one side or the other. Religiously-oriented homeschool resources (usually Christian, in the U.S.) have the advantage of being extremely plentiful, and often academically rigorous. They may tend to focus more attention on skills such as handwriting and mental arithmetic than is usual in public school curriculum. However, particularly in the scientific realm, their particular viewpoint may receive more attention than basic facts and scientific method. Secular homeschool resources are growing in popularity as more people choose to homeschool for academic reasons, but many are new and relatively untested.

Second, there is the difference between pre-packaged curriculum and the “build-your-own” approach. Pre-packaged advantages can include accreditation (making high school and college applications, in particular, much easier to navigate), support staff to answer questions beyond the educator’s expertise level (again, very helpful in the higher grades), and a clear program of study (your IHIP essentially comes pre-packaged!). On the other hand, some parents feel that too much structure is detrimental, particularly for the earlier grades, or find the workload overwhelming. If you’re the spontaneous type, you may have to be prepared to “nip and tuck.”

The more informal, “build-your-own” approach can take different forms. Most commonly, the educator uses a mixture of public, private, or homeschool textbooks and writes a more loosely-based “lesson plan” that might include things like “Do one math lesson, two pages of English, and read five pages of this history book.” Obviously this approach adapts itself well to a family looking for a more flexible, hands-on approach. It can be difficult to stay on track, however, and necessitates careful record-keeping to satisfy legal requirements. Another even more free-form approach is the “unit study” idea, which involves using a child’s current interest as a springboard for learning – for example, if your child is fascinated with horses, you might teach them horse-centered biology, history, and mathematics. This approach works well if the student is particularly resistant to book-based learning, or is on the Spectrum; its unstructured approach can make record-keeping very difficult, however, and does not work well on an unmotivated student. It can also be difficult to ensure that the child is receiving a well-rounded education.

Two other resources that have become more common in recent years are homeschool co-ops and private tutors. Co-ops are not legally valid as a sole learning method, but can provide the child with socialization, new teaching approaches, and resources that might not be available to the individual family (choir, debate, etc.). On the other hand, it is completely legal to have a tutor as a homeschool child’s sole educator. They can be engaged for as much of the education process as the family wants, and can be particularly wonderful for a family dealing with a special needs child, lack of time or desire to be the sole educator, or simply the desire for a different perspective for their child.

There you have it – some ideas about the different types of homeschool curricula available, and how to choose one for your situation!

I have heard it a million times. “I don’t like reading. Books are boring.” I don’t know why this time was different, but, when Joey said it to me, I challenged him. “It’s impossible,” I said. “To say books are boring means you think stories are boring. A human who doesn’t enjoy stories is about as likely as a monkey who doesn’t like to swing in trees. Humans are story. You haven’t found what you like.” The room fell quiet and we continued with our lesson on pronouns.

The competition was on. I knew I was right and wanted to prove it. I wracked my brain for how to proceed. Should I let him read comic books? Should I begin with magazines? I finally remembered another student, who was also a reluctant reader and about the same age, who’d become hooked on the Cirque du Freak series. Well, I knew that handing Joey the book and saying, “Give it a try. You’ll love it” would be the equivalent of me trying to tackle Jean Paul Sartre’s autobiography in its original French: not happening. Like a candy salesman trying to hook her customer, I decided to let him taste the sweetness, in hopes of getting him so addicted that he would do anything to get more — even if that meant reading on his own.

I began reading aloud to him and he was immediately addicted. Each day when our time finished, he begged for more. Hearing fluent reading is beneficial for developing fluency and nuanced reading, major factors in comprehension, so I was excited he was spending so much time listening to me read aloud, but I was determined to have him fall in love with reading, and to actually read. Luckily I’d picked a 12 book series, so when we finished the first book I agreed to delve in to the second only if he read every fourth page.

I dreaded when it was his turn to read. He stumbled, I corrected and we both felt bad. But after a couple of weeks I started noticing an improvement — nothing monumental but enough to keep my hopes up. I hated correcting him and trusted my instinct enough to do research on what literacy experts recommend. I was relieved to learn studies show that correcting a child during read aloud is counterproductive, as it frustrates and embarrasses them to the point of avoiding it altogether, so I stopped. It was difficult to stay quiet when he butchered common words, but I knew if I wanted to hook him I had to let it go.

We read two 200+ page novels in three weeks. He begged for more and I agreed as long as he read every third page. We continued this way – I modeled, he butchered- for another two books. His progress was slow and I started worrying my plan was going to fail. Then one day Joey came running into the classroom saying he couldn’t take the suspense anymore and had finished the novel on his own. The boy who “hated books” had read 100 pages on his own in one night! I was stunned and delighted.

Joey and I read the next nine Cirque du Freak books alternating pages. Often he would take the book home and read ahead. My experience with Joey confirmed what I suspected to be true. Kids don’t hate reading, they hate reading what we expect them to read. Left to choose their own books, at levels they can handle confidently, kids will read willingly.

When I tested Joey at the beginning of the year, he was reading at a sixth grade level. By the end of the year and twenty novels later (five of which he read independently), he was reading at a tenth grade level. On the last day of school I proudly gave him a sterling silver bookmark with his name engraved on it.

I encourage you to help your kids find what they love. Take them to the bookstore and let them browse. Teach them to read the first page of a book to see if it feels right and don’t limit their choices. Any book they read, the classics or not, will improve their skills and set them on their way to falling in love with reading.

Susana Kraglievich is the founder of Central Park Tutors. She spent her adolescence reading Sweet Valley High and Danielle Steele and her adult years in love with Tolstoy, Ibsen and the occasional Vogue.

When I was younger I was not a big reader because I was a slow reader. No matter what though, my mother tried to encourage me to read by allowing me to read ANYTHING of interest to me. When I was in 6th grade, I picked up a book and read it and could not put it down. From that moment forward, I was on a search for books that I would enjoy reading and maybe also learn a little from as well. I loved books related to history and love stories. Becoming a teacher made me realize how important it is to find various types of books in order to address various topics and meet various learning styles and student interests.

Here are some thoughts from to share with children who may be struggling to find something they like, need a book related to a particular topic or simply want to try something different.

These books all have the theme of Historical Fiction. Do feel free to write to us for books on other topics as well as we are always in the mix of discovering what kids love to read…

Book: Two Suns in the Sky by Miriam Bat-Ami

Grade/Age: 5th grade and up/10 and up

Book synopsis: This is a story that takes place during World War II. It is the story of a 15 year old Yugoslavian Jew who flees Europe with his family. They come to the United States and find refuge at a refugee camp in Oswego, New York. While at the camp the main character Adam, meets a girl, Chris, who lives in Oswego but comes from a Catholic family. She feels trapped, he is escapee fighting for his life and yet this book beautifully shows the strength of love and the need for companionship in order to navigate life’s lessons.

My review: This book is great for anyone who loves a good love story, but also is interested in history. It gives you a glimpse into the life of two teenagers growing up during one of the world’s most terrible times in history. It allows students to learn about the challenges we may face in life and how to navigate them. It is reminiscent of a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Once you start reading it, you cannot put it down.

Book: Witness by Karen Hesse

Grade/Age: 6th grade and up/11 and up

Book synopsis: The story takes place in 1924 in a small Vermont town when the Klu Klux Klan comes to town. This book is written from the perspective of four different characters perspectives. The characters are of varying ages as well as varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The story unfolds and you see how the effects of the Ku Klux Klan affects each of their lives as well as how all their lives are intertwined. However, this book is not written as a story, but rather as poetry.

My review: Since this book is written in poetry it is a quick read and fast moving. It keeps you focused and wanting to know more. The way the author has written the story allows for fluidity and continuity. The most interesting thing is to see how the same group of people affect different people. It is a great book to teach first person narrative, point of view, and poetry.

Book: Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Grade/Age: 6 and up/11 and up

Book synopsis: This is a graphic novel written by the author as an account of his father’s experience in Nazi Germany and through the Holocaust. It begins with the author as an adult going to visit his father and hear the story of his past and follows it through until his release at the end of the war. It is cleverly written and illustrated to depict the Jews and the Nazis.

My review: Graphic novels are a great way to get children interested in any topic, but especially historical topics. It is very easy for children to relate to because it reminds them of the comic books many students grew up on. It also allows for great graphics along with wonderful stories and makes reading a lot easier and more interactive.

Book: Audacity by Melanie Crowder

Grade/Age: 7 and up/13 and up

Book synopsis: This book is written in free verse from the perspective of a young Jewish girl, Clara, who lives in Russia and emigrates to America. She is part of a very traditional Jewish family and is taught to help out around the house and not to read or go to school. Clara defies her father’s wishes and sneaks books to start learning and reading. As life in Russia gets more difficult her family finds there way to America. They take up residency in New York’s Lower East Side Tenement buildings. Clara begins work in a garment factory, and eventually joins the women’s rights movement.

My review: This is a great story for anyone who loves New York. There are many places referenced in the book that people know and love. It is also a great book to learn about the experiences of a particular person during a particular time in history. I enjoyed that it was written in free verse. It made the story move quickly and it gives a rhythm to the story. It is an inspiring story about following your passion and sticking it out to find your purpose and meaning in life.

Book: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Grade/Age: Grade 5-7/10-12 years

Book synopsis: This is a story of ten year old Annemarie and her family and how they help her friend Ellen as the Nazi rise to power in Denmark. There is focus on the Danish resistance and how they help smuggle Jewish families to Sweden.

My review: Lois Lowry wrote a story that makes learning about a very sad and tough time in our nation’s history very relatable. Lowry chose to write this story from the side of a family trying to help one of their daughter’s friends. As a child it raises a lot of questions about family dynamics, personal beliefs, and importance of friendship. It raises the question, how far would you go for someone you love?

Book: If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan

Grade/Age: 7th and up/12 and up

Book synopsis: This story is about Hilary. She is part of a Neo-Nazi group in her hometown and is part of a terrible motorcycle accident with her boyfriend. When he is taken to a Jewish hospital with a coma from he accident, she begins to have dreams that are not her own. In fact,

the memories of her roommate, Chana, a Holocaust survivor, are who the memories belong to. Throughout the story Hilary begins to learn the history of the Jews and the experiences they had during the Holocaust. What will this mean for her when she finally comes out of the coma?

My review: Han Nolan writes a story of genuine interest and concern. She raises a real issue of young people being part of very intense anti- groups for various reasons. What motivates us to make the choices we do? It also brings to the forefront the idea of learning about others by taking a walk in someone else’s shoes. By hearing other people’s stories we can learn a lot about ourselves from speaking to others. This book is a great read for anyone who is interested in the topic of the Holocaust or wants to understand life from another’s point of view.

Book: Little House on the Prairie Collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Grade/Age: 3rd-7th/8-12 years

Book synopsis: This collection is written by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her life and experience living and moving through America from the Wisconsin woods to Dakota. It takes place during the 1800s and early 1900s in America’s Western Frontier.

My review: I love these stories because they are a direct reflection of the author’s own life and give students an idea of what life was like during the pioneer days. If students enjoy one book, it is great that there is a series of books that trace the life of the characters.

Book: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

Grade/Age: 5th and up/10 and up

Book synopsis: Eleanor Coerr wrote a story about a young girl affected by the aftermath of the atom bomb. In her story she writes about Sadako and how she was visited by a friend in the hospital who shows her how to fold paper cranes. Sadako has leukemia from the radiation she experienced as a child when the atom bomb was dropped near her town. By the time of her death she has folded six hundred and forty-four cranes. There is now a memorial in Hiroshima Peace Park where people visit and leave paper cranes in her memory.

My review: This book is a short read, but it shows what the aftermath of the choices we make are. I think that this a great book to introduce students to the effects of a nation’s choice. It is relatable for students because she is such a young girl and I think like many of the other books, it gives another side to a story in our nation’s history.

Book: The Watson’s Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

Grade/Age: 6th to 8th/11 to 13

Book synopsis: The book is narrated by one of the characters, a nine year old boy named Kenny. He is part of the Watson family. One wrong move from Kenny’s older brother Byron causes their family to leave Michigan and head to Birmingham where their grandmother lives. Once in Birmingham, it is evident that this family has walked into the center of the Civil Rights movement.

My review: Christopher Paul Curtis wrote a story about a family and how the choices we make affect more than one person. This is the core idea at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. A family moves to save their own family member from the trouble he encounters only to walk in to one of the largest movements in our nations history. Curtis writes about racism and acts of racism and how they affect a young boy growing up in the face of such a whirlwind of events.

Book: Ringside 1925 by Jen Bryant

Grade/Age: 5th and up/10 and up

Book synopsis: The story takes place in 1925 and is about the students of Dayton, Tennessee. This book follows the story of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial from the perspective of the students of J.T. Scopes. J.T. Scopes is the teacher who is being put on trial for teaching his students Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each student has their own side to share and is written in prose.

My review: This book opens up the possibilities to experiencing a story from multiple points of view. It also relates to a very large trial in our nation’s history, but makes it relatable to students. It is written in prose, therefore it is an easier read since the amount that has to be read is shorter.

Applying to college can be an incredibly daunting process. Despite the fact that fairtest.org claims that more than 800 four-year colleges and universities do not use the SAT or ACT to admit substantial numbers of bachelor-degree applicants, for most students the need to take at least one of these two tests is inevitable.

It can be daunting to open the U.S. News and World Report for your top college and see its percentage acceptance rate (Harvard is currently at 6%), and to click on the statistic of “entering class stats” can be even more intimidating. It is important to remember that just because a school is rated number one (or in Harvard’s case, number two- what slackers!) does not mean that said school is the right school for you.

As a former Brooklyn Technical High School teacher of twelfth grade English, I frequently heard students’ overwhelmed laments, “How do I know the right school for me?” There are a series of research tools that can help you find your dream school. The reality is that the school you end up falling in love with, in the end, may not end up being the school you originally thought would be your top choice.

In 2012, I had a wonderfully bright student named Jane. She was thoughtful, incredibly talented, and out sick a great deal because she would stress her body with all the pressure she put on herself. She was a concert violinist, and was always competing, sometimes on the international level. When she applied to colleges, she got into her “first choice”: the Julliard School, to study violin. She also got into the CUNY Macaulay Honors program. Her parents and music teachers encouraged her to go to Julliard. Julliard had always been her dream school, but she realized that the pressure she would have to face for four years, and the lack of flexibility with a degree that was so targeted was not, in fact, what she wanted. She ended up matriculating at Macaulay Honors, and couldn’t be happier about that decision.

I myself was a very bright student who struggled with standardized testing. Part of why I currently tutor standardized exams is because I fully understand the complexity of the psychology of the exam, and how terrifying it can be for students who struggle with anxiety or perfectionism. My first choice school was Brown University. I did not get in because, as an Ivy League school, they emphasized the SAT exam. I did, however, get into my second choice school, Haverford College, which ended up being a great school for me. There are plenty of incredible schools that de-emphasize the SATs and ACTs and focus instead on your academic progress, your recommendations, and your interview. Please click on the link below; you will be pleasantly surprised at how many fantastic schools de-emphasize standardized exams. (The list can be found at: http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf.)

Finding your dream school is a process. You should not begin this process a few weeks before college applications are due. Students should start researching schools their junior year so that they can narrow down their choices. A great resource to figure out what school might be right for you is The College Board’s Big Future search.

It really takes students through the process, and makes them narrow down their search by location, majors and learning environment, top choice activities, test scores and selectivity, and size. It makes students really think about what they are looking for; the beauty of this site is that you can go through the process, jot down what schools it comes up with, and then go back to the beginning and shift just one element (i.e. I want to keep all the same elements, but click on a small school instead of a mid sized school, while still maintaining the same learning environment, location and majors.) The United States alone boasts over 2500 four-year colleges and universities. The Big Future search is a fantastic jumping off point if the process feels daunting or overwhelming.

Finally, if college is a priority, but you don’t feel that you are quite ready to make the leap from high school to college, many students take what is called a “gap” year. My cousin, who is currently studying at Northwestern University, got in through the early admissions process and deferred a year. When asked about his year between high school and college, he explained, “I took my gap year because when I graduated from high school, I had just turned 17, but more importantly, because I understood that I didn’t feel ready for college. My year off gave me professional and corporate experience as well as time for valuable personal insight, vital pieces of my development I might not have gained from directly entering college.

Over my gap year, I was fortunate to be able to take a corporate internship, work with children, help produce films, and travel around the world. I have no regrets about taking a year off. What I learned about myself still influences me today, and I wish I could take that year again. I am currently studying Radio/TV/Film with a Spanish minor at Northwestern University.”

When applying to schools, you must remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Just as every individual is unique, so are students’ wants and needs. Think about the type of school and the approach that is right for you, do your research, and use the tools to help you forge your own path.

In the classroom, my students’ favorite days are days when they get to explore science and engineering in hands-on ways. From designing and building catapults to launch marshmallows to figuring out how to best secure an egg when it is dropped from the roof of the school, the excitement students express on those days is what a teacher lives for! How can you, as a parent, cultivate an interest in engineering in your own student?

The key is finding resources that inspire creative, out of the box, thinking. Something as simple as creating an invention box in your home with old tools and used electronics for tinkering can help to foster a love of engineering. One year, I provided my sixth grade class with cardboard and duct tape and told them to use what they know to design a roller coaster for a tennis ball. It was amazing to see students work together using their knowledge of physics to solve this problem, and they loved having free reign to make mistakes and solve them.

However, we as parents frequently need a little more guidance and ideas to jumpstart that creative energy. Here is a brief overview of some great resources that can be used to foster a love of engineering in students from preschool to high school.

Web Resources:

TryEngineering – A website dedicated to helping students, parents, and educators discover the world of engineering. On this website, you can research the 25 major specialties recognized in engineering and engineering technology, and research the colleges that offer these majors. Information about summer camps, competitions, projects, and scholarships is also offered. This is a great jumping off point if you have a preteen or teen who is showing interest in engineering.

MathMovesU – Engineering Resources – This website, sponsored by Raytheon, provides teachers and parents with many resources, from talking about what engineers do to the top engineering schools in the United States. The conversation starters are a great jumping off point to get your student thinking about engineering.

DiscoverE – Test Drive Engineering – The DiscoverE website is a great resource to research engineering, engineering schools, and engineering careers. What sets it apart is the Test Drive Engineering section. This page gives you ideas on how to introduce engineering to your child in as little as 5 minutes, or for an entire semester.

Picture Books:

Galimoto – Published in 1991, Galimoto is about a boy named Kondi who is determined to build a toy out of wire. Undeterred by lack of materials and the difficulty of making such a toy, Kondi displays perseverance and determination. This book, when paired with a project to design and build your own galimoto, creates a fantastic introduction to engineering concepts for younger children.

Violet the Pilot – The main character of this book, Violet, is a mechanical genius, which separates her from her peers. In an attempt to make friends, Violet decides to build and fly her own plane in an airshow. After reading this book, challenge your child to design a paper airplane. Take it a step farther and ask them to design a model airplane using household materials.

How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers: A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps – The protagonist in this book shares his simple plan for bicycling to the moon, although his busy schedule has prevented him from making the trip. This story superbly details how to develop a plan to solve a complex problem. Make this book come to life by asking your child to develop a fantastic plan to solve a simple problem in their life; e. g., cleaning their room, brushing their teeth, feeding a pet, etc.

Toys:

PicassoTiles 100-Piece Set Magnetic Building Tiles – Bright and colorful, use these tiles to create amazing buildings or scenes. This toy is a huge hit with kids of all ages. Use with a lightbox or flashlight to bring in more interest! Additionally, you could pair this toy with the book Iggy Peck, Architect to discuss creative thinking.

Elenco Electronic Snap Circuits – Use this electronics set to create at least 300 projects, from clocks to burglar alarms. It’s a great introduction to the field of electrical engineering. Although a manual for projects is included, encourage your child to design and create their own invention!

Engino – These kits are a level above an Erector set and expose kids to mechanical engineering. They are simple enough to use straight out of the box, but can also be used by children to create more complex inventions of their own design. Use the book The New Way Things Work to help explain how machines work.

Apps:

TinkerBox – This app exposes teens to interesting engineering and physics problems and puzzles. Designed to prove that engineering can be fun, the app also allows students to create their own inventions. This app is available for free.

Crazy Machines – Evaluate inventory, read a blue print, and accomplish a goal. Crazy Machines introduces kids to various engineering aspects and project planning. This app is $1.99 in the App Store.

Inventioneers – Create wild and wacky inventions while learning about physics. This app will help your student understand physics and how things work. There are eight chapters and 112 inventions to make. This app is $2.99 and is available for Apple and Android.

It is never too early to introduce a child to the world of the physical sciences. Even babies have an impressive grasp of physics from their interactions with gravity. I have found that providing students with a problem and a variety of tools to solve it stimulates an amazing amount of creative thinking in my students that they then apply across all subject areas. I hope I have presented you with just such a challenge, and I hope you can use some of these recommendations to encourage and develop the engineer in your child and the teacher in you!

By Laura Rowe- a certified elementary and middle school general educator who loves teaching physical

Have you been worried about preparing your child for the Gifted and Talented exam? If so, you’re not alone. Taking the Gifted and Talented exam could lead to your child entering the extremely competitive Gifted and Talent New York City school program! It would only be natural that it would cause some anxiety. But fear not because students can prepare for this test and achieve greatness in just a couple of months!

Now, the first question I always hear is “What exactly is on this test? Will my child be solving math problems and answering reading questions?” To give you some insider info, I will tell you that the test has two parts: the NNAT test and the OLSAT test. The NNAT test is a nonverbal test, meaning students will not need to speak, they will simply need to point to the correct answer. The test assesses students on pattern completion, reasoning by analogy, serial reasoning, and spatial visualization. The OLSAT is a verbal test, assessing verbal comprehension and reasoning, as well as nonverbal assessing pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. Both tests are multiple choice. But what does that really mean? English please!

In terms you can understand, the pattern completion section requires your child to identify missing portions of a design to complete a figure. On the test, these figures are blue and gold in color. When practicing for this portion of the exam, it is best for students to practice with blue and gold colored figures so they will be familiar with what the test will look like. This is easy to design on your own using Microsoft Word. Commonly seen figures on the test are circles, squares, triangles, diamonds, hexagons, trapezoids, and arrows.

In the reasoning by analogy section, students will have to understand relationships between shapes and figures. For example, there will be different boxes filled with different shapes and the students must determine how the geometric figure changes in the row or column and thus, what picture should fill the final box. Next, in the serial reasoning section, students will need to complete different patterns in a matrix by choosing the missing element. Lastly, the spatial visualization section asks students to mentally manipulate 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and 4-dimensional figures.

Now that you know what your child has to do, how can you ensure that your child can successfully complete these tasks? In my experience, test preparation is most effective when you provide an authentic, hands-on experience. If you set up the environment to mirror the testing environment, students know what is expected and are less concerned with the stress of the unknown and more focused on correctly completing the questions.

When prepping a 5-year old and an 8-year old for this exam, I sat opposite them at a table and prepared a board where the students would see one question at a time. I then flipped the page by removing the previous question from view. I presented my students with the idea that they were Indiana Jones with the task of solving exciting puzzles. (This could work with any puzzle solving superhero!) Both of my students began getting antsy, fidgeting in their chairs, as sitting up straight in a chair is difficult for long periods of time. Continuous breaks work well. I would have the five year old answer five questions and then receive a two minute break. For the eight year-old, I had her complete ten questions and receive a two minute break. Find what break works best for your child! When the students were still having trouble focusing, I changed my method of teaching and utilized manipulatives such as blocks, dice, Legos, and other small toys and developed patterns with them for students to solve. This technique worked well because students were interested in the toys and manipulating them to create a correct pattern.

The OLSAT is a more straightforward exam, with questions the students might have seen before. In my experience, the NNAT requires more focus. For instance, a question may read: “these items go together in a certain way. One does not belong. Which one does not belong?” The test makers use particular phrases repeatedly on this exam such as the one I just provided for you. When prepping your child, it is important to use the particular phrases seen on the test, like “in a certain way” to again mirror the true test experience.

There are many resources out there for your child to get ready for the test so don’t fret, just prep!

To learn about our Gifted and Talented Test Prep Tutoring, please click here.

Over the years, we have helped a number of families homeschool their children and so we have had to learn the NYC homeschooling procedures for families.Amazingly, shockingly, unbelievably, we are actually totally flabbergasted to report that they are quite simple and straightforward and easy to navigate. I am just going to go over them here. In summary, a homeschooling family has to do four rather simple things:

Send a letter to the NYC Homeschooling office to tell them you plan to homeschool your child. Fill out a curriculum plan that the Homeschooling office will send to you. File a quarterly report every quarter that assures the office that you are still homeschooling your child and working through your plan. File a narrative or quantative assessment at the end of the year that explains to the Homeschooling office that made satisfactory steps towards your educational goals. This is all explained rather clearly at the NYC homeschooling website here.

I will go over these in greater detail.

1. The letter of intent. This is really simple. You simply send this within two weeks of beginning your homeschooling. If you have moved into the city and are beginning in the middle of the year that’s fine. All it has to say is your name and address and the below.

We are sending this letter of intent as required of Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the New York State Commissioner of Education. We intend to homeschool our son/daughter, ___________________, who will be entering grade ___, for the 20__-20__ school year.

Then this is sent to NYC Central Office of Homeschooling, 333 7th Avenue 7th Fl., New York, NY 10001

2. The curriculum plan. The curriculum plan is called the IHIP, aka the “Individualized Home Instruction Plan.” The IHIP goes over what subjects you plan on covering with your child and what materials you plan to use to cover them. The key ingredient to filling out an IHIP appropriately is making sure that you have listed on it all of the required subjects that are mandated by NY State law. These subjects can be found by grade level one the NYC Homeschooling Office website here: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html#d. For example, here is the heart of the elementary school guidance

“For grades one through six: arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, science, health education, music, visual arts, physical education, bilingual education and/or English as a second language where the need is indicated.”

In our experience, so long as a goal for each subject is listed and some materials are listed, there really shouldn’t be any difficulties. The only thing to watch out for here is not to set goals too loftily Better, for example, to say that the goal in math is “to increase fluency with long division” than it is to say the goal is for a student to be able “to do long division problems in 30 seconds,” as the final narrative will have to answer the question: did my child meet his or her goals.

3. Quarterly Reports. These are, again, very simple and simply need to include the following:

the number of hours of instruction during said quarter; a description of the material covered in each subject listed in the IHIP; either a grade for the child in each subject or a written narrative evaluating the child’s progress; and a written explanation in the event that less than 80 percent of the amount of the course materials as set forth in the IHIP planned for that quarter has been covered in any subject. A few key things to point out here:

the total number of hours for the year is listed on the website and has been 9 units of 6480 minutes each for the full year. Accordingly, it should be divided into quarters for the purposes of the quarterly report. do note that the main red flag for the DOE is whether or not the student progressed towards his or her goals. Thus, it’s important to write goals on the IHIP in such a way as to be something that can be confidently aquired through time – again “increasing fluency” is a better goal than x,y,z results… 4. The narrative or quantitative explanation. For students in elementary school (until 4th grade) a simple narrative will suffice. Once in 4th grade, students need to take a “commercially published norm-referenced achievement test” at least every other year. Again, the DOE Homeschooling office explains this in detail here: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html#h

If a student is taking an achievement test for their final results, they simply need to achieve either of the below results:

the student has a composite score above the 33rd percentile on national norms; or the student’s score reflects one academic year of growth as compared to a test administered during or subsequent to the prior school year. If a narrative is being written instead of an achievement test being given, the Homeschooling Office requires the below:

the person who prepares the written narrative shall be a New York State-certified teacher, a home instruction peer group review panel, or other person, who has interviewed the child and reviewed a portfolio of the child’s work. Such person shall certify either that the child has made adequate academic progress or that the child has failed to make adequate progress. In the event that such child has failed to make adequate progress, the home instruction program shall be placed on probation pursuant to subdivision (i) of this section. The certified teacher, peer review panel or other person shall be chosen by the parent with the consent of the superintendent. Any resulting cost shall be borne by the parent.

And that’s it in terms of regulations and red tape.

Of course, there are a million other things to think about, from educational philosophy to who the teacher(s) will be, to discovering what really makes your child tick, and we love love love working through all of this with parents . The good news is that from a administrative perspective, the steps are quite straightforward.

Children can imagine, role-play, and build whole worlds inside their head without any effort, as if day-dreaming is a natural course of day to day activity. Some children, the extroverts, might be vocal about this fact, while others might not be. I can vouch for this particular fact from my own personal experience. Being an introvert, writing was never a solitary or lonely experience but an act which made me belong somewhere, an act which made me realize that I could indeed communicate with the larger society around me.

To bring out the hidden potentialities of imagination for your child, as a parent, one of the oldest tricks is to encourage your child to become a writer. A writer’s trade deals with words and language, hence if your child expresses a desire to become a writer, the first few things you should encourage in your child to develop is an interest in reading, writing, and listening. These disciplinary tasks shall go a long way towards strengthening one of the core skills of your child, that of using language to express one’s own desire, one of the key skills of our adult social lives. I learnt this the hard way in my life. Being a loner, I never really made many friends, writing blogs on the internet, having good old-fashioned pen-pals albeit through emails, they all contributed to a deeper understanding of myself, other human beings, and the human nature itself.

Why not start off by teaching your child to be quick at flipping through the dictionary and the thesaurus? Though the internet has reduced the need of those old bulky books, you can develop games around the dictionary and the thesaurus and play them with your child sometimes. Timing the speed of finding a word and its meaning would certainly ingrain a certain reflexive memory in your child about how to deal with dictionaries. Teaching them the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus is also a very wise thing to do. Though dictionary comes in handy when one encounters an unknown word. While writing, it is the thesaurus which usually comes in for the rescue when you are looking for a word with similar meaning, and the alternative word simply doesn’t strike the memory.

Encouraging your child to edit and create Wikipedia pages can be an extremely adventurous activity. Children today acquire the basic skills required to navigate on the internet at a very early age that’s why they will be bound to use the internet for their day to day activities and school assignments. But, instead of spending countless hours on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or the countless other social media services out there it would be incredible wise to nurture the skill of reading Wikipedia every day. It is just like reading encyclopedias in the yesteryears, but in this case one can actually become a part of a worldwide community of people whose goal is to distribute knowledge for free. By writing for Wikipedia even if it’s a miniscule amount, your child can develop the academic writing skills which need to be backed up by reference. After all, who knows, your child might one day grow up to wish to write one of those huge academic tomes which lay in the corner of the library unapproached by most students. Reading an encyclopedia can actually be fun after slogging through the comparatively rather drier dictionary and thesaurus. It isn’t for no reason that the academic discipline of Digital Humanities has suddenly cropped up in the universities. The old education system of the university is slowly fading away, to give way to new communicative environments on the internet where people share and learn together. I have been a keen contributor and reader of Wikipedia articles while growing up, but what it helped me learn the most was the fact that academic references and citations are actually one of the primary features of academic research. And learning it at such an early age can harm no body.

The most tried and tested practice that exists to develop children’s writing skills is to motivate them to maintain a journal. Journal writing can be one of the most enriching experience for children. It helps them grasp the power and intimacy of language without the risk of any gaze of judgment and risks of failure that school essay assignments for example might bring with them. Journal writing also helps teenagers cope with their emotions in private in a much more fruitful manner. It helps them channel all the positive or negative emotions onto the paper in the process increasing their ability to communicate better.

To write better, one ought to read voraciously. This is a point every pedagogue shall agree on. It is important to know what exists out there, outside one’s immediate social network. Reading, newspapers, books, magazines, pretty much anything helps one acquire the tricks of trade. Encourage your child to spend more time in the public library. The mystical quality of the dusty hardbound books, and the aura of the old manuscripts, they all come together to form an extremely enriching experience, which today’s generation is more and more losing a touch with. Once they find books whose digital copies simply don’t exist, the adventure of book hunting will not be a far-fetched fantasy for your child anymore. Remember the pleasure of finding that book you had been looking for, for ages and the excitement with which you read it when you finally laid your hands on it?

Introduce them to some of the young adult books, whether some new book series or some classics. If they have been asking you for some particular book series, why not buy them the hard copies of some of those books? Starting with young adult books can be extremely easy because of their simple language and engrossing narratives. At the same time the series are always long enough, meaning that there is enough reading material to cover. Young adult books are certainly a stepping stone towards reading more complex narratives and books. I remember during my own teens how, I could never go through the large tomes of classics but reading series of young adult books was a cakewalk even if they exceeded 50 books in the series sometimes.Though at the same time do not shy away from introducing your child to some of the old classics, like Mark Twain, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens and the likes.

If your child demonstrates a keen interest for the visual medium too, for example if she/he can paint and/or draw, then it would certainly be advisable to introduce them to some graphic novels or Japanese mangas. The visual medium has seen a great resurgence in the past few decades and there always is enough to choose from in the bookstores.

Another nice to way to introduce them to the grand scope of the written word and encourage them further to achieve their dream of being a writer, would certainly be to introduce them to certain movies and TV series which have been adapted from books. At the outset it might seem like a sheer waste of time, but witnessing the written word on screen shall certainly motivate any child to actually consider writing as a viable profession. Writers who achieve cross-over success can certainly be good role models for young children to dream larger than their mundane lives might allow them to. Simply dreaming is not enough after all. Hence introduce them to one of the classics that every upcoming writer always reads, Stephen King’s On Writing. The book argues for incredible discipline and brings down everyone who dreams to be a writer down back to the earthly world. King’s words can and do always act as a kind reminder that it is always hard work and dedication that pays off, and not mere desiring and envisioning.

It is always advisable to introduce your child to poetry early in their lives. Some writers can be extremely good poets but terrible prose writers. This isn’t particularly surprising. If they at all demonstrate a knack for poetry, introduce them to some poetry. Poetry after all is the quintessential art of the words, where grammar, syntax and lines as we know them, breakdown. It is the place for imagination and reverie, the quality that is the most childlike as we mentioned early on.

Far away from the pages of books, take them to watch some stage-plays someday. Who knows, your child might actually be a writer who loves to write and present his work to people in a different manner, unlike the lonely imagination of a writer at hard-work on his desk through days and nights. While in troducing them to theatre it would certainly be advisable to show them the fact that cinema’s spine too is that of the screenplay.

Far away from the usual image of novelist, thespian and the poet, do let them know that every word that they see or hear around them, is a work of a writer, even if it’s the everyday billboard on the road, the advertisement in the subway, the commercials on the internet, on TV and on radio. All words are written by some writer or the other. Some spend their time in extreme spotlight while many do not, just like every other profession. But this would certainly remind them that, what they like to do the most, and are good at, i.e. writing is actually a very sought after skill in today’s world. This would make them feel accepted in this world which is forever competitive. After all, isn’t this blog post itself written? Aren’t you reading countless words everyday on the internet and various other places? These words don’t just appear out of the vacuum but are the result of hard labor of a person.

You love your kids. You want them to have all the benefits of homeschooling – a more flexible approach to learning (tailored to their particular learning style, of course), their parents’ attention, safety from bullies and negative peer pressure – but you’re not seeing those results right now. You’re burned out, the kids would rather eat overcooked brussel sprouts than “do school”, and your friends whose kids are in school seem so…calm and happy. But you don’t think that’s the right path for your family right now.

Well, I was homeschooled K-12, starting in the early 90’s when homeschooling was still a relatively new idea. I am the oldest of an entirely homeschooled family that spans over a decade, with a wide variety of experiences. Some of them worked; some of them didn’t, and I’m going to share both with you.

One of the primary things I learned watching my mom homeschool me and my younger siblings was the importance of self-care for the primary teaching parent. Many homeschool parents, precisely because of their drive to give their children the best, push themselves to the edge. Burnout is the most common reason parents and kids don’t enjoy homeschooling, so don’t underestimate the importance of physical and emotional self-care. After all, your main goal in homeschooling is to teach your kids to be happy, healthy adults, not just how to solve the quadratic equation, so show them how to do that. The easiest way is to take breaks when you need them!

[Editor’s note: of course, you don’t have to homeschool yourself as a parent. Many parents use us as a resource for homeschooling, where we will have a teacher do the homeschooling for them, or some portion of it. This has ranged from our teachers running the entire homeschooling experience for families to our simply teaching a class on a single subject like biology. That being said, we feel Melissa’s advice on keeping calm and creating healthy space for yourself is wise no matter what your approach!]

Here’s an idea: when I was in elementary and middle school, we had “quiet time” for an hour every afternoon, usually right after lunch. My mom would turn off the phone ringer and set an egg timer where we could all hear it when it went off. The youngest child usually had a nap, while school-age children were placed in different rooms with special “quiet time” toys. We knew we weren’t allowed to knock on Mom’s door until the timer went off unless there was an emergency. My mom would nap or just have some time to herself; we kids got a break from each other and learned how to amuse ourselves. (Remember that for most of my school years, iPads and smartphones didn’t exist. I suspect that my family’s emphasis on learning to play or read alone quietly is actually more important in today’s world because of the rarity of these skills and because the brain development they encourage.) I have many fond memories of “quiet time.” I got a welcome respite from my brother’s company and a chance to do something fun – when I was younger, I’d build with Lincoln Logs or Legos, and when I got older, I often drew or made things out of modeling clay, when I wasn’t absorbed in my latest favorite book (often historical fiction).

As my family got older, I saw a shift happen. My mom no longer had small children in the house who need naptime, and “quiet time” quietly fell by the wayside – and my mom’s exhaustion and stress levels increased. Just as the frog doesn’t notice his pot of cool water heating up until it’s too late (a gruesome metaphor, but perhaps not too extreme as a comparison), it’s easy to ignore the symptoms of burnout until they become overwhelming. Doing whatever you need to recharge on a regular basis is absolutely essential to enjoying your homeschool experience, and lays the foundation for your kids to enjoy theirs. As the old Southern saying goes, “When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

My next suggestion is to look for easy ways to make “book work” more interesting. My family listened to dozens of cassette tapes (boy, do I feel old now!) – historical songs that made my social studies and American history lessons come alive, as well as geography and grammar set to catchy tunes. Once I learned to read, we went to the library constantly (now, my younger siblings have Kindles), where we rarely checked out books written by contemporary authors; this meant I got to see first-hand what the world looked like in days gone by. My parents also read aloud to us on an almost daily basis, which had a myriad of positive effects. It introduced younger kids to books they might not be able or willing to read on their own (Mom started reading me Little House when I was about four and a half, Anne of Green Gables at 7); it showed us that reading is important; it gave us reading comprehension by giving us the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the story with our parents or older siblings; and it sparked our imaginations in countless ways. Reading “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle showed me that science and math were interesting; reading the American Girl historical books helped spark a lifelong fascination with history and an appreciation for technological advances. I can’t say enough about how much more enjoyable my school work was as a result of my extracurricular reading of everything from Nancy Drew to Narnia, to say nothing of the vocabulary, reading comprehension, and spelling I learned without even trying.

Another way to make homeschooling enjoyable is to shake up your routine. Many kids love spontaneity, especially when it involves getting out of “work.” This doesn’t mean you have to ditch schoolwork; just look around for creative ways of achieving your learning. NYC has dozens of museums, including hands-on children’s museums in Brooklyn and Manhattan; the Sony Wonder Technology Lab; the Children’s Museum of the Arts; and the Intrepid Air, Sea, and Space Museum. A day trip to Philadelphia or Boston gives you dozens of historical sites, while close to home is the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Rainy day and you know everything will be packed? There are dozens of videos from all over the internet – ask your kids what they’re interested in, and help them learn to navigate the internet safely to find out more about it! (Bonus book recommendations for field trip prep: All-of-a-Kind Family, set in NYC at the turn of the twentieth century; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for more mature readers, set in a similar time period; Johnny Tremain for Revolutionary-era Boston, or American Girl’s Addy series for Philadelphia. Find many more in the New York Public Library list at http://www.nypl.org/childrens100 )

While we’re on the subject, a balanced approach to technology is a great way to make your homeschool experience more enjoyable. There will be days when keeping your home sane and yourself healthy will mean using educational videos to give yourself some breathing room, but we’ve all read and heard the statistics around children’s technology use and the impact it has on them. Teach them how to set limits for themselves (something best taught by example, and by providing interesting alternative occupations) and how to keep themselves safe online. For a long time, the only internet-enabled computers in my family’s house were in the living room and the “school room” (once we were fortunate enough to have a dedicated school room). This instantly provided visibility to our parents of our online activities and the time we spent on the computer. My parents also chose to install strict monitoring and blocking software on our family’s computers, something which I feel had mixed consequences; my adult siblings often struggle to set appropriate screen time limits, and strict blocking software can stunt your ability to navigate safely. (My seventeen-year-old sister had no idea why her Google image search of “Russian woman costume” was blocked, and didn’t know how to find the historical information she was looking for safely.) Teaching your children screen and Internet responsibility both enhances their learning skills and makes your home a more peaceful place.

To return to the idea of “shaking up your routine” – what if you feel overwhelmed by your activities and your “school time” is constant chaos? What if your child finds spontaneity threatening, rather than exciting? (I was one such child – fortunately my mom was very good about breaking up our routine in a structured way, such as scheduling field trips at least a week in advance.) While some families thrive on a very flexible schedule, all our human tendencies push us toward baseline routines. We eat three times a day – at relatively similar times across cultures – because most of us need to. We sleep at night for similar time spans because our bodies require it. If you’re the spontaneous type, it doesn’t hurt take some time to step back and ask yourself, “Is my household characterized by spontaneity – or chaos? Would I or my family benefit from making some part of our life more regular?” I think of our next-door neighbors when I was young, who were also homeschoolers. Their mom was always having them go out and change a tire, or analyze why they liked spaghetti so much (starch), or they’d have macaroni and cheese for breakfast; but eventually, she got burned out and discouraged by their slow progress. Eventually the family decided that the more regular education routine of the local public school was necessary simply to get through essential education topics. While this may be the best course for some families, those who want to continue long term may find it best to have a plan to keep things moving forward smoothly.

You don’t have to have a strict schedule of “rise at 7, breakfast 7:25, school from 8-12, lunch at 12:15, school from 1-3, bed at 8:30” if that doesn’t work for you! But maybe – just maybe – a bit of structure would benefit you or your family as a whole, and it doesn’t even need to be directly school-related. One very simple routine that my family found helpful was a weekday breakfast schedule. That way there was no thought required for making breakfast (beyond “what day of the week is it again??”). If your life feels chaotic, take a moment and think about your typical day. At what moment does making a decision feel overwhelming? Maybe that’s where a routine would help you. I know some parents who find it very helpful just to drink a cup of coffee before the kids get up, while others set a family wake-up time. Try different things and see what works!

Another thing that often takes the enjoyment out of homeschooling is isolation. I hate to bring up the oft-repeated question of “socialization,” but I can tell you from experience that while it can be a problem, it doesn’t have to be. I’m the oldest child in my family, and when I was in elementary and middle school, my social life consisted of weekly church attendance, bi-monthly or monthly homeschool group activities, and the occasional get-together with friends met through one of those avenues. In high school as I realized that I felt isolated and lonely, I used online homeschool forums to make friends, joined my church choir (though I was the youngest member for a long time), and sought out old-fashioned pen pals. This situation was not ideal; my circle of acquaintance was badly limited and I was lonely, despite being an introvert.

My siblings, on the other hand, have had a drastically different experience due in large part to the development of a homeschool co-op in their area. Their participation has given them the chance to make friends under more ‘real-world’ conditions, where they can collaborate on classwork or just sit around and talk on a regular basis. Co-ops are a great resource for making homeschool enjoyable, both for the socialization and for giving kids a chance to learn from a different perspective. Other common social/school activities enjoyed by today’s homeschoolers are debate clubs, robotics teams, after-school sports teams…the possibilities are endless. The New York City Home Educators’ Association, NYCHEA, is a large non-sectarian group that offers many resources, but is by no means the only such group in the area. Check out www.mommypoppins.com for intros to many other groups and activities in the area.

Finally – enjoy your kids! There is no better way to ensure that the homeschool experience is all-around pleasant than to take joy in learning in each other’s company.

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