Author: Maria

kids walking to school

Springtime and End of the School Year Success

Springtime and End of the School Year Success

We’ve all been there. 

After a long winter, we experience sunshine for the first time in months and welcome its warm embrace. We hear the birds chirping and enjoy the sight of nature coming back to life.

 Suddenly, we find ourselves daydreaming during work about getting outside and enjoying the beautiful weather. 

As adults, we’re not the only ones susceptible to springtime distraction. Our children and students are experiencing it too. Some of us even remember what it was like coming in from outside lunch or recess.  

spring student

We remember spending the rest of the school day trying our best not to stare out the window

As a parent, you may be wondering how you can help your student navigate through the end of the school year. 

You want them to finish strong. After all, this is the last quarter, and your child is almost there. 

If you were attending one of their sporting events and you saw that they were tired or becoming distracted at the end of the game, you’d cheer them on with something like, 

“C’mon, honey! You’re so close! You’re almost there!”

That instinct is right. However, with the tests, the projects, and the end of the school year celebrations that accompany the last quarter, you’ll be wondering if there’s more you can do to help your child succeed. 

Here at Jamie the Scholar, we understand. That’s a feeling we recognize and it’s worth taking seriously.

Understanding the Situation: The End of the School Year

Everything has been building up to this point: the lessons, the skills, and the assignments. It’s the culmination of a year’s worth of learning. While it can be overwhelming, I want to assure you, parents, that it’s never our goal as educators.

The last thing we want is for our students to feel stressed out or deprived of springtime fun! Unfortunately, some of the anxiety and overwhelming feelings at the end of the year are outside of our control. 

Here are some of the tests and events that contribute to the fast-paced, jam-packed end of the year feeling that your child experiences in the last month of school.

student inside
  • AP Exams: For any parents with high school students, you may be aware that AP exams occurred over the last two weeks. As teachers, these dates were assigned to us. It’s also important that these exams occur at the end of the year. AP teachers have needed these last eight months to prepare their students. They needed this time to equip them with the content they’ll need to perform well. 
  • Finals and Comprehensive Assessments: Depending on what state you live in, your district’s requirements, or the type of school your child attends (charter, public, private, or etc.), the “end of the year” exam requirements may differ. Like the AP exams, the dates of these exams are often out of a teacher’s control. However, there are options here. As a parent, emailing your child’s teacher to ask about the end of the year assessment can be a great way to help. By having that information early, you can help your child organize their study time. By starting or studying early, the last two weeks won’t feel as overwhelming.
  • End of the School Year Celebrations: Sports Banquets, Recitals, and Prom! These events are so much fun, and your child should feel excited to participate in them. Something to consider is factoring in these events with your child’s end of the year prep. If they have a recital coming up that week, it might be helpful to block out some additional time on the weekend to study or work on homework since that event could take up two to three hours of time from their school week. 

Getting Outside and Enjoying the Weather

Believe it or not, the enemy is not the weather. Spring does stir up antsy feelings in the best of us, but spring has many advantages to offer the overwhelmed student. 

The first is the power of Vitamin D. While evidence doesn’t suggest a direct link between sunlight and academic performance, there are many studies that address the emotional and mental benefits of getting out in the sun.

student in sun

We have heard of seasonal depression, but we’re not as familiar with the benefits that sunlight has to offer. When enjoyed properly (with sunscreen for extended periods of outdoor time), sunlight boosts our serotonin levels. Serotonin is the hormone that regulates our emotions and improves our focus. Maybe the reason so many of us stare out that window is because subconsciously we know it’s what our bodies need. 

If your child is feeling overwhelmed by the end of the year, a fifteen-minute break in the sun may be the perfect solution. Even more, perhaps studying, working on their project, or reading for class outside would be a great way to accomplish their work and enjoy the wonderful weather.

The second reason why getting outside and enjoying the weather can help your son or daughter is that studies have shown how important it is for young people to be active. 

According to the following article published by Stanford University, “the World Health Organization recommends that adolescents (children between the ages of 10 and 19) engage in one hour of moderate exercise daily.” The article further suggests that there have been links found between a child’s physical activity and their academic performance. “New research shows that exercising regularly can help students improve their focus, retain new information, and even score higher on tests.” So, taking time for a quick study break and getting outside to move might be the boost that your child needs.

It could also be a great motivator for your child to complete tasks in increments. After completing each assignment, they could spend 20 minutes outside. By doing so, the course work shrinks from one big load into smaller portions of work. After each assignment, there’s something to look forward to! 

Springtime offers so many ways for people to exercise. Whether it’s a leisurely stroll, playing soccer, or riding a bike, your child will appreciate the opportunity to get outside, breathe in the fresh air, and move. 

Other Ways to Help During the End of the School Year

If we’re being honest, time management skills are something we all have had to learn at some point in our lives. Procrastination is a common human struggle. 

Some of us adults are still learning and working to grow in this area ourselves, and that’s okay. None of us is perfect. 

A way you can help your child during this time is touching base with them about their assignments. They might have underestimated the time they’ll need to study for Finals or complete those end of the year assignments. 

They may think they’re able to finish it all in the last week of school. But, we know better.

This is where your experience and organizational skills as a parent can be a great way to circumvent some end of the year panic. Rather than the last week of school being filled with anxiety and late nights, your child can enjoy the last few days of school feeling calm and confident about the end of the year! 

How Jamie The Scholar Can Help

Say your child receives an extensive end of the year research project, and you’re not sure how to help. Maybe math has never been your strongest subject, but you want your child to feel confident while preparing for their comprehensive Final. 

Here, at Jamie the Scholar, we have some incredible, talented tutors who would love to assist you. If you or your child needs some assistance navigating the end of the school year, consider giving us a call at 888-577-3224 to schedule a free consultation!

Teens reading together

Engaging the Adolescent Reader

Engaging the Adolescent Reader

You’ve heard the following statistic: “Kids should be reading 20 minutes a day.” It’s something that we, as teachers, say throughout a child’s education. While your child was in elementary school, the process seemed more engaging. 

Your child’s school hosted book fairs twice a year. His or her teacher assigned weekly reading logs as a nightly homework assignment. There may have even been in-class prizes for how many books they read a year! 

Then, they moved on to middle school and high school, and educators kept saying the same thing. We told you how reading would enable your child to perform better on standardized tests. We also told you how reading was important for their cognitive development. However, something got lost in the process.

The incentive system changed — and your teenager noticed

reading teens

Now, instead of incentive charts or fun prizes, there were just reading assignments. If your child didn’t do the reading, they would lose points in their grade average. And, there was no reward if they did any extra reading. 

As your child matured, their interests started to shift as well. Instead of reading, they turned to social media, television, or other ways to consume information. 

Now, rather than hearing the statistics on reading and feeling encouraged, you hear it and feel overwhelmed. You ask yourself: “How? How do I get my teenager to want to read?”

Well, here at Jamie the Scholar, we want you to feel encouraged as a parent. That’s why we’re offering helpful suggestions that we hope you can benefit from.

Hold on to the mission.

Inspiring your adolescent to read is a good and important goal. The correlation between reading and their brain development is real. A love for reading can open so many doors for your young learner and it doesn’t have to mean giving up screens entirely. 

Within a healthy time limit, social media can be a source of entertainment for your teenager. However, overindulgence in it does have negative effects on their brain health. That’s what makes this worth paying attention to — encouraging reading addresses both sides at once.

So consider this goal a mission: one that provides a solution to two different problems. By encouraging your teenager to replace some of their screen time with reading, you’re helping them cultivate a love for a beneficial hobby. You are also limiting their exposure to a detrimental one.

Like with other parts of this developmental stage, your teenager still needs you. Although they may be growing in their independence, as is appropriate, your guidance is still needed. It’s instrumental in helping them succeed and grow into the best equipped adult they can be!

Incentivize reading. 

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve been an English Teacher for the last ten years. After writing my introduction to this blog, I felt a little convicted. Why haven’t I offered my students in-class incentives for extra reading? Why haven’t I offered bonus points on quizzes or tests to encourage more reading for fun?

This may be something that we, as Literature teachers, can start doing. Until then, there are plenty of ways that you, as a parent, can incentivize your teenager to love reading.

Allow them to choose

As said, adolescence is a time for growth in one’s identity and independence. 

 

young girl reading

By allowing your teenager to choose a book that intrigues them, they are able to exercise their autonomy in a new way. Whether it’s a trip to the library or a local bookstore, give them the ability to choose a book that they’re interested in reading! 

After being assigned reading in their English class, the ability to choose a book to read is a nice reprieve. That being said, check out the following search engines and articles. In case you have concerns with YA Content, these search engines and articles will help you filter out inappropriate material. 

Create rewards for a total number of books read:

picking a book together

When I was in middle school, my grandfather was so proud of me for making the honor roll that he would give me a little gift at the end of the quarter. Although that wasn’t my original reason for studying or earning high grades, it kept me motivated. 

Just like what was created for me, consider setting up an incentive chart based on how many books your teenager reads over a duration of time. If not gifts, maybe a daily reading can become a way to earn some additional allowance. 

When adolescents feel the success of their hard work, we are preparing them for the work force. 

After all, it’s the employees who go above and beyond who receive recognition. That’s why introducing this concept to them will be helpful in preparing them for their next stage: adulthood.

Read books together as a family!

In the digital age, it’s easy to feel isolated from one another. When we’re all plugged in to our own devices, there’s a risk of disconnection and losing out on those bonding experiences that are so pivotal for families. Perhaps like watching a movie or playing a board game, reading a book together can be a way that you and your family spend time with one another. 

As someone who has worked with teenagers for the last decade, I have noticed something profound about them. They are more inclined to take something seriously when they see the adults in their lives practicing it as well. By designating that time a week for you and your family to read together, it will communicate to them just how important you consider reading to be. 

Lastly, while we emphasize how important it is for children to be reading 20 minutes a day, it’s as important for adults to engage in daily reading too!

In fact, in the last five years, several articles have been published showing that adults who read regularly reduce their risk of cognitive decline and dementia over time. The benefits extend beyond brain health too: better sleep, lower stress, and stronger emotional wellbeing are among them.

By reading as a family, not only are you reinforcing the importance of reading to your teenager, you’re also bonding together over an activity that will be healthy and helpful for each member of the family!

family reading

How Jamie The Scholar Can Help

The path to transforming your child into a reader may seem intimidating, but here at Jamie the Scholar, we are here to help! If you ever find that your child struggles with reading or understanding what they’ve read, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

If your teenager is struggling to connect with reading or simply hasn’t found the right material yet, our tutors can help. Many on our team have specialized backgrounds in reading instruction and work alongside students to build both skill and genuine interest over time.

Call us at 888-577-3224 or visit jamiethescholar.com to schedule a free consultation.