Fun ways to memorize Multiplication Tables

Multiplication tables are a CRITICAL resource for your child to have nailed down by 3rd grade. There are numerous math skills that require a working knowledge of multiplication and your child needs to have the knowledge and the speed to be successful.

Flash cards are really the best way to practice and memorize multiplication tables, but at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville, we know all kids don't necessarily respond to this method as well as others do.
We have found a site that has some fun worksheets that might just work for your child.

Follow the link below to see all the free tools!

http://www.multiplication.com/teach/teaching-tips-and-tricks

Helping Your Child Become Successful and Self-Assured

These are just a few things you can do to help your child be happy, healthy and confident. At the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville, we focus on your whole child, by improving academics, building character and instilling confidence.  Our kids love to come here; more importantly, they love the results they get from their work with us. Call us at 268-8556 to see how we can help your child.    

Let Your Child Make Decisions   When children have the opportunity to make choices, they’ll gain confidence in their own good judgment.  When they’re young, it’s best to give them two or three choices.  Rather than asking what they want to wear, for example, allow them to select between two or three outfits you’ve put together ahead of time.  And let them know there are other things that aren’t up for a vote, like swimming lessons, or weekly trips to the library, (or tutoring)!. 

Consider Your Compliments  If you tell your child "Good job!" with every accomplishment, or exaggerate your praise (“You’re the best player on the team!), they may have a hard time recognizing when their work is really worth celebrating.  Instead of praising your child when they do something they’re supposed to do, try a simple “Thanks” instead.  Make every effort to give very specific feedback. Instead of saying their artwork is beautiful, maybe you could praise them for their design or use of a particular color.  

Encourage Special Interests   Expose your child to many activities, and encourage them when they find interests they want to pursue. Kids who have a passion are proud of their expertise. And hobbies can be helpful for kids who find it difficult to fit in.  A student with a talent for painting, for example, may lead the pep squad in creating posters supporting the school’s sports team. 

Don’t Save Your Child   We all want to keep our child from getting hurt, but when you intervene, sometimes you’re not doing them any favors.  Kids will learn to succeed by overcoming obstacles, not by having the obstacles removed for them.  They need to know they can take risks without feeling their parents will criticize or correct them for doing something wrong.  We all learn by doing – and by being allowed to make mistakes without being reprimanded - or seeing you mess up without making a big deal about it - will help your kids understand that mistakes are part of life, and something to be learned from. It also teaches them to be accountable, and accepting of the consequences and rewards that come with their decisions and actions.

Look for Ways to Help Others   It’s empowering for a young child to help you with a project.  Seeing the effort and planning that grown-up tasks require, and watching their parent taking mistakes in stride, will make kids feel better when they have to work at their own projects in the future.

Summer Classes for Highschoolers is a GREAT idea!

(Excerpt from an article entitled "What Should High School Students Do Over The Summer?")  We found it compelling that taking classes is listed as a great way to spend some of their time! 

Full article can be read at http://blog.prepscholar.com/summer-activities-for-high-school-students

Classes

Description: Taking classes may not be the most fun way to spend your summer, but they can help you stay on track in high school and prepare you for college. Some students take summer classes to improve their grades in a class they didn’t do well in the first time, some do it to take a class they wouldn’t have time for during the school year, and some use summer classes as a way to take college courses or advanced high school classes. Summer classes can be taken in a variety of ways, either through your high school, at a community college, through an academic program at universities, or even online.

Pros: Strengthen your transcript, take classes you’re interested in, can help prepare you for college.

Cons: May be harder to motivate yourself to study during the summer, not the most enjoyable way to spend the summer.

How to Stand Out: If you’re able to, taking college classes over the summer can be a great way to become a stronger applicant. Having college classes on your transcript, even if they are only introductory classes at a community college, can boost your application by showing schools that you’re able to handle the rigor and workload of college. This is an especially good option if your high school doesn’t offer a lot of advanced classes and you want to strengthen your transcript.

2016 Duval County Principal of the Year

It is quite an accomplishment to be recognized as the Principal of the Year, especially in a school district as large and diverse as Duval County. This year's winner is Dr. Donna Richardson of Mandarin High School.

Dr. Richardson, we at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville would like to offer our congratulations to you!  Keep up the fine work you are doing!

Keeping off the Summer Slide

KEEPING OFF THE SUMMER SLIDE

What’s on your schedule for summer?  The family vacation, camp, trips to the pool . . . and something you didn’t think about, the summer slide. That’s what we call the educational ground children lose during the three-month break from school, especially when it comes to reading.   

According to the authors of a report from the National Summer Learning Association: "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year . . . It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills."

Summer learning can erase early reading deficits   

The transition from third to forth grade marks the change from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.   Summer learning programs have been shown to mitigate summer learning losses in reading and to help children gain needed proficiency in reading skills as they enter the fourth grade. 

The summer before high school is one of the most critical transitions    

The transition from eighth to ninth grade is one of the most pivotal moments in a student’s education.  Students who receive extra support of adults in summer learning programs are more likely to navigate this transition successfully. 

High-quality summer learning programs level the college entry playing field

Evidence shows the need for remedial coursework in two- and four-year colleges has created a sense of urgency around college preparation programs, particularly for first-generation college attendees.  Students who participate in SAT / ACT test preparation courses can increase their scores by 200+ points.  This may be the differentiating factor between winning a one-time $500 scholarship award and a more valuable 4-year scholarship. 

Make sure to put reading on your list of things to do this summer.  Make a weekly trip to the library a fun family event.  Read to your kids, and ask them to read to you.  For more help in preparing for school in the fall, call the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville at 268-8556. 

Here are 10 good reasons to have your child in tutoring!

We have attached a link to a good article about 10 good reasons to enroll your child into tutoring. It even makes a recommendation to use summer tutoring as a means to help your child transition to their next grade,The Tutoring Club of Jacksonville is open all summer with flexible hours and will be able to fill gaps and help make the transition to the next level in school.

https://www.care.com/a/10-reasons-you-need-to-hire-a-tutor-1309091200

Please give us a call at 268-8556 to talk about your child's needs and how we can help this summer so that the next grade isn't a struggle!

It's time to incorporate Tutoring into the Summer Plans!

This article starts with this:

"To succeed in school and life, children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months."

Summer is also one of the very best times to enroll kids into tutoring! At the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville, we can use the summer weeks to get your student up to grade level on core subjects, get ahead and prepared for the next school year, prep for ACT/SAT, take care of that online course requirement, and complete summer packets. 

Call us now at 268-8556 to enroll and get on the summer schedule.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking on this link and prepare for a fun and educational summer!

http://www.summerlearning.org/?page=know_the_facts

5 year old has mad math skills!!

You will be astonished at the math skills of this BRILLIANT 5 year old boy!  Watch all the way to the end!





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAMxbHQyPdk


Maybe one day he will tutor at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville!  We LOVE his smarts
AND enthusiasm!

Relay for Life Event at Mandarin High School on 4/30/16

One of the most anticipated events in the Mandarin community is the Annual Relay for Life event held at Mandarin High School. This year's event will be on April 30th from noon to midnight and will include approximately 30 teams who will be selling items for their fundraising, food, bouncy houses, DJ, drinks, the luminaria ceremony and more!

Cancer has touched many in our community and even several here at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville. To walk with a child through a journey where a parent or loved one is dealing with cancer is heart-wrenching. We are encouraging as many of you who can to make plans to attend this event and give to help get one step closer to a cure!

Important Article if you have a Teen who is Struggling!

http://parentingteens.about.com/od/highschool/ss/teen_issues.htm

Are you observing that your teenager is struggling with at least one or two of the issues highlighted in this article? Let's face it, there is a lot of pressure in middle school and high school and our teens can carry a pretty heavy load when we account for their school, homework, friends, church, athletics, performing arts, and all their extra curricular activities! 

We have great news for you!  We can  help with most of these issues! 

If your student is on grade level but is having a hard time keeping up with everything, our Study Skills or Homework Help programs are excellent solutions for them.  It also frees you up to be the parent.  No more  to struggling with keeping them organized and trying to help them with homework you probably don't remember how to do! 

We have a published "Wall of Fame" for our high school students where they are rewarded by us quarterly for good grades and we monitor them weekly to try and keep them on track.  We teach organization and good study habits; we instill confidence and personal accountability; and we encourage them to strive for excellence. 

If this sounds great to you, give us a call at 268-8556!

Will Your Child Pass or be Held Back?

Repeating a grade level in school

You may have a child who has so many bad grades, you are concerned about them passing or debating about holding them back. In our constant research on education trends, we came across this statistic:

6% of kids age 6-11 repeat at least one grade in school; 11% of kids aged 12-17 repeat at least one grade of school  (http://www.surfnetkids.com/backtoschool/222/back-to-school-fun-facts/).  

There are a number of things that contribute to this such as regular attendance, maturity, and study habits.  But one huge contributing factor to this statistic is these kids tend to miss some early foundational skills but advance anyway, then get to a point in subsequent years that they cannot move on without that skill.  At the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville, our diagnostic evaluation picks up on these skill gaps right away.  We are able to customize a learning plan for your student that addresses missing skills and catches them up to the desired grade level!  

If you notice that your child is struggling, we encourage you to call us right away at 268-8556 and let us help so your child does not end up getting held back a grade in school!

When Do I Know It's Time to Get Tutoring Help??

The purpose of tutoring is to help students help themselves and to assist or guide them to the point at which they become independent, successful learners. The Tutoring Club of Jacksonville is a great partner to help you get your child to this point!

There are many possible reasons why your child might need tutoring:
•Teacher or counselor recommends tutoring
•Grades are dropping
•Homework seems increasingly difficult
•Extreme anxiety before tests
•Self-esteem is dropping
•Loss of interest in learning
•Feelings of wanting to give up
•Resistance to doing schoolwork
•Reluctance to go to school

If any of this sounds familiar to you, please call us right away at 904-268-8556!

Tutoring can be beneficial in many ways:
•Provides personalized attention
•Improves grades
•Increases knowledge and understanding of subjects
•Increases motivation to succeed
•Provides intensive practice
•Allows progress at own pace
•Leads to better use of study time
•Improves self-esteem and confidence
•Encourages higher levels of learning
•Encourages self-directed learning
•Reduces competition
•Provides praise, feedback, and encouragement
•Provides review of skills not mastered but no longer taught

We can help - give us a call!

Messy Backpacks - How to get more Organized!

Oh no, we are seeing it again!  We have got to talk about the phenomenon of the trash-filled backpacks that have been coming through the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville lately!

While it is kind of funny on the outside, and we do get a little chuckle when students open up these seemingly bottomless pits of wadded up papers and food wrappers, it really is something that needs to be addressed!


Parents, please make it a habit to go through your child's backpack with them at least once a week.  Papers should be organized in a binder or folder according to subject, and then by date.  You may be surprised to find assignments they haven't turned in, because they couldn't find them!  You may also find assignments that will be coming due, like a project, that your child hasn't started yet because the paper was lost in the great abyss!  Organization is part of good study skills and habits.


It would also be a great idea to go over the planner to make sure your child is writing assignments in their planner.  You can show them the correlation between planned work (from the planner) to completed work (in their binders) to grades (online grade portal). 


Unfortunately, messy and unorganized backpacks aren't unique to any particular age group.  Many of our worst offenders are our High School students!  This is just one more way to plug into your child's success in school.  Make it a weekend tradition!

Reading WITH your child is extremely beneficial!

Many of our students come to the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville because they are struggling with reading.  While we focus on all the components and skills of becoming an excellent reader, there is something you can do at home to really enhance their reading competency.

Read to your child for 10 minutes then ask them 3 questions about what you read.  This will help them listen for details and pay attention to what you are reading.  Then have your child read to you for 10 minutes and ask  you 3 questions about what they read to you.  This will help them read for comprehension, remembering details and practicing their critical thinking when formulating their questions. Of course you can adjust this time down, depending on the age of your child.

In addition to practicing their skills, it will give you incredible bonding time with your child no matter what age.  You can read their favorite book, read from your tablet or device, or use their history textbook - just read! You can do this in almost any setting...your child can read to you in the car, you can read while you are preparing dinner, and before bedtime is a great way to end the evening.  Anytime is a great time to develop this reading habit and create sweet memories!

Teachers (and tutors) who truly care

We would like to give a shout out to this local teacher for her caring actions, going above and beyond for one of her students. Ms. Brown is a glowing example of what a difference truly caring can make.  Even though this event happened some time ago, her gesture for this particular event in this child's life is likely still with him.


At the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville, we sincerely care about our students. We are truly interested in things they have going on so we can help them in other aspects of their lives in addition to their academics.


Be remembered for kindness!


http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/241/Teacher-goes-above-and-beyond-to-help-student-with-eye-patch-fit-in

Giving Selflessly

We have been running a "Sockuary" campaign here at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville to support a local non-profit, Elder Source, that serves the elderly in our community.


We certainly provide the academic support for our students, but we try to be so much more.  This month, through this campaign, we wanted to share with them what giving selflessly looked and felt like.  The kids got very excited as the sock collection began to grow and we are thrilled to report that we have collected over 110 pairs of socks for the elderly!  Our kids (and parents) really came through!


So for Valentines Day, we are giving socks as gifts.  Gifts from the heart!

Great Life Lessons of Football

As most Americans are watching Super Bowl 50 tonight, we at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville wanted to share a quick post about the positive life lessons and the benefits of the game of football.  Enjoy the article and hopefully your team wins tonight! 


http://football.about.com/od/howtoplaycoach/a/Life_Lessons_From_Football.htm

Second Quarter Report Cards - do you need help?

The second quarter report cards are about to come out and fear and dread are some of the emotions that many students and parents are feeling right now. Now that the entire first half of the school year is complete, you may not be sure if your child even has a hope of passing the class. In addition to talking to the school about what is going on, you can look to the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville to help you and your child achieve academic success!

There are many factors that contribute to less than acceptable grades like lack of knowledge, lack of discipline, lack of self-confidence, lack of hope, lack of a sense of urgency, and the list can go on.  In the meantime, your child struggles with homework, says they hate school, and just doesn't seem to care. What is a parent to do??

We can assure you, we are familiar with this scenario. It plays out over and over with students and parents that come to us for help.  And the best news is, we can and do help!

We will test your child to see where their strengths and weaknesses are and will then design a custom curriculum for them, based on what they need the most help on. We then fill those learning gaps while at the same time, help them with homework and teach them how to do it independently. We build confidence and self-esteem in  your child and equip them with tools to take charge of their education and learning. It's a remarkable change and one that will allow you to begin to see more good grades and offer praise and rewards!

So don't delay - get out of the rut and allow us to do what we do best!  Call us at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville right now at 268-8556 to get started so the next report card is better!

In Case You Missed It - Info about our Expansion Celebration!

We have so many awesome things happening at the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville next Saturday, January 16th! It's our Expansion Celebration!  Plan to come and bring a friend!  It all starts at NOON!