Yvonne Fournier
Dr. Yvonne Fournier has been a pharmacist, public health administrator, demographer and entrepreneur. She has followed her own roadmap in becoming arguably one of the most prolific of educators and child advocates in America today.
| Maintaining a Connection With Your Growing Teens is Critical | |
| As a parent, you can probably recall the time when you son was a toddler and you were the world to him- he had eyes only for you, and his experience of the world was filtered through your teaching. | |
| 09:18 Nov 8, 2012 PST | |
| Learning Responsible Parenting Requires Collaborative Efforts | |
| If the goal is to teach responsible parenting, we must begin with a basic understanding: responsibility is not an innate skill. | |
| 07:24 Oct 27, 2012 PST | |
| How Parents Can Help Their Children Prepare for Tests and Exams? | |
| It seems like we just began the new school year yesterday, but I am already receiving emails for strategies on final exams and test taking as the first quarter draws to a close and exams begin to creep closer. | |
| 10:34 Oct 16, 2012 PST | |
| Community Service Helps Teens Grow in More Ways Than One | |
| Service is a union of strengths, with everyone on equal footing. Service requires compassion, but is not judgmental. | |
| 18:30 Sep 18, 2012 PST | |
| Is Homework Outdated? | |
| If we allow ourselves as a society and a culture to debate over how much homework a child should be given, we are lost. We should instead be concerned with what kind of homework should be given, and to understand its purpose. | |
| 19:52 Sep 4, 2012 PST | |
| Differences Between Education and Schooling Revealed | |
| Yes, I believe it is of the utmost importance to draw a clear distinction between education and schooling. | |
| 06:42 Sep 1, 2012 PST | |
| Parents Can Expect The Unexpected in Raising An Adolescent | |
| When your child was a toddler and into her elementary school years, you and your husband were the objects of all of her attention. | |
| 18:07 Aug 21, 2012 PST | |
| The Secret Teachings in Algebra Revealed | |
| Think of math in terms of two skills that complement each other - math computation and math reasoning. | |
| 14:52 Aug 14, 2012 PST | |
| Preparing for Your Child's Hurried Curriculum | |
| For parents who have struggled with their children through any grade, the start of the next school year brings anxiety and fear of both the unknown and the prospect of rehashing the traumatic experiences from the previous year. | |
| 15:39 Jul 31, 2012 PST | |
| Assessing Children's School Performance Includes Creativity | |
| The practice of making standardized testing the measuring stick by which we judge our children's learning was, and is, a mistake. | |
| 08:46 Jul 25, 2012 PST | |
| Will 'Money' Allowance Teach Children to Be Responsible? | |
| Even the most well-intentioned parent can 'allow' an allowance to backfire when it is based on the false premise that it will auto¬matically make a child more responsi¬ble with money. | |
| 18:53 Jul 21, 2012 PST | |
| How to Teach Children to Interpret Meaning of Time | |
| In our hurried lives, almost from the time our children are born, 'time' means 'hurry,' and 'hurry' means 'stress.' A classic case of A=B=C, or A=C. | |
| 10:03 Jul 12, 2012 PST | |
| Book Bag Routines Aid To Develop Responsibility | |
| As technology use increases and becomes more efficient, it seems as if we as a society expect that this new technology will solve our problems for us. Procrastinate? There's 'an app for that.' Need to manage your time? There's one for that, too. | |
| 05:47 Jul 4, 2012 PST | |
| Regression Moments are Parenting Moments | |
| How often do we, as parents, tell our children, 'All I want is for you to be happy and successful'? | |
| 18:59 Jun 27, 2012 PST | |
| To Redshirt, Or Not to Redshirt? That is The Question | |
| 'Let's get to children earlier' sounds great as society mandates ever-increasing curriculum demands, but getting there means nothing if we do not answer the 'To do what?' | |
| 17:37 Jun 12, 2012 PST | |
| Students Need More Than Just Good Grades to Succeed in Life | |
| A test, like a yardstick, is only one form of measurement. This point cannot be stressed enough. | |
| 05:59 Jun 6, 2012 PST | |
| Three Basic 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' for Nurturing of Child's Strengths | |
| As many children continue to slip through the cracks school, I can't help but wonder how many of them are destined to become disillusioned 'adult-kids' a few decades from now. | |
| 06:52 May 31, 2012 PST | |
| Is There Hope for Our Graduates? | |
| 'With 85 % of college graduates moving back home and an average debt of $22,900 per student, thousands of college graduates face a stark economic future.' | |
| 11:53 May 22, 2012 PST | |
| The Two Keys to Raising a Genius! | |
| Some critics have raised eyebrows whenever I have said, 'All of the children I work with are geniuses,' or 'I have only taught geniuses.' | |
| 14:48 May 8, 2012 PST | |
| Teach Children Good Financial Habits Early | |
| My son has an after school part-time job. My husband and I are debating how to approach the subject of his making a contribution to the family for his monthly expense total. | |
| 15:24 May 1, 2012 PST | |
| Studying Necessitates Strategy | |
| Many students give in to the ideas that studying and learning are one in the same, but studying is the road and learning is the destination. | |
| 15:24 Apr 25, 2012 PST | |
| Students: Track Grades Daily to Relieve Tension At Home | |
| 'How do I get my parents off my back?' Whenever I hear this very common complaint from students, I try to explain that there is good news as well as bad news in this dilemma. | |
| 17:05 Apr 17, 2012 PST | |
| 'Stress' Doesn't Identify Problem | |
| What exactly does it mean when we're 'stressed out'? I believe that children have learned from adults that 'stress' is a very convenient label for everything that bothers them. | |
| 12:50 Apr 11, 2012 PST | |
| What Makes a Good Family Schedule? | |
| In society's rush to ask more and more of students, and to demand it sooner and sooner, we often overlook just how much we are requiring of our children. | |
| 07:41 Apr 4, 2012 PST | |
| Responsibility is a Skill That Takes Teamwork to Develop | |
| 'Responsibility' has been a buzzword for a long time as well as how it relates to school and schooling in our society. | |
| 12:40 Mar 28, 2012 PST | |
| Reading Skill and Comprehension Must Be Assessed Separately | |
| You can only develop your own personal prosody -no two are alike- if you know the meaning of what you are saying or reading. | |
| 08:42 Mar 21, 2012 PST | |
| Parent's Role as Monitor Aids in Reintegrating Children Into Traditional Schools | |
| Most parents of children with learning disabilities will place their children in special programs/schools with the hope and intention that they will eventually master the skills that kept them from being successful in traditional schools. | |
| 12:33 Mar 13, 2012 PST | |
| Will Parents Pick Child's Extra-Curricular Commitments Over Academics? | |
| My 6th grade son is begging me to let him play school sports. He is not a strong student and gets Cs with a lot of hard work. I'm afraid if I let him join a team that the time it will take away from his studies will harm him academically. | |
| 08:07 Mar 7, 2012 PST | |
| Defeat 'Apathy' With Understanding and Caring | |
| There is a mid-range emotional state that many parents miss because of its subtlety. | |
| 17:42 Feb 28, 2012 PST | |
| 'Last Mile Kids' Must Be Allowed to Finish The Race | |
| If you view reading as a journey that is ten miles long, then to complete the journey -to say that you can read and demonstrate mastery - you must travel the full ten miles. | |
| 09:49 Feb 22, 2012 PST | |
| Standardized Tests May Require Adjustments | |
| Performing well in school is not an automatic guarantee that a student will breeze through standardized tests that measure skill and content. | |
| 20:14 Feb 14, 2012 PST | |
| In Striving for Success, Use Personal Definition | |
| 'Just do your best' may be excellent advice in a loving home environment, but unfortunately this standard falls short in today's judgmental world. | |
| 12:03 Feb 7, 2012 PST | |
| Self-Worth is Answer to Setback | |
| Speaking up takes courage. Each week I am amazed at the parents who have the courage to write to me about their questions and concerns for their children's education. | |
| 14:12 Jan 31, 2012 PST | |
| Goal of Mentoring Programs is to Develop Independence | |
| There's no debate that today's 'at-risk' children need positive role models, but we must recognize that mentoring programs do have inherent dangers. | |
| 10:20 Jan 25, 2012 PST | |
| Child Need Parents' Input Even When Facing School Battles Alone | |
| School is too often viewed as a child's responsibility in which parents are involved only if the child misbehaves or does not learn. | |
| 15:23 Jan 17, 2012 PST | |
| Children's Media Consumption Requires Monitoring, Regulating | |
| Today, our children are faced with numerous media sources and technologies, from smartphones and tablets with Internet connectivity, to Blu-Ray media, multiple gaming consoles, and or 3-D capability on High-definition 60 inch wi-fi ready televisions | |
| 13:50 Jan 10, 2012 PST | |
| Interrupt The Pattern of Homework Despair | |
| When parents scream, punish and/or bribe a child in order to change his behavior, and then witness little or no change, it's easy to jump to the conclusion that the child is not lis¬tening and is doing nothing to alleviate the problem. | |
| 10:11 Jan 3, 2012 PST | |
| This Holiday Season Be Mindful of The 'Chatter' | |
| Our lives our full of what I refer to as 'chatter.' This chatter can be broken down into two distinct types: Internal and external. | |
| 15:04 Dec 27, 2011 PST | |
| Most Valuable Gift to Child Could Be Presence | |
| During the holiday season, it's so easy to get caught up in what we do - buying presents, chauffeuring the kids to special activities, or cooking a big family dinner - that we sometimes forget to reflect on who we are. | |
| 14:28 Dec 20, 2011 PST | |
| Heplful Tips to Prepare Children for 'Real World' School | |
| Children enter school full of curiosity, eager to experience, wanting to be seen and heard. They enter school with the gift of spontaneity as they explore a strange new place intended for learning. | |
| 08:05 Dec 15, 2011 PST | |
| Parents Must Resist The Temptation to Become Teachers | |
| Most parents have heard their child complain, 'But I don't know how to do it!' The natural inclination is to respond, 'Let me help.' Unfortunately, this leads many parents to cross the line of parenting into teaching. | |
| 15:29 Dec 6, 2011 PST | |
| Teach Your Child to Close The Circle, Not Simply Complete Tasks | |
| Before jumping to extreme conclusions such as a pre-diagnosis of ADHD and considering testing, I advise attempting small strategies for change to see if they address the dilemma. | |
| 16:50 Nov 29, 2011 PST | |
| The Processes for Learning are More Important Than Trivia | |
| In our children's generation, the definition of success is changing. The style in the workplace is shifting from management by one boss and many workers to teamwork and independent action. | |
| 13:30 Nov 22, 2011 PST | |
| Think of Early Reading Products as Circus Tricks | |
| One of the statistical understandings I usually share with parents who are considering an accelerated curriculum of any kind is the fact that around the third grade, childhood development rates begin to even out. | |
| 13:35 Nov 15, 2011 PST | |
| Learning to Estimate Working Capacity Will Pay Dividends for Life | |
| What adult hasn't felt overwhelmed when the 'To Do' list at work and home keeps getting longer? Unfortunately, this feeling is now experienced by school children at younger and younger ages. | |
| 14:59 Nov 8, 2011 PST | |
| Focus on Grades as Clues to What Still Needs to Be Learned | |
| Grades are not meant to be a badge of honor or shame to the recipient; they are simply notations that give a numerical reflection of how much our child has left to learn. | |
| 12:25 Nov 1, 2011 PST | |
| Hurried Curriculum 3.0: Is it kindergarten or third grade? | |
| Thrusting higher-grade level material onto unready children is a recipe for disaster. | |
| 12:24 Oct 25, 2011 PST | |
| Be Preemptive Rather Than Reactive To ACT Scoring | |
| Most college-bound students were brought up to believe that the door to college would magically open one day. | |
| 14:19 Oct 19, 2011 PST | |
| Coping Skills are a Vital Piece of Academic Success | |
| Stress related symptoms are a signal for the need for effective coping skills | |
| 14:43 Oct 11, 2011 PST | |
| Developmental Readiness is Not An Exact Science | |
| Give children opportunities and time to reach milestones on their own | |
| 12:06 Oct 4, 2011 PST | |
| Use Natural Consequences Over Punishments Or Rewards | |
| Few life situations can be tracked to a single cause, and there are dangers in using a 'right or wrong' problem-solving technique. | |
| 12:12 Sep 27, 2011 PST | |
| Clothing Choices Celebrate The Dumbing Down of Our Culture | |
| While the debate over the sale of these items has ended, history has shown that we can expect this issue to rear its ugly head again in the future. Why? | |
| 11:26 Sep 20, 2011 PST | |
| In The Face of a Hurried Curriculum, Focus on Responsibility | |
| Personal responsibility is not innate for young students, it must be taught. | |
| 12:50 Sep 13, 2011 PST | |
| Don't Panic If Your Child 'Doesn't Follow Instructions' | |
| When my son brings his graded work home from school, I am seeing a pattern that he is not following instructions. In some of your past articles, you have written about the importance of looking for trends in our children's schoolwork. | |
| 14:21 Sep 6, 2011 PST | |
| A Vision of The Schools of The Future | |
| Can we achieve both at the same time: Disseminate data to enable collaboration, while simultaneously ensuring that individual learning is taking place? I believe so. | |
| 14:32 Aug 30, 2011 PST | |
| An Article About Procrastination? Maybe Later... | |
| Chunk long-term assignments to restore balance, and to defeat the 'future' you. | |
| 14:31 Aug 23, 2011 PST | |
| Keep An Inventory to Track Areas of Difficulty With Reading | |
| When someone passes judgment on your child, the reaction is typically one of pain and anger, though not necessarily in that order. | |
| 10:59 Aug 16, 2011 PST | |
| To Read Textbooks Effectively, New Skills are in Order | |
| Transitions from memorization to paraphrasing can catch many off guard | |
| 15:35 Aug 9, 2011 PST | |
| Basic Skills May Be Rusty After a Summer Off | |
| Unless students have continued to keep their skills sharp throughout the summer, they may stumble out of the gate when they are confronted with the expectations of their new grade. | |
| 12:21 Aug 2, 2011 PST | |
| As Video Gaming Continues to Grow, The Rules Remain The Same | |
| The question of where video games belong in the toy hierarchy is one I am asked every five years or so. | |
| 12:51 Jul 26, 2011 PST | |
| Open Sourcing Has Changed The Research Process, But Not The Goal | |
| Teachers from elementary school all the way up to the collegiate level are still on the fence about the credibility of Wikipedia, and where to draw the line. | |
| 08:09 Jul 19, 2011 PST | |
| Handwriting Woes Can and Should Be Corrected | |
| My daughter has an awful way of holding her pencil. Her writing is as difficult to read as it is for her to write. Homework assignments are agony. | |
| 13:12 Jul 12, 2011 PST | |
| Homeschoolers vs. Schoolhomers | |
| Having met with many parents who have decided to home school their children, I see two distinct categories - homeschoolers and what I call 'schoolhomers.' | |
| 13:23 Jul 7, 2011 PST | |
| Long-Term Vision? Get Into Position! | |
| The current industrial era model of education will only continue to become more and more out of date as culture continues to evolve, and as a result the number of students who say they are stuck in a system with no relevance will continue to grow. | |
| 10:50 Jun 28, 2011 PST | |
| Learning Strategies Should Be The Focus of Educators | |
| It can be frustrating to watch our educational leaders continue to try and treat the symptoms instead of curing the disease that is the continued use of the Industrial Era model of education. | |
| 12:11 Jun 21, 2011 PST | |
| Learning From Past Can Ease Graduate's Transition | |
| Any transition from the past to the future is difficult, no matter whether it's a graduation from kindergarten or middle school. | |
| 13:03 Jun 14, 2011 PST | |
| As Communication Between Teachers & Parents Improves, Don't Become 'Big Brother' | |
| The article you enclosed, Do schools share too much with parents? is a good example of how much has changed as Internet communication has improved and social networking sites have boomed in popularity. | |
| 17:06 Jun 7, 2011 PST | |
| The Start of Summer Vacation is No Reason to Panic | |
| As parents, we can help our children learn responsibility and decision-making by letting them create their own summer schedule, with our guidance. | |
| 13:26 May 31, 2011 PST | |
| Summer Reading Should Be Chock-Full of Quality | |
| Reading is a mechanical skill, like riding a bike. You learn to maneuver the bike to get to a given destination. So if reading is the bike, what is the destination? It's called thinking! | |
| 15:30 May 24, 2011 PST | |
| Don't Believe The Hype on School Vouchers | |
| I have always been hesitant to endorse school vouchers as a viable solution for the educational difficulties in this country. | |
| 16:59 May 17, 2011 PST | |
| Being Schooled = Being Educated | |
| Parents need to stop and assess whether the grades are the result of the child being schooled well or educated well. There is a big difference. | |
| 12:27 May 10, 2011 PST | |
| Career Paths and Visioning Can Begin in High School | |
| An understanding of who you are and where your passions lie will 'point you in the right direction.' | |
| 18:26 May 3, 2011 PST | |
| Prepare Your Child for The Rules of School | |
| I will follow up for you with a starting point on how parents can lay a solid foundation for their children that will address some intangibles that, when missing, can weigh heavily on children's performance and/or conduct in the classroom. | |
| 13:58 Apr 26, 2011 PST | |
| Preparation: Planning for College Should Begin Early | |
| Many students begin to look at their overall body of work from high school as late as the second semester of their senior year, where there is little they can do to help themselves outside of focusing solely on their SAT and ACT scores. | |
| 13:00 Apr 19, 2011 PST | |
| You are The CEO Of Your Child's Education | |
| When it comes to parent/teacher conferences, many parents hope for the best but prepare for the worst. | |
| 10:48 Apr 12, 2011 PST | |
| Parents: Write Your Own Script for 'Active' Parenting | |
| The job of parenting is full of paradoxes: Joy and pain, fear and comfort, rewards and frustrations. | |
| 18:16 Apr 5, 2011 PST | |
| Tracking Grades Will Aid in Continuing Student's Momentum | |
| Every semester we start school and every semester our son promises that things will be different. He says he is really going to put forth the effort and make good grades. Unfortunately, year after year we believe him. | |
| 19:14 Mar 29, 2011 PST | |
| Standardized Testing Celebrates Teaching Students to Be a Member The Herd | |
| Standardized tests are an antiquated system that is stuck educating our children for an era that is long gone. | |
| 16:20 Mar 22, 2011 PST | |
| Tiger Mother, Hiroshima Mom Create Convenient Excuses for Their Own Needs | |
| Dr Fournier looks to find the balance between extremes. Both the 'Tiger Mother' and the 'Hiroshima Mom' have created convenient excuses for themselves to inflate their own egotistical needs. | |
| 18:12 Mar 15, 2011 PST | |
| Resistance to Paradigm Shifts is Resistance to Change | |
| What do you think about the increasing digitization of learning in the classrooms of today? | |
| 12:07 Mar 8, 2011 PST | |
| Misbehavior is Just a Symptom; Solution Requires Finding Cause | |
| For parents, a school year can be fraught with work and tears, due to a mentality of desire in this country for bigger, better, sooner and more when it comes to education. | |
| 18:59 Mar 1, 2011 PST | |
| It's Time to Prepare Children for a Changing Global Landscape | |
| If your children are to become change agents in tomorrow's globalized world, then it would serve them well to pay attention to countries like China and languages like Mandarin today. | |
| 05:31 Feb 23, 2011 PST | |
| Help Child Decide on An Activity, Evaluate It, Take Responsibility | |
| Many people -both children and adults-- make commitments based on the impression they had of what they were getting into without really knowing what it was going to be like. | |
| 16:27 Feb 15, 2011 PST | |
| Child May Need Nudge to Become Self-Reliant | |
| Some parents believe their children shou1d be able to do everything on their own, while other parents believe their children need some parental guidance. | |
| 14:17 Feb 8, 2011 PST | |
| Notions of Literacy Must Reflect Cultural Shifts | |
| As information trafficking evolves, so must the measure of literacy | |
| 12:05 Feb 1, 2011 PST | |
| It Takes Strength to Do The Duty of Setting Limits for Children | |
| Picture everyone's life as a box, with the boundaries representing the rules that make up the limits of our rights. | |
| 14:21 Jan 25, 2011 PST | |
| No Punishments; No Rewards! | |
| How do you instill in a child the work ethic - the desire to perform a task or assignment to the best of his ability - even under what he views as adverse circumstances? | |
| 16:58 Jan 18, 2011 PST | |
| Face Fears in Order to Beat Procrastination | |
| All of us suffer from procrastination at one time or another - and the operative word here is 'suffer.' | |
| 13:20 Jan 11, 2011 PST | |
| Straight 'A' Students May Flunk Real World Test | |
| 'Good grades' are close to an obsession in our society, yet too often we do not stop to analyze what those grades really mean. | |
| 10:47 Jan 5, 2011 PST | |
| Student's Mission Changes With Different Grades | |
| When good students suddenly have difficulty in school, parents often assume that it's due to lack of motivation. | |
| 12:04 Dec 28, 2010 PST | |
| Children Cannot Grow Two Feet Taller Overnight | |
| The promise of the accelerated curriculum is a dangling carrot, hanging there to entice the parent into taking the bait. | |
| 18:34 Dec 22, 2010 PST | |
| How to Balance The Different Areas of Your Life With Parenting | |
| Parents must provide direction and guidance to keep their families moving forward together. | |
| 11:14 Dec 14, 2010 PST | |
| Safe School Environment Means Bullying Must End | |
| The answer to the question of what to do about bullying will vary wildly depending on whom you ask for advice. | |
| 16:57 Dec 7, 2010 PST | |
| Acceptable Home Behavior May Not Fit School Rules | |
| School is a closed environment where teachers go to teach and students go to learn. This is a community unto itself - with both written and unwritten rules for acceptable behavior. | |
| 14:56 Nov 30, 2010 PST | |
| Examine Factors Before Turning to Pharmaceuticals to Solve Educational Problems | |
| Hi my name is Angela, I am a 12th grade student. I am currently writing a research paper about ADHD and is Ritalin over prescribed. | |
| 10:04 Nov 23, 2010 PST | |
| Educator's Job is to Assess Strengths, Not Weaknesses | |
| My son has struggled in school since the fourth grade. Before that, he was a good student and his teachers loved him. Slowly, schoolwork became more difficult for him and everything went downhill... | |
| 18:19 Nov 16, 2010 PST | |
| What does it mean to be a Strategizer? | |
| The Strategizer® is a collection of instructions that work to help children of all ages to address all the intangibles that they are expected to apply daily at school. | |
| 18:03 Nov 9, 2010 PST | |
| Learning Each Day Eliminates Necessity to Cram for Exams | |
| The major reason I say 'studying is not allowed,' because I choose to use the term 'learn' and not 'study.' | |
| 12:40 Nov 2, 2010 PST | |
| Thinking; Expression Enhanced By The Power of Words | |
| Have you ever had a thought that you wanted to convey, and yet you felt paralyzed while searching for the perfect word? | |
| 11:05 Oct 26, 2010 PST | |
| Time Management Must Be Learned | |
| How many hours of family calmness, bonding and togetherness have instead turned into hours of family squabbles over schoolwork? | |
| 16:03 Oct 19, 2010 PST | |
| Overstressed Students Can Learn to Slow Down With a Simple 1-2-3 | |
| For many children, I think the first time that they hear the instruction 'Take your time' is when they get to school. Unfortunately, by then it's too late because the children have already been indoctrinated into the belief that unless they hurry | |
| 12:18 Oct 12, 2010 PST | |
| The Hurried Curriculum Leads to Later Difficulties | |
| In today's world, we are faced with the realities of a hurried curriculum in most schools. | |
| 10:35 Oct 5, 2010 PST | |
| Success And Work May Not Always Go Together | |
| The terms 'effort' and 'success' are taken to be synonyms, and logical extensions of one another, but this is not always the case. | |
| 10:53 Sep 28, 2010 PST | |
| Praise Promotes Learning and Helps Counter Cycles of Negativity | |
| In my work with children over the years, I have witnessed a cycle of disappointment and grief that leads to the lack of what I call an 'I can do' attitude. | |
| 07:56 Sep 21, 2010 PST | |
| Turn High Schooler's Desire for a Job Into a Lesson in Real Life | |
| Stop for a moment and consider what message your child is getting about the world of work if the work produces nothing but disposable income. | |
| 12:29 Sep 14, 2010 PST | |
| Spelling Problem Parent's to Address; Child Needs Self-Study Regimen | |
| Learning weekly spelling words is a great way to begin independent learning | |
| 08:53 Sep 7, 2010 PST | |
| New School Year Means Lots to Get Used To | |
| The transition to a new work environment can be scary for children | |
| 10:38 Aug 31, 2010 PST | |
| Explore Other Possibilities Before Accepting An ADD/ADHD Diagnosis | |
| Many parents and doctors place great -almost sole- confidence on the label ADD/ADHD and on medication for Attention Deficit Disorder. | |
| 13:39 Aug 24, 2010 PST | |
| Understanding Working Capacity is The Key to Self-Reliance | |
| As our children go from grade to grade, both the amount and the complexity of what they will be asked to complete and learn will increase. | |
| 07:57 Aug 17, 2010 PST | |
| Grades Show What is Left for The Child to Learn | |
| My son, Sam, is in second grade. As bad as this may sound he has been tutored every summer and school year since junior kindergarten (which he went through twice). His teachers all believe he has an attention problem. | |
| 06:32 Aug 10, 2010 PST | |
| Instructions For Kids are Sometimes Not as Simple as They Seem | |
| It is easy to confuse hearing and listening. While your child may be hear¬ing your instructions, that does not mean they have learned to add the mindfulness and attention required for listening. | |
| 09:39 Aug 3, 2010 PST | |
| Don't Judge New Toys in Yesterday's Context | |
| In today's world, leaping ahead is more important than waiting. Engineers rely on computer-aided design, doctors are ever more dependent on diagnostic technology, and educational institutions are becoming increasingly dependant on the Internet and | |
| 09:07 Jul 27, 2010 PST | |
| Parents Should Set Rules to Help Child Enjoy 'homebody' Days | |
| Many adults wait until middle age to learn that fulfilling the need for personal and private time - and space - is OK | |
| 12:17 Jul 20, 2010 PST | |
| Emphasize Gains, Losses in Child's Approach to Tasks | |
| It is common for parents to use a system of punishments and rewards when they are dealing with their children. | |
| 06:36 Jul 13, 2010 PST | |
| Let Children Resolve Boredom Alone | |
| Children are trained by school to have decisions about what to do next mapped out for them. The freedom to choose what to do is not a skill schools tend to include in their curriculums. | |
| 12:55 Jul 6, 2010 PST | |
| Time is Life: Personal Calendars Help a Child Develop Responsibility | |
| For a child, chores and responsibilities can make a long summer seem very short - so it is a great time to learn how to manage time and develop responsibility while still leaving plenty of time for summer fun. | |
| 09:09 Jun 29, 2010 PST | |
| Don't Cram Facts Down a Child's Throat; Use Real Life Context for Learning | |
| With increased pressure from society to teach more and teach it sooner, schools are changing so rapidly that it's no longer a simple comparison between the education of our generation and of our children's. | |
| 07:21 Jun 22, 2010 PST | |
| How You Answer Your Children's Questions Will Help in School | |
| Reading can be broken into two main components. Mechanical reading, which is emphasized in the classroom is one and the other, easily assumed or often overlooked, is meaningful reading. | |
| 11:30 Jun 15, 2010 PST | |
| Home Alone During Summer Break: Trust Imperative for a Child to Grow Up | |
| Parents today are being steadily pulled and pushed toward parenting with fear. Fear for our child's safety and wellbeing is a strong pull. | |
| 10:13 Jun 8, 2010 PST | |
| Adapting to Summer Experiences, Children Will Change | |
| For many children, summer vacation means the chance to travel, often without parents and siblings. | |
| 13:54 Jun 1, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Seniors, graduation NEVER ends; parents are shocked | |
| It's a magic time of year for seniors and their parents - proms, parties, celebrations, and caps and gowns. It's senioritis in full bloom. | |
| 10:08 May 25, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Study Skills Classes are Outdated | |
| The notion of study skills has its roots two or more generations ago when people went to school to prepare for a working world that required sameness of thinking: Many people carrying out the same job description with the same level of productivity. | |
| 10:38 May 18, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework®: Don't Ruin College Or Other Post-High School Chances | |
| Students must plan their high school courses and not rely on guidance counselors to tell them what to take. | |
| 08:46 May 11, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Teacher Works With Child as Long as Child Works | |
| Mother got big sales pitch from school about how each child is taught individually but is finding out this is not the case in the classroom. | |
| 09:48 May 5, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: What Seems Simple to Adults is Huge to Children | |
| Child thinks simple misunderstanding with the teacher about a kickball rule is life and death issue. | |
| 11:10 Apr 27, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Spring Break Breaks Child's Routine | |
| Spring Break and Daylight Savings Time mess up school and family routines but there are ways to get your child back into the routine. | |
| 10:29 Apr 20, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Eighth-Grader Probably Already Labeled Troublemaker | |
| As seen by the school system, this student is trouble, not doing homework, not completing school tasks, and being disobedient (talking) in school. Teachers and school officials have probably described this student as defiant. | |
| 15:37 Apr 13, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Writing With a Pen Spells Big Trouble for Children | |
| Problems with fine motor skills, such as writing, usually spell big trouble for children in school. | |
| 07:49 Apr 6, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Certain skills needed for taking the ACT test | |
| The ACT is a college entrance test, not an achievement test. Here are some key tips for preparing to take the test. | |
| 05:27 Mar 31, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Repeating an early grade does not mean failure | |
| Old perceptions and fears of holding a child back do not apply today. | |
| 11:42 Mar 23, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Mother wants to cancel Spring Break | |
| Just as adults look forward to an annual vacation from work, children anticipate spring break from school. | |
| 12:42 Mar 17, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: C's and D's Do Not Mean Your Child Is A Loser | |
| C's and D's don't automatically mean your child can't learn, is goofing off, has ADD/ADHD, or that your child is doomed to failure because of a C or D on a report card. | |
| 09:40 Mar 9, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Work Faster, Do More Causes Kids to Not Learn Basics | |
| Timing schoolwork has become so important to elementary school teachers, especially in first, second and third grades that learning has taken a back seat to how fast a child can do something. | |
| 15:19 Mar 2, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Parents Accused Of Being Unfair | |
| Child pitches a fit when parents refuse to allow her to stay up an extra hour to watch TV. | |
| 14:15 Feb 23, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: School Expectations Change In Seventh Grade | |
| School expectations completely change in the seventh grade, from allowing students time to develop basic skills to assuming that those skills are already in place - and in use. | |
| 11:17 Feb 16, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework:Neither teacher nor mother can figure why child can't spell | |
| Child does fine at home with Mom spelling words but has trouble spelling on tests in school. | |
| 10:53 Feb 9, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework®: Mom Making Child Needlessly Dependent | |
| Well-meaning mother is doing child harm by doing the child's homework for her. | |
| 10:06 Feb 2, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Son Won't Do Homework But Wants To Be A Judge | |
| Son will not do homework, has failing grades, had to go to summer school to keep up with his class and still thinks he can get into college and law school and become a judge. | |
| 09:18 Jan 26, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Problems Stem From Lack of Plan | |
| So much stuff is written about how money is usually the cause of a lot of family problems. Not with my family, not that we're rich because we're not. | |
| 14:29 Jan 19, 2010 PST | |
| Student Doesn't Need Occupational Skills - Yet | |
| My child is the most disorganized human being on the planet! I try to get her to write her homework and other assignments down in her notebook and to put all her handouts in one place and that has not worked. | |
| 11:37 Jan 12, 2010 PST | |
| Focus on The Work, Not The Grade | |
| My son brought home an F on a test, even though his answers were correct. I think he gave good answers; they were just in his own words, yet the teacher considered they were wrong because they weren't in the same words as in the book. | |
| 09:44 Jan 5, 2010 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Bah Humbug Unless New Year's Resolutions In Perspective | |
| I almost don't know where to start. We are exactly where we were this time last year. My son did not do so well this semester in school, even though he's smart. He didn't do well this past spring semester either or fall semester of last year. | |
| 06:06 Dec 29, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Student Fails To Recognize Strengths | |
| She's resilient, though and I know she's smart because I've met with the teacher and she says my daughter knows the material, she just wants to do things her way. | |
| 12:46 Dec 22, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Exams Create Parent-Child Stress | |
| My son is in the ninth grade and used to make good grades. I must admit, I used to be able to help him but I don't understand most of what he does in school anymore. | |
| 17:11 Dec 15, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: At-Risk Students Can Use Survival Skills To Succeed | |
| I am currently employed as an inner-city social worker and am also finishing my master's degree in guidance counseling. Soon, I'll be starting an internship in a high school guidance department. | |
| 10:44 Dec 8, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Mom Blowing Teacher's Comment Out Of Proportion | |
| Choir teacher replaces student in singing ensemble with another student and tells him not to cry to his mother about it. | |
| 13:39 Nov 30, 2009 PST | |
| College Student's Problem Not Lack of Concentration | |
| For some reason, I can't seem to concentrate and I'm really stressed out about this. As a result, my grades are suffering and I'm frustrated. I'm also worried about upcoming final exams for this semester. | |
| 08:14 Nov 25, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Achievement Tests Contribute To America's Decline | |
| My husband and I lived in a city where the public school system was terrible so I have homeschooled my children since day one. But he was recently transferred with his job and now we live in another state. | |
| 14:04 Nov 18, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Why Treat Children Like Dogs? | |
| I say no. He says yes. Would you tell us which way we should go? Should we reward our children with material possessions in exchange for good grades? | |
| 16:47 Nov 11, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: School System's Mantra of Equal Is Not Fair | |
| Our grandson refuses to do his school work and homework. We held him back at the suggestion of professionals and he repeated kindergarten. This did not solve anything. He still won't do his work. | |
| 10:53 Nov 3, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework:Take A Business Approach To Conferences | |
| Report cards are out and I have just received my child's along with a note from his teacher requesting a parent-teacher conference. | |
| 06:48 Oct 28, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: How Much Freedom Should They Have? | |
| Now she's a junior and she's bringing home even lower grades. For example, she brought home a D on an English test and a C- on a Math test (Math is her best subject). | |
| 19:07 Oct 22, 2009 PST | |
| Not Everyone Does It | |
| My 10-year-old wants to spend Friday night with a friend, but I have misgivings. The friend's parents plan on dropping them off at the movies. | |
| 08:25 Oct 14, 2009 PST | |
| Homework: It's the Result of Classroom Failure | |
| They may call it 'Homework' but only the name remains the same as 40 years ago. | |
| 13:35 Oct 6, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle Free Homework: Older Student Finds College A Challenge | |
| Your columns ring very close to home. I have worked very hard since I graduated from college. I have a wife and two children and what I thought was a great job. | |
| 09:00 Sep 29, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle Free Homework: Disrespectful Children Will Become Disrespectful Adults | |
| My 11-year old daughter gets straight A's in school and receives high marks for conduct. She is a perfectionist and obsessed with making the best grades and being the best athlete. | |
| 09:28 Sep 22, 2009 PST | |
| Son's Attitude Problems Caused By School | |
| My 10-year-old son is in the fourth grade. He has an attitude problem and I can't seem to get through to him. The teacher gave him two pages of rules to follow and he isn't following them. | |
| 13:02 Sep 15, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Parents Mean Well But Often Do Harm | |
| Parents trying to teach often leave children feeling alone, intimidated and humiliated. | |
| 16:43 Sep 9, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Child Sets Himself Up For Failure This School Year | |
| Parents often fail to teach children realistic goal-setting especially regarding grades and report cards. | |
| 14:32 Sep 1, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Commitment Is A Learned Behavior | |
| Allow a child to sample extra-curricular activities on her or his own terms. That flexibility is key to helping a child develop self-interest while parents help the child learn to manage and set priorities for life. | |
| 12:29 Aug 25, 2009 PST | |
| Old Style Discipline and Authority Won't Work In Today's World | |
| Schools still mimic the Industrial Era's discipline model. If we are to prepare children for a global world, we must teach collaborative decision-making, allowing the group to manage behavior. | |
| 15:03 Aug 18, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle-Free Homework: Viewing Public Schools as a Corporation | |
| Public schools should be viewed as corporations in which parents have purchased stock (in the form of taxes or tuition). Your dividend is the education, not just schooling, of your child. | |
| 11:40 Aug 11, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle Free Homework: Help Your Child Understand What Time Really Means | |
| Teach your child to understand time as space to get homework done without procrastination. | |
| 19:29 Aug 4, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle Free Homework: Teens Should Be Taught Pay Is Not For Pleasure | |
| Teenagers who work should be encouraged to contribute something from their paychecks - even a dollar - to cover basic living expenses first before leaping to pleasure purchases. | |
| 15:48 Jul 28, 2009 PST | |
| Hassle Free Homework: Get Ready To Go Back To School, Kids | |
| Children may be grieving over the loss of summer freedom but here's a strategy for getting them excited about returning to school. | |
| 13:49 Jul 21, 2009 PST | |
| Use Time Wisely | |
| It's mid July and my daughter is enjoying an unstructured summer, oblivious of the clock. I am trying to condition her now for the start of school, which is actually in just three weeks. | |
| 17:10 Jul 14, 2009 PST | |
| Sarcasm and Ridicule Teach Students a Valuable Lesson in Life | |
| Teachers are susceptible to stress and as such, often take it out on students in the classroom. Here is a simple method for helping your child cope. | |
| 11:52 Jul 7, 2009 PST | |
| Facebook Dangers: Parents Cannot Patrol The Social Networking World | |
| Facebook poses some dangers for children whose parents are not diligently involved in teaching them properly. | |
| 09:17 Jul 1, 2009 PST | |
| The Solution For A Disorganized Child | |
| Disorganized children have more trouble in school and at home because they keep waiting later and later to study. They become stressed and panicked over what they need to study for a test or the homework or project they must complete, all because th | |
| 10:56 Jun 24, 2009 PST | |
| Princeton Review Guidelines for PSAT, SAT, ACT Over A Decade Old And Inadequate | |
| The Princeton Review Guidelines for when high school students should begin preparing to take the PSAT, SAT and ACT college admissions tests are more than a decade old and inadequate for today's junior high and high school students. | |
| 15:49 Jun 18, 2009 PST | |
| Homework: Do Not Let It Take Over Family Time | |
| Parents, be vigilant. Know how much homework is being given to your child and the pain it can cause between you and your child. To avoid this from happening, set up some rules in elementary school. | |
| 11:30 Jun 17, 2009 PST | |
| Children Don't Develop At the Same Rate | |
| Regardless of how bright a child is, there is something that neither parents nor teachers are able to control - natural development. | |
| 05:57 Jun 4, 2009 PST | |
| Should Children Have To Wear School Uniforms? | |
| The 'Why' of school uniforms or a school dress code is more important than the clothes. | |
| 17:24 May 26, 2009 PST | |
| Homework: An unexpectedly low score; missing homework | |
| A low score on a major test in a subject your child has an A in otherwise may be a visual mistake and nothing more. | |
| 13:27 Apr 23, 2009 PST | |
| Too Much Homework Versus Not Enough - Wrong Discussion | |
| As a student, I could sniff out busy work in an instant, and so can most students. I despised it, and I will not subject my students to that form of 'edumacation.' | |
| 16:32 Apr 3, 2009 PST | |
| Most Homework is a Joke; Some Homework is Just Plain Stupid | |
| We're back from spring break and teachers are loading down my children with homework. This has been a problem all year, but the teachers are really dumping it on now. Is there any literature on this? What would you advise? | |
| 14:21 Apr 2, 2009 PST | |
| Bad Homework is a Symptom of a Bad School | |
| Homework once was beneficial for children. Instead of being what it should be, it has become a joke in this country. | |
| 11:49 Mar 20, 2009 PST | |
| Compton's '2 Million Minutes' Worth Children Watching | |
| '2 Million Minutes' is Robert Compton's documentary on the tsunami of global literacy being led by India and China. That figure refers to the approximate number of minutes in a student's life from ninth grade through high-school graduation. The | |
| 15:25 Mar 16, 2009 PST | |
| Old-fashioned School System Beyond Fixing | |
| Our educational system is doing the job that it was created for, that of teaching the minimum knowledge and work ethic needed for the Industrial Era. The problem is, we are far removed from the Industrial Era. | |
| 14:17 Mar 11, 2009 PST | |
| Home-schooled Child Has Problems at Private School | |
| Home schooling can be a wonderful experience. However, many students face difficulties making the transition to a traditional school environment. | |
| 15:37 Mar 5, 2009 PST | |
| ADD/ADHD Pills Can't Teach Difference in Reading for Content Versus Pleasure | |
| The ADHD diagnosis is often communicated to parents when their children become distracted and do not complete tasks or act impulsively and disrupt the classroom. | |
| 16:41 Mar 4, 2009 PST | |
| Brand New School Starts With No Textbooks | |
| Brand New School Starts With No Textbooks; Teacher Asks Parents To Donate Money. | |
| 13:31 Mar 3, 2009 PST | |
| DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Like Sisyphus Pushing Rock Uphill | |
| Michelle Rhee's attempt to change the education system in America is a Sisyphean challenge. | |
| 16:34 Mar 2, 2009 PST | |
| Daughter Wants To Attend Single-Sex College | |
| A woman writes Dr. Fournier for advice about her daughter who has announced she wants to attend an all-girls college. | |
| 12:53 Feb 17, 2009 PST | |
| New Education Secretary Should Change System; Dump No Child Left Behind | |
| Oxford and Cambridge ask odd, unusual questions of prospective students yet U.S. education leaders hold on to the old paradigm. | |
| 12:38 Feb 16, 2009 PST | |
| College Useless To Miserable Child | |
| College freshman attends where she's always wanted to go to, where father and mother attended, yet she is miserable. | |
| 15:15 Feb 11, 2009 PST | |
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