Children today are under enormous pressure due to their incredibly busy schedules. They go to school all day, five-days a week, homework to do after school, and any extracurricular activities they choose to do. Kids are busy, and they can often feel anxious about meeting academic deadlines and absorbing the necessary knowledge to keep up their grades. Top colleges are tightening their standards, making it more difficult to gain admission and making the competition unrelenting.
The good news is you can help. There are steps you, as a parent, can take to ease your child's anxiety about school while they are in the impressionable elementary grades. Giving your student a solid foundation from which to draw when they embark on the journey of middle school and high school.  
Study Area
A great place to start is ensuring that your son or daughter has a good place to study. This should be a place that is readily available whenever it is needed. Here are some other guidelines for finding the right study space:
• It should be large enough for your student to spread out his or her study materials and still have plenty of room to write
• There should be good lighting as it is difficult to study in an area that is too dark or too bright
• Temperature can affect your student, so their study space should not be too hot or too cold
• It should have a comfortable chair
• Supplies should be readily available
• It should be free of distractions, such as younger siblings playing or the sound of the television
Homework Routine
Routines are important for children, and establishing a homework routine can help lower anxiety by giving them the comfort of knowing what to expect. Here are some tips for setting a good homework routine:
• Have a designated area for homework
• Set a specific time of day for homework
• Establish a daily homework schedule
• Start each homework session by sitting down with your child and reviewing what needs to be done
• Discuss how long each subject should take and make a plan together
Homework Help
Sometimes it is difficult to help your child with their homework, not because the subject is challenging, but because when you are emotionally invested, it is much easier to become impatient and lose your cool. Our children seem to know just what buttons to push, and that can make it very trying to sit down and help. However, it can be done. Here are some tips for helping your child with their homework:
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Praise them when they are successful
• Try not to show disappointment
• Get excited and make it fun
• For younger children, use hands-on materials whenever possible
• Help your child make connections between what he or she is learning and what he or she already knows
• Keep it fresh and allow breaks
• Encourage your child's creative thinking
• Encourage him or her to be independent
• Build your child's self-esteem
• Speak positively about the school and teacher; remember, you are the teacher's partner
Test Taking Techniques
Many of us suffer from test anxiety, and our children are no different. They are constantly being tested over the material they learn at school, but we can help them feel more confident by teaching them tried and true test taking skills. Tests are a part of school life starting in Kindergarten, so it is never too early to instill these valuable test taking tips:
• Before the test
o Use a study guide if the teacher provides one, or make your own (your child can learn a lot by helping you make a study guide)
o Make a mock test and have your child take the test
o Focus on main ideas
o Don't cram, study a little bit each day
o Remind your child to listen to the teacher and follow the written instructions on the test
o Make sure your child gets a good night's sleep
o Have your child eat a good breakfast
o Tell them to do their best, but don't add pressure by setting specific requirements
• During the test
o Read all of the directions
o Answer the questions you know first, then go back and answer the hard ones
o Once you finish the test, go back and check your answers

Life is full of challenges and school is just the beginning. Give your child the tools to succeed in life and deal with what life throws at them. School can cause a lot of worry for students, but with a little help at home, your student can gain the confidence needed to flourish in school.

Those three words can send chills down a parent's spine. Perhaps it's because we look at the total amount that it will cost us.  I found this tip the other day and wanted to forward it along.  Just like our children need to "chunk" information to learn, parents, or  your teenager, need to "chunk" the cost of college.  $5 a day for 365 days=$1,825! That's the start of a great savings account for all the extras you need while in college, like residence hall decor, pizza, gas, movies etc . . .   Now that's a great New Year's resolution !

Attentions students and parents!  Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, semester grades for yearlong courses may be averaged in order to receive credit.  Information regarding the new policy  can be found at http://k-12.pisd.edu/Schools/pwsh/index.html or by calling Creative Tutors. This is a new policy for Plano ISD but other school districts in the metroplex have been using averaging for some time.

As Creative Tutors has listened to the frustration of students and their parents regarding their  struggles with the 4 x4  state educational requirements  and tutored those students to successfully complete these more rigorous courses--I wonder is this good for all students?  In years past, students were required to take four years of English and social studies, and only three years of mathematics and science. This means that under the 4x4 educational requirement  almost everyone has to take Physics, precalculus and more.   Do  you think that all high schoolers need to take  4 years of science and math  to graduate in the recommended or distinguished high school programs?

The former 24-credit schedule was less demanding which provided students more opportunities to push ahead in high school coursework and pursue early graduation or obtain college credit. By requiring an additional year of math and science – two subjects that are challenging learners across the state – the TEA has increased the rigor in obtaining a diploma. The move ensures that graduating seniors will no longer enter college after a one-year hiatus from both subjects, which officials hope will enhance the declining classroom performance of incoming collegiate freshmen.

But the move also leaves no room for error. There is no longer an assurance of extra elective periods where students have customarily had the option to take dual-credit courses, obtain college credit and graduate at mid-term. Instead, math and science are now required in two full-year blocks that were formerly electives.

And if students fall behind, the new schedule leaves no room to recover credit the following year – another traditional safety valve.

Throughout October, special events and announcements will promote keener understanding of learning disabilities. Adults are challenged to learn one new thing about learning disabilities each day in October.

 A learning disability is a neurobiological difference affecting 10 to 15 percent of schoolchildren. A learning disability can negatively impact a person’s ability to read, listen, write, spell, calculate, organize, remember or pay attention.  Many students with LD struggle mightily with personal organization of school supplies, assignments and workspace. Compounding that struggle is an inability to manage one’s time. Consequently, these students rely inordinately upon an adult or tutor to help them progress successfully through their assignments and complete them on time. Distractibility also comes into play, with learners bouncing from task to task and rarely completing one worksheet or book before moving on to another. The child feels like he or she is “always behind” and unable to catch up.

Throughout the month, let’s be aware of the socio-emotional challenges which too many students with learning disabilities endure. Classroom frustrations and poor grades deflate our children, with many concluding inaccurately that they are not as intelligent as their peers. Impulsive and overly-active behaviors can lead to disciplinary concerns, with the child’s misbehaviors then receiving more attention than the academic needs. Anxiety and even a fear of school can develop; some students with learning challenges become truant. As a result of lowered self-esteem, the student may choose solitude over interaction with others his or her age. In response, adults must create and nurture opportunities when the child can feel personally and socially successful. Parents and teachers should partner in promoting communication which edifies the child and acknowledges his or her strengths and talents.

ANTHONY R. KEMPER
Head, The de Paul School