Listening Isn’t Cheating: How Audio Books Can Help Us Learn

Today we want to talk about a sometimes controversial topic, audio learning. There is a perception among some educators and parents that listening to audio books defies the point and is a form of "cheating."  In this article from KQEd.org, "professor Daniel Willingham, author of 'Raising Kids Who Read,' explains the difference in how the brain processes listening vs. reading" and why audio books aren't all that bad.

"Listening to an audio book might be considered cheating if the act of decoding were the point; audio books allow you to seem to have decoded without doing so. But if appreciating the language and the story is the point, it’s not.   Comparing audio books to cheating is like meeting a friend at Disneyland and saying 'you took a bus here? I drove myself, you big cheater.' The point is getting to and enjoying the destination. The point is not how you traveled."

At Linder Educational Coaching, we employ a variety of methods to help each child learn and succeed, including audio learning.We have students listen to audio books WHILE reading to learn pacing, help focus, and increase understanding especially for auditory learners.

Each person learns differently and needs to find a way to use his/her natural abilities in school. Our goal is to help bring out those natural abilities in every student. Each family calls us for a different reason, and we are very sensitive to the needs of each client. Some families want to make sure their child is prepared for the next grade, others call because their child has become detached from school and is doing poorly in multiple classes. We work with many students on specific areas that are weaker for them, whether it is language arts or math and sciences.

Contact us today to set up an appointment for your child! http://www.lindereducationalcoaching.com/

The Role of Metacognition in Learning and Achievement

Good morning,

Today we are talking about metacognition and why it's important for our children. What is metacognition? "Metacognition, simply put, is the process of thinking about thinking. It is important in every aspect of school and life, since it involves self-reflection on one’s current position, future goals, potential actions and strategies, and results. At its core, it is a basic survival strategy, and has been shown to be present even in rats."

Metacognition "can improve the application of knowledge, skills, and character qualities in realms beyond the immediate context in which they were learned." In turn this can help your student process information and skills learned in the classroom across other areas of study and life. "Transfer can also be necessary within a discipline, such as when a particular idea or skill was learned with one example, but students must know how to apply it to another task to complete their homework or exams, or to a different context. Transfer is the ultimate goal of all education, as students are expected to internalize what they learn in school and apply it to life."

To view the entire article click here. 

Here at Linder Educational Coaching, we understand the importance of metacognition and will work with your child to teach the skills needed to be successful in academics, from organization and study skills to memory techniques and test taking strategies.

If you want your child to get ahead and start this academic school year on the right track, contact us today! http://www.lindereducationalcoaching.com/

Back to school: How to advocate for your child without being ‘that’ parent

Good morning,

With many school districts around the metro area starting this week and next, we wanted to share this great article from The Washington Post entitled 'Back to school: How to advocate for your child without being ‘that’ parent.'

As we all know, "the beginning of the school year brings with it all sorts of feelings for parents. Watching those little people (even if they are taller than you now) head off to their first day of school, shiny backpack at the ready, is not an easy time to let go. If you’re like most parents, you’re wondering what actually happens inside those walls during the day. Maybe you want to talk to the teacher about your son’s propensity to forget his math facts, your daughter’s inability to focus on tests, your child’s issues with a former friend. But how does a parent let go and stay connected at the same time? How does a parent effectively communicate with that teacher who holds so much power, whose influence will form your child’s feelings about school, about learning, about the future?"

• Ask about the teacher’s communication style
• Remember, teachers actually want to hear from you
• Keep yourself in check, and know that teachers can help you with this

If you want to read more in-depth detail about each of these bullet points the article makes, please click here.  If you are looking for help getting your students on the right track, or want professional advice on how best to work with teachers and meet your child's needs, we are here to help! 

For example, your child may be best suited in our private coaching program. As you know, very rarely do teachers in school have the time or ability to focus on one student and understand the struggles and problems with that student’s learning method. Each person learns differently and needs to find a way to use his/her natural abilities in school.

With private coaching we work with students intensively, at least a few hours a week at first, to analyze what their current strategies are and how we can improve on them. 

Contact us today at: http://www.lindereducationalcoaching.com/ 

The Best Schools In The World Do This. Why Don't We?

Good morning,

Today we are sharing an article from npr.org entitled 'The Best Schools In The World Do This. Why Don't We?'  This article reveals three of the biggest takeaways from a report which studied some of the world's top-performing school systems, including those in Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Ontario, Poland, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan. The three biggest findings were as follows:

1. More Help For The Youngest Learners
2. Teachers Need To Be Better
3. Fix Career And Technical Education (CTE) programs

At Linder Educational Coaching, we work to assist your child in a variety of comprehensive methods to help them succeed in school. Each family calls us for a different reason, and we are very sensitive to the needs of each client. Some families want to make sure their child is prepared for the next grade, others call because their child has become detached from school and is doing poorly in multiple classes. We work with many students on specific areas that are weaker for them, whether it is language arts or math and sciences.

As individuals, those at Linder Educational Coaching have a collection of very different backgrounds individually with school and learning. As a group, we provide a wealth of knowledge, experiences, and ideas to every client. We love our job and the challenges and rewards it brings, and appreciate all our current and future clients for trusting us with their children.

If you are looking for help with your child, contact us today at: http://www.lindereducationalcoaching.com/

If you want to read the entire article to learn more about their findings, visit: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/08/09/488214332/the-best-schools-in-the-world-do-this-why-dont-we?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160809

The most common high school struggles and how we can help!

With summer nearing the end and many students about to begin their high school journeys, we wanted to talk about some of the most common struggles students can experience during high school. In an article published by The Study Gurus, students from all over the nation wrote in about issues which they feel are the most challenging. According to the article the vast majority of questions had something to do with motivation, which isn't surprising. The other most common issues are:

• Motivation
• Stress
• Time Management 

Here are Linder Education, not only are we experienced in helping students learn to cope with these issues but we have many success stories from students just like yours. One of the reasons for this is that we provide a comprehensive answer to families with students. We provide three main areas of service: private coaching, an after school program called The Hub, and workshops. In all of these areas we focus on organization, planning for the week and month, study skills, test-taking skills, subject comprehension, and independence. For many families, this is a welcome answer to the stress school has brought into the home. 

Our coaches talk with teachers to make sure our methods are effective and to gain an understanding of each child in and out of the classroom. We work closely with the parents to structure a study system that works in their home and with their family schedule. Every week, we work to assure all homework is done, tests are prepared for, and material is understood.

To learn more about how we can help your child visit: http://www.lindereducationalcoaching.com/