The summer slide (i.e. lost learning during the summer months) is a challenge in any year but untenable in a year of already unfinished learning. Some advance planning will enable teachers to avoid distributing the often ineffective but somewhat obligatory “one size fits all” summer packet. Instead, identify the cause of the unfinished learning and provide students with the differentiated learning plans that meet their needs. Retention For a reasonable number of students, it’s not the understanding that’s the problem, it’s the remembering. They also likely suffered with online learning that didn’t include the natural repetition of in-person classrooms. For this group, spaced repetition is the key. Create learning plans to review core content multiple times a week with flashcards, practice problems, and gamified quizzes. Make fall easier by including the… Read More

Defining High Dosage Tutoring Districts across the country are addressing learning loss by offering in-school “high dosage small group tutoring.” If you’re wondering what it is, or better yet, how it’s different from RtI or small group instruction the short answer is this: it’s the same. It’s the practice of teaching students based on mastery level, not grade level. It is also one of the most well-established and effective educational practices. Kudos for considering it. Despite the clear benefits, high dosage tutoring runs the risk of being another “great educational idea that failed” because schools over-simplify implementation. For high dosage tutoring to live up to  potential, schools must make an upfront investment in (1) optimizing groupings and (2) planning for differentiated instruction. Here’s how to deliver high-dosage… Read More

This is one of many exclusive Mindprint guides found in the FREE Parent & Teacher Resources section of the Mindprint website. We hope it makes your app selection choices much more successful. If you’re looking for an app to improve academic, cognitive, or social-emotional skills, sign-up for a free Toolbox with detailed reviews of over 2,000 learning strategies, apps, websites and games.                  

Time for reflection is one of the luxuries of summer. Reflection is such a crucial aspect of learning. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, most of us are guilty of not taking the time to think carefully about what we saw, learned and experienced and consider how it might help us grow or change. Those relaxing afternoons in the backyard or at the beach not only provide the opportunity to catch up on our reading lists, but also afford us the luxury of time for reflection. For parents, summer offers a particularly good time to think about our children. As you watch them in those carefree moments, what do you notice? How have they grown in the last year? What aspects of their personality stand out? Where are… Read More

Parents often ask Mindprint about summer activities and how to prepare for a successful school year. We know they receive conflicting advice ranging from “do everything you can to prevent the summer slide to “let your kids relax and be kids.” The recommended amount of structured learning depends on the age and specific learning needs of a child. For children who fell behind during the school year or struggled to keep the pace, structured summer learning can be an effective way to make the coming school year a lot easier. For teens, summer prep can alleviate some of the heavy burden during the school year associated with challenging classes, standardized tests and extra-curriculars. But it’s true that kids of all ages need time to relax, replenish, explore new… Read More

Read and learn how you can make sure your kids are prepared for a lifetime of success. Experts from the World Economic Forum believe that over 1/3 of the most important workplace skills will change over the next five years. That’s an incredible rate of change. While schools are focused on meeting these needs, there’s a lot parents can do to strengthen the skills that will be critical to their child’s lifelong success. Top 10 Ways to Nurture the World Economic Forum Top 10 Skills: Know your child’s stronger and weaker skills. Keep in mind that these skills develop at different rates, and you should expect a child to be stronger in some areas and weaker in others.* Focus on retention. A strong general knowledge base remains essential for critical thinking…. Read More

By Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff It’s summer, and the kids are restless, so how about adding a little PBL to your PB&J? Forgive me; educators love to toss abbreviations and acronyms into conversation. In this case, we all know what PB&J is so I’m here to explain your new BFF, Project-Based Learning (PBL). Project-based learning is a rather fancy term for describing a type of learning that parallels the tasks of real life. Edutopia cites experts, who say it involves: students learning knowledge to tackle realistic problems as they would be solved in the real world increased student control over his or her learning teachers serving as coaches and facilitators of inquiry and reflection students (usually, but not always) working in pairs or groups It makes sense,… Read More

By Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff Last week, we had homeschooling mom and blogger Cait Fitz, (My Little Poppies) share some great ideas for integrating math skills into your summer days with the kids at home. This week, we’re reposting a blog I did a few years ago with a math teacher who has “seen it all.” Many of her students, most of whom have learning differences, benefit from summer school, but you may find integrating math into day-to-day activities is enough to keep skills and motivation going strong. We hope you find her advice useful, and as with all things, frame it in the context of your own child’s needs. Questions for our math teacher:   1. Any thoughts you wish… Read More

Today we feature a guest blog from Cait Fitz, a school psychologist, homeschooling parent, and the voice behind the blog, My Little Poppies. We asked her to give us some pointers to make summer math fun. One year ago, we found ourselves suddenly, unexpectedly, homeschooling our eldest son. I knew it was the right path for our family, but the thought of teaching math filled me with my math anxiety of old. I’ll never forget the moment that those fears were squelched. It was Memorial Day weekend last year and we were spending the holiday at my parents’ condo in the mountains. Well, my parents’ place is on a small golf course – which had yet to open for the season- and… Read More

By Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff According to the nonprofit Reading is Fundamental, “Children who do not read over the summer lose more than two months of reading achievement.” And because reading loss is cumulative, the organization says that by the end of 6th grade, “children who lose reading skills over the summer will be 2 years behind their classmates.” So, what’s a busy family to do? One inexpensive, engaging and fun way to keep nonfiction reading comprehension skills sharp is to encourage children to start the day with a morning newspaper. A mature high school student may be just find reading the entire “A section” of The New York Times, but I’m not a fan of handing it over to… Read More