Parent Resources

Communicating with Your Child’s Teacher Summary

• For parents: interacting with teachers, self-awareness about involvement, overcoming isolation

• Coaching children on approaching teachers

• Student and teacher: handling adversity, improving poor relationships

• Keeping up with your child, talking about bad days

Establishing Routines Summary

• Importance of a routine for a student learner

• Minimizing distraction through routine

• Getting home and school day prep routines

• Rewarding good routines, encouragement and praise

• Adding and evaluating behaviors and time-management

• Structure, spontaneity, daily family activities

Helping Young Learners Read Summary

• Keys to reading, visual descriptions for young children

• English language challenges, reading challenges for ages 5-7

• Dyslexia, cognitive and physical impediments

• How parents can avoid rushing reading time

• Tablet readers versus physical books

• Keeping books in the home to promote literacy

Older Student Literacy Challenges Summary

• Reintroducing incarcerated youth to reading, fostering receptiveness

• Out-of-habit reading students versus lacking skills

• Student-selected reading material, finding your inner narrator

• Improving skills, reading practice, alleviating stress

• Avoiding the distraction of screens

• Struggling parents teaching students to read

Testing & Assessment Summary

• Meaning of assessment, beyond testing

• Recent changes in Florida standardized tests

• Missing skills affecting performance, test-taking skills versus base ability

• Teaching to the test versus what students need to know

• Advice for parents of gifted students who do not test well

• Bright Future scholarship, SAT, ACT, determining alternate paths

Students with Special Needs Summary

• Meaning of and correct way to think of special needs

• Ongoing accommodation versus developing skills

• Identifying/differentiating special needs from ordinary struggle

• Requesting evaluation, the process, next steps

• Changes for the student at school and at home 

• Handling difficult feelings and fear of stigma, embracing help and hope

Preparing Your Student for College Summary

• Advice for students entering college in the fall, prep tips

• When high school came easy, but college does not, anticipating changes and higher demands

• Lifestyle changes with living on campus, surprises, college freedom, social life

• Advice for high-intensity STEM majors, discovering the right career

• Office hours, building relationships with professors

• Understanding graduation requirements, college today