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Sharpen Your Child's Executive Function Skills This Summer

6/19/2024

As the summer is now underway, many parents start wondering how to prevent the dreaded "summer slide" in academic skills. However, focusing just on academics may mean missing out on developing another critical area – executive function skills.

What are executive function skills?
Executive function is the brain's control center that manages cognitive processes like working memory, flexible thinking, self-regulation, planning, and prioritizing. Strong executive function skills allow kids to set goals, ignore distractions, control impulses, follow multi-step instructions, and persist through challenges.

These high-level abilities are crucial for success in school and life. Poor executive function can lead to disorganization, failure to turn in assignments, losing focus, emotional outbursts, and difficulty making plans. The middle school years are a key window for developing and strengthening executive skills.

So how can you help boost your child's executive function over the summer? Here are some tips:

Find an Engaging Summer Program
Look for organized activities like academic camps, arts intensives, coding bootcamps, etc. Having to follow a structured schedule, abide by rules, and work towards goals builds vital skills. Bonus points if your child gets to explore a passion!

Designate Chore Time
Assign regular household chores that require planning, task initiation, time management, and working memory (e.g. meal prep, gardening, organizational projects). Guide them on breaking down bigger tasks into steps.

Encourage Goal-Setting
Have them set personal goals for the summer whether related to skills, hobbies, fitness, etc. Make a plan for how to track their progress and what resources they need.

Get Outdoors
Being in nature inherently demands focus, navigation, risk assessment and other executive skills. Try hiking, camping, rock climbing, exploring new parks, etc.

Play Strategy Games
Games like chess, checkers, Sudoku and certain video games promote strategic thinking, planning, prioritizing and cognitive flexibility.

Read for Comprehension
Guide them on strategies for active reading like predicting, visualization, summarizing and making connections. Discussing complex books builds comprehension abilities.

With a little creativity, you can easily weave plenty of executive function practice into your child's summer routine. These vital skills will pay off both in the classroom and in life!

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Make This the Best Summer Ever with Learning Adventures

6/18/2024

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Summer has finally arrived! The school backpacks are tucked away, and the grand stretch of sunny days lies ahead just waiting to be filled with fun, exploration, and excitement.

As parents, we want our kids to have a blast over summer break - playing outdoors, experiencing new adventures, and making wonderful memories. But we also don't want all that they've learned over the school year to go out the window during the lack of formal classroom routine.

The good news is, summer learning can be just as enthralling as it is enriching when you get a little creative! With a mix of hands-on activities, games, reading programs, and special projects, you can nurture your child's curiosities while preventing the "summer slide."

10 Incredible Summer Learning Ideas
Whether you're looking to shake up your usual summer camp schedule or just need some boredom busters, here are 10 fresh ideas for summery educational fun:

1. DIY Science Extravaganza - Leap into more advanced science experiments like creating a homemade volcano, crafting simple circuits, or cooking up batches of ooey-gooey slime.

2. Backyard Field Day - Organize relay races, obstacle courses, and sporting games to get those bodies and minds moving! Teamwork makes the dream work.

3. Grow a Green Thumb - Start a simple home garden and let the kids get their hands dirty learning to nurture herbs, veggies, or flowers to life.

4. Photo Safari - Arm your young photographers with a camera (or smartphone) and challenge them to capture textures, patterns, colors, and more around the neighborhood.

5. Craft Workshop - Tap into your child's creative spirit with DIY projects like dream catchers, homemade jewelry, birdhouses, and more.

6. Book Adventure Club - Establish a family book club complete with discussions, themed snacks, and fun rewards for reading goals.

7. Clue Crew Challenge - Put together an amazing race-style scavenger hunt filled with riddles, codes, and challenges that test their problem-solving abilities.

8. Piccassos & Pollock - Embrace their artistic side! Bring in guests to lead painting, drawing, sculpting, and collage-making workshops.

9. Backyard Blockbuster - Who needs a theater? Set up an outdoor home cinema under the stars complete with comfy blankets and movie snacks.

10. Virtual Voyages - Travel the world and explore amazing museums, zoos, and historical wonders through the magic of virtual field trips!

The possibilities for summer enrichment and delight are endless. With a blend of cognitive challenges, physical activities, artistic outlets, and opportunities to just be kids, your children can soak up the joys of summer while exercising their minds.

Looking for some extra academic enrichment over the summer? Want to avoid the summer slide? Give our team a call today!

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Don't Let All That Hard Work Fall Through The Cracks This Summer - Avoid the Summer Slide!

6/7/2024

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It's hard to believe another school year is coming to a close! For students and their families, the last week of school is always a whirlwind of activity – making sure final projects are turned in, enjoying end-of-year celebrations, getting yearbooks signed, and starting to dream about summer vacation plans. After putting in so much effort over the past months, the sunny and relaxing days of summer are finally within reach.

But for parents, the end of the school year can also be a time of concern – how will we keep our child from experiencing the dreaded "summer slide"? Over the long summer break away from the classroom, research shows that kids can lose a significant amount of the academic skills and knowledge they gained during the previous school year. On average, students lose about two months of math computational skills every summer. Reading proficiency can decline as well if kids aren't actively reading and practicing literacy skills.

That's why summer is the perfect time to consider enrolling your elementary student in tutoring sessions. Quality one-on-one tutoring can provide the regular skills reinforcement students need to avoid the summer slide and start the new school year ahead of the game. Working with an experienced tutor allows your child to:

• Review and solidify any shaky concepts or trouble areas from the previous grade
• Get customized, targeted practice and instruction based on their precise needs
• Preview and get a head start learning skills for the upcoming grade level
• Develop stronger math fundamentals, reading fluency, writing abilities, and more
• Build confidence, good study habits and a love of learning

At Total Tutoring, our summer tutoring programs are the ideal way to fill the gaps and give your elementary student a productive educational experience over the long summer break. Our talented tutors create personalized lesson plans for each student to build the exact skills they require. We make tutoring sessions engaging and fun to keep kids excited about learning.

Don't let all the hard work and progress your child made this past school year unravel over the summer! Help them get ahead and be prepped for success in the fall by signing up for tutoring today. Call 443-604-9358 or visit us at www.TotalTutoringServices to enroll and invest in your child's academic future.

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Sharpen Your Child's Executive Function Skills This Summer

Make This the Best Summer Ever with Learning Adventures

Don't Let All That Hard Work Fall Through The Cracks This Summer - Avoid the Summer Slide!

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