Children and the Challenging FCAT
By Ernie Bilodeau, Regional Director
Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services
As far as I can tell the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is here to stay for the foreseeable future, which is an acceptable reality for children who are fast learners in a full classroom. Most of them breeze right through the test. But, it’s not such a comfortable situation for students who learn at their own individual pace and could benefit from more personal attention than most teachers have time to give. As conscientious teachers strive to teach the necessary skills to succeed on standardized tests, some students struggle to keep up.
At Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services we hear repeatedly from parents about children who were successful and enthusiastic in a previous grade but are anything but just one year later. Some youngsters are trying to check out of certain classes altogether. It’s a cry for help.
read moreThe Numbers Game
By Ernie Bilodeau, Regional Director
Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services
When children are young, mathematics is a normal part of everyday life and actually pretty much fun. As an adult, you know that’s true if you’ve ever played grocery store with a three or four year old. They delight in making change or charging outrageous prices for a plastic eggplant. Making pancakes or cookies with a youngster following a recipe can result in a rewarding culinary and mathematics life-lesson too. And tossing out riddles like these to a six or seven year old can make that kid a stand-up comedian at recess.
Why is the moon like a dollar? They both have four quarters.
How many eggs can you put in an empty basket? Only one, after that the basket is not empty any more?
And for older kids, try this one: Why should you never say the number 288 in front of anyone? Because it’s too gross (2 x 144 = 2 gross).
read moreDo You Need A Math Tutor?
Problems with math usually start once children begin their formal schooling (textbooks, tests, etc.) If you struggle with math yourself, you know how difficult learning this subject can be for certain people. In fact, parents often unknowingly pass on their dislike for math, either by expressing it out loud or avoiding the topic altogether.
Once your child is introduced to more complex things like fractions, the divide between those who “get it” becomes even greater. By the age of 10, your son or daughter’s inability to keep pace with the class will become evident. Classroom stress, including timed tests, have been known to actually cause “math anxiety” in kids of all ages.
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