Again

“Again!” He pushes the book back into my hands. “Again, Ms. Sylvan, AGAIN!” We’ve read this one four times already today. “We’ve read this one so many times! Would you like to pick a different one this time?” “NO! THIS ONE! AGAIN!” Again. This one. Nothing else will do.     If you work with…

Read More

Empathy and Compassion Begin at Home

Your toddler hits and screams when he doesn’t get his way.  Your five year old often doesn’t seem interested in the feelings of others.  What can you do to help them develop a sense of empathy (trying to understand how someone is feeling) and compassion (empathy + taking action to help someone)?  Instead of talking…

Read More

Who's Bad?

From the desk Alice… I cannot remember how I came across the link but in an era of visual clutter on social media, this one stuck with me. I made a mental note to watch it and even tried to find it on cable so I could DVR the next episode.  After a little more…

Read More

Parent Involvement in Math

  “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.”        – Jane D. Hull Studies show that parent involvement has a positive impact on student achievement in mathematics.  To make the most of these home-school connections, we must make families aware…

Read More

Power of Yet

“There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet.”  – Shelia Tobias Research is showing that the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger and works better the more it is exercised.  Each time we work hard, take on a challenge, stretch, and learn something new, our brains form new connections and our…

Read More

Looking at Fixed and Growth Mindsets

What is a mindset?  A mindset is a set of beliefs about your intelligence, talent, and success.  It determines how you interpret and respond to given situations. Is there more than one type of mindset?  Yes.  After decades of research Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University determined there are two basic mindsets.  One is fixed…

Read More

What Really Counts?

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything we count, counts.”  – Albert Einstein We have become a nation of numbers – driven by statistics and data.  The fixation on testing, scoring, and ranking our young learners is not what really counts when it comes to learning.  Randi Weingarten, the President of the…

Read More

3 Ways to Build Thinkers

It was Socrates who said, “I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think.” Meaningful learning takes place when our students are engaged and genuinely thinking – not simply spitting back facts.  At ERG our focus is growing all learners, so we encourage students to question, ponder, contemplate, deliberate, reason, defend, and create.  Effective…

Read More

Influence

  From the desk of Carol C. . . “We change lives. We affect people every single day with the words we say, the looks on our face, the actions we choose, and the decisions we make.”  Joshua Becker Last week I read a blog by Joshua Becker.  It talked about how we influence people even when…

Read More

Well Families

From the desk of Carol C. . . Ahhh…the perfect family…all smiles and laughter  This is called fantasy land, and since perfect families just don’t exist, let’s aim for having well families.  This means making your family the best they can be.  We know healthy students make healthy learners, so it is important to think…

Read More