The Mid Semester Check Up

It is time for Parent/Teacher conferences again. It is tough to find out or fix everything in the 3 minutes that are scheduled at many schools. It is really just a time to touch base or make an appointment for a longer conversation. It is important to come prepared to use the time wisely and open up lines of communication with your child's teacher.

Alexandra Mayzler, Director of Thinking Caps Tutoring wrote some tips to help parents during the conference season.

The first months of school are quickly coming to an end and parent/teacher meetings are upon us. Now is a great time to take a moment to speak to your child about how far he or she has come since the beginning of school, and where he or she hopes to be in the middle of the year and at the end of the year. Rather than wait for the first report card to come and indicate your child's progress, take time to talk about what your child wanted to accomplish and evaluate how the year is going in terms of both strengths and weaknesses. Looking back at the first few months of school will help everyone gain a better perspective of the techniques used and make any necessary adjustments. Here are some ideas about how to start the conversation:

1. Parent/Student Conference - before you sign up for the parent/teacher conferences, let your child know that you'll be attending the conference. Discuss why you're attending so that your child sees your commitment to his or her education. Ask your child how school is going and what he or she believes will be discussed at the conference. Have your child make a list of comments that he thinks the teacher will address. Together, consider academic highlights and challenges that your child is experiencing.

2. Homework Check In - ask your child how he or she feels about the homework process. Is your child able to complete the assignments? Does he or she have trouble remembering assignments or materials? Does your child feel comfortable about the amount of time spent on the homework? Do you? Pin-point any trouble spots with organization and time management.

3. Multiple Choice, Bubbles, Essays: Tests - talk to your child about his or her test preparation techniques. How is your child studying for different tests? Does he or she feel prepared when sitting down for a test and is he or she often surprised by the grades? Discuss test anxiety and ways to alleviate test day stress. I f your child feels uncomfortable with the test process, evalutate whether there is trouble understanding teh concepts or if test prep strategies need some tweaking.

The conversation should help you and your child establish an understanding of strengths and weaknesses. It is important to highlight the ways that your child is making progress. Don't spend too much time worrying about the errors, but instead focus on the outlook and how to improve the weaknesses. Use the mid-semester to review the origional goals and make any adjustments for the rest of the year.

Thanks Alexandra!

Parents of NY Teens

I follow the neighborhood yahoo groups of parents of young children to answer questions about nursery and elementary school, but I occasionally yearn for a group of older parents. I need friends who will talk to me about tutors and teen break ups and how to handle the coed sleepover. I have been an avid member of the yahoo group, parentsofnyteens. It is smallish and chocked full of great parents that I actually know, who are funny and generous and very, very supportive.

Just two days ago, Rachel, the moderator, did us all a wonderful service and started the Parents of NY Teens blog where she is compiling information and resources that the yahoo group members have been supplying.

Now a place for us to go! - to find about the emotions and college tours and ...(a couple of months ago there was a lively discussion on the yahoo group about how to inform your son that it was time to take a shower). I recommend that you sign up for the group, and use the information on the blog early and often!

International School of Brooklyn and Dual Language at PS 84

It is a big news day for you language immersion and dual language fans!
The International School of Brooklyn which is an independent school , (currently nursery through 3rd grade) has a language immersion program in Spanish and French is moving to a big new location. They will be moving their whole school to a former Catholic School building in Carroll Gardens next year. The new location will triple their current space and allow them to launch their middle school in 2012. They anticipate almost doubling their enrollment for the 2010 school year.

Are you interested in Dual Language Spanish or Dual Language French in a public school?
Check out PS 84 in Williamsburg. Not only do they have a new principal, Jake Hobson, they have just announced that next year they will be rolling out a new dual language French program to join their Spanish program. A large number of local families have been working to organize this program over the last year.

They will have a meeting for parents on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6pm at the school (wine and cheese courtesy of the French Embassy).

They will also be screening a French cartoon + snacks on Sat. Oct. 24 at 11am. Bring the kids and tell your friends to show local support for this great new neighborhood program. Everyone is welcome.
RSVP frenchinwillburg@gmail.com

Sunset Park HS campus

I just got back from touring the Sunset Park HS building.
It is everything that you would hope it would be, spacious, light, and beautiful. Three schools are housed there right now, Sunset Park HS which will grow at capacity to 1600 students (currently with a 9th grade), Brooklyn Prospect Charter (currently with a 6th grade) which will be housed there for two years before they find their permanent home and The Lillian Rashkis School, a district 75 program. I would recommend that all parents of 5th and 8th graders make time to tour the appropriate program housed in this building. They are worth a look.

There is a community barbecue celebrating the opening of Sunset Park HS tonight, Wed. between 5-8pm
The school is located at 35th St. between 3rd and 4th Ave.
Meet the administrators, teachers and students and tour the building.

Prospect Park West Contest Winners

Congratulations Amy and Roberta you won! My husband tried to enter.
His entry:
"Name of your child's current school: Peter Stuyvesant HS
Thing you love: Go Peg Legs! (that is really the name of the football team)
One challenge that the school faces: The spelling of its name...does it end in 'ant' ,'ent', 'end'?
Keep that book in the family!"
I have disqualified him and he is not allowed to read the book. He thinks that "Sex in the City" is a documentary and he would never be able to do his coop sift in peace again.
I think the new neighborhood parlor game should be who will play "you" in the movie. Heh, Sarah Jessica, I am not in the book, but I would like to be played by Laura Dern and my husband is Colin Firth. Your turn.
Thanks for all the entries.

My first impressions of Prospect Park West

I had a consult in Manhattan with a lovely family who is moving to the Slope so I finally had a chance to crack open Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn for a few quick stops on the F train. I howled through the first chapter, got off the train to talk about nursery programs and when I got back on the F the first thing I read was an abridged list of the schools that I had just recommended. Of course it wasn't accompanied by the well researched data and keen insight that I provide, but if I had been drinking milk at the time, it would have come out my nose. I am going to institute a new rating system. So far Prospect Park West gets 4 out of 4 individual serving organic, antibiotic free milk boxes.

The thing is that it has tons of realistic details as well as exaggerated characters. It is like having a famous author in the family. You were at the dysfunctional Christmas reunion. You know the people and what happened. You can gleefully enjoy the embellishments safe in the knowledge that as the boring third cousin, you won't be mentioned. We all know what we love about the neighborhood. We don't need to see that in print. It would be boring. Comedy is cruel and this is comedy set in a very familiar locale.

I have one request. I would like Simon & Schuster to come out with an indexed addition, "people and places that Joyce knows". Otherwise I am going to have to go through it with a highlighter.

There are still a few days left to submit entries for the "Win the Book Contest". Email me joyce@nycschoolhelp.com with the name of your child's current school, one thing you love and one challenge that the school faces. If your child is not in school yet, tell me what grade level you most fear and why. I will be picking an entry at random on Friday, Sept. 18 at 4pm.

Win a book!

I have a copy of Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn to give away. I am dying to read it. As soon as I finish updating all of my school data sheets with new progress reports (heck, they are all A's anyway!) I am going to take a "guilty pleasure afternoon" and crack it open.
Here's how to play:
drop me an email with "book" in the subject. joyce@nycschoolhelp.com
Tell me one good thing and one challenge that your child's current school is facing and tell me the name of the school. If your child isn't in school yet, let me know what grade level you are most anxious about. The deadline is Friday Oct. 18 at 4pm. I will pick an email at random and send you a book.

Thank you Simon & Schuster! I love giving things away. Feel free to send me more books anytime, and I will let you know what I think about the Prospect Park West in upcoming posts.

My kids are prepping for the SATs. Heh, Barron's or Princeton Review - they are happy to try out any test prep books that you are giving away!