Some of our biggest accomplishments here at Walker Education are the past students of ours who have become successful and multi-talented adults. From our perspective, one of the best ways we can help maximize our students’ accomplishments is by teaching them what we know about long-term planning in a way that makes sense to them.
Often, the teenagers and grade schoolers we work with have a very different idea of what it means to be “prepared” for the next day than you or I might. We can’t tell you how many times we’ll work with a student in our first few weeks and hear, “Well, I don’t have any homework, so there really isn’t anything else we can do.” (I think they expect us to shrug and walk back out the door.)
In truth, we strongly advocate regular sessions because they allow us to target past material that might still be problematic, going ahead to lay the foundation for future concepts, or to focus on mastering the current lessons. (Yes, even if the homework has already been done.)
Many of our newer students link writing down answers for homework (even if they’re flat-out wrong) as having completed their full set of obligations as a student. And consequently, they’re often surprised when we show them that what they think they know is a long way from where they need to be when the test rolls around.
Within just a few short months, we help build the critical skill of linking the past, present, and future of the curriculum. Students begin to see how vital it is to raise questions about what was hard yesterday, and they show a greater enthusiasm for mastering tomorrow’s material if they know—as we do—that the effort will save them time and frustration.
Getting an A in any subject is about being realistic about what you know or don’t know at any moment, then developing a plan to tackle the tough stuff. If you’d like someone to sit down with your child and help them develop a better plan of action for their schoolwork, drop us a line. It would be our pleasure to show them how a little bit of long-term strategy can be a massive grade booster!
