Writing Archives

Common Application Essay Coaching

April 8, 2020 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

“When I was still small enough to fit in the sun-drenched space between the armoire and the couch, I sat cross-legged and spun the world.”

“There I was, hanging from the precipice, muscles trembling, fingers aching, sweat dripping onto my spotter twenty feet below.”

“On one hot night in a dark room at the heart of Boston, I became friends with 19,580 people in one single moment.”

What things do these sentences have in common? They all feel like the beginning of a story. They all are specific enough that readers start picturing a scene. They all make us want to keep reading.

And they could all serve as the opening line of a Common Application essay.

As with other parts of the college application process, the prospect of writing the Common Application essay can be fraught with misconceptions: applicants worry that they will need to compose a formulaic piece under enormous pressure. It’s true that it is a high-stakes essay, with a hard and fast deadline, that tends to ascribe to a few broad conventions. But writing it doesn’t have to be so stressful. And as demonstrated by the lines above — from essays published by Hamilton, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts, respectively, as exemplars from admitted students — Common Application writers can produce essays that are vivid, memorable, and a pleasure to read.

We find that the factor that determines whether writers have a positive experience in creating their Common Application essays—and whether writers ultimately are happy with the piece they submit—is time. Applicants need time to get to know the genre, whose pieces tend to mix narrative and reflection. Applicants need time to try out a few different ideas and to compose several drafts, understanding that repeatedly revisiting the piece is a part of the writing process. In a departure from the text-based and research-based essays that dominate high school writing, the Common App essay asks students to draw upon their own lives for material. Applicants need time to generate ideas and to consider how their experiences and passions can help them share a bit of themselves with readers.

Each year, the Common Application itself “resets” in early August, so we advise rising seniors to wait until then to fill out its typable forms; similarly, colleges tend to post their individual supplemental essay prompts in August or early September. But the Common Application has already released its essay prompts for the upcoming application cycle, making spring an ideal time to begin the writing process—particularly this year. In a season when everyone’s plans have been upended, starting the Common Application essay injects a bit of normalcy. It allows students some control while challenging themselves creatively, with no pressing deadlines. It is one of the concrete steps that they can take in shaping their future, an opportunity to reflect on where they’ve been—such as a nook on a living-room floor, a treacherous rock wall, or a thumping concert arena—where they are, and where they will go.

If you’re ready to get started with your common application essay work, we can help to support your process with writing coaching and supplemental college counseling. Please contact us to further discuss your planning.

By Elizabeth Walters, MFA and Private Tutor, and Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and CEP

Online Learning: Anxiety Management

April 8, 2020 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

As the coronavirus pandemic continues and we all settle into new routines, chances are that you and your family are experiencing some stress and anxiety around the state of the world and the uncertainty that comes with it. This situation can be especially challenging if your child is already dealing with high levels of anxiety and/or a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Plus, it can be tough to help kids stay calm when you’re not feeling so calm yourself!

But while online learning and guiding children’s education at home are certainly unfamiliar hurdles for many families, the good news is that they can also be great vehicles for practicing anxiety management. There are lots of helpful tools out there for helping manage children’s anxiety, but it can be hard to find ways to actually practice them in day-to-day life. By making the most of your child’s new at-home school day, you can build anxiety management into daily routines and help your child develop healthy habits that will be help them keep their cool for years to come.

Set Daily Intentions

Studies show that children tend to benefit when they have clear—and high!—expectations to live up to. That doesn’t mean that you need to hold your child to an unrealistically high standard, but it does mean that they should know what’s expected of them each and every day. This is especially true now, when the lack of commitments outside the home can make kids feel like the days are all the same and the stakes are low. In turn, that sense of not knowing what to expect can exacerbate kids’ anxiety.

Accordingly, one helpful anxiety management technique is to start each school day with a predictable ritual that makes it clear what the rest of the day will hold. This should include a few key components:

A quick review of what the day’s schedule will look like. What will your child do first? When will they take a break? What time is lunch?
A rundown of the tasks that will be completed. This might be a concrete goal (finish chapter 3, for instance) or a set amount of time devoted to a topic (read for 30 minutes).
An assessment of what supplies will be needed, and where your child can find them. Will they need a calculator, markers, or a timer? Work together to gather those supplies now so that your child doesn’t have to waste worry looking for them later.

Then, it’s also helpful to include a “bonus” in your child’s morning ritual, so that they—and you!—remember that the day can be as much about fun as anything else. Be creative here—what does your child enjoy and find exciting? This could be reading a bit of a favorite book, spending time playing with a pet, or checking on the plants growing on your terrace. Any quick activity that brings calm and focus to your child’s morning is a great way to start off the school day on the right foot.

Make the Most of Breaks

Having enough time to just breathe is a huge part of effective anxiety management. If your child feels pressured to focus and achieve every minute of the day, they’re likely to have higher levels of anxiety—especially now, when they might be scared about the pandemic and having difficulty processing their feelings.

That’s why it’s essential to take plenty of breaks during the remote school day. Depending on your child’s age and personality, you might schedule short breaks in between subjects, have one longer break in the middle of the day, or try a 50/50 model—for instance, 30 minutes of work followed by 30 minutes of play. Experiment with different break structures and see which one works best for your child. You can even use different structures on different days to break up the week; maybe one structure is for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while another is for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Beyond just taking breaks, it’s also important to build anxiety management tools into your child’s breaks as much as you can. They might just want to reach for an iPad game—and sometimes, that’s completely okay! But you’ll also want to encourage them to use more focused stress-busting activities when you can. For example, this might include:

Having a quick dance party to a favorite song—music and physical activity can both help relieve anxiety!
Taking a walk outside or even just sitting by a window for some fresh air and sunshine.
Spending a bit of time on a creative project, whether that’s playing with clay for a few minutes or coloring in a drawing page.
“Meeting up” with a friend for a FaceTime snack break. Kids need to keep in touch with their loved ones just as much as you do!

By being purposeful about breaks and what your child does with them, you’ll make anxiety management a regular touchpoint throughout the day.

Celebrate Small Wins

During these unprecedented days of remote learning, it can be hard to know whether you and your family are “doing it right.” But rest assured—there’s no one right way to handle this situation! It’s important to emphasize this point to your children, whether they’re used to getting straight As or struggling with the new requirements of online learning. Just by getting through the days during this uncertain time, kids and families alike are reaching a meaningful goal that deserves to be celebrated, and marking achievements (even ones that might seem small) is another great way to practice anxiety management.

To do this, try closing out your child’s school day with a rundown of what went well that day. These might be academic milestones, like a good grade on an online quiz, but it’s also helpful to guide your child in celebrating other kinds of success. For instance, did your child demonstrate any of these positive behaviors today?

Sticking with a challenging task
Helping out around the house
Caring for a pet or sibling
Coming up with a creative idea
Being quiet or focused when asked

Any chance you have to compliment your child and focus on how they’re succeeding is a chance to support anxiety management, so make this a daily habit to round out the school day on a positive note.

It’s an overwhelming time for most of us, and anxiety management is really critical. If there are any ways our team can help to support your family with online learning, school planning, or parent coaching, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

By Hannah Sheldon-Dean, MSW and Private Tutor, Brad Hoffman, MS.Ed. and CEP, and Faya Hoffman, M.A. and CEP

Online Learning Routines

March 21, 2020 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Executive Functions and Our New Normal: How to Make Remote Learning Work for Your Family

For students and parents across the nation (and the world), the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting education in a truly unprecedented way. With schools switching to various kinds of remote instruction and timelines for the future remaining uncertain, it’s very difficult for families to know how best to serve their children’s educational needs at this time and to develop new and effective online learning routines.

But while the situation is evolving rapidly, there are nonetheless some concrete steps you can take to meet this challenge and make the situation easier on your kids—and yourself. The first thing to realize is that you’re not alone in your confusion. No one is completely sure what to do right now, and that’s okay! Know that if you’ve got your children safely at home and their basic needs are being met, you and your family are already in a fortunate situation compared to many.

What’s more, this unique set of circumstances can also provide some surprising opportunities for growth that your child’s regular school year might not have. Without the day-to-day pressures of school, extracurriculars, and social commitments, you and your family have a chance to dig into some of the skills that can get lost in the shuffle. Think executive functions, organizational skills, building new online learning routines—all these are skills that are critically important to academic success, and transitioning to remote learning can be a valuable way for your child to practice them. Students who have been homeschooled (myself included!) often report that these skills are the key assets that help them succeed later in life.

Plus, when it comes to executive functioning, you don’t need any special background to support your child. For instance, if you’ve been fretting that subpar multiplication skills will hold your child back during their remote math classes, you can breathe easy; you don’t have to be a content expert to help your child get a lot out of remote learning. By shifting your expectations for the rest of this school year and focusing on the following tips, you’ll be able to support your child in building valuable skills and effective online learning routines during the coming weeks and months—even though the learning experience looks much different than we all thought it would.

Keep Things Predictable

In executive function coaching, we often focus on the value of routines, especially during the school week. You’ve probably experienced this yourself—for example, you may have noticed that your child does better in school or is in a better mood when they do their homework on a consistent schedule. The same thing is still true now: having a steady routine can help students feel balanced and give them a chance to practice being responsible and independent, even though the routines themselves will be somewhat unfamiliar.

As your family is building your new routines, including online learning routines, consider the following questions:

What does the school require of students right now? When are online classes, and what do students need to do to prepare for them? How about homework?
What extracurriculars can we try to maintain at home? For example, kids who are missing out on a school play can write skits with siblings, or kids who usually play sports can come up with warmups and stretches to do at home.
What hobbies does my child enjoy? Now is the time to give kids space for activities—reading for fun, playing games, doing crafts—that might not usually fit into their daily schedules.
How can we socialize right now? Consider FaceTime with friends and extended family, or visits to open spaces like parks where you can still practice social distancing.

With all of the above laid out clearly, you can piece together structured days that meet your family’s needs and give your child a sense of stability amid the chaos.

Plan With Your Child

As important as routines are, it’s also important not to force them on your child unilaterally. Helping your child develop a sense of ownership and responsibility in this situation is key to supporting them in building their executive function skills. Even more important, making sure your child buys in to your family’s new day-to-day life will give them a much-needed sense of agency in these uncertain times—and likely help you avoid fights and tantrums, too.

Where you can, give your child choices about how to structure daily routines and online learning routines. You might ask:

Which tasks would you like to do earlier in the day? How about later on?
How would you like to organize your workspace?
What would you like to do during breaks in your schoolwork?
What should we try to do the same way as your school does? What would you like to try doing differently?
Which tasks (or school subjects, or kinds of homework) do you want to try doing on your own? Which ones would you like more help with?

All these details will vary according to your child’s age, their learning style, and your family’s circumstances overall. And of course, not all of your child’s ideas and preferences will be practical. But even with very young children, it’s worth opening up these conversations and working together to make sure their voices are heard.

Prioritize Mental Health

Especially during times of crisis, it’s important to remember that your child’s mental and emotional health are even more important than their academic development. As you establish your family’s new routines, make sure that you’re paying plenty of attention to managing stress and giving your child outlets for their feelings. Taking some responsibility for these needs is also another way for kids to build executive function skills—maybe they can use their newfound free time to help you plan healthy meals, for example.

This will look a little different for every child and every family, but a few essential areas to consider include:

Sleep hygiene: As much as you can, try to maintain regular sleep schedules for everyone in your family. Just because you don’t need to leave home early in the morning doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to stay up late or ignore the difference between weekdays and weekends.
Physical exercise: Make sure your child stays moving! Go for walks or jogs outside if you can, take your child to play in an open space like a park, or explore child-friendly online yoga videos.
Nutrition: Kids generally eat at set times at school, and they should do the same at home. Make sure that meals and snacks are predictable and wholesome, and that kids don’t see being at home all day as permission to snack whenever they want.
Setting boundaries: As any adult who works from home knows, it can be hard to switch out of work mode when your workspace overlaps with your living space. Try to set up a designated space for children’s schoolwork and online learning routines, and then use that physical boundary as a way to mark transitions from work to play throughout the day.
Managing anxiety: Understandably, a lot of kids are anxious about the current state of the world. Acknowledge their fears, give them space to talk, and lead them in calming activities like painting, listening to music, or even simple mindfulness meditations.

The coming weeks and months are bound to be challenging for all of us, but by focusing on the unique opportunities of these very strange circumstances, you can help your child come out the other side with new skills that will support them long into the future.

By Hannah Sheldon Dean, MSW and Private Tutor, and Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Learning Specialist

Online Learning: Supporting Elementary Students

March 21, 2020 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic took us all by surprise. As we collectively braced ourselves for a different reality and adjusted to our new normal, our students’ school experience changed dramatically and shifted to online learning. Educators around the country took to the internet and quickly engineered a classroom experience without the classroom.

As we all swiftly settle into the world of online learning, it becomes increasingly essential that we equip elementary students with the tools and know-how to be capable, independent remote learners. Furthermore, it is pivotal that families have the tools and skill set to help support elementary students in that transition. For those only familiar with the traditional classroom experience, remote learning can be a daunting new world.

What is online learning?

Online learning takes on many forms and is largely responsive to the needs of the learning community–what works for teaching a group of fifth graders may be entirely useless during a private tutoring session with a first grader. The utility of each platform and set-up for remote learning is as unique as the students and teachers themselves.

Although new to many outside the educational field, the world of online learning was thriving well before we sat quarantined in our homes. Educators, school based and at-home, have utilized online platforms as a practical medium for teaching for years, often as a supplement to classroom instruction or a bridge between in-person tutoring sessions. So, while for many families, this may feel like uncharted terrain, most teachers and tutors have an expansive understanding of remote learning and have used it regularly to build their students’ skills and complement their curriculum.

We can classify nearly all digital learning as being either synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous learning allows educators and students to come together in real time to deliver instruction, discuss understanding, and provide feedback. Asynchronous learning enables educators and students to work on tasks at different times. Most traditional schools use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning to replicate the classroom experience and move through curriculum. You might find your student’s online learning experience to reflect this combination, with a menu of self-guided tasks alongside a daily or weekly expectation to log on for live instructional streams from their teacher or tutor.

Asynchronous virtual learning is an expansive domain, covering everything from self-guided video lessons to skill-based learning games. Your student’s teacher or tutor is likely pulling from a number of resources to create a full and rich online curriculum to meet their learning goals. Just like in a classroom, some skills, such as building multiplication fact fluency, might be best practiced independently in game play with digital feedback, while others, such as multiplying fractions, are best left to a guided, video-based tutorial.

What does online private tutoring, or e-tutoring, look like?

Similar to the classroom experience, online tutoring is responsive to students and their individual learning needs. Tutors still work to provide individualized, dynamic support to students, often using synchronous, video-based instruction as the platform for learning. Video conferencing platforms allow screenshares and digital whiteboarding, so tutors are able to provide a full range of interactive and visual support during their session. By integrating digital slides and whiteboards into instruction, tutors are able to recreate the physical session experience, providing immediate feedback on students’ work and interacting instantaneously in response to their questions, comments, and concerns. Online tutoring can also add value to tutoring in ways that are hard to replicate when working on paper and pen. For example, tutors can support students’ writing process in real time as they work through an essay, providing organizational support and feedback nearly immediately on a digital document. A session spent working on the organization of online documents and folders through screen sharing can help students maintain order and build independence as they transition to becoming full-time remote learner.

How can I support my elementary student’s transition to online learning?

The unexpected move to fully remote learning is a big transition for everyone. Students, educators, and families all play a role in making sure that virtual learning is successful and impactful. Families can support their young students by building technological independence and keeping structured routines in the days ahead.

Most elementary school students are still growing comfortable on laptops and tablets. Giving your student practice in the basics of navigating the internet will prove exponentially useful in the coming days. Parents can host their own child in an online conference call using Zoom, Hangout, or Facetime. During this time, help familiarize them with the basic features of the platform–how to join, hang up, make the screen bigger or smaller, and react to items. Your child’s tutor or teacher might provide a similar tutorial, but it doesn’t hurt to get a head start. Especially with younger students, you may need to work alongside them in the beginning stages of online learning. But, fade that support quickly. Just because you can be there to help does not mean you should be there to help. Just like any other skill, gaining competence as a remote learner comes through exploration and making mistakes.

Routinizing the online learning experience will prove invaluable in the long run. While online classrooms and tutoring sessions might feel novel now, it is likely that students will be learning remotely for at least the next several weeks. Set a routine that works for your household schedule and stick to it. Allowing students to build their own schedule from a menu of necessities and options will not only provide them with agency during a stressful time but also build their capacity to manage their own time and tasks.

What do I need to make online learning successful in my home?

First and foremost, set up a permanent, designated learning station in your home. This should be outfitted with a Desktop, laptop and/or tablet, paper and writing tools, and any school books your student might need while working. If they already have a desk in their bedroom, make sure to clean off unnecessary materials or distractions before launching online learning. You may also want to consider having the workspace face a wall or set up a small privacy divider (easily made out of file folders) around the area–distractions are plentiful in a home environment and you want to minimize them.

It is also an ideal time to place an online supply order. Elementary school classrooms are well stocked with supplementary supplies and tools, ones that are often not present in the home. You will also want to invest in a headset with built-in microphone, if you don’t already have one. In addition to helping your student focus on the content, it will also optimize their participation in live sessions. A small white board and dry erase markers are also vital tools. They allow your student to show their thinking to teachers and tutors in an efficient way during live stream sessions. Writing paper, either with raised lines or traditional, is also essential. As students adjust to online math instruction, having manipulatives at home will also be crucial. Start with Base 10 Blocks, a Ruler, Fraction Circles, Fraction Towers, Wooden Geometric Solids, and Attribute Blocks.

And finally, the most important tool in this transition is your approach. Encouraging students to be flexible and adaptive learners on this new, unscheduled adventure is important. They will take their approach and outlook on remote learning from you. So, gear up, and lean in!

By Marisa Krohn, Ed.M. and Learning Specialist, and Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Learning Specialist

Optimizing Online Learning: Supporting Upper School Students

March 21, 2020 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Any new activity requires a little more time and attention, and the same is true for optimizing online learning. One advantage for students today is that most schools already use a virtual course platform for homework. When schools need to switch from in-person classrooms to online learning, however, new platforms may be necessary. All the change is disruptive, but it is possible to succeed with some extra time and patience.

The most confusing thing that many students face is the plethora of new small assignments posted online that compensate for the in-class tutorial. Every teacher is doing something slightly different to ensure that students still gain important knowledge while optimizing online learning environments. The nature of the course topic requires these slight variations in style and assignment. This is true in person as well, but online learning highlights these differences. So many differences all at once, seemingly on the same platform is why that sense of disorientation arises.

The following are some learning tips for optimizing online learning.

Start from the growth mindset that you can do this. You’ve learned things that seemed difficult before and online learning systems are no different. When you encounter a new online platform believe that by clicking around, looking for tips online, and using the help section, you will eventually be able to use it. If you need to set up a new system or connect a program with a computer tool, like a camera or microphone, no matter how disorienting it seems at first, remember that you can do this. Others have and you will too.

Anything new requires extra time. In the beginning, plan a set-up period to minimize stress about completing an assignment. This is especially true as you face new kinds of online learning activities. If a live presentation starts at 10 am on a platform you have not used before, log in fifteen minutes early to see how it works and troubleshoot any problems.

Keep a notebook near the computer (or a document in your files) to keep your log-in information and the specific steps necessary for each new system. Or better yet, make use of a secure password vault, such as LastPass. As your instructors introduce different online learning platforms and systems, remembering all the particular features to engage with the online learning will get overwhelming. Dedicate a page to each system so that you can add additional notes about the system’s features and utility as you learn how to use it.

Computers are filled with distractions that make focused time difficult. This is even more true for anyone who has ADD or ADHD. Pop-ups, updates, and notifications may be useful sometimes, but when trying to concentrate on something new, those reminders interrupt your thinking. Consider turning off automatic notifications when you engage with any online learning, including texting notifications.

For those unaccustomed to online learning, your mind is challenged to learn two new things at once. You are both learning the new course content and the new delivery system. This is tiring and remote education therefore often requires additional short breaks to let the mind relax. To optimize your success with online learning, the Pomodoro method can be useful. Set a timer for 25 minutes of work with a 5-minute break period at the end. Repeat this 3-4 times and then take a longer break. Try to avoid using breaks to search online or play games, both of which still make the brain work to solve problems. Stretch, knit, draw, make tea, do push-ups…find whatever amuses you that won’t tax your mind.

(TIP: a boxing timer app can be useful for Pomodoro method. It lets you set the time for work and breaks in your desired number of cycles. This eliminates the additional work of tracking a timer.)

The advantage and challenge of online learning is that it makes the student more responsible for acknowledging any difficulties they face. When something doesn’t work or you don’t understand, there is no instructor there to notice the look of confusion on your face. Recognizing your own confusion and learning to ask for assistance are the most important personal development skills that students gain in online learning environments. Instructors expect students to communicate more often in these situations. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, sign up for chat study sessions, and communicate what isn’t working so that you get the assistance you need.

Finally, a hovering parent can be just as disabling as an inattentive one, depending on the needs of the student in online learning circumstances. Some students thrive at the opportunity to be independently responsible. Other students need and want oversight and encouragement to produce. Also, different classes using an assortment of online learning techniques may require different kinds of support. To optimize online learning within the home, communication is key. Parents have an opportunity to show faith in their students’ abilities, but children also need to recognize when they aren’t succeeding on the terms they established. When a student is struggling with online learning, the student has a chance to self-reflect and consider what would help. Learning to communicate those needs are a part of the executive function skills that make young adults into successful citizens of the world.

The struggles we face optimizing online learning are opportunities to become more effective tomorrow. The challenges are real and require our time to learn and adapt to these new systems. Everyone needs to be patient with each other as we face this unexpected thrust into a completely online realm with online learning and remote work the new norm.

By Charlotte Kent, Ph.D. and Private Tutor, and Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Learning Specialist

Common Application Essay Coaching

Online Learning: Anxiety Management

Set Daily Intentions

Make the Most of Breaks

Celebrate Small Wins

Online Learning Routines

Executive Functions and Our New Normal: How to Make Remote Learning Work for Your Family

Keep Things Predictable

Plan With Your Child

Prioritize Mental Health

Online Learning: Supporting Elementary Students

What is online learning?

What does online private tutoring, or e-tutoring, look like?

How can I support my elementary student’s transition to online learning?

What do I need to make online learning successful in my home?

Optimizing Online Learning: Supporting Upper School Students

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation