Contact Information
| Phone: | (801) 235-1800 |
| Fax: | (801) 705-4068 |
| Monday: | 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM |
| Tuesday: | 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM |
| Wednesday: | 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM |
| Thursday: | 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM |
| Friday: | 12:00 PM - 5:30 PM |
| Saturday: | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM |
| Sunday: | Closed |
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Sylvan's tutors teach skills that last a lifetime. We help students learn how to become self-motivated and achieve independence; above all else, we enable them to approach school — and life — with confidence.
We also maintain Sylvan tutoring special offers and seasonal promotions that make getting your child on the road to success easier.
HOLIDAY HOURS
Dec. 19th-31st
M-F: 9:30 am-12:30 pm
M/T/Th: 5:30 pm-7:30 pm
S: 10:30 am-12:30 pm
CLOSED December 24th
Center Location
We are located at the University Mall Village. Our address is 1062 South 750 East Orem, Utah. See directions tab on the website for directions or call 801-235-1800.
10 Tips for Reading Aloud to School-age Children
1. Read aloud to children even as they learn to read to themselves. It is fun and encouraging for them.
2. Set aside a special time to read when you and your family are relaxed.
3. Children enjoy choosing the books that you read aloud together.
4. Children enjoy listening to both easy books and books that would be too hard for them to read on their own.
5. Choose books about a topic that especially interests your child.
6. Children often enjoy books in a series with familiar plots and characters.
7. Remember to take a book with you to read together when you go out.
8. Read poetry together. Many poems for children are short, playful, and build vocabulary.
9. Show children you love books. Keep books and magazines at home and let them catch you reading!
10. Visit the library often to choose books and enjoy programs together. Join Summer Reading at your public library!
http://www.summerreading.org/family_reading_fun.asp
Free Forgotten Math Seminar for Parents
Want to help your children with their homework? If you need to refresh your knowledge of the math skills your child is learning in school. Call for Free Parent Math Seminar. 801-235-1800
Answers to Your Toughest Homework Questions
Parents want their children to get good grades in school. Unfortunately, not every parent knows how best to help their child meet academic challenges, including completion of homework. So, how can parents maximize their child’s chances to develop the skills, habits and attitudes needed for lifelong success?
Sylvan Learning and National Education Association offer this tip sheet to help answer frequently asked parent questions.
Why do teachers assign homework?
- Teachers use homework to reinforce daily academic skills learned in the classroom, practice for tests, develop good work habits and critical thinking abilities, and encourage a love of learning new subjects.
- Homework is a way to supplement classroom learning and ensure students understand a lesson.
- Research indicates that children who regularly complete their homework, on average, build a better foundation of fundamental skills and obtain higher grades. By having this academic foundation and building a solid work ethic, students are better able to achieve academic success in the upper grades, college, and, ultimately, this leads to greater career options, greater wealth and lifelong success.
How much time should children spend doing their homework?
Educators generally agree on these guidelines:
- Grades K-2 – 10-20 minutes per day•
- Grades 3-6 – 30-60 minutes daily•
- Middle and high school – The amount of homework will vary by subject. In addition to daily assignments, older students may also receive long-term projects, such as term papers, that may have deadlines weeks away. The key for academic success for teenagers is organization and planning.
Discuss your child’s classroom homework policies with her teacher(s) and ask how much time each expects students to spend on homework nightly.
Visit the “Parents Resources” area on SylvanLearning.com or Nea.org/parents/parent-guides.html for free family activities and additional academic tips.
When I ask my child if he has homework, he says he’s already finished or none was assigned. How can I ensure homework is completed?
- Make studying, not just homework, a daily habit. Even if a student does not have an assignment due the next day, he can use that time to read, review his notes or organize his backpack.
- Ask younger children to show you their work so you can check it and help them correct their mistakes by working on the answer together. Ask your child to explain the reasoning for his answers. This develops critical thinking skills.
- Be curious, not critical. If a parent is too critical, a student may lose enthusiasm for learning. Kids want to please their parents. When they feel discouraged, they give up. Instead of judging your child’s homework, show him that you are interested in his schooling by asking questions. Turn homework into a nightly conversation.
How can I create a homework environment that is conducive to learning?
- Create a homework zone. Set up an area in your home for studying, complete with a dictionary, paper, pens, etc. Make sure the area is free from distractions and that all study tools are within your child’s reach to keep her focused on homework.
- Identify goals. Help your child set personal and attainable goals for each class and help him identify the steps needed to reach each goal.
- Set weekly milestones. For big projects or exams, buy a large calendar and help her set short timelines to ensure projects and studying aren’t left until the night before.
- Know your child. Because each child is unique with different learning styles and academic needs, it is important to personalize the learning process. Students may learn in different ways on different days. Visit the “Parent Resources” area on SylvanLearning.com to take Sylvan Learning’s “Homework Personality” Quiz to discover how to personalize homework time for your child.
- Celebrate your child’s successes. Congratulate your child for his effort and improvement.
A student will be better prepared for classes if parents and educators work together to understand a student’s personal learning style and use this knowledge to help the child excel in school and on homework.
GREAT READING WEBSITE FOR FAMILIES
www.bookadventure.com
Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by and is maintained by Sylvan Learning.
www.readingrockets.org
Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project offering information and resources on how children learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
www.rif.org/parents
Founded in 1966, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is the oldest and largest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. Find tips and activities for encouraging your child to read and have a great time, too.
www.pbs.org/parents
PBS’s site for parents with advice, guides to child development and other resources.
www.scholastic.org/parents/
Scholastic’s website for parents. Find information and activities here to encourage a love of learning in your child from a publisher that has created quality products for children for over 85 years.
www.scholastic.org/kids/
Scholastic’s website for kids with games, books and authors. Find out about your favorite series and authors.
Trouble in School
Do you know someone who is academically struggling? From spelling tests to mathematical word problems to soccer practice, students have so much to learn and accomplish each day. Some students feel that they will never understand their assignments and get discouraged. While help from a caring teacher and loving parents is enough for some students, others might need individualized tutoring to succeed. Sylvan Learning Center of Orem offers individualized tutoring to students from kindergarten to 12th grade as well as college level work and adult literacy. Here are 10 warning signs that your child or a child you know might need more than school and help from home.
1. The child has lost his/her love of learning or has recently disliked a subject that they used to enjoy. The child’s grades are slowly worsening in school.
2. The child’s teacher or school counselor recommends a tutor. The teacher might suggest this when report cards are given or a parent/teacher conferences.
3. The child develops low self-esteem and thinks negatively of him/herself because of his/her school performance. The child uses negative comments about his/herself or his/her work like “I’m an idiot. Math is stupid.” or “I’m dumb. I hate reading.”
4. The child seems to have an overwhelming sense of failure and fears criticism from peers and teachers. This fear is a terror that may lead to excessive unwillingness to go to school. The child has extreme test anxiety.
5. The child is struggling with daily homework and/or becoming rebellious toward schoolwork. He/she might make excuses as to why he or she is not doing assigned schoolwork.
6. Even though you have the skills to help the child with his or her homework, it is not always effective. The child may know how to push your buttons during your homework help session. You or the child just wants to quit.
7. A teacher reports that your child is misbehaving or disrupting the work of others, especially when he/she is struggling with schoolwork or having difficulty with tests.
8. The child is struggling with retaining information. This could be a gauge that your child might learn differently than he/she is being instructed.
9. The child is preparing for ACT or SAT and wants to improve their score.
10. The child or adult does not read as fast as desired.
Excellent Test-taking Strategies
Acronyms are an excellent guide to help students with multiple choice tests. Here is a great acronym that can be used.
P- Prepare to succeed
(Tell yourself “I can do it”)
I - Inspect the instructions
(Read very carefully)
R- Read, remember, reduce
(Read the question, remember
prior knowledge, reduce
answers)
A- Answer or abandon
(Answer, or mark with a symbol
and come back later)
T-Turn back
(After all have been answered go back to unanswered questions)
E- Estimate
(If you can’t answer, estimate)
S- Survey
(Check all of your answers)
Three Ways to Help Prevent the Summer Slide
Many children, forget some of what they've learned or slip out of practice during the summer months. It's hard to keep up a reading routine in a season packed with distractions and diversions. Try these strategies to help your reader improve their reading during the summer and beyond.
These suggestions will fit into a busy schedule and make reading fun!
1. Six Books to Summer Success
Research shows that reading just six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right – not too hard and not too easy. Take advantage of your local library. Ask for help selecting books that match your child's age, interests, and abilities. Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate kids to read, so find out what's available in your area. Also check our booklists for recommendations.
2. Read Something Everyday
Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Find them throughout the day:
- Morning: The newspaper – even if it is just the comics or today's weather.
- Daytime: Schedules, TV guides, magazines, online resources, etc. For example, if your daughter likes the food channel, help her look for a recipe on the network's Web site – then cook it together for more reading practice.
- Evening: End the day by having your child read to you from the book he is currently reading (one of the six books, above). Have him rehearse a paragraph, page, or chapter before reading to you. Rereading will help him be more fluent – able to read at an appropriate speed, correctly, and with nice expression.
3. Keep Reading Aloud
Reading aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read books your child can't, so she will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This will increase her knowledge and expand her experience with text, so that she will do better when she reads on her own.
Math Tricks to Learn the Facts
Article by Deb Russell
More and more in my teaching career, I'm seeing that children no longer memorize their multiplication tables. With the math curriculum as extensive as it is, teachers cannot afford to take the time to ensure that students learn the basic facts. Parents are partners in the process and will have greater opportunities for their children to succeed in math if they support the learning of the basics at home. Work with your children to ensure that they do not fall between the cracks. Help your children learn the facts. There are many tricks to teach children multiplication facts in mathematics.
http://math.about.com/bltricks.htm
Fun Sites for Math Help
These sites are listed on the Utah Education Network website: www.uen.org
www.aplusmath.com: Great site for any age! The site includes lessons, worksheets, and games!
www.figurethis.com: This site is great for the whole family! Click on Figure This Math Challenges for Families and complete a challenge together.
www.math.com: This is another great site not listed on UEN. The site includes step by step tutorials and some great games.
Think a book is too hard? Try the 5 Finger Test!
Readers can use the five finger test
to check their understanding of a
book. To check the reading level of your book, take this simple test:
1. Open the book to the middle and choose any page to read.
2. Read the page (aloud if possible).
3. Put out 1 finger for every word you do not know or cannot pronounce.
4. If you have 5 fingers out, the book is too difficult to read without help.
5. If you do not have any fingers up, but are reading very slowly and decoding almost every work, you will not enjoy the book.
Here is the finger guide:
1 Finger: This book is ok for you.
2 Fingers: Still good.
3 Fingers: Could be a bit hard for you to understand.
4 Fingers: Will be too difficult to read and understand.
5 Fingers: Choose another book.
http://bookadventure.org/ki/bs/ki_bs_5finger.sap
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