Academics

One of the school counselor's main roles is to remove barriers that may be standing in the way of a student being able to learn in the classroom. At EMY, I aim to look at the whole child and see how we can improve their academics by improving other facets of their life. Every student learns differently! Below are some common interventions we can try if a student is struggling in the academic area.

•Strategies for Parents to Support Task Initiation•

Here are some activities parents and families can do to at home strengthen skills for task initiation:

• Create a schedule for chores and homework time (and make it a routine)

• Exercise or play a sport with your child before work time

• Create a daily chore checklist

• Use a timer to countdown time to get to work

• Work in short bursts and then give breaks

• Provide incentives after a set of tasks is completed

• Do challenging tasks together (i.e. cleaning a bedroom or starting homework)

• Give choice for how to complete the task or demonstrate knowledge

• Be explicit with directions and provide them orally and in writing

• Incorporate areas of interest into the content and curriculum (i.e. the price of basketball in math)

• Have the student answer the questions before starting: What am I doing? What do I need? How can I start?

• Practice problem-solving skills (i.e. “What could you do if you don’t know the answer to a problem?”)

• Set up a clean and organized workspace without clutter and eliminate or reduce distractions