Tips for Helping Children Change Schools

Tips for Helping Children Change Schools This post is part of our 2017 Back-to-School Series. Throughout the month of August, visit the Varsity Tutors blog for back-to-school advice, tips, and tricks for all ages. Even at the beginning of the school year, changing schools can be a nerve-racking experience for families. Any new activity or scenario that disrupts a comfortable routine can be rife with uncertainty and fear. However, it can also be an exciting opportunity rich with rewards. Tips for helping children change schools can include attending back-to-school nights as a family, reading up on any necessary pre-school year material, and reaching out to other parents in your new school community. Changing schools is a shift for parents and students alike. Knowing how to handle this change as a team can help it go more smoothly. Here are tips for helping children transition into a new school, broken down for entire family units, parents, and students: Tips for helping children change schoolsfor the family Is there a back-to-school event hosted by the school before the year begins? If so, make an effort to attend it as a family. Your child may feel more comfortable in their new environment when surrounded by loved ones. Parents may also feel more comfortable seeing where their child will be spending most of their time. It may seem like a small step, but it can make a big difference. If there are siblings attending the same school, it might be worthwhile to have a discussion with them to ensure that family members will support one another at school. [RELATED: 5 Questions to Ask Your Students New Teacher] Tips for helping children change schoolsfor parents Starting a new school can be just as scary for the parents as it is for the children. There are many things to navigate, including: New parents New policies New teachers. Give yourself a leg up, and read all of the material provided to you prior to the school year. Having that knowledge will help you in the year to come. Are there any school parents you can connect with in your community or online before the school year starts? It may also be helpful to hear other parents perspectives. They may even give you some key tips. [RELATED: 4 Ways Parents Can Help Middle School Students Succeed] Tips for helping children change schoolsfor students A new school can be overwhelming, but it doesnt have to be! Youre in a unique position to make some great new friends and to learn a lot. If youre starting at a new middle or high school, you might be in the same position as everyone elseyoure all new, so embrace it! Everyone is learning, and its okay to ask questions. Its also okay to not know how to do things. It will get easier. If youre starting at a new school and youre one of a few new students, youre in luck. Students are usually happy to show you around. Take advantage of that, and have fun meeting your new classmates. Sometimes it can be hard to know what to talk about right when you meet new friends. But since youre coming off the summer months, it could be fun to talk about your favorite summer activity or a movie you saw. Also feel free to ask them questions. Sometimes making new friends can feel overwhelming. When that happens, it could be helpful to focus on other fun aspects of your new school. Its going to be great to learn new games at recess and to check out some interesting books that your old schools library didnt have. Maybe your computer lab has a fascinating game that you have never played before. There are lots of positive aspects to be on the lookout for at your new school. A few weeks before school starts, it might be helpful to begin getting into the swing of things school-wise. Start a more regular sleep schedule so youll be at your best come the first day of school. Make sure youre reading and brushing up on your math skills. That way, you can act confidently in your new classroom. And rememberyour new school is lucky to have you. [RELATED: The Ultimate Guide to Backpack Essentials] Finally, keep an open mind. You never know what will surprise you throughout this new experience. Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

LSAT Advice

LSAT Advice What is the LSAT? It’s the Law School Admissions Test, and it’s primarily used by American law schools to assess applicant’s abilities. Unfamiliar with American Law? No legal background? No problem! Contrary to popular belief, this is not a test on the law. It is a test of logic and critical thinking. Format of the LSAT There are 6, 35-minute sections in total (so it’s a long day!). They are as follows: 4 scored multiple choice sections 1 unscored experimental section (LSAC uses this to test out future questions) 1 unscored writing sample which gets sent to law schools with your scores. The scored multiple choice sections are made up of three question types: Reading Comprehension- short passages followed by questions Analytical Reasoning- popularly known as ‘logic games’, they’re a doozy Logical Reasoning- short arguments or prompts followed by a question Your raw score will be put through a bunch of crazy math and come out as a scaled score between 120-180. What’s a good score? Law schools love bragging about their students. Each school has a page (usually in the admissions section of their website) with a profile of the incoming class. This will have info about students’ academic and professional backgrounds, demographics, and, importantly, LSAT scores. For example, here’s Yale’s. The scores will be divided into quartiles (chunks of 25%). If you’re score is in the bottom 25%, that school is considered a ‘reach’. If you’re in the middle 50% it’s a ‘reasonable’ school, and top 25% (or above) it’s a ‘safety’ school. I would go so far as to say you should score in the top 10% or better to think of a school as a ‘safety’. When setting your goal score, consider all the schools you want to apply to and set a goal that will put you safely in the top quartile of at least one school, and middle quartile of the others. When should I take the LSAT? If you want to start law school in the Autumn of, say, 2020, your application will likely be due in the early months of 2020, and you can start applying as early as Autumn 2019. So when to take the test? The test is offered in June, October, December and February. June is prime time to take the exam for two reasons: You will have your score before you start applying so you can make realistic choices about safety, reasonable, and reach schools- no guess work. You have the opportunity to re-take or postpone the test if you want to for any reason (test score, bad hair day, natural disaster, who knows!) October is also a good time to take it. December gets tricky as you may want to have sent in some applications by then. February is sometimes too late and should be considered a last resort. So, if you’d like to attend law school in 2020, take the LSAT in June and/or October 2019. Do I need a tutor? American-style standardized tests will be very familiar to U.S. students, but are likely to be completely alien to other students. For this reason alone, having a tutor who’s in-the-know is invaluable. They can help you with the basics which an online course would assume everyone knows. The LSAT is also a strange beast, even for those familiar with standardized tests, because of it’s focus on logic. There are strategies and methods for taking the test that are not at all intuitive. A tutor who is familiar with the exam can help you use these strategies effectively, where reading about them online can be rather confusing (give it a go). Tutor or no tutor, studying for the LSAT will take a lot of discipline and working outside of tuition hours. Find great LSAT tutors on Tutorfair that can give you the support you need!