Ask the Parent Coach: How to Deal With Teen Attitude

  Q: I have a 13-year-old daughter and she argues with me about EVERYTHING! Doing homework, helping with chores, going out with friends, even which restaurant our family goes to for dinner. How can I get her to be more cooperative and easier to get along with? A: Many parents of teens find that

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The ABCs of Tutoring Success for Kids and Families in Greater Seattle

Whether your child needs support this school year to improve his or her grades, master a new subject or prepare to take the SAT, finding the right tutoring resource, at a fee you can afford, can be a challenge. Here are tips from experts on what’s available in services, how to shop different options

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Five Easy Questions: What You Should Ask Before the Sleepover

There were few things I treasured more than spending an overnight (they weren’t called “sleepovers” in those days) at the home of close family friends. After all, I’d practically grown up alongside their daughter. Together, we’d enjoyed beach days, tree-climbing expeditions and countless games of te

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Look Closely: Is Your Teen Using Drugs?

Ondria Leary’s son had long been energetic and popular. “Friends were always calling him. He was a drum major in the marching band, he was in drama,” she says. But, she recalls, midway through high school, “The calls started getting more frequent and they were shorter.” Why worry? The Learys lived i

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Homework: Set Your Kids up for Success

“Let’s start the school year right,” you tell your child each fall. “It’s time to buckle down and establish good study habits. For starters, lose the Xbox and the remote control. And while you’re at it, color-coordinate your notebooks, keep an assignment checklist and label your folders.”At least th

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Multiple Methods for Teaching Math ... And Still Counting

There are few subjects more apt to generate heart palpitations and sweaty palms than math. For many of us, math is a time bomb of anxiety — loaded with memories of standing before a blackboard, clutching a piece of chalk and wondering if spontaneous human combustion was a viable option. Today’s elem

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Who’s Got the Beat? Music Programs Enrich Schools

Photo credit: Will Austin As a child, Heather Arnold moved frequently, attending at least 12 different schools between kindergarten and graduation. Finding continuity in the face of so much change was difficult, but she found solace in the music departments at her schools. “By taking part in

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Test Stress: Getting Those Scores to Soar

Algebra quizzes. Standardized tests. SATs. Like it or not, tests count. Everything that goes on in a classroom is influenced by test performance, says Kathleen Vasquez, literacy and social studies program manager for Seattle Public Schools. “I tell underperforming kids, ‘Try your very best on every

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