Most of us are probably past the college scandal involving rich, well-known celebrities who cheated on college testing boards to get their children in to their preferred schools. But now, it’s not just the rich who try to beat the system by leveraging their child’s ACT or SAT scores. Increasing numbers of students are getting […]

These last few weeks, my frustration with our schools has worsened. As always, I’m deeply concerned about our broken educational system. But I recently heard from several parents that a prominent, well-respected high school in Oakland County is ditching textbooks. I thought that there was a misunderstanding. I thought that maybe they misconstrued the message […]

You know that your child’s reading skills are not on par with other students. You have been looking for a reading professional who can finally help her become independent in school, sans tutors or your help. Do any of these statements sound like you? ”I’m exhausted because I’m always helping my child with understanding the textbooks. “The […]

Over the past 10 years, I find myself endlessly ruminating about our educational system’s inability to help students become proficient readers— and my blood boils. Our country manufactures self-driving cars, yet more than  2/3 of US high school seniors are not prepared for college-level coursework.  Various studies illustrate that seniors are reading between the 5th […]

This past week I told a 12th grade 4.0 student that we would soon be applying our reading skills to her Advanced Placement book. Her response was the typical. “We don’t use that book in class and I already have a 4.0.”  So, I retorted, “Let me get this straight. Your teacher is providing you […]

Many often think of reading very simply as the act of recognizing words and understanding sentences within paragraphs. If that is as far as we get in our understanding of the intricate process of reading, we’ll probably get by in life. But, without high-level reading skills, including both inference and conceptualization, many doors will remain […]

I want to get top grades and test scores and be better prepared for college boards and college life. Which type of college preparation professional is right for me? Every student is different and there are many choices for boosting academic skills. There are also many types of professionals and programs available, depending on a […]

Have you ever challenged yourself with a big jigsaw puzzle, one with 500 – 1,000 pieces? The pieces all appear to be the same size (and equal in importance), though the shapes and colors may vary. Reading can be viewed in the same manner, with the pieces of the puzzle being the words within the […]

Did you know that some highly intelligent people often struggle with reading skills? The reason is that smart people tend to think in a unique way. They like to know all— every little detail— so they are great information collectors and memorizers. Where smart people get tripped up is not having a natural way of […]

Many parents and students alike share the belief that there are “tricks” to standardized test taking and they search for those programs that specialize in helping students who are challenged by multiple-choice tests. These companies that market to increase scores are excellent resources for helping students to alleviate pre-test jitters. In many cases, these programs […]