Expect big things from your child

Every parent wants their child to excel in school with good grades, show respectable behavior and gain confidence to face the world when they are out on their own. Mine were not so different. I had two kids and I knew that they had shortcomings at school with some difficulty in studying certain subjects and finding the courage to say that they needed extra help. So I decided to get them enrolled for school tutoring classes which paid attention to their falling grades and helped improve their foundation skills with expert guidance in a friendly environment.

Improve your child’s basic learning pattern

Pinecone Active Learning Center in San Jose offers comprehensive programs for Math and English comprehension that is regarded as extra homework help for children in pre-school right up to Junior High. My kids have been in the program for almost 2 years and it has made such a tremendous difference in their confidence, leading to better understanding of concepts and good grades. Their standards and expectations for the children (and the parents) are high and most of the time they rise to the occasion. Their passion for the program and for the children comes across in so many wonderful ways. Pinecone Active Learning Center has played a huge role in the development of children’s education in the California Bay Area.

If you think that your child has learning disabilities, you can enroll him/her in this tutoring center in San Jose. Call (408) 270-4548 or Come visit our location at: 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, California, 95138. Visit the websites at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/.

Improve your child’s reading skills

Children with poor reading skills often receive poor grades, develop low self-esteem, dislike school and may have behavioral problems. These days competition is fierce and proficiency is expected in every child who strives to excel in school and college: developing reading skills, sound writing, accurate spelling and pronunciations is the base that helps the child learn different subjects in school and compete favorably in the job market. A parent always looks out for the well-being of their child and also tries to impart the best education for them. Children learn by imitation and practice. So creating an environment for reading at home and school is imperative for children’s education be it in pre-school or junior high. If your child has difficult in reading, you can enroll him/her in a school tutoring center.

Comprehensive reading programs

Pinecone Active Learning Center offers reading programs that includes an early comprehension series designed to promote reading for meaning. These beginning comprehension booklets provide a variety of exercises while developing new vocabulary. The curriculum continues with more advanced reading comprehension strategies that contains great variety in subject matter. An early start in learning and understanding grammar concepts and decoding words will increase reading fluency and improve comprehension.

To enroll your child in this school tutoring center, call 408 270-4548 or visit their corporate websites at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/

Overcoming learning disabilities

Learning disabilities are prevalent among 10% percent of America’s school-age population. The problems are multidisciplinary in nature where children have problems in academic achievement and progress and show an uneven pattern of development. This can be overcome, but requires that the teacher, parent and child be on the same page. The early signs of learning difficulties which can be detected are problems with reading, understanding math/arithmetic problems, writing, comprehension and reasoning abilities. If you suspect that your child has a learning disability, arrange for testing and evaluation to find out the degree of the problem. You can then think of enrolling him/her for extra tutoring classes, that can help in strengthening basics and improving grades.

Improving basics in children’s education

Pinecone Active Learning Center is a school tutoring facility in the California Bay Area which offers comprehensive programs for math and reading. Mastering foundation skills requires a lot of practice and hard work put in by the tutors and students. Pinecone Learning offers sequential programs for kids with learning disabilities with help and guidance from experienced patient tutors in a positive environment of learning and education. Daily work is tailored to each child and there will be improvement in concentration, focus and attitude if followed systematically. Tutoring services are free for the first week, so bring your child along and get a chance to observe the class and the program.

Call 408 270-4548 for an appointment or pay a visit directly to 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, California, 95138. Visit their corporate websites at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/

Homework help for math

If you are a student in school you will most likely need math homework help at some point. Students who are weak or harbor a dislike for the subject may need someone who can help them understand concepts, formulas and methods to make it easier when solving problems and achieving good grades. Many students find it extremely frustrating to master high school level math because they feel they aren’t mathematically inclined. Now, you can get the help and guidance you need to develop an interest in and mastery for this subject by enrolling at Pinecone Active Learning Center.

Get the right tutoring

This school tutoring center offers comprehensive math programs with basic algebra help and teaching methods that underlie the core competencies of the subject and proficiency in solving problems at all levels. Highly qualified and experienced Pinecone tutors encourage students to succeed in math by providing information and practice opportunity individually tailored to each student. Students are able to understand the basics and implement them in tests successfully. They also develop reasoning skills that enable them to think through their work, including word problems, with minimal help. This is the independent learning that is the basis of Pinecone Active Learning.

If you feel that you need extra coaching for math, don’t hesitate to sign up for the math program at Pinecone. Call (408) 270-4548 or visit their corporate websites at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/ for more information.

Excel in school

Hard work reaps rewards that help us set goals for the future. Every child faces problems at school, especially with schoolwork and homework. Strengthening the basics and gaining a better understanding of concepts from an early age, can help students do better. Why not get help from a school tutoring center that offers sequential programs for children’s education in Math and English? By getting extra help from experienced tutors, and doing the appropriate daily exercises, students will feel (and you will see) the difference in better grades, test scores and a newer self-confidence.

Sequential programs for Math and English

Pinecone Active Learning Center is a school tutoring center that offers courses in Math and English for students in pre-school through high school level. This tutoring is not just about doing extra exercises and burdening kids with additional work, but in developing their skills from the basic level until they are proficient in the subjects. By doing the center’s Math and Reading programs, students can develop a way of thinking that reaches beyond the subject and helps them in many other aspects of their lives. Pinecone will become a big part of the learning process – beyond a simple tutoring service. This center provides tutoring services in English to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar concepts, reading fluency etc. Math programs are designed to sharpen math skills, ensure concept mastery, build speed, accuracy and focus and provide algebra help for more advanced students.

Contact Pinecone Active Learning Center in the California Bay Area at (408) 270-4548. Visit their corporate websites http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/ for more information.

Homework Blues

Has your child been finding it difficult lately finishing her homework everyday? Homework and studying can put kids in a bad mood, not because they don’t like it per se but because they find it difficult to understand the subject and implement it on paper without anybody’s guidance and help. As a parent, you can only do so much and getting worked up with your child during study time is not going to solve the problem. With patience, empathy and planning you can chart out a plan that works for you and your child or instead you can opt for school tutoring classes that are designed to help your child enjoy studying in a constructive way without losing sight of the basics of concepts and theory.

Tuition and extra coaching for school goers

Pinecone Active Learning Center in Santa Clara County offers tutoring service for homework help in Math and English. Founded by Vivian Hobbs, this learning center focuses on providing comprehensive programs for strengthening basics in children’s education by sharpening math skills, improving vocabulary and teaching to read correctly with importance given to understanding concepts and theory in a constructive way with the help of experienced tutors.

Classes are free for the first week which gives parents a chance to observe the class and the program. Class hours are 3-7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To enroll, call (408) 270-4548. You can also pay a visit directly to the center located at 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, California, 95138. Visit the center’s website at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/ for more information or call (408) 270-4548 to enroll.

Help your child succeed in school

Did you know that what you do and say to your child can help them succeed in school? Getting good grades are of utmost importance but are they enjoying learning? Do they feel welcome in their school environment without feeling the pressure of fitting in and being accepted for who they are? According to research, children who succeed in school usually have parents and teachers who are willing to invest quality time and care for their education. Most parents are actively involved with their child’s education and ever willing to balance out their career with their kids. Some kids need a little bit of push to get them going in their school work, not because they are lazy but because they need some extra help.

Tutoring with expert guidance and care

If you would like your child to have some homework help after school hours, you can always enroll him/her in Pinecone Active Learning Center. This school tutoring facility provides active learning in Math programs and Reading programs where students are taught to master their foundation skills and improve understanding of the subject from the grass root levels. You will see immediate improvement in focus, concentration and attitude. Pinecone students get a 50%discount on additional tutoring services.

Visit the center’s website at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/ for more information or call (408) 270-4548 to enroll.

The Difficulty in understanding Math

Why do some children detest math? Is it because they feel bored of the number system with various formulas and concepts that needs constant practice? Children can take to Math just like “Ducks to water” if given proper coaching and encouragement to solve problems practically rather than just focusing on the theoretical part. For many parents, Math can cause a sense of fear and anxiety, as kids lose confidence with their ability to solve problems and grades seem to drop in every test. This can change for the better! If you feel that your child needs some Math homework help after school hours, check into Pinecone Active Learning Center.

Make numbers fun for your child

It’s difficult sometimes for a parent to teach a child, and that’s when a professional tutor comes into the picture. Not only are qualified professionals trained to teach in an effective, comprehensive manner, but they know how to make school assignments manageable and open new avenues to better knowledge and understanding of the subject. Fewer errors in calculations, sharpening math skills, neater writing and better understanding of concepts will lead to better grades, test scores and a happier child. Pinecone Active Learning Center is run by Vivian Hobbs who has remained involved with children's education and research on best methods for learning and teaching. This tutoring center in San Jose offers daily practice and mastery of materials, developing better study skills and increasing confidence.

To enroll your child in a math program, call 408 270-4548 or pay a visit directly to 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, CA 95138.

Improve your child’s vocabulary and spelling

Vocabulary and Spelling do not come naturally to a child. The academic progress of your child is determined by how well the vocabulary and spelling is taught and learned. These vital aspects form the base for the future. Parents encourage their children to pick up new words by reading books or by encouraging them to use the dictionary for reference. All this may lead to good habits, but is your child really understanding the pronunciations and recognizing words that could either determine or undermine their understanding of the story? This is a point to ponder, as many kids are crammed with new stuff in school they don’t even understand or are forced to learn.

A professional tutor for your child

You can improve your child’s reading comprehension if you take the step to enroll him/her in a tutoring center which offers comprehensive programs designed for each student’s needs and requirements. Pinecone Active Learning Center in Santa Clara County realizes the importance of building a strong base for children’s education right from the kindergarten level to high school. There are math programs, reading programs and general homework help with expert guidance in learning friendly environment. As a parent, you will witness immediate improvement in your child’s focus, attitude and concentration levels.

For tutoring services, please call (408) 270-4548 or visit their website at http://www.pineconelearning.com for more information. Their class hours are 3-7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Excelling in reading comprehension

A large part of our life is spent reading, if we just stop and think about. We read through kindergarten, school, college and work. The basis of reading and understanding vocabulary is strengthened at the grass root level. My daughter Shea needed some coaching during the early part of her school years, so that she could excel in reading comprehension and other subjects at school. Reading is not just meant for understanding the English language but is used as an active mode for teaching concepts and general knowledge in other subjects like math, science and history to name a few. So I decided to enroll her in a reading program that helped her improve her vocabulary and understand grammar concepts.

Improve with grades with tutoring

Pinecone Active Learning Center in San Jose was the place Shea joined when she needed some extra homework help after school. She is now a straight “A” student and is a star in reading comprehension at the 6^th/7^th grade level. Her writing is winning her recognition from the school principal and she has been chosen with a couple of other 4th grade students to a higher math level in school. Thanks to the efforts of her teacher and mentor Vivian Hobbs from Pinecone Active Learning Center, Shea and I are grateful that the reading program is impacting her school life in such a positive way.

If you have kids and would like them to learn how to read the right way and not just as part of a curriculum, don’t hesitate to enroll them in this school tutoring center. They can be contacted at (408) 270 4548. You can also visit http://www.pineconelearning.com for more information on admission procedures and class timings.

Does your child have problems in Math?

Many kids right from kindergarten and through high school have problems in math. My daughter Alyssa was no different. She never liked this subject and always ended up falling short of expectations. As a mother, it can get frustrating if your child undergoes some telling times in school, when grades are falling apart and confidence levels decrease with time. So I decided to send Alyssa to a tuition center which imparts specific training and coaching to help her overcome her fear of math and excel in this particular subject. I decided to enroll her in Pinecone Active Learning Center.

Get an academician to teach your child

This tuition center is run by Vivian Hobbs, a dynamic and enterprising figure renowned for playing a major part in children’s education in the California Bay Area. Pinecone Active Learning Center is known as a tutoring center which offers comprehensive math programs and reading programs for pre-schoolers and elementary-school students. After Alyssa joined the math program, she did so much better. She feels that she could never have reached this far academically if it weren't for the program and that it was worth all the time spent. This learning center has developed her math skills and also helped her discover a love for math. She is presently looking to pursue a career in related fields like business and economics.

If you say that your child needs that extra something to excel in math, you can call Vivian at (408) 270-4548 or visit www.pineconelearning.com for more information on other tutoring services offered.

The Kase for Saterday School

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on March 20^th entitled “The Kase for Saterday School”. The headline stated: “Kids in China already attend school 41 days a year more than students in the U.S. Now, schools across the country are cutting back to four-day weeks.” It went on to say that schools in China receive 30% more hours of instruction, Singapore classes operate 40 weeks a year, and Saturday classes are the norm in Korea and other Asian countries.

Charter schools in the U.S. such as KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program which has 80 schools around the country) understand the vital importance of extended instruction time. Middle-schoolers receive 60% more instruction time than public schools including 8-10 hour days, Saturday morning classes and abbreviated summer breaks.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that American youngsters spend an average of 7.5 hours per day using entertainment media which translates to 53 hours a week versus 30 hours in school.

Getting back the competitive edge

Adding hours or days to the school year might make an improvement, but there is also the problem of the typical school day in America. There is an enormous amount of time spent in a typical American school day on gym, recess, lunch, assembly, changing classes, homeroom, lining up for the art room, looking at movies, writing down homework assignments, quieting the classroom, celebrating holidays, preparing for plays, student drives, and on and on. Although these activities can be productive and meaningful in their own right, they don’t do much to enhance test scores, prepare a student for high school or provide the vital minutes that students need for practice to master concepts.

The Journal states that “Nearly every young American needs to learn more than most are learning today, both for the sake of their own prospects and on behalf of the nation’s competitiveness in a shrinking, dog-eat-dog world.” The nation’s competitiveness is not fairing well with recent international test scores which show about 90% of our states receiving D’s or F’s on the international scale. Until the government, the local districts, the teachers unions and the American families can agree to needed revisions in the length, number and content of elementary school days, families will need to provide their own resources for the added practice time and learning time for their students.

Pinecone Active Learning is one source for helping students truly master important Math and Reading Concepts. Children who find it difficult keeping up with their school work or need extra coaching with Math and Reading can enroll in Pinecone Active Learning Center. To know more about this tuition center, visit their corporate website at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ or call (408) 270-4548 to fix an appointment and discuss your child’s needs and requirements.

Overcoming child challenges

Every child faces some challenges in school and my daughter Claire was one of them. She suffered a massive stroke in which she had lost function in 2/3rds of her left hemisphere. The biggest challenge we faced was getting Claire into the general education kindergarten. Claire had trouble writing words and numbers, with difficulty in even writing her name. That is when we decided to enroll her in an Active Learning Center for Kids where special emphasis was given to Math and Reading Programs. Pinecone Active Learning Center in San Jose was the answer to our prayers.

Tuition Center for math and reading

Vivian Hobbs the founder of this wonderful tuition center played an important part in helping her develop skills in reading, writing and being able to understand pronunciations and numbers independently. With a lot of hard work put in by other professional tutors, Claire had developed her fine motor skills and cognitive reasoning. This was pretty impressive coming from a child with this kind of diagnosis. From joining the Math and Reading program, she continues to improve each day. Vivian was the main reason for her success and this goes to show that she is a wonderful advocate for kids and parents. I as a parent can seriously say that kids who find it difficult keeping up with their school work or need extra coaching with Math and Reading can enroll in Pinecone Active Learning Center. The results will speak for itself.

To know more about this tuition center in San Jose, visit their corporate website at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ or call (408) 270-4548 to fix an appointment and discuss your child’s needs and requirements.

Two Million Minutes and BASIS

Last year I wrote about the film Two Million Minutes -- the amount of time a student spends in high school and how an American male and female compare to those of India and China. The film was detailed in how the students spent their days, their study times, and recreation times as well as their approaches and attitudes about school and life in general. As you might guess, the number of hours of study spent by the Americans was far below that of the Indians or Chinese and the corresponding standards were much lower.

I have now viewed the latest film, Two Million Minutes – the Solution. This is an inspiring and hopeful film about a school called BASIS. The founder is a foreign teacher who noted that American universities are among the finest in the world, but our K-12 public system is a system of accommodation. She described it as a government monopoly that is disorganized – a safety net for the disadvantaged and a good system for the gifted, but nothing in the middle – no challenge, no teaching of responsibility.

This woman wanted to research the standards of the rest of the world and bring them to the U.S. She fought hard with unions and committees here but finally opened the first BASIS in Tucson, AZ. It is open to all students and average or even slightly below average students can graduate from BASIS.

The requirements of BASIS are rigorous. Part of the BASIS philosophy is “What can be brought down to the 8^th grade?” Algebra I, II and Geometry are required to go into 9^th grade. Ninth graders must have a minimum of eight AP courses. Pre-Calculus is taught in 9^th grade, Calculus in 10^th and the Calculus AP exam is given in 11^th grade. Differential Equations or Game Theory are options for 12^th grade. In general, all math courses are treated more deeply and with more repetition, with proper notation and vocabulary.

BASIS has four years of English and four years of Social Science. In English, the courses delve much deeper into Grammar. There is a minimum of three years of foreign language. Mandarin, Spanish, French and Latin are introduced in 5^th and 6^th grades. Latin is a big help for English Grammar.

BASIS requires three honor science classes and one taken to AP. Chemistry, biology and physics are taught in 6^th grade (Physics is the basis for much of Philosophy). Eleventh graders may graduate if enough credits and many will graduate with 11 AP exams. Twelfth graders can do a 3-month internship.

The teachers all have Masters and PhD’s in the subjects they teach. They must engage kids and encourage them. They both are and inspire students to be creative and autonomous. AP courses are divided into two years to make room for the creativity of the teachers. There is NO boredom and no wasted time. And…teachers are paid for performance. They receive bonuses for AP exam scores, for example.

The BASIS graduates have a 100% college admissions rate.

About the author: Vivian Hobbs

The Pinecone Active Learning Center is the brainchild of Vivian Hobbs. She has an MS in Industrial Psychology with minors in research design and mathematics. She has 30 years of experience in math and research, including operating her own businesses, one of which was a well known supplemental education franchise. She has always been involved with children's education and has visited Italy to study the renowned "Active Learning" Program used there. With this knowledge and an understanding of the problems faced in imparting education to young children, she spent years working with educators and colleagues to formulate a system of teaching using focused individual tutoring that would provide the right foundations for children and also be aligned to state school requirements. The result is Pinecone.

Sharpening Math Skills

Mastering math is essential for future opportunities in school and career. Your kids will need to reach a certain level of competency in math to take many advanced high school courses, to be admitted to college, and to have a wide variety of career choices. Here’s how to maximize their math-smarts.

1. Make sure your children understand mathematical concepts.

2. Help them master the basic facts.
Mastery of a basic fact means that children can give an answer in less than three seconds. Considerable drill is required for children to give quick responses.

3. Teach them to write their numbers neatly.
Twenty-five percent of all errors in math problems can be traced back to sloppy number writing.

4. Provide immediate help when your child needs it.
Math is one subject in which everything builds upon what has been previously learned.

5. Make sure your child always completes his math homework.
Doing math homework reinforces the skills your children are learning in class.

6. Encourage your children to do more than the assigned problems.
Considerable practice is necessary for children to hone their math skills.

7. Explain how to solve word problems.
To learn to solve problems, you must solve problems. Teach children to read a word problem several times.

8. Help children learn the vocabulary of mathematics.

9. Teach them how to do math “in their head.”
One of the major ways to solve problems is by using mental math.

10. Make mathematics part of your child’s daily life.
Mathematics will become more meaningful when your student sees how important it is in so many real-life situations.

Pearson education, Inc.

To learn more, visit http://pineconelearning.com/and http://www.mathtutorsbayarea.com/ or contact Pinecone Active Learning, call (408) 270-4548 or pay a visit directly to 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd #60, San Jose, CA 95138

Get involved in your child’s education

The most important tool you can give your child is education. If you want your child to succeed in school, effective studying methodologies and skills should be adapted by teacher, parent, and student. The parent and teacher play a huge role in developing good skills and study habits. In the midst of all this, homework comes into the picture – and it can often seem overwhelming. Plan out a schedule with your child so that you have ample time to help him/her with the writing work and foster other responsibilities. You, as the parent need to strengthen the core competencies of your child’s education, so that the basics are strong and study skills progress with every grade. If you feel that your child finds it difficult to cope, you could enroll him/her for extra school tutoring.

Help for school work

Pinecone Active Learning provides tutoring service in the California Bay Area. This Center for Active Learning gives children an opportunity to learn in a friendly environment where classes are conducted for math tutoring, reading fluency, homework help and grammar concepts on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-7 pm. Students also do daily Pinecone homework. If a specific subject seems to be a problem, you can talk with the tutors and get firsthand information on which program will be useful in the long term development of your child’s education. Apart from home studying, getting a little bit of extra help will increase your child’s confidence and improve concentration and performance in school.

To contact Pinecone Active Learning, call (408) 270-4548 or pay a visit directly to 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, CA 95138 to observe an ongoing classroom. You can meet with one of the tutors to discuss your child’s requirements.

Developing Reading skills

Does your child have reading fluency, or is there a problem with recognizing new words and identifying sounds/pronunciations? Reading does not come naturally to any child. It must be developed, and mistakes should be corrected at the base level so that the child can develop vocabulary and fluency in every passing grade. The earlier that parents and teachers correct miscomprehension, the faster children can learn to read with confidence and enthusiasm. With every passing grade, a child has to learn and understand a whole set of new words which primarily come through reading and comprehension. However many children with learning disabilities, find it difficult to keep up with learning and understanding new vocabulary. If you think your child needs some additional school tutoring that could help him/her overcome reading disabilities, you could enroll them in Pinecone Active Learning.

Teaching kids to read the right way

Pinecone Active Learning offers reading programs for preschoolers and elementary grades for a monthly tuition fee of $160. This school tutoring center was started by Vivian Hobbs and is located in San Jose, California. With caring tutoring assistants in a world-class friendly environment, strong emphasis is laid on mastery of foundation skills to simplify concepts and improve and strengthen basic language skills. Weekly Booklets are tailored to each student with a step-by-step reading program that enables them to combine phonetic sounds and decode words, improve fluency, vocabulary, sentence construction, and comprehension.

There is a discount of $50, for students who enroll in both math and reading together this month. To enroll, call: (408) 270-4548 for an appointment. You may also visit the Center’s corporate website at http://www.pineconelearning.com/ for more information.

Tapping into your child’s potential

Parent’s basic desire is to provide the best for their children. By catering to the needs of their child’s education, they feel that a good education has the potential to make their child responsible and successful adults. However, many make the mistake of misjudging their child’s true potential. If a child has the ability to grasp concepts and problem solving techniques quickly, they are termed as intelligent. If they posses some kind of learning disability, then they are termed as slow learners. The truth is, every child has the potential to excel in academics, provided he/she is given proper school tutoring or other methods of coaching to develop and improve their learning curve. This is where a parent should take responsibility in providing some kind of homework help or extra tutoring.

Homework Help

Pinecone Active Learning Center is a tutoring service center based in the California Bay Area. This Active Learning Center offers sequential programs, expert guidance and assistance from caring tutors in a friendly atmosphere. Daily work is tailored to each student, so the basics are strengthened, and there is immediate improvement in concentration, focus and aptitude. Tutoring services are explained and placement testing is provided for free so the parent can get an opportunity to observe the classroom, talk to the instructor/director and see the program firsthand.

Pinecone Active Learning Center is located at 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60, San Jose, California, 95138. Class hours are between 3-7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (drop-in basis). Call (408) 270-4548 for more information.

Improving your child’s academic progress

Teaching concepts can be hard, especially for the teacher and the student. A parent’s role in his/her child’s education is with the intention to provide the best, in terms of resources and guidance in their child’s school work. However, perspectives and expectations may vary between the teacher and the parent when it comes to the child’s progress. Additional variables which should be taken into consideration are the child’s interest, goals and aspirations towards the subjects he/she likes. In contrast, importance should be given to developing the learning curve and minimizing or eliminating learning disabilities during the early stages. If a child requires additional coaching or homework help in the subjects he/she finds difficult, then it’s best to enroll him/her in a school tutoring center.

A different kind of tutoring service

Pinecone Active Learning Center offers tutoring services for kids who need help in Math, English Grammar and Reading. This is an ideal ground where tutors, parents and children can develop a friendly rapport and destroy misconceptions about how education takes place. A progressive view on teaching, self-learning, independence and mastery can be replaced, so that kids feel more confident and comfortable in school.

Pinecone Active Learning Center was started with the sole purpose of introducing new methods and ideals in children’s education. Whether a child needs math homework help, reading help or learning grammar concepts, this tutoring center has developed a friendly, learning environment that helps children improve their grades and attitudes towards school work. Call (408) 270-4548 or visit www.pineconelearning.com for more information.

Hone your child’s math skills

Math is a subject that needs to be understood based on conceptualization and practical implementation of problem solving skills. When it comes to teaching your child math, the basics need to be mastered instead of undertaking mindless memorization of rules and cramming numbers and facts. The key is to provide help when you child needs it. To assist in math homework help, you can help out your child or ask your teacher to do it. Considerable practice is imperative as it helps your child grab the concepts quickly, hone their math skills and develop confidence in problem solving. But some children require more tutoring in math than what they normally get in school. For those kids who need some extra tutoring, you can enroll them in Pinecone Active Learning Center.

About the founder

Pinecone Active Learning Center was started by Vivian Hobbs, who has held research and math-related positions in Silicon Valley for the last 30 years. She is an enterprising figure who has operated two businesses of her own, including a well known supplemental education franchise. She is involved with the development of children’s education and has spent years studying and researching best methods for learning and teaching school children. So when you enroll your child in this Active Learning Center, you know he/she is in good hands.

For those requiring immediate tutoring in math, reading, grammar and vocabulary, sign up today by calling (408) 270-4548. You can avail a special discount of $200 per month if you enroll your child in math and reading together before Feb 15^th. So hurry and sign up today.

Helping your child learn to read

Teaching your child to read plays a key role in building character and self-confidence that motivates him/her to excel in school and set high expectations in life. Reading does not come automatically. There are certain stages a child must undergo in order to gain fluency and the independency to read without others’ help. The processes of “decoding” and “recoding”, for example, must be step-by-step, and the best time to help your child is at the pre-school level, when he/she can most readily absorb and develop these reading skills. Helping kids learn to read is not just about coaxing them to read each and every book, but sitting down and reading with them as children are good listeners. It is at this early pre-school stage that parents may discover a visual, processing or other learning disability which can be assessed and addressed to assure smoother progress for the child.

Learning Center for kids

If your child has some difficulty in recognizing letters or in pronouncing words, you can enroll him/her in Pinecone Active Learning Center, a tutoring service founded by Vivian Hobbs. The Pinecone Reading program, in addition to its solid pre-school program, is designed to promote reading with meaning, by providing comprehension booklets that help in developing reading fluency and vocabulary. Pinecone Active Learning Center is located in the California Bay Area and has other special programs to aid students in math and grammar homework. By offering tutoring service in all these subjects, the students can benefit from great variety in subject matter for each curriculum.

Call (408) 270-4548 for an appointment or pay a visit directly to 5988 Silver Creek Valley Rd. #60 San Jose, CA 95138. You can visit their corporate website at www.pineconelearning.com for more information.

The Quiet Crisis

A 1995 study by Lynch School of Education at Boston College showed 4th graders above the international average in math and science – but by the time they reached their final year in high school, they had fallen well below that average. Follow-ups in 1999/2003 showed only modest improvements. (www.timss.bc.edu). Alan Greenspan asked, “What do we do to [our student] learning processes that requires business recruiters to dismiss vast numbers of ‘educated’ applicants for modestly skilled jobs because they cannot write coherent sentences or add a column of numbers?” Greenspan went on to state, “One of the skills too many high school graduates lack is proficiency in math. It is that skill more than any other that is required to achieve skilled job status.”

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed by the President in 2006 has published its 2008 report. They found that the sharp falloff in mathematics achievement in the U.S. begins as students reach late middle school, where, for more and more students, algebra course work begins. Research shows that completion of Algebra II correlates significantly with success in college and earnings from employment. In fact, students who complete Algebra II are more than twice as likely to graduate from college compared to students with less mathematical preparation.

During most of the 20th century as the Panel describes, the United States possessed peerless mathematical prowess—not just as measured by the depth and number of the mathematical specialists who practiced here but also by the scale and quality of its engineering, science, and financial leadership, and even by the extent of mathematical education in its broad population. But without substantial and sustained changes to its educational system, the United States will relinquish its leadership in the 21st century.

There are consequences, they warn, to a weakening of American independence and leadership in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. We risk our ability to adapt to change. We risk technological surprise to our economic viability and to the foundations of our country’s security. National policy must ensure the healthy development of a domestic technical workforce of adequate scale with top-level skills.
But the concerns of national policy relating to mathematics education go far beyond those in our society who will become scientists or engineers. The national workforce of future years will surely have to handle quantitative concepts more fully and more deftly than at present. So will the citizens and policy leaders who deal with the public interest in positions of civic leadership. Sound education in mathematics across the population is a national interest.

Among their recommendations: “A focused, coherent progression of mathematics learning, with an emphasis on proficiency with key topics, should become the norm in elementary and middle school mathematics curricula. Any approach that continually revisits topics year after year without closure is to be avoided.” They state further, “Computational proficiency with whole number operations is dependent on sufficient and appropriate practice to develop automatic recall of addition and related subtraction facts, and of multiplication and related division facts. It also requires fluency with the standard algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

“Use should be made of what is clearly known from rigorous research about how children learn, especially by recognizing a) the advantages for children in having a strong start; b) the mutually reinforcing benefits of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and automatic (i.e., quick and effortless) recall of facts; and c) that effort, not just inherent talent, counts in mathematical achievement.

“A major goal for K–8 mathematics education should be proficiency with fractions (including decimals, percents, and negative fractions), for such proficiency is foundational for algebra and, at the present time, seems to be severely underdeveloped.

“Children’s goals and beliefs about learning are related to their mathematics performance. Experimental studies have demonstrated that changing children’s beliefs from focus on ability to a focus on effort increases their engagement in mathematics learning, which in turn improves mathematics outcomes: When children believe that their efforts to learn make them “smarter”, they show greater persistence in mathematics learning.

Thomas Friedman noted the looming crisis: “There has always been a certain American confidence that whatever America lacks in preparing its kids with strong fundamentals in math and science, it makes up for by encouraging its best students to be independent creative thinkers. That may be about to change as emerging countries like China who are confident that their best K-12 students will usually outperform America’s on the fundamentals of math and science, they are now focusing on how to unleash more creativity and innovation among their youth.”

It takes 15 years to train an engineer or scientist starting with when (if) they get hooked on math in elementary school. We do not have time to fill the ever-widening gap that will be left by retiring baby-boomers and the continually decreasing numbers of graduating engineers and scientists from American Universities and Colleges. We may need to rely on foreign talent at least until we can repair our lower education system. But we also can employ immediate measures to fill the education gap on an individual basis. This will require supplemental education aimed specifically at remediation and mastery of basic concepts in math, reading and writing.

Pinecone Active Learning offers this program.

Stages of Learning - Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence.

The conscious competence model explains the process and stages of learning a new skill (or behavior, ability, technique, etc.) It is most commonly known as the 'conscious competence learning model', but is sometimes called 'conscious competence ladder' or 'conscious competence matrix'. Whatever you call it, the 'conscious competence' model is a simple explanation of how we learn.

Stage 1 - 'unconscious incompetence'; that is when you don't even know what you don't know and can't do.

Stage 2 - 'conscious incompetence'; this is when you are aware of what to do and how to do it, but you just can't do it, or you are not very good at it

Stage 3 - 'conscious competence'; this is when you know how to do something and you can do very well but you still have to think about what you are doing.

Stage 4 - 'unconscious competence'; this is when you have developed a skill to the point that you can do it without even thinking about it.
At Pinecone Active Learning, we take students as young as three, and they are typically in Stage 1. Everything is new to them and they have certainly not developed any bad habits or ideas that they can’t achieve something. While these young ones may take lots of patience and repetition in the beginning, most move through Stage 2 to Stage 3 fairly quickly.

The majority of our incoming students start in Stage 2, and that is why they are coming to Pinecone – they know they need to improve their skills. Our individually tailored programs provide the daily practice at just the right points for each of these students to move from Stage 2 to Stage 3 and then to Stage 4. Students are not allowed to progress, in fact, until they have mastered the concepts and are able to perform “automatically – without even thinking about it.

”Once a student has achieved Stage 4, progress becomes faster and more motivating. It is fun to really understand how to do something quickly and easily and even help others. This self-confidence “greases the wheels” for further learning and progress. At Pinecone we like to say: “The further you go, the faster you go further!” The sky is the limit!

Worksheets and Daily Practice – the only way to Master the Basics

The U.S. is falling behind the world in math. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "We are lagging the rest of the world, and we are lagging it in pretty substantial ways."

A special analysis put out by the National Center for Education Statistics found that the math performance of U.S. high schoolers was in the bottom quarter of the countries that participated in the most recent Program for International Student Assessment.

Results of the 2009 ACT and SAT show that U.S. students are no better in math this year than they were last year. Math performance has improved in other countries while it has remained stagnant in the U.S.

These findings are disturbing in an increasingly global economy where careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are becoming progressively more important for nations to compete internationally.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the proportion of students obtaining STEM degrees from U.S. universities has dropped from 32 percent to 27 percent over the past decade. At the same time, the percentage of non-U.S. students earning these degrees from U.S. universities has increased dramatically.

In The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman argues that getting more Americans to pursue careers in STEM fields is critical to the future of our nation's economy. Friedman is not alone in his opinion.

The National Science Foundation reports that non-U.S. graduates from U.S. universities accounted for more than half of the doctorate recipients in physics (58 percent), computer sciences (65 percent), engineering (68 percent), and mathematics (57 percent). The most numerous of these non-U.S. graduates were from China, India, and South Korea. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that over 40 percent of non-U.S. doctoral degree recipients intended to leave the U.S.

Not only are we losing ground to non-U.S. citizens at our own universities, but we're also falling behind other nations. The U.S. is no longer the leader in STEM education. In absolute numbers, Japan and China are producing more graduates. Our rate of STEM to non-STEM graduates is roughly 17 percent while the international average is nearly 26 percent. We're not even keeping pace with some developing countries.

In the U.S., we used to focus on basic computation skills when we taught students traditional math. Ever since the U.S. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics developed standards for school math in 1989, many U.S. schools starting teaching reform math.

But Japan and Taiwan are teaching math the way we used to teach it; they're focusing on basic computation skills. Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea--all top performers in math--are also focusing on the basics. Even the cram schools, which are prevalent in Asia, focus on the basics.

Traditional math emphasizes basic computation skills and algorithms that lead to the correct answer while reform math places more value on the thinking process that leads to any answer.

Both of these skills are needed. However, the major problem with reform math is that it puts the cart before the horse by trying to teach students abstract concepts of math before they have built strong foundational skills. With traditional math, students often work individually on worksheets. With reform math, they often work in groups cutting, pasting, and coloring.

Sure, worksheets and algorithms are boring compared to gluing stuff and explaining how you came up with an answer that may not even be correct, but which method will better prepare our students to compete in an increasingly global economy?
America, let's get back to worksheets.

Pinecone Active Learning provides daily worksheet practice at just the right level for your child. This daily practice leads to mastery and real understanding. There is just no substitute. Please visit http://pineconelearning.com/ for more info.

In the past couple of decades, innovation, especially Internet-related, has been moving faster than we can educate ourselves to apply advancing technologies. Thus, the shortfall of the supply of advanced skills relative to the demand for them is pressing the wages of the less skilled. The insights that advance cutting-edge technologies emerge from a very small part of the workforce.

While low-skilled jobs are being automated and replaced with computer programs, corporate managers persistently identify the lack of skilled workers as one of today’s greatest ongoing problems and are willing to bid up pay packages to acquire them.

While globalization and technology are causing increased disparities of wealth concentration in many countries, the U.S. seems to have a disproportionate disparity. In his book, The Age of Turbulence, Greenspan attributes this disparity to our “dysfunctional elementary and secondary education”. Up until about 4th grade, our students fare pretty well in comparison to other leading nations, but by the time they are seniors in high school they have fallen well below average. Greenspan asks the question: “What do we do to (these students’) learning process that requires business recruiters to dismiss vast numbers of ‘educated’ applicants for modestly skilled jobs because they cannot write coherent sentences or add a column of numbers accurately?”

So, our needs for highly skilled technicians and upper-level management are multiplying much faster than our graduating students can fill them – we must import increasing numbers of qualified and educated people from other countries. Greenspan further notes that our biggest educational weakness is in math and we need to consider alternatives to how we hire and pay our teachers as well as whom we allow to come to our schools and teach….

Here is what Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat has to say:

“The dot com boom left too many people with the impression that they could get rich without investing in hard work. All it took was an MBA and a quick IPO, or one NBA contract and you were set for life. Who needed an education? Who needed to sweat over an engineering degree? But while we were admiring the flat world we had created, a lot of people in India, China and Eastern Europe were busy figuring out how to take advantage of it. Lucky for us, we were the only economy standing after World War II, and we had no serious competition for forty years. That gave us a huge head of steam, but gradually bred a sense of entitlement and a culture of complacency.”

It takes 15 years to train an engineer or scientist starting with when (if) they get hooked on math in elementary school. We do not have time to fill the ever-widening gap that will be left by retiring baby-boomers and the continually decreasing numbers of graduating engineers and scientists from American Universities and Colleges. We may need to rely on foreign talent at least until we can repair our lower education system. But we also can employ immediate measures to fill the education gap on an individual basis. This will require supplemental education aimed specifically at remediation and mastery of basic concepts in math, reading and writing.

Pinecone Active Learning offers this program.
Please visit http://pineconelearning.com for more info.