Lara Raban Tutoring

Hey, Grant parents! Can you help me spread the word? Thanks!

Weekend Crash Course just posted on the website. www.theparallelpro.com/satprep

Friday evening/Saturday late morning
3/10-11 & 3/17-18

Priority given to juniors. Space limited to 12.

For the first year of middle school at da Vinci, we carpooled with another lovely family. They were ON TIME people. I am also an ON TIME person. Win/win!

It turns out that it was lose/lose for my kids. They literally could not hurry. We were late, we made the other family late, and I was a ball of tension. Baffled, I made the right-for-my-family decision to not carpool after that year.

What I know now is that having a sense of time does not come naturally to many, and teenagers are notoriously no exception.

In fact, feeling time can take many years to develop. And sometimes, it doesn’t develop at all.

(Remember Einstein? He was *obsessed* with time and for good reason. Nearly everything we do as humans has a time component. )

If you or your child cannot feel time, it can be incredibly stressful. No one wants to be late, especially to high school.

And if a person can’t feel time, the result often impacts many of the other requirements of executive functioning.

For students, the result is subpar organization, time management (duh), communication, metacognition, and more.

So when I have a student who is really struggling in this area, my goal is to teach them how to externalize what their brain can’t do (yet).

I teach them to wear a watch. If they are competitive, I help them gamify the process and compete with themselves for faster times. If they are teenage boys, I bank on the high probability that they are perpetually hungry.

I never expect perfection and the goals are personalized to the individual.

Look at how excited that kid ⬆️ got with every success. His goal was to be in his classroom before the tardy bell for five days in a row.

HE DID IT! I expect a text from him at any moment to have Taco Bell delivered. And I could not be more thrilled to do it even though 🤢.

As a parent, teacher, and coach, I find myself suggesting strange things that are often difficult to explain to others. It works, though.

I’ve never been one to color inside the lines, and I guess this is no exception.

If you have trouble with time, what tools do you use? Do you make checklists? Sticky notes on the mirror? Reminders and alarms in your phone?

Summer Tutoring, SAT Prep, and College Essay Writing opportunities are now posted! Act quickly to reserve your spot!

Tutoring & Workshops — Lara Raban Tutoring Summer is a great time to boost math skills, prepare for standardized tests, and get a head start on college applications. Check below for current offerings plus detailed updates on the SAT.

Sometimes you just have to adapt, kind of like this entire year.

Me: Wait. When did you start counting down?
6th: The first day.
Me: Impressive. Can you teach me how to do that?
6th: Next week. Our time is up.

Only Chuck Norris, people. The rest of you get the stink eye.