All SCOPES students start with a solid foundation.
| Customize For Style, Not Structure |
 Imagine How Your Child Will Feel Ending Up Here While it’s true that an effective program needs to be fine-tuned to meet the needs of each individual student, it would be a mistake to conclude that EVERYTHING should be customized. It is important to establish and maintain a solid foundation of core skills. Research suggests that five core skills are essential:
As students mature and their assignments become more complex, the development of their study skills will expand as well. Yet the building blocks stay the same. At any age, these five skills form the foundation that supports efficiency and confidence. |
We Support: |
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| Ages 8-21 |
SCOPES is appropriate for students who are old enough to receive homework assignments that they are expected to complete on their own (typically late 2nd to 3rd grade)… while still young enough (late teens) to be open to some* coaching from a parent.
Symptoms appearing in childhood rarely get better on their own. In order to establish good habits and avoid slipping into bad ones, starting SCOPES at a younger age is preferable to waiting for a crisis to unfold in adolescence. However, students of any age can benefit from SCOPES. Older students sometimes need to ‘unlearn’ bad* habits, but it’s rare that we find teens who, with enough time and affection, prove completely immune to adult support. * It’s worth noting that the type and quantity of parental input typically evolves as a child matures. Teens who appear to be resisting well-meaning input are sometimes signaling they are not receiving the most effective form (or perhaps timing) of that input. |
| …Who Feel Their Self-Confidence Slipping Away | Typically, our clients come to us after struggling in more than one subject for more than one semester. A snafu that suddenly appears in a previously organized student in just one subject usually signifies an isolated problem with that subject or perhaps a specific individual teacher.
That said, it is common for families to (mistakenly) conclude a frustrated child is struggling with a topic or a teacher, when in fact the underlying issue is more related to the child’s foundation of planning and/or performance skills. Otherwise at first, study skill symptoms tend to come and go month by month, then slowly worsen over time as school assignments become increasingly complex. Our students have a history of frustrations lasting for months or even years, even if – initially – symptoms did not appear to be severe at the time. |
| Smart, But Not Consistent | Our clients are sure that their children are smart, but are concerned that their kids are not currently able to perform at a consistent level day in and day out.
Most of our clients had previously invested in tutoring (hired or parent-volunteer) to address homework issues and found that performance initially improved, but then later slipped again if/when tutoring support was reduced. Nearly all of our clients have considered medication. Some have found it helpful, many who tried it found that the side effects outweighed the benefits. Most of our families prefer to view medication as a last resort (even in cases where their doctors appear to think meds are their first and only option). |
| Supported By Involved, Hands-on Parents | You have probably always been highly involved. What may be different now is that you are more aware of an instinctive feeling deep down suggesting you may need to look a different approach.
If everything at home is working fine as it is, then by all means keep doing what you are doing. Otherwise, depending on the details of your particular situation, if you feel like a change in direction is worth considering, then we are going to be a great resource in helping you make that change. |
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