What are"Reading Days"?

In second post in our weeklong series on exams, here is an updated post from last year about "Reading Days:"

1. They take place before semester exams and are intended to give students time to focus on studying for their exams.
2. The "Reading Days" will take place on Friday 12/11 and Monday 12/14 before the first semester exams.
3. Students will still come to school for those two days. Most of their classes will spend those two days helping the students prepare for semester exams
4. No major assignments (projects, essays, etc.) or tests can be given or due during "Reading Days."
5. The only exception to #4 is for classes that do not have an exam. If a course does not have an exam, then they can have major assignments or final projects due during those two days. There are a limited number of courses that qualify under that excpetion (mostly Fine Arts and Technology courses).

Top 8 Tips to Help Your Child Prepare for Exams

Semester exams are approaching (December 15th - 17th), and in addition to today's post, we will posting something each day next week on the subject of semester exams.  Hopefully, these posts will help your children prepare for exams while keeping their stress at a manageable level.

Our first post is the "Top 8 Tips to Help Your Child Prepare for Exams:"

1. Help your child create a good study environment.  Clear off the desk or table and make sure there is plenty of light and space.  Free the area from distractions (television, cell phone, computer), and they should not listen to music with lyrics.  It can be very helpful to study in an environment that mimics the testing environment as much as possible.
2. Make sure your child gets a good breakfast in the morning on each exam day. Even if your child "never eats breakfast," make sure they do on exam days.
3. Make sure they get enough sleep the night before exam days.  Staying up late "cramming" for exams is counterproductive because of the lost sleep.
4. Provide positive encouragement throughout the exam preparation process.  A few positive words or a well-timed snack can help keep your child from becoming stressed out.
5. Help your child with organizing their study materials.  Check with your child to make sure that he/she has all of the books, notes, tests, and study guides that they need to study for each exam.  Make sure that those materials are organized in a way that they will be able to study efficiently instead of spending too much time shuffling through papers.  Also, help them with this step far in advance of exams (over Thanksgiving break, perhaps, or the first week in December).
6. Make sure your child takes short breaks while studying.  A good rule of thumb is for them to take a short, 10-minute break for every 45 minutes or so of studying.  This will help keep them refreshed and focused.
7. Keep in mind that your child's study methods may differ from your own.  Help your child find the way to study and prepare for exams that is best for their learning style.
8. Do not "hover" over your child while they are studying.  Provide a supportive environment for your child to prepare for exams using the tips above, but in the end, they have to take responsibility for learning the material and making sure that they are prepared.

2009-2010 Parent Survey

On Friday, we emailed out a link to our brief Parent Survey (6 questions with places for comments).  For those who need it, I have also placed the link below.  We look forward to receiving feedback!

http://thewalkerschool.parentsurvey.sgizmo.com/

Accomplishments in Our Arts Program

Two quick notes on recent accomplishments in our Upper School arts program

1. The fall drama production, Property Rites, won the region 5A one-act play competition and will be competing at the state competition in Warner Robins on Saturday, November 14th.  They will be performing the show for Walker audiences one more time on Thursday, November 12th, at 5pm in the Coca-Cola Family Auditorium.  Admission is free, but they will be accepting donations for UNICEF.

2. Six members of our concert band earned honors at the GISA All-Select competition: Andres Berrios, Phil Feiner, Inkyu Kim, Hunter Mitchell, Carter Murphey, and Helen Sanderson.

We continue to enjoy the quality of work across our entire Fine Arts program, and it is nice for others outside our community to enjoy their work as well.