Charles "Chuck" Saylors is about to become the first dad ever to lead the National Parent Teacher Association (commonly known as the PTA). When Chuck becomes PTA president in June, it will be the biggest step yet in the trend of fathers getting more involved in improving their kids' education.

The PTA has always been dominated by moms. Founded in the late 1800s as the "National Congress of Mothers," women have always made up the organization's leadership and majority. But now, dads are catching up. Men make up 10 percent of the PTA's membership and their numbers increased each of the last five years. Dads are pitching in, donating their time, and starting to become active volunteers—and Chuck couldn't be happier.

He sat down with us to talk about the PTA, how parents can get involved, and some of his goals for the future.

You've been involved in the PTA ever since your oldest son, Matthew (now 24), was in elementary school. How'd you get started?
"The first PTA event we went to was a fall carnival…They had a hot dog dinner and my wife and I went into the cafeteria to have dinner. We walked into the serving line and there was just one lady behind the counter.

'She's just doing everything by herself,' I told my wife.

Without missing a beat, she said, 'Well, do you want to eat dinner now or wait until you finish helping her?'

That's how I got started—helping serve hot dogs. That year, I ended up doing some work in the school as a volunteer leader and then served as president of the school's PTA."

What has it been like being a "dad in a mom's world," so to speak?
"Nobody's ever accused me of being the odd man out. It's been a longtime goal of the organization to get more men involved. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

The organization started out 112 years ago as the National Congress of Mothers. Not until the last couple decades have we started focusing on trying to get more men involved. The women have always been there. Now we're looking at 10 percent of our membership that are men. To me, that's a tremendous opportunity for growth."

How will you try to get more men involved in the PTA and children's education?
"One of the challenges we face is the perception that men don't have time to participate…What I'm asking men—or any parent—to do is give us three hours during the entire school year. Go to the school and volunteer. Help a child with their reading skills, their math skills. Tutor. Help a child do something constructive…

If a parent gives us three hours of their time, I'm a firm believer they're going to come back for more. They'll see the positive of what they're doing. They're helping the child with their skills so they'll be a better person, a better adult, in the future… All in less time than it takes to see a movie."

You're a professional in the business world, serving as Vice President for Construction Management for a large contractor. How do you make time in your own life to volunteer?
"I am married to a saint—absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt. My family is very supportive and I am extremely lucky to have that. I am also extremely lucky to work for a company that sees my service in this area as a good thing."

Tell us about some of the other goals you have as PTA president.
"I want to give families encouragement to see that this can be a family activity. It's not just something that Mom does, or something that Dad does. It's something that the grandparents can get involved in, the aunts and uncles can get involved in, the neighbors can get involved in. It's more than just one or two parents...

Today Dad works, Mom works—often more than one job each. The level of ability to volunteer has diminished from 20 years ago, but the level of need has increased. With the potential of serious budget cuts across the states, I don't see that need decreasing. In fact, it will become greater. We need to do whatever we can to get parents in the door… Their efforts are greatly appreciated and greatly needed."

The PTA needs your help! If you'd like to get involved with your local or state chapter of the PTA, visit their volunteer website. You'll find ways to join, give back, and help kids in your community. Remember, just three hours of your time can make a world of difference. We hope you'll pitch in!

School report cards are out. For kids, that's either good or bad news. High grades bring rewards—that's fun. But what do you do when the scores come back lower than expected?

When kids are struggling, many parents look to tutors to give them a boost. Beyond grades, there are also tutors who specialize in college test preparation or those who help develop hobbies and interests like public speaking, music, or even sports.

We talked to Cara Finnegan (from our friends at FamilyEducation.com) and Dr. Wendy Grolnick (professor of psychology at Clark University and co-author of Pressured Parents and Stressed-Out Kids) and asked them to share their advice for parents thinking about hiring tutors.

When do you hire a tutor?
"A tutor can be a good option to assist in a child's education for a number of reasons," Cara told us, "[Maybe] the child the child needs extra help mastering a specific skill or staying organized. She might have a learning disability that would benefit from extra attention. Or she might have extenuating circumstances, like health or family issues, that interfere with her performance in school."

Communication is the key to deciding if your child needs extra help. Talk with her teachers and see if they think she'd gain from having a tutor. Also, if a child is having trouble in school, they might not be using words to tell you. Watch for signs of disinterest (complaining about homework, not wanting to go, crying, or faking illness).

How much is too much?
With kids' busy schedules, adding more schoolwork can seem like punishment. They're under a lot of stress already, so be sure they can handle the extra work. It may mean cutting back in other activities.

"Make sure the kids have some downtime," Cara said. "Kids need time to play and have unstructured activity, so make sure that's part of their day. It's especially important to give your child downtime before bed and to make sure she gets enough sleep."

If you do make changes in the schedule, keep fun activities in the mix! "All work and no play…" you know.

Hire the tutor for you child, not you.
"Parents are feeling a lot of pressure for their children to do well," Wendy told us. "They're hearing the message that if kids aren't doing well early on, they might not get into any of the best colleges or even the best elementary schools."

In today's competitive culture, it's easy to give into temptation to "Keep up with the Joneses." We want our kids to succeed and have plenty of opportunities. That's a good thing! But we should be careful that we're not taking it too far. If we're pushing our children too much, we're more likely to block any progress than actually help them.

Make sure you're thinking about your child's specific needs, strengths, and interests. A tutor's job is to help them be better at what they do, not completely change who they are.

It's not just your decision.
Whenever you can, keep your kids involved in the choice to hire a tutor. "Sit down and ask what their goals are," Wendy suggested. "Kids have to see the connection between the tutoring and their own goals."

"[Tutoring] should be presented to the child in a way that feels like it's an opportunity for more success, not a form of punishment," Cara added.

Because most kids don't like homework, adding a tutor might not be a popular decision. If you can introduce the idea by discussing it with your kids, things should go a lot smoother. When you're both on the same page, you'll avoid fighting about the extra lessons and also see the results you're hoping for.

Are any of you thinking about hiring a tutor? What are some of your concerns when finding that extra help for your children? Leave a comment and join the discussion!

More resources:
Find a local tutor
Family Education.com
Pressured Parents, Stressed-Out Kids by Dr. Wendy Grolnick and Kathy Seal
How to tell if my child needs a tutor?
College admissions tutoring
Working with teachers for better tutoring results

You just got your child's grades, and they don't look good. It's only mid-year and there's still time to turn things around, but maybe you don't have resources in your area or the budget for a tutor. There's hope. The National Education Association offers this guide for parents, or you can follow these simple steps to work with your child at home:

• Proctor homework time.
  According to the NEA and other sources, kids perform better in school when their parents are actively involved in their learning. Turn off the TV after dinner and make homework time a family affair. Maybe you and your spouse (or the sitter / nanny, or grandma) can take turns. Bring your own work or reading and set up a rigid study period at the dining room table. Being available will make your kids feel more comfortable approaching you with questions and asking for your help, and participating helps create structure.

• Work with teachers.
  Call your child's teacher and ask for a copy of the syllabus / curriculum outline. Ask the teacher for insight into your child's in-class strengths and weaknesses so you know what areas to work on first. Make sure to check in with your child after all major assignments and tests, ask them how they felt and how they think they did, and then review the corrected papers or exams with them.

• Buy the Teacher's Edition.
  Check out Textbooks.com or Amazon.com to purchase the solutions or answer key and teacher's edition of your child's textbooks. After working through homework or practice tests, go over your child's answers with them and use the teacher's edition to offer help for getting to the right answers. If you hit a wall, call in a tutor, approach the teacher for help, or purchase a supplementary book from the For Dummies series, published by Wiley & Sons, or the Complete Idiot's Guide series, published by Penguin.

• Find an angle, spark an interest.
  Help your kids find a connection with the subject matter, which may or may not seem totally dry to them. Find a way for them to care about what they're learning by using their interests to spark motivation. If it's languages your child is struggling with, try going on a trip to a place where the language is spoken (even an authentic restaurant), or rent foreign films on DVD from Netflix and try watching them with and without the subtitles. If biology is the issue, maybe a few episodes of House, ER or CSI might make the connection, or a trip to a local science museum (especially if you can find the traveling Bodies exhibit). If physics is the issue, try relating gravity and torque to cars, skateboards, or sports, depending on their interests. You get the idea.

For more tips, check out Working with Teachers for Tutoring Results.

Cheers,
Sheila

Last weekend, I started searching for academic summer camps for our oldest son.  We were looking specifically for a great summer immersion program for Spanish that didn’t require my son to go abroad.  He’s already away most of the year attending a nearby private school, so we only wanted something close to home.

I started on Google, but it wasn’t easy. I also couldn’t find any reviews to help me sort through the options I found. A couple of websites were great starting points, but didn’t include some of the summer camps that I found digging through the search engines: kidscamps.com, summercamps.com.

Academic summer camps are becoming more and more popular since learning through activities and projects with friends isn't classified as "boring" (according to my teenager).  Here are some interesting programs I've found:

• An Educational Residential Summer Camp: I’ve had friends tell me about this great program: Explo.  Explo is a non-profit organization that’s been around since 1977. I just talked to them and they still have a lot of availability for their second session, which starts in July. It’s a residential camp experience and located here on the East Coast.  I’ve been researching to find something comparable in other regions, but haven’t found anything. If you have, please share it with our readers.



• Mixing Learning with Dance: I was also pleasantly surprised to see some weekly programs at our local after-school math program.  The Russian School of Math, which has locations in Boston and San Jose, is offering up a camp for kids that combines math and ballroom dancing.  We thought we’d give it a try for our 7-year-old who loves math and also music.



• Look Locally: Kids don’t have to go far from home to have an enriching summer experience.  Lots of communities have town-sponsored summer programs, and YMCAs, JCCs, and Boys and Girls Clubs offer a variety of day and overnight camps.

For ideas on educational summer activities that will prepare your kids for the upcoming school year, check out the Summer Smarts book series by Jeanne Crane Castafero and Janet Van Roden: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade.

And please leave a comment with any resources you've come across...

Cheers,

Sheila