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YOUR SUMMER READING LIST!
In This Issue:
Reading For Pleasure: A Difference-Maker
Study Tip: Forming Your Own Book Club
Coach of the Month: Sonia Sanchez
Quick Links

 
Academic Success Partner 
of the Month
We're always excited to expose our readers to another person doing excellent work in the Educational Therapy field and this month we'd like to introduce our latest Success Partner, 
Caitlin Welsh.
Caitlin is a Board Certified Educational Therapist with the Association of Educational Therapists. In addition to
 serving as the current Academic Enrichment Specialist for Village School in Pacific Palisades, Caitlin also has a private practice in the Palisades and is the Co-Creator of the Cognitive Development Intensive Training Seminars. The first seminar trains parents and caregivers and the second trains professionals and educators in facilitating the cognitive development of children (0-18). Her private practice is infused with the ideas taught in the Seminars, including developing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that have the power to positively affect a child's reading comprehension, writing, and math. Caitlin is committed to building a community of individuals who are able to love, think, learn, and connect! For more information email Caitlin at
Looking For A Student 
Community Service Opportunity?
Meet Rickey Smith, social entrepreneur and owner of the sustainable food business Urban Green. He's started a community education venture called the Urban Green Kids Row program, creating opportunities for kids from diverse backgrounds to participate in many activities related to food sustainability, from planting seeds  to learning about how organic food is grown and harvested. For more info on a terrific
community service and volunteering opportunity for kids, email Rickey, 

or call (800) 200 3320.

Check out Our  YouTube Video!
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Academic Success is very proud of the two-minute video we recently produced to give you a feel for who we are, our philosophy and the way we approach our work
How Academic Success Can Support You
At Academic Success we take great pride in finding the right coach to support the unique needs of each student we help.  Please check out the areas where we work on our  web site and let us know how we can support you.

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Looking for a College Counselor or Ed Therapist?
We work and partner with excellent Educational Therapists and College Counselors throughout the L.A. area.  Give us a call and we can recommend the right fit for your child.

310-823-4398
Welcome To The Finale In Our Summer Series!

No matter what your kids have been up to over the summer, whether it be leisure, study, work, or a blend of all three, it's never too late to finish that reading list... or start one!
August may well be the most important month in the summer break for our kids. It's the time for a slow but steady change of course as students begin to mentally prepare for a return to fulltime academic life. 
While that doesn't mean the fun and games must stop, it can mean a return to activities that may provide greater mental stimulation- such as reading. 
We now know how beneficial leisure reading is for cognition, comprehension and the ability to conceptualize and form ideas. For those of you who began the summer with a reading list, it's time to drive on through to the end! For the rest who let their list fall by the wayside or didn't start one, the next few weeks represent a chance to rediscover the joys and benefits of reading.
In this month's issue, we'll present a wide range of reading options for late elementary students all the way through to seniors. We'll offer some friendly advice to parents struggling to get their teens to pick up a book, and also call on experts to remind us of just how powerful an academic and social tool reading can be . 

At Academic Success, we never forget the importance of fundamental learning activities and their place in a student's academic environment. 

Please call with any questions at (310) 823 4398 or

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All the best,

The Academic Success Team

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."                                                                                                                                     - Joseph Addison

Education News 

Reading For Pleasure
: A Difference-Maker
 
In times past, there may have been a tendency to dismiss leisure reading as a distraction that took valuable study time away from our kids. This story in the Guardian about a large-scale study of 17,000 children suggests that reading purely for pleasure can power a child's development over a long period of time.

  

Getting Your
High-Schooler To 
Fall In Love With Reading

For every student who has been reading for as long as they could hold a book in their hands, there is one who for whatever reason never quite caught the reading bug. This list of tips for parents may prove the difference in the effort to turn the teen non-reader into a book fanatic. 

 
Something For Everyone
 

Two excuses often given by young non-readers are "I don't know which books are right for me" and "I don't know where to start." This comprehensive 2015 Super List, the first of three offered in this issue, definitively solves both of those problems, with book recommendations for kids of all ages.  
Latest Options
For Middle & High Schoolers
 
 While larger reading lists can hit the spot for those looking for a wide range of options, sometimes a streamlined selection can be more helpful in deciding which book to pull off the shelf. This comprehensive list for high schoolers from the social news site Buzzfeed has plenty to offer, while this list from the teen site Imagination Soup provides a wide range of choices for elementary and middle schoolers.

First Graders
Turning Into Reading Fanatics

For many parents, getting their child to read just one book is an achievement. Imagine our surprise to see this article last month detailing the accomplishments of a first grade class in Illinois whose students, without exception, reached their goal of reading 320 books in one school year! A story that should have all adult non-readers heading to the nearest book store.

Study Tips 

Starting 
Your Own Book Club

Sometimes the best way to cultivate interest and motivation in an activity is to collaborate with others while doing it. In this vein, starting your own book club is a fantastic way to strengthen your reading habits, expand your literary horizons and have stimulating and informative discussion with peers and new friends. 
Kindle now has a monthly unlimited option for its devices that allows readers to burn through as many books as they wish to for a small monthly fee. 
Penguin Books has a terrific web page devoted to helping people start their own book club, including tips for selecting participants, guidelines for the meetings and possible material with which to kick things off.
Knowing that you will be discussing a book with friends can often make reading more interesting and it can create a sense of anticipation which usually flows into the next book. Another benefit to having a reading group is the opportunity to not only vent when you hate a book and gush when you love it, but also to practice backing up those opinions with reason, specificity and independent thinking. 
Being part of a book club can be one of the most intellectually stimulating activities in one's life. If anyone thinks it's uncool or old-fashioned, you can simply tell them that there's nothing uncool about being the smartest group of friends on the block. 

Coach Profile 

 
Meet Sonia Sanchez,
  Coach Profile of The Month   

This month we're excited to play catchup again with another of our coaches on the Academic Success team, Sonia Sanchez.
So how has it been going for Sonia since we last featured her in our newsletter?
"Since last year, I've taken on many more students in both academic coaching and standardized test prep. I've worked with a number of students with ADHD and learning disabilities as well. This experience has really strengthened my ability to work with students in determining ways for them to study and perform in academics and on these tests in a way that is catered for the way they acquire knowledge. Taking the analytical skills from my electrical engineering background and also my love for connecting with students and making learning more exciting for them, I've been able to help these students excel as well as gain confidence in themselves so they have the courage and the know how to go off and do it on their own!"
In her spare time, Sonia still enjoys writing, playing the guitar, traveling and various sports.
 :   
We consider it a privilege and an honor to support students and their families throughout the Los Angeles area.  Please call us at any time; we welcome your thoughts and input.  We are available at 310-823-4398.

Sincerely,
 
Jamie Altshule
Academic Success, Inc.