Lara Raban Tutoring

03/03/2023

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.

09/22/2021

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

Unfortunately, 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 fully embraced 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 several 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 individualized.

Scroll back to the photos. ⬆️ Look 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 after school. And I could not be more thrilled to do it even though 🤢.

As a parent, teacher, and coach, I find myself doing strange things that are often difficult to explain to others. And often, it works.

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?

09/22/2021

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?

09/14/2021

If science were taught like this all the time, we would all be scientists

05/23/2021

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

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.

05/23/2021

Exponent happiness depends on having the right tools at your immediate disposal.

Either copy this into your notebook or pull it up in a new tab.

Work smarter, not harder.

05/21/2021

How on earth am I expected to keep track of time this summer without my daily 6:15 and 6:22 PPS calls?

More importantly, what will I do when I no longer have PPS to fill my voicemail box?

05/17/2021

Let me be perfectly clear. This is not a humble brag. This is a survival post.

I have low tolerance for the constant grazing and ramen-making that comes from having teenagers who eat the fist thing they see in the fridge or cabinet.

They actually cannot make healthy choices unless it is right in front of them. It doesn’t matter what I do to try to change it, this is the only thing that works. I make a buffet and let it sit out all day. Because I work pretty steadily all afternoon, I really don’t see it until the evening. Shockingly, most of it is usually gone by the time I come downstairs.

My people all have or other . So I spend a lot of time thinking about can’t vs. won’t. They are easy to mix up.

What tricks do you have for healthy eating? How are you stealthy about helping your kids?

04/21/2021

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

04/10/2021

The most ADHD response to a question ever. We might have laughed a little too hard at this one.

04/08/2021

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.

02/06/2021

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