Many people view Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial beginning of Summer. For high school students, however, there is a lot of work to get done in the weeks been Memorial Day and the final day of the school year. Most specifically, final exams. Preparing and studying for final exams can be difficult during this time of year. The weather…
Ally Learning tutors are familiar with the pressures of earning high marks on the SATs and/or ACTs. It hasn’t been long since our tutors themselves took the exams. They will be the first to admit to the pressures that come with earning the desired score(s). These test scores could be the determining factor in whether a student gets into his…
TEACHERS AND MOTHERS: A WEEK OF APPRECIATION AND LOVE The second week of May marks Teacher Appreciation Week. It is immediately followed by Mother’s Day on Sunday May 14th (with Father’s Day falling on Sunday June 18th this year). This is an appropriate time to post a brief journal entry to recognize the parents, teachers, and tutors that work to guide students…
BOOK REVIEW: X: A NOVEL BY ILYASAH SHABAZZ AND KEKLA MAGOON Ally Learning’s first posted book review was for the 2015-16 Great Michigan Read: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Our second book review is on the 2017-18 Great Michigan Read selection: X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. We are pleased to report that this too will be a positive review.…
SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY: BUILDING UPON EARTH DAY AND MARCH FOR SCIENCE This past Saturday the world celebrated Earth Day. Each year since 1970, the United States has designated April 22nd to be Earth Day, a day to celebrate and participate in events to show support for environmental protection. In 2017, Earth Day has grown to appropriately be celebrated in countries all around the…
RECOMMENDED READING LIST: YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION SET IN THE 20TH CENTURY. Recommended Reading List: Young Adult Historical Fiction Set in the 20th Century. Last week the Michigan Humanities Council announced that the 2017-18 Great Michigan Read will be the award-winning* X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz (Malcolm X’s daughter) and Kekla Magoon. This book is a work of fiction that centers on the early…
Springtime is here! Having Fun and Looking Ahead The first day of spring was actually a couple of weeks ago but for many schools across the region the first week of April marks the period of Spring Break. It feels a little strange to mark the arrival of spring after the (mostly) mild winter we had here in Southeast Michigan.…
Book Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The simplest way to describe Station Eleven is to call it a post-apocalyptic novel. This is also a wildly misleading description. Station Eleven is more concerned with well-developed characters than it is with big action sequences. Much of the book is set in the aftermath of the fictional Georgia Flu Pandemic. This is a pandemic that has…
The following is an excerpt from Ally Learning’s Five Keys to Building a Healthy Student Mind. This concise and straightforward guidebook will be available for FREE download on our website soon! The First Key Be Prepared Getting Started The first step to being successful in any occupation is to be well prepared. Superstar athletes, while bestowed with natural…
March is National Reading Month! It is a time of year when educators, students, and communities across our country encourage and celebrate non-required reading. Reading for fun! Ally Learning, like most educational institutions, do not want the reading of books to end on March 31st. There are many reasons why reading for fun is a healthy and beneficial…