Parent Perspective with Sarah M: Graphic Designer & Mother of Two

It’s always so beneficial anytime we get to sit down with a parent and we know that all parents love hearing others’ perspectives, both for contrast and commiseration. Today, we’re excited to speak with our friend Sarah Mangerson. She’s a seasoned graphic designer, former Art Director at The New Yorker magazine, mother of two brilliant girls, and an active member of the Williamsburg Northside School's Parent Association.

Intelligentsia: Can you tell us a little about your children and their learning styles?

Sarah: My daughter Abigail is 12 and currently in seventh grade. Our younger daughter, Ella, is in second and she’s a December baby, so she is the youngest in her class. They are both good at math and both struggle with writing. Abby is a very focused student, a voracious reader, and excels at math and science. She is not shy, nor has she ever been. She is crushing it with remote learning. Ella is sensitive, but an active participant in class. She struggles a bit with reading, but is catching up quickly with help from the school learning specialist and some additional tutoring support. She is a mathematician and also loves science. A long day on Zoom is difficult for her. But then again, it is difficult for all of us.

What kind of tutoring support have they had?

Abby started working with Claire [Intelligentsia tutor] in 4th grade. She was a strong reader, but her spelling and writing needed some help. Claire helped her with her organization and executive function, as well as focused work on spelling and writing. It was really the first time we ever saw Abby struggle a bit. Williamsburg Northside, where both our daughters have been since they were in the 2s program, doesn’t assign homework until the 2nd grade so it wasn’t until the 3rd grade that it started to catch up with Abby. She had great grades, but everyone knew she could do better, particularly with the fundamentals (math facts, spelling, grammar). Abby also needed help with the standardized tests that started in the 3rd grade, she was very nervous about them and wanted to succeed. Claire helped with that too. Ella began working with Claire last year, focusing on reading.

What was the learning environment at home before COVID hit?

Pre COVID, in the 6th grade, Abby had her own room with a desk so she had her own space to work in. I would help her with homework when needed, studying for tests and helping with bigger projects, but she was pretty independent with her schoolwork. 

Ella, was in the first grade, so while she had her own room, it was never needed for homework. Claire and Ella worked on the rug, which was super sweet. Ella liked to read in her bed, beanbag chair, or on the sofa in the living room. Most, if not all of her schoolwork was done at school during the school day. We would read together each night and that was about it. 

What was it like when your school first transitioned to remote learning?

We happened to be in Chilmark [MA], which is where we were for spring break, so we had more space from the start. We set up a folding table for Abby in the loft and Ella worked in the kitchen. My husband Josh had space in the den, which is where his office is all summer anyway. We were very lucky that way. Initially, the kids loved not having to commute and rolling out of bed and going straight to school, but the novelty wore off very quickly. 

Our school had the policy in place that your grade, as it stood in the 3rd quarter, could not go down, you could only improve it. We did not tell Abby this. She did very well. There were a few nights where she really struggled with a heavy load (generally it was very manageable for her) and we let her off the hook. It was just too much, emotionally, and this all seemed temporary at that point. 

We had Claire come twice a week because I was so occupied by helping Ella that I didn’t have much left for Abby. Ella had quite a hard time on Zoom, and once she lost focus, it was very hard to bring her back. By spring, we could bang it out by lunch, which was really great. 

Abby was on Zoom the entire school day, while Ella had a nice balance of on- and off-screen activities. Thankfully, I wasn’t working much so I was able to help her all day long. This year, they both are on-screen most of the day and the teacher is working with in-person and remote students synchronously. This is, I imagine, a very difficult thing to pull off for a teacher, but they are all doing great! 

How has tutoring helped you, as a parent, during this time?

Claire has helped enormously with Abby. We butt heads a bit, so it is nice to have a caring third-party check in with her once a week about her schoolwork. We are really trying to let Abby have full autonomy at school. Claire helps with that. She is also helping with Ella. Ella is tired with me by the end of the day (sometimes by mid-morning!) and it is nice to have an academic check-in, one-on-one, with her tutor.

We know that middle school can be a very important time for the development of executive functioning skills. What functions became most crucial for Abby to work on with Claire?

At Northside, the middle school curriculum starts in fifth grade. It was really hard for Abby to get organized. Claire helped SO MUCH. I really think learning to manage her time, schedule, and workload that first year has been critical to her success. Abby finishes her homework in less time, has less build-up (we are still working on this), and has been doing very well overall. Managing several teachers and multiple homework assignments a day was really tricky at first.

And Ella? Are there any skills she’s worked on, or have those functions remained mostly parental responsibilities?

Ella is working on keeping her workspace clean and organized. She is, at this point, familiar with her schedule for the day and gets her materials ready on her own. I still print the required worksheets she needs, but she can log in to her classroom apps with little to no problem. She can also navigate between Zoom meetings by herself.

How do you see the role of a tutor for your children and is there a difference in that role between the two of them? Has that role changed as schools have gone remote?

Abby and Claire have a special relationship after working together for so long (3+ years). They work very hard, but also have moments of pure silliness. Abby can also share her feelings and experiences with Claire without judgment. Claire is definitely part of Abby’s support circle. 

Claire and Ella and still getting to know each other––it was definitely better for Ella to work with Claire in person. She is Zoomed out by the end of the day, but last week it went quite well and Ella is learning that Claire can help her finish classwork, which will be great.

What are YOU learning right now?

To be very grateful for all that we have: a safe space that accommodates us, all the necessary equipment and supplies, the wifi access, my ability to help, Josh’s ability to work from home, our health (I fully recognize that many parents do not have access to these things)…and that our school truly has amazing teachers. It is a rare opportunity to have a look into what happens in a classroom each day! I am also incredibly aware of the social-emotional aspect of in-person learning that my girls are missing right now. That’s become a daily frustration for me—I am learning that my kids really should be IN SCHOOL, which requires national leadership to get out of this health crisis. We made the choice to stay home—our school also offers in-person classes—and it wasn’t an easy one, nor am I sure it was right. It just felt safer at the time. I cannot wait for them to be back in school, with their teachers and friends.

Can you shout out one of your favorite educators and why they meant so much to you?

Oh wow. I have two. One was my art teacher in high school, Mr. Doolittle. He introduced me to photography, drawing, taught me architectural lettering, ceramics, basically pointed me towards my future career. He was wild, quirky, demanding, and fun. The second was Dr. Bill Ryan at the University of Oregon. He introduced me to Graphic Design (pulling me away from photography), further encouraged my love of magazines, encouraged me to stay on an extra semester to work on FLUX (the SOJC capstone magazine class), got me my first internship in New York, and became a close friend for many years. Of all the people I know, he may have been the most proud when I started at The New Yorker. I think they both gave me the confidence to be creative and independent, which is really everything, isn’t it?

Remote Learning: Silver Linings and Golden Tickets

Labor Day isn’t yet looming, but schools are already scrambling. Faced with a pandemic that shows no signs of petering out, colleges across the country have announced plans for staggering student arrivals and limiting the number of undergraduates allowed on campus at once. At the K-12 level, LA has committed to a fully virtual fall semester, while NYC’s hybrid approach will combine a day or two per week of in-person instruction with several days online. Of course, as the COVID situation evolves, school districts will continue to adapt, but amidst all the uncertainty, you can count on one thing: for the foreseeable future, remote learning is here to stay.

As much as we’d all like to trade FaceTime for face-to-face meetings, there are some advantages to classes in the cloud. In person, you can’t hit rewind on your teacher’s pre-calc lecture, but at home, you can watch Khan Academy videos on cosine and sine as often as you want. That time you’d usually spend on the schoolbus? Now you can use it to preview or review material, eat a proper breakfast, or even catch some more zzz’s. Besides self-pacing and flexibility, remote learning can also improve focus. With fewer distractions, it’s easier to absorb lessons and free up hours for personal pursuits.

Yet, to really reap the rewards of online education, it’s crucial to unplug. Sure, there are services like Freedom that let you block time-wasting websites and apps (I’m looking at you, TikTok!), annoying notifications, or even—horror of horrors—the internet itself. But if you keep your eyeballs glued to a screen all day, your brain can come unstuck. So, instead of scrolling through The Great Gatsby on Gutenberg, pick up a paper copy. Rather than peering at pixellated problems sets, print them out. If you’re worried about the environmental impact, remember: what’s bad for the trees is good for your concentration, retention, and efficiency. And the first step toward building a sustainable future for the planet is creating one for your study habits.

Besides limiting your voyages into cyberspace, try to delimit the space in which you work. If possible, the desk where you read and annotate The Handmaid’s Tale should be different from the couch where you binge-watch the series version. Maintaining separate areas for work and play—even if they’re only a few feet away—can keep you on track during lessons and give you distance from them when you’re done. As you delineate space, do the same with time. Depending on your school’s schedule, plan your day to cater to your strengths. Not a morning person? Maybe now you don’t have to be. Missing those after-lunch siestas from preschool? Psst. No one’s going to notice if you take a power nap.

Maybe the biggest benefit to remote learning is that, more than ever, you’re forced to figure out what kind of learner you are. Whether visual or aural, tactile or text-based, you have the chance to craft a program that works for you. And if you use the time to refine your study skills now, once we all come back together in person, you’ll be in an even better position to thrive.

— Colin G.

Sign up for our College Application Crash Course, in which Colin breaks down the college application process into its four main categories: Search & Selection; Tests; Recommendations & Transcripts; and Essays, Activities & Portfolios. Click for more information.

Colin is Head College Process Strategist at Intelligentsia. He received his BA in English and History from the University of Pennsylvania, his MA in History and MA in Humanities from Stanford University, and his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston. He specializes in College Process, History, Literature, Writing, German, and Standardized Tests with 20 years of experience tutoring and teaching at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

Is Remote Tutoring Effective?

The education landscape has changed dramatically since March, with schools around the world moving their classrooms online. Many parents, students, and media outlets have reported that the transition has been...less than ideal.

Moving a traditional classroom to video conferencing platforms seems to have been more challenging than initially thought, which is understandable. New tools, techniques, and lessons will need to be explored before schools come back for the fall. But one thing that has transitioned fairly seamlessly from before-times is one-on-one tutoring.

We recently talked with several of our top tutors to get a handle on how remote tutoring was going and, to our delight, we found that it’s been all-around very similar. In fact, they’ve shared that it’s just as effective, if not more so.

Tutoring over video is so similar because it’s still one-on-one, the same setup and design as in-person tutoring. The many-to-one model of a classroom does not translate nearly as well over video platforms for a number of reasons. Students get distracted easily, teachers cannot necessarily see all students in their view, or there are unaddressed challenges in the student’s home-learning environment. With a personal, one-on-one setup, tutors are able to account for those weaknesses and help students get set up for academic success.

Plus, there is an executive functioning skill that arises organically when students are required to log on at a certain time to meet with their tutor. They show up ready to learn with less time being used at the top of the lesson for the tutor and student to get settled in.

Part of why we’ve been so confident in this transition to remote tutoring is that many of our tutors have worked with remote clients for years, especially boarding school students. Still, many parents may be wondering: how exactly does it work?

For most STEM subjects, we get a little creative. Some tutors draw on a tablet and share their screens, allowing students to annotate remotely, while others use a physical whiteboard and marker on their end, verbally working through problems and confirming answers. Think of a teacher using a blackboard and a single student who can easily jump to collaborate.

With humanities, shared online documents allow tutors to virtually work side-by-side with students, reviewing, suggesting, and correcting all in real-time.

Standardized test prep? Almost exactly the same. Test prep has often functioned as a process of independent student work own followed by sessions with their tutor to review. Whether sharing screens, collaborating on Google Docs, or reviewing Test Innovators practice tests together, the process is very nearly the same now.

In general, one unexpected positive of tutoring remotely is that students have to assume more ownership over note-taking and additional annotation. Our students are given more agency and that translates to more investment in their own learning.

Of course, not everything is as it was. Navigating behavioral issues and refocusing students can be a challenge when you’re not in the room. This is why working on executive functioning and having a supportive learning environment are particularly important right now.

There are challenges to tutor-student bonding as well, something which only occurs over extended periods of time spent working together. We’re still learning and improving on that front and we’ll report back when we have a larger body of experience matching new remote tutors to new remote students.

All-in-all, we’re encouraged by the first phase of full-time remote tutoring. Aided by past experiences and ever-evolving video tools, our tutors have found ways to continue building strong academic foundations and developing intellectual minds.

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Interested to see how we can help your student? Contact us today.

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Special thanks to Claire, Hemel, and Lori for their input on this Insight.