What is UGYG?
From Struggling Student to Successful Habits…
Hi from Seth Perler. UGYG stands for UpGrade Your Grades, my Executive Function Coaching Program to help struggling students build the foundation they need to be successful in school and life. I take an unconventional approach that addresses the key barriers to success that keep kids stuck, and that are often misunderstood. Families who dig in to UGYG see extraordinary results. There are 2 program options:
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- Self-Paced/Independent: This is a self-paced, in-depth, online program, for families to use on their own. You can start any time; proactively before a semester begins, at the beginning of a semester, or during. It’s best for 5th grade- College.
- Group Coaching with Seth: “Momentum” is my premium group program, and it gets the best results because I get to know you and your child, as I personally coach you through the program. We meet live, online, for in-depth coaching events.
- You can get on the waitlist below, for future open enrollment announcements for Self-Paced AND Group.
5 Big Things to Know About UGYG
- Goal of UGYG: UGYG is for struggling middle and high school students and their parents (sometimes college students join us). It’s designed to get results by helping students change patterns so they can get unstuck, become more successful in school, and have better Executive Function skills to create a happier & more successful future.
- Buy-in: If your child doesn’t have “buy-in”, UGYG will not help. Parents should click to see the “Decision Video for Students” first, then show it to your child when you’re ready.
- It begins with a desire for change: Often, people blindly repeat the same old patterns, even though they want change. You don’t know what you don’t know, and this keeps people stuck. I’m here to teach you what actually works, step by step.
- A common problem: Parents often misunderstand how to help, and often focus on grades or behavior. But there’s a bait and switch here: You see, UpGrade Your Grades isn’t about grades, it’s about how to improve Executive Function Skills, and the results happen to include better grades and “behavior”.
- Executive Function is a quality of life issue. My real objective of this course is to help improve a child’s quality of life: to empower your child with the EF skills they need to go for their own goals or dreams. A child who doesn’t develop “good enough executive function,” will likely struggle to build a good quality of life in the future. On the other hand, when a child has “good enough executive function skills”, their future is full of possibilities, opportunities and choices.
“Ohhhh my, what you’ve put together is absolutely amazing! You went above and beyond with details enabling each family to read, follow and execute! It truly is easy to follow and you’ve stated things extremely clearly. You’ve been such a blessing to our hearts by guiding and teaching us how best to work with our son. He really likes you and has been keeping up with all the video assignments. Thank you for what you DO! Thank you for who YOU ARE!!” – Michelle
Does your child go through “The Dip”?
UGYG is for students who go through “The Dip,” which is a predictable, destructive, 7 part pattern that struggling students repeat semester after semester, that gets worse with time, and that doesn’t fix itself. It looks like this:
- Strong Start: Your child often starts a semester off strong. Things seem to be going well for a few weeks.
- The DIP: You’re shocked a few weeks later when you realize that your child hit the DIP, because you found out that grades took a nosedive.
- Swim Upstream: You spend the rest of the semester stressed, trying to help your resistant child swim upstream, dig out of holes, deal with late work, incomplete work, missing work, zeroes, test corrections, etc. Playing catchup is a constant, baffling challenge trying to get clear information about what’s going on in school, what needs to get done, when it’s due, where it needs to get turned in, etc..
- Hail Mary: The final 2-3 weeks of the semester are overwhelmingly stressful as your child tries to manage:
- Plenty of current work.
- Mountains of makeup work.
- Procrastinating until the last-minute on big, long-term, end of semester PEPR; Projects, final Exams, Papers or essays, and big Reading assignments.
- Get Help (maybe): Unfortunately, many families wait until it’s too late, then scramble for teacher support, tutors or coaches in the eleventh hour.
- Amnesia: After the semester is over, families forget how bad it was and imagine that things will somehow fix themselves next semester. They try reactive (not proactive) strategies to change things; lectures, nagging, bugging, reminding, logic, reason, convincing, anger, threats of punishments and promises of rewards. Unfortunately, proactive changes rarely happen because people don’t understand the legitimacy of Executive Function challenges or know strategies that work.
- Rinse & repeat: Students fall farther behind, year after year, closing more and more doors of future possibilities in life.
The DIP has a serious impact on quality of life, and it does not fix itself.
Why “The Dip” happens? 5 reasons
- Students who struggle with Executive Function are notoriously unrealistic about how much time and energy it takes to manage schoolwork and life.
- Students don’t have the right EF Skills, systems, mindsets, habits or routines. So they struggle endlessly with output and execution.
- Students are often resistant to help, and doing the things that would make a difference.
- Parents and teachers often don’t understand Executive Function or how to break the pattern. Because of this, people often mistakenly believe that their child needs to, “just choose to get motivated and try harder.”
- Much of the advice our students have been given is great for “naturally organized people”, but useless for non-traditional, outside-the-box, neurodiverse, atypical learners who struggle with Executive Function.
EF challenges include trouble getting started, following through, finishing, focusing, prioritizing, organizing, planning, managing time, overwhelm, etc..
This is not about motivation, it’s about building Executive Function SKILLS, and many adults don’t understand this distinction. Therefore, they mistakenly choose ineffective interventions and the patterns continue to get worse.
Students often hear shame messages like this: “You just need to motivate yourself, stop being so lazy, be more disciplined, choose to work harder, apply yourself more, you just don’t seem to care, why can’t you just put forth more effort, you have so much potential, you make things so hard on yourself, if you would just…” This is an endless loop that has a terrible impact on one’s transition to adulthood. As a result of these messages, students often feel shamed, less motivated, more resistant, and more distant from their parents, who are doing their best to help.
What’s the solution?
During UGYG, I take you step-by-step through the entire coaching process I use with my students, to implement the key skills, systems, habits and mindsets needed to turn it around.
- No ambiguity or confusion, you will know exactly what your child needs to succeed and how to support them.
- I will teach you my exact methods to create the right foundation for school success.
- These are EF skills your child will use and refine throughout their entire schooling.
- In fact, these are critical life skills they will use into adulthood.
UGYG is for students and parents. Its aim is to help struggling students who need guidance with the right tools so they can navigate more successfully and therefore create a better future. It’s unique because of how I mix my playful and encouraging tone with the seriousness of the situation.
I’ve spent the past 24+ years helping countless outside-the-box learners. Coaching is by far the best way I know to create change, and I designed UGYG to be a game-changer for you.
What are the benefits for parents?
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- Most important: A better relationship with your child.
- Feel more confident in your child’s potential to build a happy and successful future.
- You’re not the one telling them, I am. Parents often tell me, “my child won’t take my advice, but they listen to you.” This is a huge relief to parents and they appreciate that I reaffirm what they’ve been trying to teach.
- Feel more at ease as you watch your child become more independent and confident.
- Feel more clear about what your child needs – you’ll learn the exact systems your child needs so you don’t have to worry if you’re covering all the bases.
- Learn the difference between enabling your child in an unhealthy way that causes “learned helplessness” and how to help your child in healthier ways that build independence.
- Feel less stress and have more fun in your relationship with your child.
- Learn how to help your child manage overwhelming emotions and resistance.
- Feel you are not alone, see that other parents in the same position.
- Feel free from having to lecture or nag your child. If your child won’t listen to you, I’m the one telling them, so they have more buy-in and ownership.
- You get to watch how I communicate with kids (parents often tell me how helpful this is in learning better ways to communicate).
- In-depth PDF support documents that detail key concepts and keep you on track.
- Your child will navigate the mid-semester “DIP” better.
- Better grades (again, this is the least important thing as far as I’m concerned, but it is a result of the program).
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Note: UGYG is not for people seeking a quick/easy fix or a magic bullet, these issues often take years to overcome. But UGYG is designed to help your child turn the corner and change the trajectory.
“Thanks so much… your lessons are awesome and although there has been some resistance as you said there would be, he is enjoying them and really, really benefiting already. He’s feeling more hopeful and like he’s getting some control over things and less overwhelmed. I think even just having his dedicated sacred study space has made a big difference. So grateful we found you.”
Who is UGYG for?
- Age: Middle, High School and College students who have buy-in and want results for themselves, not for their parents or teachers. They feel frustrated and want to improve how they navigate school, be more efficient, get more out of their efforts, have more fun/free time and less stress.
- Homework – Students who struggle with homework: missing, incomplete, late, lost, forgotten or nameless.
- Grades – Students whose grades do not reflect ability or potential. Missing and incomplete homework, late work, low quality work, not preparing for tests adequately, doing projects or writing papers at the last minute.
- Study skills – Students who want to learn how to study more effectively.
- Organization – Students who are “organizationally challenged.” They lose things, can’t find their papers, have papers crammed in the bottom of their backpacks, in the wrong folders, messy lockers or desks. These are students who find old papers and say, “Oops, I thought I turned that in” or “Oh! I was looking for that!” Students whose binders are out of control, whose bedrooms are a catastrophe.
- Avoid consequences – Students who want to avoid having to go to summer school or repeat courses for recovery credit, who want to avoid stress caused by “the dip” pattern and who want to avoid arguments with parents about school.
- Planners – Students who don’t like planners, lose planners, forget planners, barely use planners, who don’t know how to use planners to reliably track responsibilities. They often fool themselves by saying, “Planners just don’t work for me, I’ll remember it.”
- Motivation – Students who have trouble with self-starting, procrastination, avoid their work as long as possible, who say they have a big project, exam or paper the night before. They have mastered the art of excuses for not starting.
- Mindset – Attitudes about school can either be self-defeating or positive. These kids have self-defeating mindsets like this: I can’t, this is stupid, I don’t care, I’ll do it later, I hate school, the teacher hates me, I’ll never use this, my parents always bug me. Having the right mindset is critical so students don’t just listen to their old self-defeating stories, so they have the skill of questioning their own narrative and choosing perspectives that help them persist through challenges. They create a mindset that says, I can do this. It may take some effort, but I’ve got this.
- Focus -Students who are easily distracted, who want to work smarter not harder, and who are willing to try new strategies so they can have better focus, concentration and attention.
- Efficiency – Students who spend way too much time on homework and want strategies on how to be efficient.
- Free time – Students who want to learn how to work more efficiently so they have more free time and less stress.
- Overwhelm – Students who are overwhelmed by managing the countless details of school and life, who have no idea where to start, who don’t have effective systems for managing the due dates, school work, etc..
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“Seth, your energy on the video lessons is incredibly engaging and you make the information in your videos super concrete for the kids. You tell them exactly what to focus on and what they don’t need to worry about. The way you talk is so relatable, and your program is really simple to follow – both for parents and students.” – Yulianna R., Los Angeles
Who UGYG is NOT for?
To be clear, UGYG may not help you at all. I’ve had the benefit of working with complicated students for 24+ years and have learned to address the nuances that get results.
- Action – The average person who buys a program doesn’t apply what they learn. I can only help people who take action.
- Quick fix – UGYG is not a quick fix – if that’s what you’re hoping for, please do not enroll.
- Magic bullets – This isn’t cheap, quick and easy. There are no magic bullets. Change takes time, effort, a proven method and action.
- Investment – Your results will vary depending on your investment of time, persistence, study and application.
- Effort – If you can’t or won’t put in the effort, this is not worth your money.
- Willingness – You have to be willing to show up, take action, and put in time the with your child, even though they may be resistant (don’t worry, I help with the resistance throughout the entire course).
- Child’s willingness – If your child can’t or won’t give this a decent shot, it’s not worth it. Show your child the video for students and see how they respond. You can then make an informed decision together.
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“Going slowly seems to be working for my kiddo, I am taking it as a win. The other day his planner spontaneously appeared out of his backpack with notes written in the boxes, after weeks of resistance, and it brought tears to my eyes. Baby steps!”
What’s included?
- A practical, proven system that gets results when applied. This is exactly what I’ve successfully taught countless kids over many years.
- Hours of in-depth, masterclass video instruction, including my down-to-earth, quirky, personality that I use to relate to my students. The lessons are fun, not boring or stuffy.
- 35 Student in-depth teachings, with clear action steps to set students up for success.
- 20 Parent in-depth teachings to guide you through the process.
- Action steps throughout the course to implement what you and your child are learning and strengthen your relationship with your child.
- In-depth printable PDF support documents and checklists to help implement my teachings.
- Templates for advocacy emails.
- Bonuses to help keep the momentum going and reinforce core concepts.
What will students learn?
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Main objective: By the time you are done with this course you will feel better because you will have helped your child effectively set up the right school systems, refined them for effectiveness, know how to maintain them, learned the right mindsets, and be off to a strong start and be building the key habits & routines. Here are some topics:
- Systems – Learn the systems students need to succeed (students are not often taught these in school, so if they don’t figure it out on their own, they flail around year after year, with missing and incomplete assignments, falling grades, decreased motivation, and insufficient time studying or working on projects and papers). Learn how to use these systems effectively and how to tailor them to your child’s personality and learning style.
- Planners – Which planner to use and why. How to completely set up the planner properly for a successful school year. How and when to update a planner properly. How to backward plan for tests, projects and papers so students don’t wait until the last minute.
- Organization of papers – How to manage the paperwork from multiple classes simply and effectively. How to keep track of the most important assignments and current work. How to maintain the backpack.
- SSS: Sacred Study Space – How to optimize your home SSS for focus. How to remove distractions from the SSS. The exact materials you should have in your SSS so you can get more done in less time.
- Nightly planning – Routine of exactly what to do each day after school, how to do it and why.
- Grade checking – How to proactively check online grades, when to do it and how to respond to missing assignments, incomplete assignments and low grades.
- Browser optimization – How to set up the browser for school success and how to minimize online distractions.
- The Motivation Lie – The right mindset concerning “unmotivated” students. How to deal with procrastination. Why the brain is resistant to help and what to do about it.
- Resistance – Avoidance, resisting help, how to help your child.
- Executive Function – How the brain executes tasks, what can your child do to make it better, what can you change that makes it worse.
- Stress and the nervous system – Fight, flight and freeze, what’s going on in the body and how to work with it rather than create more stress.
- Routines – Learn about the habits and routines you need to have in order to be a successful student.
- Procrastination busters – Tips and tricks for self-starting and persisting.
- Refine and maintain – Sharpen the sword. Checking systems from last week, adding any new systems, learning to maintain systems and refine how effectively students use them for their particular learning style.
- What to do weekly – How to do my Sunday systems check to stay current and build habits.
- Asking for help – How students can let parents help you when they are resistant to it. How to let teachers help.
- Advocacy – How to advocate for oneself.
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“I’m loving your lessons so far! For the first time in a while, I feel hopeful that I can help my son. He actually started crying when I showed him the student video to see if he would be open to the course. It was a resounding YES!”
How does it work?
- When you sign up, you’ll receive an email from me with the links you need to begin. No tech skills needed.
- Once you log in you do the lessons at your own pace, but with a “recommended” schedule. Just log in, click the lesson, and you’ll see the simple instructions, the current video lesson and the printable pdf’s.
- I walk you and/or your child through the lessons step by step. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’ve designed the entire semester to flow as smoothly as possible and to optimize for success.
- There are 35 robust lessons designed especially for students – where I am speaking directly to them. However, parents should watch ALL student videos so you can thoroughly understand my teachings. If you’re not willing to do this, it is not worth your money.
- There are an additional 20 in-depth lessons specifically for Parents. I teach you how to help your child deal with their resistance, emotional regulation, homework problems, etc..
Got questions? Email info@sethperler.com
FAQ
- When should we start? You can start UGYG any time, but the closer to the start of the semester, the better. This way, you can help your child get systems in place proactively instead of reactively. The important thing is to just dive in and take action asap.
- What if we are not on traditional semesters? It doesn’t matter. I planned UGYG for typical semesters in the USA, but I have families in various countries, families on hexters or quarters, homeschool families and other non-traditional schedules. The content is the same no matter what schedule you are on and you go at the pace that works for you. I give you “suggested” times that you can adapt to your situation. Simply go through the course in order, and adapt it to your needs. The important thing is that you apply the principles.
- How much time is needed? A lot, and it will also save a TON of time, energy and frustration over the rest of the semester and for years to come. Most student videos are 5-10 minutes long and require action. You can go at your own pace and do several lessons in a day or break it up over multiple days. Again, this is not a quick fix – that doesn’t work. But it is reasonable. Plan on spending several hours the first month as we get systems in place. Then it will require less time each month.
- What if my child isn’t ready? Honestly, this isn’t for you right now. You may benefit from an in-person coach, tutor, therapist or other support professionals to address underlying challenges first. There are many other fantastic programs to explore.
- What if I want to do it with more than one of my children? No problem. You pay per family, so you can use it with multiple children. Family members use the same login info.
- Will we have access after the semester ends? YES and you “should” revisit UGYG as a refresher each semester until your child has turned the corner.
- What if I’m not technologically savvy? Don’t worry, I make it clear, step by step.
- Is it worth it? Absolutely, especially when you consider the cost of not taking action and especially if you view education as an investment in your child’s future. If this program helps you and your child transform their educational experience so they can be moving forward rather than backsliding, it’s a “heck yes!” I’ve been helping complicated kids turn it around for many years, and I know what works and what doesn’t. Coaching is $150-$250/hour, and this is incredibly deep, focused, relevant, and includes a full semester of coaching lessons. I designed this to be a game-changer. Also you can compare it to other things you spend money on – tutoring, neuropsych evals, therapists, support programs, etc.. And you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk.
- What if I have other questions? Email info@sethperler.com
How do we get started?
How do we start? If you 1) watched the video for parents at the top, 2) you and your child watched the video for students, 3) you read through this page carefully, and 4) you are ready to start, click a program below to enroll.
How do we pay? Credit card through the enrollment link below.
Guarantee: There’s no risk. If this isn’t for you, email me within 30 days and I’ll refund you 100%. No catch. I’ll ask for feedback but will refund you either way.
How do we Enroll?
Option 1) UGYG Self-paced Program: $697
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- You get the self-paced, independent, coaching program to do on your own time, your own way.
- Get the robust, semester-long online program. Video course with 35 incredible lessons covering all critical topics.
- For Middle and High school students (college students sometimes do UGYG too)
- Get all of the downloadable support PDFs to help execute the lessons
- Get 20 Lessons just for parents, to help you help your child with confidence
- 30-Day 100% Money-Back Guarantee
- Enroll in this self-paced program any time
- If you ever upgrade to Momentum GROUP, you can apply 100% of your investment to the upgrade.
Option 2) MOMENTUM GROUP COACHING With Seth: Premium Group Program: $2997
To get on the waitlist for next session, get special discounts, or learn more about Momentum Group, which includes live coaching with Seth, enter your info below: