UGYG: UpGrAde Your GrAdes Program, Spring 2018

Parents, click the video above to watch.

Click here for the STUDENT Video page

This Fall Semester, 2018

UGYG: UpGrAde Your GrAdes Program

From Struggling Student to Successful Habits

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. The UGYG Coaching Program is a semester-long, intensive online program designed to serve as a powerful jumpstart for struggling middle and high school students and their parents. It’s designed to get results and help students change patterns so they can be more successful in school and so they can have better skills to help them create a happier & more successful future.

What’s the problem? “The Dip” pattern…

Strong start: Your child often starts the semester off strong. Things seem to be going well.
The dip: You’re surprised when they suddenly hit the mid-semester dip and grades take a nosedive.
Swim upstream: You spend the rest of the semester stressed, trying to help your resistant child dig out of holes.
Hail Mary: The last weeks of the semester are incredibly stressful as your child deals with 1) current work, 2) mountains of missing work, along with 3) big final projects, papers and exams.
Get help (maybe): For some reason, many families wait until it’s too late, then scramble looking for last minute help.
Amnesia: After the semester is over, people tend to forget how bad it was and imagine that things will somehow fix themselves next semester. Therefore, proactive changes rarely happen.
Rinse & repeat.

Why does “The Dip” happen?
Three big reasons:

Students who struggle with school are notoriously unrealistic about the amount of time and energy it takes to navigate school.
They don’t have the right systems in place, so they struggle with output / execution.
Parents simply don’t know what to do to break the pattern and they understand Executive Function.

Most of the advice our students have been given is great advice for naturally organized people, but ineffective for non-traditional, outside-the-box, atypical learners who struggle with Executive Function! These are kids who struggle with every aspect of execution: self starting, finishing things, focusing, prioritizing, organizing, planning, etc.. It’s not about motivation, and many adults have trouble understanding this, so they unknowingly choose the wrong interventions, and the pattern continues. These struggling students often feel shamed and therefore more resistant and less motivated.

What’s the solution?
During UGYG, I take you step-by-step through the entire process that I use with my students to implement the key systems and mindsets needed to turn it around. No ambiguity or confusion, you will know exactly what your child needs to succeed and how you can support them.

I will teach you my specific methods to create the right foundation for a successful school year.
These are skills your child will use and refine throughout their entire schooling.
In fact, these are critical life skills.

This is a unique program because it’s for students and parents. It’s ultimate 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. I’ve spent the past 20+ years helping outside-the-box learners. Coaching is the best way I know of to help them change habits, and I designed this robust program to be a game changer for you.

What are the benefits for parents

Feel more confident in your child’s ability to build a happy and successful future.
Watch your child become more independent and confident.
Feel clear about what your child needs – you’ll learn the exact systems your child needs so you don’t have to wonder if you’re covering all the bases, so you know with clarity.
Learn the difference between enabling your child in an unhealthy way that causes “learned helplessness” and how to help your child in a healthy way that teaches greater 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 like you are not alone, you will get to see other parents in the same position and learn from them.
Feel some freedom from having to lecture or nag your child. If you’r child won’t listen to you, I’m the one telling them, so they can take more ownership in the process.
You get to learn how I communicate with kids (parents often tell me how helpful this is in helping them learn better ways to communicate).
PDF support sheets that detail key concepts.
Your child will navigate the mid-semester “dip” better.
Better grades.
Note: this is not meant to be a quick fix or a magic bullet. These issues sometimes take years to overcome. But this will help move the needle quite a bit!

Who is UGYG for?

Middle and High School students who want results. They feel frustrated and want to improve the systems they use to navigate school, be more efficient, get more out of their efforts, have more free time and less stress.
Homework – Students who struggle with homework. It’s often missing, incomplete, late, lost, forgotten or nameless.
Grades – Students whose grades do not reflect their ability or potential. Grades often suffer from 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 need to learn how to study effectively.
Organization – Students who are “organizationally challenged.” They lose things, can’t find their papers, have papers crammed in the bottom of their backpacks, 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, students whose bedrooms are a mess.
Avoid consequences – For 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 patterns 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 effectively track responsibilities. They often fool themselves by saying, “I can remember it.”
Motivation – Students who have trouble with self-starting, procrastination, who avoid their work as long as possible, who tell you they have a big project, exam or paper the night before.
Mindset – Attitudes about school can either be self-defeating or positive. These kids have 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 annoy 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.
Focus -Students who are easily distracted, 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 need to understand strategies for 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..

Who UGYG is NOT for?

To be clear, this may not help you in any way. I’ve had the benefit of working with complicated students for 20+ years and have learned to address the nuances that get results.

The average person who buys a program does not apply what they learn, and I like to help people who are willing and able to take action and get results.

This is not a quick fix. If that’s what you’re hoping for, please do not get this program.

Magic bullets – This program isn’t for you if you’re looking for cheap, quick and easy. There are no magic bullets. Change takes time, effort and the right approach.
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’ll have to be willing to show up, pay attention, try what I teach, listen carefully, and put in time and effort 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 real shot, it’s a waste of your money. Show them the video I made here FOR STUDENTS and see how they react. You can make an informed decision together.

What’s included?

A proven system that gets results. This is exactly what I’ve successfully taught many kids over many years. And it’s practical!
Hours of in-depth, masterclass video instruction. Oh yeah, including my down-to-earth, albeit quirky, personality that I use in order to relate to my students.
Student in-depth teachings with clear action steps to set them up with systems for for success.
Parent teachings to guide you through the entire process.
Challenges throughout the course to build chops, 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 you implement my teachings.
Templates for advocacy emails.
Bonus “Touch up” webinar to help keep the momentum going and refine core concepts.
Bonus Mindfulness for emotional regulation session.

What will students learn?

Main objective: By the time you’re done with this course you will feel much better because you will have effectively set up all all of your school systems, refined them for effectiveness, know how to maintain them, learned the right mindsets, be off to a strong start and be building new habits. Here are some of the details:

Systems Overview
- Learn all of the exact systems you will 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 in school year after year, with missing and incomplete assignments, falling grades, decreased motivation, and insufficient time studying or working on major projects and papers)
- Learn how to use these systems effectively and how to tailor them to your personality and learning style
Planners
- Which planner to use and why.
- How to completely set up your planner properly for a successful school year.
- How and when to update your planner properly.
- How to backwards plan for tests, projects and papers so you 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 your most important assignments and current work.
- How to maintain your backpack.
SSS Sacred Study Space
- How to optimize your SSS for focus.
- How to remove distractions from your 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 your online grades, when to do it and how to respond to missing assignments, incomplete assignments and low grades.
Browser optimization – How to set up your 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 you 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 routines you need to have in order to be a successful student.
Procrastination busters – Tips and tricks for starting and persisting.
Refine and maintain – Checking systems from last week, adding any new systems, learning to maintain systems and refine how effectively you use them for your learning style.
What to do weekly – How to do my Sunday systems check so you can stay current and build habits.
Asking for help – How to let your parents help you when you are resistant to it. How to let your teachers help you.
Advocacy – How to advocate for yourself.
Much more…

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’ll be able start the lessons at your own pace, but with a recommended schedule. You just log in, click on the lesson, and you’ll see the simple instructions, the current video class and the printable pdf’s.

I literally walk you and/or your child through the lessons step by step. You’ll get new lessons at different intervals throughout the semester as you need them. 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.

Most of the lessons are designed for students – I am speaking directly to them. However, parents should watch ALL student videos so they can understand my teachings.

There is also a Parent Only section where I cover important topics related to help to help your child, how to deal with resistance, how to help with emotional regulation, how to help with complicated homework problems and arguments, etc..

If you have questions about the lessons, you’ll be able to email me so I can respond.

If you choose a webinar option, I’ll be using Zoom for live coaching & teaching.

FAQ

How much time is needed? A lot, and it will save a TON of time, energy and frustration over the rest of the semester. I will send you the course videos in specific chunks depending on where we are in the semester. Most student videos are 5-10 minutes long and require some action related to the topic I am teaching. You can go at your own pace and do several in a day or break it up over multiple days. Again, this is not the quick fix plan – that doesn’t work. But it is reasonable, so don’t worry! Plan on spending several hours the first month as we get all the 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, therapist or other support professionals to address underlying challenges.
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.
What if I’m not technologically savvy? Don’t worry, I’ll make it clear, step by step.
Is it worth it? Absolutely. If this robust program helps you and your child have a better experience, it’s a no-brainer. I have been helping complicated kids turn it around for a long time, and I know what works and what doesn’t. Good coaching is normally $150-$200/hour, and this is incredibly deep, focused, relevant, and includes a semester of coaching lessons. I designed this to be a game changer. You might compare it to other things you may have spent money on – tutoring centers, neuropsych evals, therapists, programs, etc..
What if I have other questions? Email me.

How do we get started and how much does it cost?

How do we start? If you watched the video for parents above, you and your child saw the video for students, you read through this page carefully, and you want to start, just click a link below to enroll.

How do we pay? Credit card through the link below (I also accept check or Venmo).

Guarantee – There’s no risk. If you find that this isn’t for you, email me and let me know. I’ll refund you 100%. No catch. I’ll ask for feedback but will refund you either way. My hope is that you’ll apply what I teach and that your child will be on a better path.

UGYG Options

(1) Independent Study : $449 (Click to Buy)

For Middle and High school students
Robust, full semester online video course
Downloadable support PDFs for the course
Lessons just for parents, to help you help your child
30-Day money back guarantee

(2) Group Study : $549 (Click to Buy)

For Middle and High school students
Robust, full semester online video course
Downloadable support PDFs for the course
Lessons just for parents, to help you help your child
30-Day money back guarantee
Plus: Exclusive parent Facebook group for support
Plus: Monthly live coaching calls for parents in a group online
Plus: Monthly live coaching “office hours” for students in a group online

(3) Premium Study : $849 (Click to Buy)

For Middle and High school students
Full semester online video course
Downloadable support PDFs for the course
Lessons just for parents, to help you help your child
30-Day money back guarantee
Exclusive parent Facebook group for support
Monthly coaching calls for parents in a group online
Monthly coaching “office hours” for kids in a group online
Plus: 4 live, 1:1, 30 minute coaching sessions just for your child ($300 value).
Plus: 2 live, 1:1, 30 minute strategy sessions just for you, the parents ($150 value)

More questions? Email me directly.
Scholarship? I have 3 partial scholarships for families who legitimately need financial help. Email me if interested.
Payment plan? I can break it into 2 payments if needed.

Click HERE for the Student Video page