How the Magic Happens
Learn More About SMARTIE Buddy
The SMARTIE Buddy System is an innovative, color-coded program that follows the acronym S.M.A.R.T.I.E.: Self, Memory, Analyze and Organize, Readcomp, Testing, Improvement and Excellence. It teaches foundational and critical skills in lagging learners and focuses on developing a deeper sense of self & internal motivation.
- Learning skills including reading comprehension
- Executive Function skills including organizing a student’s environment and mind
- Smart studying skills including test prep and test-taking with unique strategies and tools
We get it. There are amazing programs out there that assure excellence
But don’t get to the bottom of it.
Here is the secret behind SMARTIE Buddy’s success!
SMARTIE Buddy embeds and integrates the 3 learning smarts every student needs:
1
2
Critical Learning Foundations – Such as organizing information and question/answer connections to develop comprehension and test taking abilities.
3
Executive Function Skills – Such as organization, motivation, planning, and responsibility.
The S.M.A.R.T.I.E. Buddy Program has two student guidebooks selected developmentally, according to the student’s skills, strengths, and struggles. It provides a research-based flexible framework to teach skills to students through certified coaches top-down and bottom-up simultaneously. This ensures that the targeted skills are developed, empowering students to take pride in their progress & responsibility for their schoolwork.
S - Self
Students discover how they learn and set the goals they want to master. We support the acceptance of self, including strengths and struggles, for transformational change. Students select brain-based strategies to support their studying by creating a study plan uniquely theirs.
M - Memory
A - Analyze and Organize
Executive Function skills are crucial mental skills that help students learn and manage their daily lives independently. The Start-It Plan in Book One, Smart Starts, addresses the foundational five school systems in a step-by-step process. Once environmental organization is in place, organizing information, an important requisite skill to solid comprehension, comes next. Note taking abilities are addressed in Book Two, Advanced Smarts.
R - ReadComp
T - Test Target
I - Improvement Indicator
Improvement in all areas is tracked throughout the program using tools like the Goal Tracker and Shining Stars as students’ progress, driving internal motivation and building self-awareness.
E - Excellence Earned
Awesome! Another Shining SMARTIE Star!
SMARTIE students send in their letter to receive their exclusive Shining Star Package.
What SMARTIE Buddy IS:
- A student-based approach
- Uses neuroplasticity for consistent, steady improvement
- Integrates the 3 learning smarts with loads of practical strategies
- Teaches students how to comprehend and take tests
- Creates an inner template so learning becomes organized and easy
- Builds the student’s internal motivation
What SMARTIE Buddy ISN’T
- A subject-based approach
- A quick fix or a bandage
- An on-the-spot intervention
- Does not include showing tests to students to memorize the answers
What will I get in SMARTIE Buddy?
A LOT.
Certified SMARTIE Buddy coaches work with each student, ensuring skills taught are properly mastered and applied as the student’s abilities are transformed and generalized. The program comes with a student guidebook, electronic memory game, Goal Tracker stickers, and color-coded flashcards in a sturdy bag. There is a choice of two student levels, selected according to the student’s developmental abilities.
Book One: SMART Starts
Recommended for 3rd Grade and up. Target features include:
• Uses simple language to explain tough topics
• Teaches how to follow directions
• Works on Executive Function skills with the Start-It plan for school supplies, homework, and more
• Develops basic comprehension that links understanding to taking tests
Book Two: Advanced Starts
Recommended for Middle School and up. Target features include:
• Improves ability to handle heavy classroom demands
• Teaches note-taking skills
• Develops higher-level comprehension (reading between the lines and beyond the lines)
• Teaches smart studying skills with the Knapsack Study Plan and Test Tracker Tools
Grades 3-4
Options:
• Certified SMARTIE Buddy Coach working 1:1
• Small size SMARTIE Buddy groups
Grades 5-8
Options:
• Certified SMARTIE Buddy Coach working 1:1
• Small size SMARTIE Buddy groups in-school or after-school
High School
Options:
• Certified SMARTIE Buddy Coach working 1:1
• Small size SMARTIE Buddy groups in-school or after-school
“I like the idea of the students having a book so that they can refer back to all the skills learned. Instead of having many little sticky notes and booklets, they now can have everything in one colorful, exciting book!”
– Rosa D (Certified SMARTIE Buddy Coach)
With much excitement, I am sharing with you the strong positive impact “SMARTIE Buddy” had on my daughter’s performance in school.
She’s challenged with hearing loss and wears a hearing aid and cochlear implant to assist her with her hearing. She is, thank God, a bright student and does beautifully academically.
She struggled to keep up in class, with the momentum of transitioning between subjects, listening to instructions, and efficiently organizing her stuff while simultaneously requiring her to work hard to keep up. As the year progressed, she became fatigued, exhausted, and disorganized.
She started the “SMARTIE Buddy” program this year. The difference in her excitement, passion for learning, and ability to invest all her effort to keep up is unbelievable.
The guidance and support she gets from her coach, following the “SMARTIE Buddy” curriculum, keep her going. She is invigorated, excited, and passionate about learning and keeping up with her class.
May God repay Mrs. Gluck with much-continued success and the ability to help many more children as much as she has been instrumental in helping my daughter!
– Mrs. R
Got questions? Read our Frequently Asked Questions
Why does each student need a separate program?
How much is the program per student?
Why do you need to be certified to purchase the program?
Teaching students how to learn is an art that requires skill and heart. Certified Coach + Student Package= SMARTIE Buddy Learning Experience.
