The June 2009 edition of Money magazine featured an article on how to Unspoil Your Kids. The article included an interesting chart outlining “What to Teach When,”
as suggested by Jon and Eileen Gallo, authors of The Financially Intelligent Parent.
I like the idea of breaking up financial lessons by age group, recognizing of course that some kids “get it” before others, despite their age. For instance, my daughter is fairly money-savvy and back when she was just seven or eight could explain in adult terms what a mortgage was, how taxes were collected, etc. She probably got that from hanging out with her frugal dad.My son, on the other hand, at five years-old, is more interested in a shiny penny than a paper dollar. He’s yet to recognize the differences in currency (despite our best efforts). Actually, I think he does understand it on some level; he just likes shiny coins.
Who could blame him?
I’ll include the age brackets below, along with the suggested lessons from the Money
article, but as usual, I put my frugal spin on the ideas as well.
Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar You might also like:
DLTKs The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.
TeacherVision's free The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities Booklet printable.
In addition to dispelling the myth that home-schoolers — who pay taxes for schools that they don't use — are somehow costing schools money, the authors cite studies by other researchers that show the value of home-schooling in other areas: home-schoolers have higher self-esteem, fewer behavior disorders, better academic performance, and more college attendance than their peers in public and private schools.
Recently, the USCIS had 6,000 citizenship applicants pilot a newer version of this test. The agency reported a 92.4 percent passing rate for the test among citizenship applicants on the first try. I did not expect Arizona high school students to do that well of course, given that those seeking citizenship have had the opportunity to prepare for the test. On the other hand, Arizona high school students have some advantages of their own: multiple courses in American history and social studies, hopefully exposure to American history outside of school, etc.
Venn diagrams sound like a fancy and difficult math concept, but instead they make a great math activity for toddlers and up:
Grab a handful of candy, colorful cereal, a set of toys, or anything else you can think of that can be classified into groups.
Make two circles with shoelaces, cut-out from card stock, chalk on the sidewalk, etc. Have your child start describing characteristics of your set: colors, sizes, shapes, number of legs, clothing, etc. Pick two. Then start sorting them into the appropriate circles, with items that have BOTH characteristics in the middle where the two circles intersect.
Here are a few examples:
Colors: Blue candy in the left circle, red candy in the right circle, purple candy (it is BOTH red and blue) in the center where the circles intersect.
Shapes: Shapes with straight lines in the left circle, shapes with curved lines in the right, a shape like a heart that has both in the center.Toy animal: Animals with hooves in the left circle, animals with tails in the right, and animals with both hooves and tails in the center.
More fun ideas:
Eat the ones in the middle when you’re done.Close your eyes and the other person moves one item to the wrong section -
see if you can figure it out.Sort without telling the other the criteria and see if they can guess your sorting rules.
Add a third circle to make it more tricky.
NightLight: a ministry in urban Bangkok, which reaches out to women and children working in the bar areas of Nana/Sukhumvit. Located in a neighborhood with a growing sex trade, Nightlight’s vision is to share the Light of the world in both word and deed to those who live in darkness.
Assistance, Intervention and Rehabilitation
1. Outreach: Bar visits to build relationships of trust, offer alternatives, and be available for necessary intervention.2. Vocational/Educational Opportunities: Providing employment, job training and educational alternatives.
3. Shelter and Assistance: To provide a safe place for emergency assistance, health care, counseling, child-care and basic necessities.
4. Intervention of Trafficking: To intervene when children are solicited for prostitution and to work with the guardians to protect these children.
5. Staff Training and Development: To provide training for a multi-lingual staff in the areas of administration, research, grant proposal writing, counseling, and trafficking issues and to set up global networks to assist in repatriation.6. Evangelism: To introduce the women and children to Jesus Christ and to connect them with church families where they can receive discipleship and fellowship.
Have you ever asked, or do you remember being asked questions like these:--Why does your teacher want you to do this/learn this?--Why/How will this assignment help you in life?
What is usually the answer? Depending on the age of the child, it may be "I dunno" or "Because she said" or, worst of all, "It's on the test."We want our kids to know how to learn things, but we want them to enjoy learning for learning's sake. But, possibly most importantly, I want them to know how to buckle down and learn things when it's difficult. I want them to learn that most learning comes from hard work, and that hard work isn't a bad thing. I want them to feel the satisfaction that comes from using, and challenging, their brain.
"Hey, you! You can't do ANYTHING here! You might get hurt!"
Usually when I think of a layered book, I think of using it in a lapbook or mini-office. Jimmie of Jimmie's Collage uses them alone to help her daughter remember parts of speech and other things.
Related Links:
You can find the answers at Education Tipster.1. Multiply the # of legs on an octopus times the number of sides on a triangle. Next, add the # of legs on an ant to the answer and subtract the # of wheels on 8 unicycles. Finally, subtract the # of quarts in a gallon. What’s the answer?
2. Multiply the # of sides of a pentagon times the # of days in the week and add the # of months in a year. Next, subtract the # of wheels on four bicycles and and subtract the # of hours in a day. What’s the answer?
3. Multiply the # of legs on a spider times the # of sides on a quadrilateral. Next, add the # of degrees in a circle and subtract the # of seconds in a minute. Finally, subtract the # of ounces in a pound. What’s the answer?
4. Multiply the # of inches in a foot times the # of years in a decade. Next, add the # of days in a non-leap year and subtract the # of days in December. Finally, subtract the # of eggs in 3-dozen eggs. What’s the answer?
5. Multiply the # of feet in a mile by the # of years in a century. Next, divide your answer by the # of pints in a quart and subtract the # of days in a leap year times a century. Then subtract the # of eyes on 10,000 people. What’s the answer?
6. Multiply the # of ounces in a cup times the # of months it takes to have a normal baby and subtract the # of wheels on 5 tricycles. Next, add the # of horns on 20 unicorns and subtract the # of days in November. What’s the number?
Read more and see wonderful pictures at Jimmie's Collage!Traditionally in China, the time from noon to two PM is a break time. In Chinese it’s called (literally) “noon rest.” That time includes both eating lunch and taking a nap. It used to be that most every office closed totally for that two hours, but things are changing. Now banks remain open through the “rest time”. But we’ve learned not to expect the same service during “noon rest” that you would get earlier or later in the day. The few employees at work at that time are apt to be cranky. And although the business is open, it is very likely that the particular individual who you need to help you is not at work but is, in fact, having a rest. So we’ve learned that for the most part, getting things done needs to be done before or after “noon rest.”
The pressure to pass students - even those who rarely go to class or can't read - is pervasive in the Philadelphia School District, teachers around the city say.
The push comes in memos, in meetings, and in talks about failure rates that are too high, the teachers say. It comes through mountains of paperwork and justification for failing any student. It comes in ways subtle and overt, according to more than a dozen teachers from nine of the city's 62 high schools.
"We have to give fake grades," said a teacher at Mastbaum High in Kensington. "The pressure is very real."
I recently found a writing web site for kids - Reach for the Stars! Kids can join a free writing club. You can download a sample Reach for the Stars writing workbook. You can also sign up for a monthly newsletter - Launch Pad - that will deliver story starters, a photo to caption, grammar help, reader's stories,and web links.
The Reach for the Stars writing workbook was published in May and is available for purchase on the web site for $18.95. According to the web site, the sample workbook has a lot in it that students can benefit from. Try it, and if you like it you can purchase the full workbook for more!
Image from Timez Attack
picture from Moda Bake Shop
Click here to go directly to the download link."Hi everyone -- I just wanted to let you know that I have finished my project on 'The Book of Virtues' by William J. Bennett. I have a full download available of the entire study. Each unit covers 10 of the stories/poems/essays that are included in the Book of Virtues. Each story has worksheets, notebook pages, vocabulary, character study sheets, copywork, 1-2 projects (plus a long term project) and a lapbook with an optional unit wrap up activity. And, to top it off, a full lesson plan for older kids and a separate one for primary aged children.
The full project is 992 pages long!! The download is 18.93 MB, so it's rather large. I will have individual units available -- I just haven't linked them yet.
Please note that though each unit is roughly 100 pages. It is not required to DO all those pages. For instance, if you do the worksheets, you probably shouldn't worry about the notebook pages. If your children are young, you could skip the projects. If they are *really* young, just do the 'wrap up' after reading each story.
Oh -- and just one small side note -- this is a free download! If you get a moment and would like to comment on it, please stop by my blog and let me know what you think!!
Here's a link to the information on my site. This has a ton of explanations to some of the projects and activities. I highly recommend taking a look at the project information at the very least.
An Old Cherokee describes an experience going on inside himself....
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Head on over to Frosty.com for more information on all of Wendy's delicious Frostys™ and to download a Buy One Get One Free coupon to try the new Frosty-Cino™ and Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty™. While you're there check out the new Frosty™ video by the hottest new band, Frosty™ Posse.
How do you text the words "Potty Mouth?"The list of 99 acronyms.Texting, instant messaging and chat rooms use a strange, new language that’s filled with acronyms designed to quickly communicate and easily disguise a myriad of sex and drug terminology. It’s beyond the comprehension of most adults.
Some of the acronyms have been created so that kids can continue their conversation with friends while a parent is watching over their shoulder, confident the old folks are clueless. For example, if you saw your daughter sending the message, “PAW GYPO & Ill GNOC later” would you know she just scheduled a time for a n@ked video camera session after you go to bed for the night? And what’s more frightening than not knowing when your 13-year old keyed LMIRL in a chat room, it meant “Let’s meet in real life?”
So here you go. Here’s the Rosetta Stone of texting/chatting/emailing. A comprehensive guide to acronyms, phrases and lingo to look for on your kid’s phone or computer. Some are outright disgusting and we hope you never see your kids use them. Others are harmless on their own but still important to know in context.If you feel guilty taking a peek at your little darling’s computer and phone, remember one thing: You paid for them.
LOLTWOM (Laughing out loud, they won’t outsmart me).
"I want to be able to track every child throughout their educational trajectory, so we know what they are doing. Secondly, I want to track children back to teachers, so we know the impact the teachers are having on those children. And third, I want to be able to track those students back to teacher, and teachers back to the schools of education, so we can understand which schools of education and which feeder programs are producing the teachers that are producing the students that had the most gain.”
if you're raising a shy and/or sensitive boy
two words: guitar lessonsI wonder if this works for girls, too? ;)
Found at the entrance of a museum in China. A needed sign but generally ignored. I’ve seen dogs in beauty parlors, grocery stores, restaurants, department stores, and pharmacies.
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Ignite to Write
