Thrifty Tips for College Students

Whether you are a parent of a college student or you are a student yourself, you know that college is expensive. What you may not know, and what I wish that I knew when I was in college a few years ago, is that there are some things that you can save money on while you are in college which can add up to significant savings. That’s right, you can have more cash left in your pocket or less money borrowed from student loans and other sources if you do a few things a little differently. For example, when you … Continue reading

Creating Your Own Interactive Student Books

Previously I discussed how teachers can make their own worksheets with the wonderful world of technology that we live in. I have found that one teaching material I love to create is student reading books. Each week I try to give my kindergarten students a book that they can read. This is not simply a book for them to take home and read over once. It is an interactive book that the students and I work through all week long. It is typically based on the theme for the week and often addresses particular skills such as rhyming or color … Continue reading

More Library Trip Tips

My last few articles have focused on taking trips to the library with your children. Young children of all ages can benefit from trips to the library. While some parents hesitate about taking a trip to the local library, it is an experience that all children should have. I also began offering some tips and advice for taking trips to the library with your child. Those tips will continue. Some parents find it hard to turn over the idea of checking out books to their child. However it is important that you allow your child to choose the books that … Continue reading

Tips for Library Trips

My last article began discussing the benefits of taking your child to the library. Even very young children can have positive experiences from trips to a local library. The previous article discussed some benefits for babies and toddlers. This article will continue benefits of library trips for other age levels. Preschool Story times for this age level will involve longer more detailed stories. Children may experience interactive activities such as flannel board stories, crafts, songs, and more. Children can learn skills to prepare them for school. Children must learn to share and interact with others their age. Even if you … Continue reading

More Tips for Selecting Books

Previously I had listed some tips on helping children make good book selections from the library. Finding the right book and getting a child involved in a story that he or she enjoys is one of the best ways to motivate the desire to read. Here I have a few more tips to offer before you head off to the library! Talk with friends. Look for other children your child’s age and see what they are interested in reading. Seeing others interested in reading may also help to encourage your own child to read more. Talk with teachers. Ask teachers … Continue reading

Tips for Selecting Books

Recently I discussed the concern that the number of children who read for fun is decreasing. It seems that the older children get, the less they enjoy reading. While many different factors may contribute to why children do not find reading fun, one problem that many children face is finding the right book. There are some things that both parents and teachers can do to help children when selecting a book to read. Before taking your next trip to the library, discuss with your child the importance of careful book selection and about book browsing before making a choice. Use … Continue reading

Get It Ready the Night Before

The very first day of a brand new school year can be both exciting and nerve wracking. Parents want to do everything they can in order to help their child have a successful first day back at school. If your child has ADHD, then you will need do some extra preparation in order to make that happen. Some of the most commonly recognized symptoms of ADHD include an inability to focus, difficulty staying still, impulsiveness, and a tendency to get completely distracted from whatever task the child is supposed to be working on. These types of behaviors can make it … Continue reading

The USGenWeb Website is a Great Resource

There are a lot of different online genealogy resources for you to choose from. Some of them cost money if you want to gain access to their databases. It is nice to find one that is free to use, and that covers a vast amount of information. USGenWeb is a website that fits all of these qualifications. USGenWeb is run by a group of volunteers who want to help provide free genealogy resources to everyone who has a need to use them. This website links to sources that can help you find out more about an ancestor who was an … Continue reading

A Dangerous Trend in Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales

Nursery Rhymes and fairy tales help teach children about the world. That’s the view of many experts including June Factor who has spent many years researching childhood and school playground rhymes and writing children’s books. However the trend at present appears to be to try and sanitize nursery rhymes, for example in England the BBC has come under fire for a rewrite of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery rhyme. Now instead of saying ‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again,’ the revised rhyme says they,’made Humpty happy again.’ The idea behind this sanitizing of … Continue reading

More on How to Knock out Reading Avoidance

One of my last articles discussed some excuses that children give for not wanting to read. I then began giving some ideas on how teachers can address these excuses and hopefully alleviate them. The next reason that students gave for not wanting to read was that they were always required to read material that they did not enjoy. Many teachers do require students to read certain books or passages. However make sure that you also have plenty of material that is available for your students to choose from. Keep reading material of all interest at hand. Magazines, books, comic books, … Continue reading