Should You Contribute to Your Child’s College Education?

April 3, 2012 by 9 Comments

You simply can’t believe it. Seems like just yesterday, you were bringing your child home from the
hospital, and now your daughter or son is about to walk across a platform to receive their high school
diploma. One huge milestone is done, but another one is right before the both of you: them earning a
college degree.

For years, it’s been a debatable topic: Should a parent contribute to their child’s college education? After
all, being that it’s something that prepares a child for living on their own as an adult, shouldn’t it be
something that they pay for independently?

Enough time spent on this earth will cause you to realize that very few things are that black-and-white or
cut-and-dried. In making the decision of whether or not to contribute to your child’s college education,
here are some strong factors to consider.

Education Is an Investment

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people with a college degree earn up to four times more money
than those with only a high school diploma. Therefore, when it comes to equipping your child with the
tools needed to be an accomplished adult, this is a great reason to consider assisting them by financially
contributing to their college education.

Education Should Be a Student’s Top Priority

There are many studies to support the fact that a lot of young college students either don’t reach their
fullest academic potential or they continue to drop out of college because of the financial pressure that’s
placed upon them with they have to pay for their college education on their own. With the average price
of attending a private non-profit college or university currently being somewhere between $35,000, even
a part-time job barely puts in a dent when it comes to the cost of tuition and room and board. When your
child has financial assistance, it takes some of the pressure off financially; this frees them up to put more
focus on where it really belongs: their classwork.

Your Financial Support Makes Them Feel Supported

Telling your child that you believe in them is one thing. Showing them that you do by making the sacrifice
to help them with their college education is far more effective. This doesn’t mean that you have to, or even
should, pay for all of their education. After all, [Read more…]

Filed Under: education

Learn Languages via Kid Friendly App

March 31, 2012 by 4 Comments

Learn and have fun at the same time! Kids 1st shape puzzle is an entertaining and fun-filled word learning game which teaches children English and Hebrew while solving puzzles. The app includes various themed puzzles: alphabets, emotions, animals, colors, numbers, transportation shapes and many more. There are sixteen puzzles, and each puzzle contains anywhere from 8 to 26 pieces providing a wide range for varying skill levels. Your kid will learn the names of the objects in the puzzles and hear sounds associated with those objects – for example a lion’s roar or a fire truck’s siren. The clear crisp graphics and big puzzle pieces are perfect for little [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, kids, review, technology

Teaching Kids the Importance of Saving Money

March 21, 2012 by 8 Comments
Teaching your kids how to save money isn’t difficult. You can get started early by paying them for chores, setting up savings accounts, and making them sock away a portion of their earnings. Heck, you could even go old school with a piggy bank. And as kids get older you can teach them how to create a budget so that they learn to balance their income and expenditures in order to figure a savings plan into their equation. You can also teach them how to invest and even help them to set up retirement accounts early on. But while these are valuable life skills that every child should learn before they leave the nest, teaching your kids how to save doesn’t necessarily give them incentive to do so. For this reason you need to find ways to impress upon them the importance of setting aside money for a rainy day.

Of course, the most important reason to save money is preparatory. You want kids to have cash on hand for common expenses like college, home ownership, starting a family, and retirement. But they also need to be ready for unexpected emergency expenses such as accident or injury (leading to medical bills), car repairs (or replacement), or disasters not covered by insurance policies (a mugging, for example, or a flood in an area where most people have earthquake coverage). But telling kids about these reasons for saving money may not be enough. You also have to imbue them with a desire to save, and this comes from training.

The easiest way to give your lesson real-world impact is to tailor it specifically for your kids. Suppose your young daughter has [Read more…]
Filed Under: education, kids

Should You Give Your Kids Rewards for Good Grades?

March 20, 2012 by 6 Comments
It’s probably not thought about in this way as much as it should be, but think about it. Those of us who have jobs, we were able to get them because we have an education, correct? Even if we didn’t get a college degree, we still have a high school diploma (or GED) as a sign of proof that we learned the skills needed for us to know how to read and write (among other things) at a fairly progressive level. And so, while as adults we have jobs, for children that are in school, learning is their job. Education is what they are investing in so that someday they can have a prosperous and fulfilling career.

When you look at it that way, doesn’t it make you want to take a very thorough approach when it comes to how you deal with your children and their education? After all, if we can spend eight hours a day to earn a paycheck, shouldn’t there be something done for the child that spends eight hours at school?


This is the reason why the question, “Should you give your kids rewards for good grades?” is one that doesn’t really have a clear cut “yes” or “no” answer. But if you are pondering what will work for you, rather than using words like “reward”, consider swapping them out for ones like “encourage”, “support” and “incentives” because those three things are what every child needs to develop and succeed, both in and outside of the classroom.

It is certainly understandable why many parents and educators are not very obliging when it comes to the idea of giving children money or gifts in return for a good report card. To some, it’s seen as a way of bribing a child to learn, which could potentially send the wrong message about the importance of receiving an education; without [Read more…]
Filed Under: education, family, kids

5 Reasons for Adults to Go Back to College

March 18, 2012 by 8 Comments

You may have heard that it’s never too late to go back to college and earn your degree. This is 100% true.
But more important than the fact that you CAN continue your education are the many good reasons
why you SHOULD do it. You might think that just because you found a job you don’t really need to go
back to school. And in some cases, motivated, bright, or lucky individuals are able to advance without a
degree (while some just aren’t suited to classrooms). But for most people there are myriad reasons why
completing a higher education and walking away with a diploma can improve their prospects in life. Here
are just a few to consider if you’re toying with the idea of going back to college to earn that degree.

1. Advance in field. If you’ve hit the proverbial glass ceiling in your climb up the corporate ladder,
your lack of a college degree could be to blame. Or perhaps a bachelor’s degree simply isn’t
enough in this competitive economy and you really need a master’s to continue your upward
trajectory. Either way, going back to school can give you the edge you need by helping to
familiarize you with the latest advances in your field and potentially even equip you with the
specific skills and knowledge your company is looking for.

2. Switch jobs. Perhaps you’ve hit a dead end in your current job or you just came to realize that
it’s not what you want to do with the rest of your life. They say the happiest people change
professions several times throughout their lives; maybe that time has come for you. But you don’t
want to start on the bottom rung after years of paying dues in another field. A college degree can
help you to [Read more…]

Filed Under: education

Educational Weekend Activities for Kids

March 1, 2012 by 3 Comments

School may be five days a week, but when it comes to learning, no one should ever take a vacation. Even
on the weekends, when you’re home with your kids, there are fun and educational activities that you can
do. You don’t need a lesson plan, just a little bit of inspiration to point you into the right direction.

Take a Day Trip

Zoology is the study of animals. Why not take the kids to the zoo? If they’re in a science class, it’s always a
winner to visit a science museum. Maybe their teacher is educating them on botany (the study of plants).
If so, there are more and more places that are erecting community gardens. Or maybe they’re in an art
class. If so, when’s the last time that you checked out an art exhibit at a local gallery? The fun thing about
options like these is that while in a school setting, kids are often sitting at a desk and reading about
various subjects, an educational outing with the family, gives them more of a hands on experience in more
of relaxed setting.

Create Your Own Card Games

A little bit of construction paper can go a really long way. If you want to help develop a child’s memory,
get some magazines, cut out some pictures and glue them to some 5×7 index cards or cut some pieces
of paper down to that size. Turn the pictures over one at a time and then flip them back. See who can
remember which pictures were where. Another idea is if you want to help them learn how to read better,
another set of cards can be made with words on them that teach spelling, enunciation and the definitions.
For each word said and defined correctly, give a point and at the end of the game; to whomever has the
most points, give a prize. Another cool way to use handmade cards is to create your own scavenger hunt
that has instructions on the front like “Look in the hallway closet” or “Check underneath the kitchen table”
for items. What are your kids learning? How to follow directions.

Check Out Some Sports

OK, Dad will probably love this option, but there is a greater [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, family, kids

Frozen Planet- a World Beyond Imagination (DVD)

February 26, 2012 by 18 Comments

Every so often there comes a movie or TV show that must be seen in HD in order to fully appreciated the scope and magnitude of the medium. One of those presentations is Frozen Planet.

Frozen Planet was created by the same individuals who made Planet Earth and The Blue Planet. These documentaries focus on the magnitude and beauty of the Earth and its animal inhabitants. Frozen Planet emphasis our Arctic and Antarctic regions. Those areas which are quickly changing and melting into something different.

This series acts as a historical record of the animals and ecology of the coldest places on the planet. These areas are home to many animals who live in an area that is so inhospitable to human life, we can only go there for short times, and certain times of the year. The waters of the Arctic are so cold that even in insulated wet suits, humans can only go in for an hour at a time, to prevent permanent damage from occurring to them.

The series itself is intense. Even on a non – HD screen it is something to behold. The sweeping landscapes with mountains of ice and stone towering over a polar bear looking for a mate. The most minute of creatures living around volcanic fissures in the deepest of oceans, where an entire ecosystem thrives off of a small crack in the Earth’s crust.

This series is epic and scope and also in the attention to detail brought to it. I enjoy the behind the scenes footage included with each episode. It is easy to forget how difficult it must be to get these stunning shots. Be it of killer whales popping up to get a look at the surface or the view from underneath a constantly shifting glacier.

The series if broken up into seven parts. One is the introduction episode, then come the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These are followed by The Last Frontier which focuses on human activity in the regions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, movie, review

How to Build a Good Parent Teacher Relationship

February 23, 2012 by 8 Comments

Sure you love your kids and you enjoy spending as much time with them as possible, but the reality is that
if they’re school-aged, the one who shares most of their (weekly) waking hours with them is their teacher.
That reason alone should be a strong enough motivator to want to do all that you can to cultivate a healthy
parent-teacher relationship. Not only will it put you more at ease when it comes to your child’s well-being,
but it can also help the teacher to be a more effective educator. Being that each child is different, it can
never hurt for their teacher to have as much relevant information from you that will assist in your son or
daughter’s academic development.

It’s rare that a child has the same teacher (or set of teachers) for more than one school year and so this
means that it’s a good idea to be proactive in introducing yourself. If there’s not some kind of formal open
house at your child’s school (or you’re not able to make it), most administrative offices provide a list of
each teacher’s name, phone numbers and email address. Don’t hesitate to contact them to request a time
for the both of you to get better acquainted.

Once the two of you have met, be sure to state some of your desires for your child for that school year. If
they’re older children, ask the teacher if there’s a weekly lesson plan available that gives you an idea of
what your son or daughter will be studying and when tests are scheduled. Also be sure to ask the teacher if
there is anything that you can do to help your child excel in their class. Most educators are quite relieved
to know that they have a parent’s support when it comes to classwork assignments.

While it shows great initiative and responsibility to attend every prescheduled parent-teacher conference,
should problems arise, either [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, family, kids