In The News April 2008 Vol. 11-4
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Just as a garden needs winnowing and care, so do our children and families. The opportunities we give our children provide them a foundation on which to grow and develop. We may have to root out what is not beneficial for the child, but we will be richly rewarded in watching them grow strong, proud and prepared for life beyond the family. This is a month of
transition for many of our families, as they decide whether to
continue an instructional month during the summer months or follow the
traditional school model of summer vacation. The needs and
desires of each individual family are different, but we suggest a
modified learning program during the summer months. Some students who
take a break over the summer mo Join with me in
celebrating a long awaited Spring! |
It is hard to get me out
of my garden at this time of year. I creep around looking for
new plant growth, root out rogue plants and ponder over where a new
plant might go. The weeds
have not taken over and so I can just enjoy that new greenery popping
their heads through the brown soil. The tips of green stalks are
just starting to turn yellow as daffodils wait for another day or two
of warmth. And from now until Fall the colors of nature's
flowers will enthrall me with their beauty. Isn't it amazing how
little it takes....a few hours to put in a few plants and they perform
so brightly for our pleasure. 
nths sometimes struggle when returning to
their education. Those who continue a learning program over the
summer months do not seem to have the same struggles. 
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Change your thoughts and you change the world. Harold R. McAlindon |
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Planning for learning sometimes takes a back seat to everything else the student wants to do during the day. Students who get into the habit of planning their day find they have much more time to "fit in" everything they want to do. The following is taken from "Tips for Using e-Tutor." It may help both parent and student to plan for a successful learning experience. Create
an e-Tutor
Day
Planner
These
steps may help you. Determine
how you spend a "typical" 24-hour day:
As you enter the hours or parts of hours for each activity,
that amount is
Thirty
New Lesson Modules
Join the e-Tutor world of learning today to view the Lesson Library.
Registration for Summer Course Work is taking place now. Continued learning over the summer months keeps student minds active and there is no learner gap when they return to studies in the Fall. Receive a five percent discount for registering for three months. If
you would like more information call 877-687-7200. |
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Register for Summer Courses Now!
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There are spaces between our fingers so that another person's fingers can fill them in. Author Unknown |
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Most people use all their senses to learn and they are more likely to remember things that way. Here are some suggestions.
Adapted from American Association of School Administrators |
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If you want the kind of relationship with your child in which he knows he can come to you with any question, concern, or upset, be sure to answer his questions honestly. This is not always easy, because children have a knack for asking the hard ones: "Did you ever skip school?" "What happens when you die?" Who is God's mother?" Constant questions are a sign of an intelligent child. And it isn't a sign of disrespect when she questions your words or actions. An inquisitive child does not go along willy-nilly with authority figures, including her parents. A child who follows blindly without asking why can be easily led. So respect questioning. And if you don't know the answer, say so...."I don't know, that's a good question"...then help your child find answers. Try not to lose patience with the continual "whys" or "how comes" the little ones ask, nor with the tougher questions that are sure to follow. Here's the tricky thing
about questions: although it is important to answer their
questions, it is equally important that you not ask too many
yourself. Perhaps you have noticed that children, especially as
they approach their teens, Adapted from Wonderful Ways to Love a Child, Judy Ford More women are working outside the home, which often leads to a renegotiation of roles between men and women. People are living longer and having children later, which means many Americans find themselves caring for their young adult children and aging parents at the same time. There are also economic pressures on families such as unemployment and job insecurity. If they are going to cope,
families must rely on inner resources for strength. Time
together and commitment to working through problems appear to act as
buffers against stress. Stress is a human reaction to life's worries. It touches everybody at some time. While stress and change are never easy, they are predictable parts of family life and are, in fact, necessary for growth. Stress has both positive and negative consequences but the severity of the consequences depends on strengths and coping skills. Several years ago,
researchers at the University of The Next Step Magazine One night at sea, the ship's captain saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading toward him. He had his signalman blink to the other ship: Change your course ten degrees south." The reply came back: Change your course ten degrees north." The
ship's captain answered: "I am a captain. Change your
course south." To which the reply was: "Well, I am a seaman first class. Change your course north." This infuriated the captain, so he signaled back: "I say CHANGE your course south. I'm on a battleship!" To which the reply came back: "And I say change your course north. I am in a lighthouse."
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Life is an escalator: You can move forward or backward, you cannot remain still. Patricia Russell-McCloud |
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Another Great Attitude - Self-Confidence Throughout your life you have been developing attitudes towards yourself and discovering the importance of attaining self-confidence. You may have realized that:
Adapted from The Public School Administrator |
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By showing your interest in your child's learning, and by holding high expectations for your child you can develop attitudes that lead to learning success. Here are some ways you can improve academic achievement:
AASA, Parents Can Help Students Achieve |
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Many of us expect to work at a sprightly steady clip all day long. We believe we should fill every minute with productive work. This expectation is contradictory to human nature. Clocks tick along at a consistent pace at all times. But clocklike regularity is not the way of nature. In
nature, no day, not even one minute, is the same as any other.
The amount of light and darkness changes from day to day, and the
weather is shifting....sometimes obviously, sometimes
imperceptibly....from moment to moment. There is no precedent in nature for the relentless, unvarying pace of our factory assembly lines, our repetitive office work or our full schedule schools. Sociologist Edward Thompson has studied the pace of work practiced by people who are not regulated by external forces, mostly self-employed people such as artists and writers and small farmers and craftsmen. He found they don't work at a steady pace throughout the day. Instead, they alternate bouts of intense labor and idleness....mixed together into their own personalized work rhythm. Mi The Metronomic Society: Natural Rhythms and Human Timetables, Michael Young |
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It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top. Author Unknown |
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Ewe 2: A Case
Study: This inquiry-oriented activity "places students
in the position to ask great questions, seek out the answers, develop
new relationships, and take a stand on a current hot issue: cloning.
" A team from San Diego County worked together to develop this
Case Study. Complete with warm-up activities, instructions,
forums, and grading rubrics, the site includes everything you'll need
to get started in the WebQuest.. Cinema: How Are
Hollywood films Made? Inspired by programs from the American
Cinema video series in the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection,
"Cinema" explores the creative process of filmmaking from
the screenwriter's words to the editor's final cut. Includes
interactive activities from writing dialogue for a scene to managing
the production of a film. The Evergreen Project
Adventures: This attractive site features What's It Like
Where You Live? (resources on biomes and aquatic ecosystems for
students in grades 4 and up), Partners For Growing (plant
investigations for primary students), and WebWorkShops (for
instructors). Produced in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical
Garden. Thunk.com: This
site presents kids with a fun and educational web based activity where
they make their own secret messages. Kids also learn about secret
codes cryptography and how secret codes are used in real life.
Climb into Spring! From the Knowledge HQ Staff Copyright © 2008 Knowledge Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.knowledgehq.com |
ely to remember better if you make
yellow flash cards and write in black ink. 
Sing it. You may find
that you can set the things you need to remember to a popular
song. For example, one little girl say "Old MacDonald
had a farm, A E I O U" to remember the vowels. 
often get defensive when you ask even the
simplest question. Though you are genuinely interested in their
lives, they for some reason think you are snooping, prying, or butting
in where it is none of your business. Teens share only what they
want, when they want. So here is the rule: Don't ask teenagers
many questions, but always answer theirs. You can survive
with your sense of humor intact if you think of it as a stage they are
going through, albeit a long one! This too shall pass, and you
will once again be able to have a normal conversation. 
Wisconsin-Madison and the University
of Minnesota observed that stressful life events in families tend to
occur in clusters,
resulting in stress "pileups."
These pileups, however, do not occur evenly across the life
cycle. Rather they appear at four distinct stages in the family
life cycle....in the couple stage; the childbearing and school-age
children stage, the teenager and young adult stage, and the empty nest
and retirement stage. Knowing that stress and change are part of
life may help family members anticipate difficulties.
you control them. The choice is yours. Your mind,
your life, your body, your day-to-day existence, whether it be
brilliant success or dismal failure is determined by words. 
ild. Have your child read a page of a book aloud. Each
time he encounters a word he doesn't know, have him hold up one
finger. If he holds up four fingers and a thumb, or finds five or more troublesome words on a page, the book is probably too
difficult. 
e
the impression that people should work only for rewards....and not
for the pride of doing a job well. Try rewarding outstanding
performance with time together. Let your
"star" choose an activity for the whole family to
enjoy....a picnic, watching a favorite video, or a visit to the
zoo. 
chael
Young, also a sociologist, writes, "No one can know what fits
someone else." The more people pick their own rhythms, the
better the chance they will pick the right ones. Society would
not survive everyone's making their own choices....but at least there
do not need to be so few choices for so few about how to make use of
their most precious asset [time]."
