Congratulations to all graduates this year!  We have been so pleased to hear of the many successes you have achieved.  Whether graduating from Junior High, High School or College, we applaud your efforts.  We wish you much happiness and success in the future and that you will continue to learn from  the challenges ahead.    

Happy Summer!   We've been busy during the month serving our subscribers and parents, writing lessons and preparing for a great future.  We continue to grow in spite of the economy.  Our subscriber base is twice what it was last year.  While most of our subscribers are those educating their children from home, we have gained attention from a few school districts and  continue to be called back to provide services for them. 

So at this mid year we wish to thank all of you who have provided support and encouragement to us.  Our mission remains simple, to provide choices for parents and children for learning.  We believe the Internet offers educational solutions that we haven't even thought of yet and that in time it will completely change the way we educate students.    The Internet is in its infancy and with it comes growing pains and some of the abuses we hear about and many experience.  In time we will learn how to handle this growing giant.  How exciting to be a part of something that few have a chance to be a part of in their lifetime!  And you are a part of this growth and expansion also, as you continue to use and value the services the Internet offers.  We look forward to a dynamic future with our students as the focus and the guidance of parents and educators.  

This is the time of year when many start vacation journeys.  We hope you will share these journeys with us.  My son and his wife just returned from a bicycle tour of France.  They are creating a video journal of their adventures.  Another son will crew on a sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico this summer.  And as many of you know, I drive out West each summer to spend time with my mother who is in a retirement  home.  We would love to hear from you and share with others the wonderful adventures you are taking this summer.  

Without fail once June descends upon us, cold weather is a long ago memory and indeed we may wish for colder temperatures again.  Here in the Midwest we just cannot seem to get comfortable....either too hot or too cold.  I have to agree...there are times I shake my fist at the weather.  But truth be told, I love the seasons of the year and what each has to offer.  This time of year, my garden is full of blooms.  I hope your life is full of blooms, as mine is.  Have a great month! 

Super Summer  Lessons

Primary

• Mow the Lawn
• Bike Riding
• Bed in Summer
• Playground
• Animals in Summer
• The Farm
• The Great Lake States
• The Great Barrier Reef       

Intermediate

• Traveling Around
• Tillie Tooter's Tale of An Amazing Odyssey
• Time Machine
• Travel the World With Folk Tales
• Travel Agency
• Seashells
• Up, Up and Away:  Balloons!

Middle/Junior High

• Kon-Tiki
• Swimming Safely/Watching Out For Big Drains
• Time Traveler
• Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Lemonade Stand
• Travel Quarters
• Together Town
• Lights! Camera! Action! Movies
• Visiting Museums                                            

High School                                                                        

• Mark Twain's Mississippi River
• The Hobbit
• Translating an Alien Language
• The Beauty of Polyhedra
• Crime Scene Fingerprints
• Up, Up and Away
• The Stock Market
• The Politics of Place
• Top Ten "10" Lists

e-Tutor has over 1,300 lessons 

Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.

Sir Winston Churchill

Sharing Family Stories

Family stories are narratives in which the child and/or other family members are the featured characters.  Every family has its own stories to tell.  These stories may be about everyday experiences, about special events, or about the family's history.  

When children work with their families to tell their stories, everyone benefits.  

• Sharing stories helps to create a bond between the child and his or her family.
• Children are motivated  because these activities are meaningful to them. 
• As children and parents hear the stories they will come to understand each other better. 

Here are some prompts to get you started:

• Tell about something funny that happened when you were little.
• Tell about the funniest thing that has ever happed to your family.
• What was the scariest thing?
• Have you always lived in your neighborhood?  Where else have you lived?  Tell about it.
• How did you learn to read?
• What did you like best about school?
• What was your favorite thing to do when you were little?
• Tell about the place where you grew up.  Who were your neighbors?  What kinds of things did you do in your neighborhood?
• Tell about a time when you got into trouble.

Another way that children can learn stories about their families is to look through family photographs with a family member.  Suggest that children find photographs of weddings, birthdays, vacations, or holiday celebrations that seem interesting, and ask the family member to tell about the event. 

You might find that your children are interested in preserving some of the family stories in writing.  Children's literature can serve as a springboard or model for a  written story.   Reading stories about other families will help your children see how normal daily activities become the focus for interesting and memorable family stories.  

The fool thinks himself to be wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

William Shakespeare

The Family:  A Safety Net

Much has been written about what to do after problems arise with children and adolescents, yet many problems can be prevented.  One way we can prevent problems is by taking care of our children's needs.

The need for physical and emotional safety is essential for all of us, but especially for children.  Physically and emotionally safe environments help children grow up happier and healthier.  This is also a lot of truth in the saying, "it's better to be safe than sorry."

There is today a great need for parents to create an island of safety in the home.  A safe environment can help prevent problems or reduce their severity as children are growing up.  In creating safety, parents lay the foundation for trust, mental health, and happiness.

A safe home environment involves more than just the house itself.  It also includes the neighborhood.  When you know your neighbors, you can let your kids know which ones you trust and who they can go to for help if you are not at home.  You also help to create a safe environment when you introduce your kids to your friends and when you encourage your children to have friends of their own.  Every child needs at least one good friend.  Friends....people who look out for each other....create a sense of safety in our lives.  

Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.

Laurence J. Peter

Spending leisure time together is very important for most family members.  Several studies show that both children and parents get more enjoyment from leisure activities that include family members.  Having fun should not seem like a difficult thing to accomplish, but for some people it is.

Leisure time is the time we spend doing what we want to do, not what we have to do.  If we had only ourselves to consider we would have little difficulty in getting some benefit from our leisure time.  Problems can arise, however, because family members want to do things together, yet each member has his or her own idea of what is and is not a leisure activity.  Some sort of compromise must be worked out.  The solution is to find activities that have some interest for all members.

This does not mean that everyone has to enjoy every single minute of family leisure time, but overall, there should be something that appeals to everyone.  Make things a little easier by discussing compromises and encouraging family members to try new things.  

Time is another barrier to enjoying leisure time.  American families are busy families, especially as children get older and have activities outside of the family sphere.  Time spaces are very sharply marked.  

Another problem for families is the way most Americans think about "work."  Work is often looked at as something we have to do before we can do the things we enjoy.  Contrast that thinking with the thinking of craftspeople who enjoy what they do for a living and don't have to separate what they enjoy from how they earn a living.   Not all of us can do that, but at home we can turn some household chores into creative experiences.  

Summer is a time for fun and togetherness, of play and leisure.  Leisure time is important because it's relaxing and rejuvenating and is a time for families to share good times.  Parents teach their children how to be good workers.  They need also to teach them to be good "players."  Good players know how to find pleasure and freedom in leisure activities.  With little effort, families can plan activities that enable all family members to get the most out of leisure time. 

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Teaching About Taxes

The Oregon Department of Revenue needs your help.  They want to put together a lesson plan that will be made available to teachers who want to teach about Oregon tax.  The lesson plan will be featured  on the department's web site for students, www.Steps2Cash.org.  They are seeking input from educators and others who are interested. Can you help by answering the following questions?

1. What should be included in such a lesson plan?

2. What would you emphasize in teaching about taxes?  Information about how the tax system works and how taxes are used or the process of filing a state income tax return? Or both?

3. How much time would you allocate to the lesson?

4. What other resources about taxes do you have?  If you have taught this subject in the past, what tools did you use?  What tools would you like to have?

You can email your responses to rosemary.k.love@state.or.us.  Or call her 503.945.8459.

Nag Factor

A survey released this month has found that even when their parents say "no," nearly 6 of 10 young people keep nagging an average of nine times.  The survey also found that 10 percent of 12- and 13-year olds said they ask their parents more than 50 times for products they have seen advertised.  

Officials at the Center for a New American Dream, which commissioned the survey, call it the "nag factor."  They say it shows that kids are feeling pressure from peers to buy the latest products.  Of those polled, about a third said they feel pressure to buy certain products, and more than half said that buying those products makes them feel better about themselves.  When it come to nagging, 55 percent said they usually can get their parents to give in. 

The poll included the answers of 750 Americans ages 12 to 17 who were contacted by phone in May 2002.  Experts say nagging is a habit learned much earlier. Even the youngest children have spending power....an estimated $52 billion for ages 4 to 12 by 2006, compared with a projected $40 billion this year and $17.1 billion in 1994.  

About 60 percent of young people interviewed for research by an advertising agency said they knew how to manipulate their parents on "small things" before they started 1st grade. Some believe parents have encouraged nagging by giving children much more say in family decisions.  Psychologists in character education say that giving in to a child who "asks and asks and asks" only rewards the behavior.  

Chicago Tribune, June 18, 2002 

Being overly tolerant of the desires and behaviors of the child also may have its pitfalls.  Many children who get everything they want, contrary to being happy, tend to exhibit feelings of dissatisfaction and lack appreciation for their fortunate position.  Though they do not always act as if this were true, children do not feel comfortable with more power than they are capable of handling.  Those who wield too much power over their parents experience anxiety because they know they are out of their depth.  They often wish their parents would take over. 

National Education Association

Page 4

We must not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

T.S. Eliot

Relieve stress by understanding which brain hemisphere is stressed.  If you feel depressed or emotionally overwrought, your stress is in the right hemisphere....the creative, emotional, holistic side.

What to do:  Switch to your matter-of-fact left hemisphere by doing math, writing factual prose or organizing.  The emotional right brain will calm down.  

If you feel time-stressed and overburdened, the left hemisphere is involved.  Switch to your right brain by singing or playing a sport.

Wellspring Seminars 

Great Spelling!

The most important traits possessed by the good speller are a spelling conscience and a spelling consciousness.  A spelling conscience is the desire to spell correctly; a spelling consciousness is the ability to recognize when a word is misspelled.  Both require a knowledge of the importance of correct spelling and a positive attitude toward learning to spell. 

Good spellers are generally avid and good readers.  Spelling and reading are, after all, related language activities...spelling is encoding a word into its written symbol and reading is decoding a word from its written symbol.  The more a child reads, the more he or she sees words correctly spelled, and so the more likely he or she is to remember how words should be spelled.  

A good vocabulary is another trait of the good speller.  Knowing the meaning of a word makes it more likely that one can spell it correctly.  Good spellers not only possess a wide vocabulary, but they are able to choose the precise word to fit the meaning they intend, and they know the proper form of the word to use in each context.  

Good spellers know how to proofread their written work to discover spelling errors.  They know how to use a dictionary to determine correct spelling.  Finally, good spellers have a systematic method that enables them to learn to spell new words as needed throughout life. 

Page 5

Some people regard discipline as a chore.  For me, it a kind of order that sets me free to fly.  

Julie Andrews

Sizzling Summer Links!

GeoBee Challenge:  This is the companion web site to the National Geographic Bee.  The National Geographic Bee is an annual event designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography.  U.S. students in grades four through eight are eligible for the contest.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/
The 200 competition was held this May at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Calvin McCarter, a 10-year old homeschooled student from near Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the winner.  Calvin frequently quizzes himself with the Geo Bee Challenge.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/05/0522_020522_beefinal.html

Origami:  This site gives instructions on how to fold paper the way the Japanese do to transform it into animals and other shapes.
http://www.origami.vancouver.bc.ca  

Interactive Museum:  It offers a number of games such as tracking down animals and plants on an antique carpet or discovering information about a monster depicted on a tile to learn about the mysteries of art. 
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/index.asp

Fun For Younger Children: At this site young ones will find art projects that don't intimidate such as Build-a-Monster that allows them to mix and match all sorts of animal body parts to assemble a weird creature. 
http://www.rahul.net/renoir/monster

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood:  The kind and gentle neighborhood of Mr. Rogers is only a click away.  Youngsters can open the door of Mr. Rogers' closet to see the cardigan sweaters he loves to wear and learn that his mother used to knit them.  There are also lots of great surprises when they click on characters such as King Friday and Henrietta Pussycat.  On this site there is text to read so a computer is not the equivalent of a technological baby sitter.
http://www.pbs.org/rogers

People - Past and Present:  Ice Treasures of the Inca shows photos and journal entries from a dramatic expedition of archeologists who discovered a frozen female mummy from long ago.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/96/mummy 

Flight School:  Training Canada geese, sandhill cranes and whooping cranes to follow safe migration routes is the goal of Operation Migration.  The non-profit organization of aviators is devoted to saving these endangered species and preserving the birds' habitats.
http://operationmigration.org

Have a warm, relaxing month!

From the Staff at Strategic Studies Corporation

 
Copyright © 2001 Strategic Studies Corp.
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