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Your Child’s Brain Needs Exercise All Year

Nicole Dean — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:53:55 +0000

Are you afraid your child may be “losing it” this summer? I’m talking about the brain. Sure, your child is a smart kid, but summer is coming. Just like a muscle, the brain, when left un-exercised, will weaken and atrophy. “Use it or lose it” applies equally to the brain as it does to any other muscle group. Your child’s brain has much more to offer than reptilian responses. All those smarts will disappear if the brain “muscle” is not flexed.

Let’s compare two athletes. Athlete A trains in her particular sport ten months out of the year and then takes two months off to relax. Athlete B trains throughout the entire year. When Athlete A starts training again after the two months sabbatical, she’s going to notice a discouraging amount of sluggish muscles and difficult recovery time. Athlete B, on the other hand, will maintain her athleticism, even improving every day.

Imagine this same scenery only this time we’ll call them Student A and Student B. It’s easy to see where this is going. The same thing will happen to our students as our athletes. If Student A puts down her books for two months every year, she’ll have some catching up to do when she returns to her studies. Student B is way ahead of the curve by just maintaining her study schedule.

How do we help our children exercise their brain this summer? We know about physical exercise, but what is brain exercise? Creating fun, imaginative projects that provide challenge and stimulate thought is the way to keep your child’s mind active and bright. There are many ways to create an atmosphere this summer that will entice your child to want to learn. Here are just a few examples of areas you’ll want to cover in your summer learning program.

Reading Skills – If your local library has a summer reading program, sign up. These programs are excellent ways to surround your child with brain-flexing fun. Normally, these programs are free, although some may have a supplies charge on occasion. Bookstores often have reading programs, as well. You may also want to start your own “junior book club” at home with your children and their friends. Create a reading schedule for the summer and include prizes when children reach certain levels.

Writing Skills – If your child has a favorite book series, like ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ or ‘Clarice Bean’ you may want to offer a writing challenge. Have your child write the next book in the series. Provide a notebook and help your child write out the outline. Then encourage your child to let their imagination soar. This is not for a grade, so tell them to relax and enjoy!

Math Skills – If simple arithmetic skills are not maintained, they can be very difficult to recall. Here’s one area where you can have a scrumptious time honing your skills. Gather in the kitchen for these lessons and dig in! Haul out the ingredients for your child’s favorite dinner, cookie, cake, or smoothie and start mixing and blending. Double or triple the recipe and bring out the pencil and paper. Have your child do the calculating and the measuring. When the work is done, you’ll be happy to know your youngster is learning new math skills and your child will be happy with the cookies coming out of the oven!

Problem Solving and Logic Skills – You can’t really teach children how to problem solve out of a book. They must learn it for themselves. And, it’s a skill that has to be learned over and over again, and expanded on. Card games and board games are great ways for a child of any age to learn about strategy and problem solving. Keep your child’s problem solving skills honed by playing games like Sorry, Go Fish and Uno with your little ones, and Cribbage and Poker with the older ones. Not only is the brain flexed, but it’s fun, too!

Art Skills – Find a great book with famous works of art at your library, bookstore, or resale shop. Page through the book with your child as you discuss which pieces they like and why. Set out water colors, chalk, crayons, modeling clay, and colored pencils alongside big sheets of paper and have your youngster try their hand at recreating the objects and pictures they liked, or create something new using their own imagination. Visit museums to discuss artwork in a variety of forms and ask your child what they think art is.

Music Skills – Choose a little time each day to listen to music while relaxing. Discuss the style of music you are hearing; classical, jazz, opera, blues, rock and roll, country, reggae, musicals, etc. If you have a music store in your town, they may offer short courses in their store so a child may try out an instrument they have been interested in without a big commitment. Take in free summertime concerts in the park, church socials, or other gatherings available in your community.

It’s summertime and the living is easy. Unfortunately, that easy living may have your smart kid’s brain getting lazier and lazier. Perk up those neurons with projects that make learning fun. School will be back in session before long and your children need to be at their best. Plan activities that are challenging and exciting to keep your child bright and ready for the coming school year.

When you are looking for Summertime activities make your first stop ShowKidsTheFun.com where you’ll find crafts, activites, and ideas for all sorts of fun things to make your vacation time special.

Hnts in Picking a Summer Camp

Lonnie Lorenz — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:37:27 +0000

Finding a Summer Camp for your child takes some work up front. First decide if your going to a Coed Summer Camp or a sigle gender camp, like a all girls.
Each have their own benefit. Maybe a Coed Camp is best for your child. Next, help your child to find a camp that will increase their interests or expose them to new activities. After you have 3 or 4, here are the top 10 questions to ask a summer camp director. This list was compiled by the American Camp Association.

What’s the camp’s philosophy? Is it one you’re comfortable with? Is it a good match for your child? Is competition or cooperation emphasized? If it’s a camp run by a religious organization, what religious observances or practices are part of the program? If you’re looking at a sports camp that touts an affiliation with a celebrity athlete, how much time–if any–will the sports star actually spend there?

What does camp do with staff? First aid training? Drug Testing? Do counselors have criminal background checks? What’s the training all about?

What about return rates? How many counselors are returning this year? How many campers are returning? ask the director why?

What’s the ratio of counselors to campers? ACA guidelines for overnight camps call for a 1:6 ratio for ages 7 and 8, 1:8 for ages 9-14; and 1:10 for ages 15-18. Day camp guidelines call for 1:8 for children ages 6-8; 1:10 for children ages 9-14; and 1:12 for ages 15-18.

How old are the counselors? The ACA recommends that 80 percent of the staff be 18 or older and that all staffers be at least 16 and a minimum of two years older than the campers they supervise.

What about Health Care? Overnight camp have a licensed physician or registered nurse on the site daily, Day camps should be have direct phone access. Be sure you are comfortable that the camp will be able to handle your child’s special health care needs.

How does the camp handle conflicts and Discipline? Find out what the camp’s rules are and what breaches would result in a camper being sent home. You should be comfortable that the camp’s practices are in line with your parenting practices.

What does a camp Day look like? This will help you decide if your child will be happy with the level of physical activity or the amount of time devoted to arts and crafts. Ask how much freedom a child has to choose activities.

Does the camp have vans for transportation? How often are camp vehicles inspected? Who will be driving them and what’s the training.

Get References and more References, Get the names of parents with children who have attended the camp. They will tell you what makes camp so special and why they want to return.

Need more ideas to help you make a smart decision? Check out Summer Camp Advice A Summer Camp

About the authors: Jeff and Lonnie Lorenz are the Directors of Swift Nature Camp, a non-competitive, traditional Children’s Summer Camp in Wisconsin. Boys and Girls ages 6-15 enjoy playing in nature, caring for animals, and learning science. Traditional camping activities include canoe trips and more. SNC is so personal it seems like a Homeschool Summer Camp.

Accreditation For Online High Schools

Terry Hatch — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:04:23 +0000

Checking its accreditation could be the most important aspect in your decision-making on which online high school to attend. While non-accredited schools should be taken out of your list, not all accreditations are acceptable. The accreditation should include oversight and not just a license to do business.

Accreditation is the process of reviewing a school’s program and policies to see if it meets the criteria of the accreditation agency. This is done to protect students, schools and employers from unscrupulous entities who establish fake schools or schools that care only for revenue and not providing quality education. If the school meets the minimum requirements, it will be granted the accreditation.

Why is a proper accreditation important? This assures you of an online academy’s quality and ensures that other schools and employers will recognize your diploma or the courses you have taken. Attending a fake school or a school that is not properly accredited may cost you jobs or opportunities to further your education.

Not all accreditations are acceptable, so it is important to make sure that the online academy you choose has the proper accreditation. It is a fact that there are some schools that make up their own fake accreditation or unknowingly got their accreditation from illegitimate agencies. In many cases, getting a diploma from or attending a school that got its accreditation from an accreditation mill is worse than going to a non-accredited institution.

A fake accreditor may have misleading names that imply that it is a national or regional accreditor when it is not. It may also have a logo that looks like the logo of a legitimate accreditor. It could also be that its website has too little information and does not include names or contact information aside from a phone number and email address.

You can go to the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website to verify the accrediting agency used by the school is legitimate. The CHEA database includes a list of US accrediting organizations that are recognized either by the CHEA or by the US Department of Education or both. This includes any of the six regional accreditors, Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation and the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC).

You should be aware that there is a difference between a national (DETC) and regional accreditation. The latter is has a wider acceptance with employers and other schools. If you are studying for personal enjoyment, this will not be a problem. But if you will be using your diploma to advance your career or to attend college / university, then a regionally accredited online academy is your best bet.

Your time and money are important, so make sure you are not going to waste them on unaccredited programs and schools. You could be risking valuable job or educational opportunities with diplomas from or course work in fake schools. You have a right to quality education, and, whether you are attending an online high school or a brick-and-mortar institution, the proper accreditation ensures that you will get this.

If you are thinking about going to an online academy make sure it has the proper accreditation in place. Classes are offered for online high school as well as middle school and some elementary school courses.

High School Courses Online

Josh Neul — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:33:44 +0000

Online schooling – this is one of the most popular forms of education in today’s generation. It is becoming a norm, since more and more have been enlisting in online schools. Online schools were first introduced to college level students and to those working for their master’s degree. Later, online schooling was introduced to high school and middle school students as well. In this article we will be focusing on online high school courses.

Like everything else on the planet, online schools, whether online colleges, online high schools or online middle schools, have their up and down sides. Being enrolled in an online school, specifically in online high school courses, is beneficial to high school students. But, high school students are not the only ones to benefit from online high school courses; adults who do not have a high school diploma can benefit too.

An online school is beneficial to high school students, because they are allowed to enroll in advanced courses so they can graduate earlier, or in remedial courses so they can catch up to the necessary academic units. It can be beneficial to employees who have not graduated from high school because they can earn their diploma while working.

Student employees will find online high school courses to be very helpful and convenient because of their flexibility and lenience especially with timetables and work schedules. They will allow you to study at the time that is most convenient to you. You will be allowed to study whenever you are free to do so.

Another advantage of studying online and enrolling in online high school courses is being able to work at your own pace, because the syllabus of each and every course and subject will be given to you at the beginning of each term. This will allow you to work at the designated pace, faster so you can graduate earlier, or at a slower pace so you can digest the lessons better. Having your syllabi will also allow you to do advanced reading on subjects and go back to previous lessons. Through online schools, you are able to make the most of your education and money.

Being flexible is not the only advantage of an online school and online high school courses. Another plus factor of studying in an online school is that the whole of the internet is equivalent to your library. All internet resources are available to you. Because your schooling is done online, it is only reasonable and logical that aside from your given modules and text material, you rely on and make the most of internet resources too.

But, like mentioned earlier, online schools do have disadvantages. One of these is the lack of interaction. Since you are on your own, working at your home or with your laptop somewhere else, you are not able to interact with a teacher or classmates, which according to experts, is a contributory factor to a student’s learning and understanding. This is not necessarily always true though, since everyone has different learning styles.

Going back to school is never a bad idea, and now might be the right time for you. An online school can make this easier for you. Just remember that if you decide to enlist in online high school courses, that the school you choose is accredited by the right people, and that they will help you in every possible way to get your diploma.

Josh recognizes the many advantages of online high school and distributes information so that others can learn about them. Education is an important, fundamental facet of kid’s lives and online school is customizable in order to help students get their degree.

Homeschooling Rules

Frank Williams — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:54:52 +0000

I’m sure that, every parent dreams of providing their child with the best sort of education, don’t they? For lots of parents this just means looking at the different schools within their home catchment area. For others, it can mean looking at suitable home schooling plans. While there are lots of different kinds of home schooling curricula to be had, every individual state has its own set of rules and regulations regarding home schooling within its jurisdiction. It is well worth consulting these rules on home schooling before you remove your child from school and enroll him or her in a home school syllabus.

To find out what your local home schooling rules are exactly, you will obviously first have to discover what your state’s policy on home schooling is. This is because of the fact that some states appear to have no requirement for documents from parents or home schooling programs about their enrollment policies or the subjects that they are going to teach.

When you look for this information on the Internet, you will find that there are four classes of home schooling rules. These rules vary from no legal requirements about home schooling to very stringent laws regarding home schooling. At present there appears to be about six states where the home schooling rules are very stringent. While on the other hand there are 10 states where there are no home schooling rules at all and notification of your intentions is not required.

These various differences in home schooling rules are also to be found in the territories of the US. Because different states have several different criteria for home schooling studies, there are times when you will need to provide documentation as the parents of home schooling children. The records will include parental registration to the state about your child’s studying as a home school student.

For the states where the home schooling rules are very strict, the state requires more than a nonchalant notification from the parents. Among the documents that you may have to produce are accomplishment test scores, a home school syllabus approved by the state and a specialist appraisal of your child’s educational development.

You will also need teaching qualifications for you and your spouse, if you are both to be the teachers of your children, while they are occupied in home schooling. Some states may demand that state officials visit your home to check whether the children are indeed in receipt of an adequate high school education from you. These are just a few of the diverse documents and pertinent facts that you will need to be aware of concerning your state’s home schooling laws.

Since each state has different rules regarding home schooling, it is a good plan if you find out the information, regulations and rules that your state has passed appertaining to home schooling. The main fact that you should keep in mind about state laws and home schooling is that before your child becomes a home school student, you will have to discover what the home schooling rules are in the precise area where you live.

If you are searching for information on home schooling regulations, please go over to our web site now called Home Schooling.

Is Online Education For You?

Jane Martin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:22:16 +0000

Some people who pursue an online education are people who need to cannot take time off from their work but want additional degrees or certifications in order to advance in their career. It is the opposite for others: they want to change careers or go into another field, but they want to be able to keep their current jobs while getting the training. Attending an online school is a convenient and practical choice for them.

People choose to attend an online high school for many reasons. Some want to advance in their careers by getting additional degrees or certification while hanging on to their current jobs. An online school makes it convenient for those who want to shift careers or move into another field at a very cost effective rate. And there are those who simply love to learn new things. Online school allows people to pursue their interests at a pace that works for them without disrupting their daily routine.

Even if you are a student already in school, or are already being home-schooled, you still have the option to take online courses to supplement your education. For instance, you and some of your classmates want to study an advanced subject (e.g. AP Chemistry), but you are too few for your school to justify opening a class for that. Or, you may be successful academically but would like to prepare for college by pursuing a college-base curriculum without giving up choir, band, art and/or computer science electives. Taking online courses is also a good way to keep up with your studies in case you are forced to stay at home for a prolonged period because of an illness.

There are many online high schools, and you will probably have no problem finding one or more. Still, you will have to consider carefully if this is really the best option for you.

Have a look at your learning style. Do you find that you perform better in a classroom, being with your teachers and classmates? Or are you the type who learns faster when left on your own, with assigned modules to read and answer at your own pace? Do you prefer working with a group or working on your own?

Pursuing an online education means that you are willing to be a self-starter, providing your own motivation. Chats, discussion boards and emails will be the usual means of interaction with classmates and teachers.

Still interested? If you don’t have a problem with this set-up, then an online high school is a good route to take. Consider a more traditional route to get your secondary degree if you think you will have difficulty with this or you are unsure.

Many people are finding that attending an online school is a good choice for them. There are many certifications and accreditations that are now widely accepted and recognized. If you think this is for you, get on the Internet and find out how you can get started on your online education today.

The advantages of online school are many. For those seeking out more opportunity or just needing to finish their schooling from home, there are online high school courses available.