Archive for June, 2010

Adapting To The Natural Course Of Development In Home Schooling

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Some parents would agree that it is not an easy task to wake young children up early for school. Kids as young as 4 or 5 years old and onwards are already adapting to their parents’ busy lifestyles and are therefore seen as being in a rush to grow up. What more, they are also met with various stress-related activities in school, not to mention being put in a situation of adjusting to other children’s personalities.

There may be people who would point out that this is a good start for these children so that they will be able to assimilate earlier into how the present society really works. But educators such as the late Raymond Moore, who already worked with various public schools and institutions in the US and other countries in various high-end positions, found out otherwise. He found out through his efforts in researching the long-term effects of being taught in a standard school that there seems to be more maladjustment problems in that kind of educational setup.

He wanted to emphasize the positive effects of educating children in the comforts of their own home. Having known and seen the larger picture of the educational field, he knows the basic principles in the handling and promoting of ideas to recipients. In this case, the children’s talents and skills are enhanced with less emphasis on structural learning and stringent textbook-based lectures and more on hands-on interactions.

Early Age Habits at Home

As explained in Erikson’s Psychosocial development theory, young children in their play age (3-6) are still learning to grasp the basic concepts of their physical world. They are prone to discovering things and their environment, and most of these are done through play. Thus it is clearly against the natural course of development to force children of these ages to sit still in a classroom setup on a scheduled amount of time. They should be allowed to explore and learn at their own pace. As noticed by parents who sent their children to school quite young, a number of these students are already bored by the end of the school year. Some even reportedly wanted to stop school altogether.
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Help Teach Teens: Math Counts Every Day

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Many parents may admit math was not their favorite subject in high school. Many may also admit that math now plays an important role in their lives and careers-and will be necessary for their own children’s futures.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2014, 6.3 million jobs will require science, engineering or technical training-24 percent more than in 2004. These statistics show that today’s middle and high school students will need a strong math background to be competitive in the job market.

Spending time with teens to make math relevant to them now can help them build strong math competencies to achieve success later. So how can parents engage their teens in math-focused activities that both can enjoy?

Here are tips to help parents capture their teens’ and preteens’ interest and make math matter in many ways, through encouragement, entertainment and empowerment.

Make It Real

Leading by example is a powerful influencer. Showing how math is used everyday can help teens understand its importance to their every day lives outside of the classroom. Are you cooking dinner tonight? Have your teen measure out the ingredients and ask questions on measurements if a recipe was doubled. Need to pay the bills? Have them do the math to calculate balances and budgets. Ready to purchase your teen’s first car? Sit down with him or her to figure out financing, insurance rates, monthly gas expenses and maintenance costs.

Turn On The Television

Use examples from TV and movies to show how math can be entertaining and exciting. One program that mixes entertainment with education is “We All Use Math Every Day™,” which provides free lessons based on the math used to solve crimes in CBS’ hit series “NUMB3RS” on Friday nights. More than 28,000 teachers around the nation have signed up for this program for high school students developed by Texas Instruments in partnership with CBS and in association with the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).

Order a pizza, tune into the show with your teen, and discuss how math helped solve the crimes to make a Friday TV night that’s both fun and educational. If your child’s teachers aren’t using the classroom activities, encourage them to do so. Visit www.cbs.com/ numb3rs for details, as well as more parenting tips from education experts.
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Problem Gambling: What You Should Know

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Americans spend more on gambling than all other recreation combined. For most, it’s a fun diversion but for a few, gambling can become a serious, life-altering problem.

Problem gambling is behavior that causes disruptions in any major area of a person’s life. It affects as many as six to nine million Americans.

Would you recognize a gambling problem in someone you know? It may be easier if you know the signs. Here are some questions from the National Council on Problem Gambling. If you or someone you know answers yes to any of the following questions, it is likely that gambling has become problematic.

1) Have you gambled until your last dollar is gone?

2) Have you often gambled longer than you had planned?

3) Have you lied about your gambling to friends or family?

4) Have you used your income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid?

5) Have you made repeated attempts to stop gambling?

6) Have you broken the law or considered breaking the law to get money to gamble?

7) Have you borrowed money to finance your gambling?

8) Have you felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses?

9) Have you been remorseful after gambling?

10) Have you gambled to try to get money to meet your financial obligations?

“Problem gambling is not a bad habit or a moral weakness. It’s a serious condition that responds well to treatment,” explains Keith Whyte, executive director at the National Council on Problem Gambling. Whyte says that anyone can develop a problem with gambling. It can affect men or women of any age, race or religion, regardless of their social status. Some risk factors, individually or in combination, might make a person more vulnerable:

• A stressful life event such as the death of a loved one, divorce, job loss, injury/disability

• An early big win

• Pre-existing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, alcoholism

• Family history of addictions such as alcoholism, compulsive gambling and drug addiction.

There is hope and help for problem gamblers and their loved ones-and many people who seek help do recover. For more information, call (800) 522-4700.
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Critical Business Procedure – Keep All Email Communications

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Businesses routinely maintain copies of correspondence and memos. Far to often, however, they do not extend this practice to email correspondence. Email correspondence is no different then your normal paperwork. You must keep copies of all of it to protect your business in any litigation.

Currently, only banks and broker-dealers are obliged to retain e-mail and instant messaging documents for three years under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Beginning July 2006, all public companies will also be required to do so under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Notwithstanding these laws, your custom and practice should be to maintain copies of all email correspondence. Email is considered evidence and courts are hammering businesses that do not maintain email records. Judges are often ruling that the failure to maintain and produce email records means the business in question is hiding key evidence.

In the recent Perelman v. Morgan Stanley litigation, a judge’s ruling on the failure of Morgan Stanley to produce email was key factor in the issuance of a $1.45 billion verdict. Based on the failure to produce email records, Judge Elizabeth Maass issued a pretrial ruling that effectively found Morgan Stanley conspired to defraud Perelman in a 1998 deal. Morgan Stanley is not the only business defendant to have this problem.

In the summer of 2004, UBS bank was found by a judge to have “willfully destroyed” email evidence in a discrimination case. UBS was ordered to pay costs and a jury returned a $29 million verdict.
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