Archive for July, 2010

How To Make Home Schooling Your Children Fun

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Seeing your children go to school and learn things can be fun. It makes you feel that you have, in a way, imparted them the most treasured gift that you can give them — EDUCATION.

However, with many influences that lurk in school, you might even wonder if sending them to school is the best gift, indeed. Many parents are worried how children are getting their behaviors changed whenever they are in school.

That’s why homeschool had been created in order to provide a feasible option for parents who wish to educate their children in a way where they can supervise personally. They want to find a way where they can instill in them the values that they want their children to have.

All of these things are contained in homeschooling. In this manner, parents are able to control and instigate the kind of education they want their children to learn. They can manage their children’s behavior and impart in them the values that they want their children to learn.

However, what people do not know is that the very important aspect why homeschooling is a great alternative to traditional schooling is based on the fact that both the parents and the children can have fun learning things.
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Kids And Trees Grow With The Environmental Three R’s

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Every day in America, each man, woman and child generates nearly four pounds of trash. That’s over one trillion pounds of solid waste or 365 trillion pounds each year. It’s a staggering statistic when you consider the environmental effect that much garbage has on our fragile ecosystem.

As adults, it’s easy to forget the importance of the 3 R’s our world depends on-reducing, reusing and recycling-for the health and safety of future generations. It’s those future generations–our children–that will bear the consequences of today’s environmental mismanagement, unless an effort is made to improve upon current behaviors.

For the third year, one hotel company is stepping up to the task, helping kids to think globally and act locally by educating them on how to properly care for the environment. With help from The National Arbor Day Foundation, Doubletree Hotels is distributing an environmentally focused lesson plan that provides the framework for taking would-be waste and recycling it into artistic treasures to thousands of elementary school students in the U.S. and Canada.

The education initiative is an extension of the hotel’s Teaching Kids to CARE program, a community outreach initiative that pairs hotel properties with elementary schools and youth groups to educate children about making conscious decisions about environmental care. This spring, Teaching Kids to CARE volunteers and children will create “litter critters,” a reduced, reused and recycled representation of animals in the world hurt by litter, and will plant more than 10,000 seedling trees across the U.S. and Canada.

For those parents (and mentors) wanting to engage their kids (or nieces, nephews and grandkids) in environmentally conscious activities, here are a few tips:

1. Recycling is Fun-Pass it On-Recycling isn’t all about aluminum cans and old newspapers. Encourage your kids to start their own recycling program in which they share old toys, books and games with their friends and classmates. One child’s trash is another child’s treasure and by “passing it on,” kids will learn that they can reduce waste by recycling their old things so that others can reuse them.

2. Become a Habitat Hero–Challenge your children to gather up all their friends and classmates to help clean up a park or schoolyard (with parental supervision). Whoever collects the most trash wins the “Habitat Hero” award and prize (as decided upon by you).

3. Plant a “Family Tree”–Take your kids to a garden or home store and allow them to help pick out a young tree. (Make sure to check that it can survive in your climate region.) Plant the tree in a special location as a family, assigning a different task (digging, planting, watering) to each family member. Make sure to document the activity with a photo, so kids can remember how small the tree was when they planted it.
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Get A College Education At An Online University

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Are you a working professional who would like to pursue a degree but don’t have enough time to devote to attending classes? Are you a person who would like to pursue higher education but you do not have the funds required for the courses? Then an online degree from a recognized university is the right choice for you. There are many universities all around the world who offer online degrees to individuals in various fields such as management, architectural courses, hospitality, health, medicine, transcription etc. These colleges provide the courses to students in addition to the classroom courses that they offer. However there are many universities that carry on business solely through online courses or distance education courses.

The major advantage of pursuing an online university course is that it proves to be a cheaper option in comparison to courses that are offered in the classroom. Moreover the student can pursue the course of a university that is situated at the other side of the globe. The student can complete the course and appear for exams from the comforts of his home. The course is completed by the student in the form of online tutorials, online lectures, performance support systems and much more. Also, in many cases video conferencing is possible where professors give lectures online in a classroom. Topics can be discussed with the professors in real time and queries solved.

Online degree courses prove to be beneficial to the students as they provide more knowledge to the students and also give the students a degree to add to their resume. Online degree courses from reputable institutions are said to increase the career and job prospects of the students pursuing the courses. Also study material can be sent to the student’s home in the form of interactive CDRoms and ebooks. Online degree courses can also be conducted in a Wide Area Network today known as WAN. Students in a city are required to attend the lectures conducted thorough video conferencing using collaborative and classroom management software. Thus, e-learning proves to be effective for the student as the student can carry all his material around wherever he wants on his PDA or his laptop.

Despite all the pros that I have discussed above for getting an online degree, it certainly has its cons. People argue that the presence of a physical classroom where the teacher and the students interact with each other is removed. Also online degree courses assume less importance in comparison to full time university degrees. Student’s queries are not solved in a short time as the presence of the teacher is missing. However, as mentioned before, online lectures are made possible through video conferencing where the students can indeed interact with their professors. The advanced use of technology has made online degrees possible.
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Addressing Gaps In Seattle Schools

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

The Seattle Public Schools, located in Washington, are considered a fairly progressive district. With help from giant Microsoft, they receive local funds that any school would envy. But they also face issues with diversity and minority achievement.

The Seattle Schools system is a diverse organization of 97 schools, serving 45,800 students in. Seattle Schools offer a broad range of programs and learning opportunities, which are enhanced by strong support from parents, volunteers and community members. This is the largest public school system in Washington, and the 44th largest in the United States, with 12 high schools, 10 middle schools, 58 elementary schools, 8 K-8, and 9 Alternative schools and Special programs.

How does a generally white color area address the concerns of minority students? Part of the challenge for the Seattle Schools is that the Native American population is one that comes to the table with a lot of social, academic and economic struggles.

Seattle Schools have many goals, which they hope will help their students achieve academic success and graduate; ready to go on to college or enter the work force and have a successful life. Among these goals:

Improve the effectiveness and relevance of instructional and support services for all students.

Eliminate the achievement gap.

Eliminate all systemic barriers to student achievement.

Build leadership capacity for accountability, inclusion, and effectiveness.

Manage resources and set priorities using principles of equity and sustainability.

Some programs that are available to Seattle students include: Athletics, Arts, Advanced Learning and International Baccalaureate, Library and Instructional Services, Technology Instruction and Career and Technical Education programs are also available to Seattle Schools students. But what about the specific need of the Native American population in the Seattle Schools?
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