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A House of Order,
Part 4: Dinner too?
by Melanie Skelton
You spend your day helping children with math equations, reading about
the reformation, listening to narrations and going on a nature walk.
When these things are done you take a deep breath and think, “Oh good,
now I’ll take a few minutes for myself.” Only then, you look at the
clock and realize if you don’t plan something for dinner soon, there
will be no dinner. And if there is no dinner you will
ave a house full of grumpy people, including yourself of course. After
all your efforts to educate and
nurture your children, they always seem to want dinner too. .
...read more
You could make a pizza run every night, but
pizza would soon lose its appeal and gets expensive. You could
have sandwiches every night, but that gets old sooner than pizza.
Preparing boxed dinners every night might be simple, but they get
old too. You want to prepare a variety of meals that are
nutritious, appealing and still be able to spend time exploring
all facets of education with your children.
How do we keep that balance of everything
else we have talked about in this series of articles and fix
dinner too?
Be assured that it will not always go
perfectly. If it does, then you ought to be writing this
article. However, by applying a few simple truths to your
balancing act, you will find a nutritious meal on your table most
of the time.
One way to simplify mealtime is as basic as
having a plan. Write a menu out for a week or two at a time, and
do the shopping for those meals. You don’t have to specify what
you plan to fix each night, but if you have seven options for a
week then it will be easier to make the daily decision of what to
eat for dinner. Without this plan it sometimes takes more energy
to decide what is for dinner than to fix the meal, and then you
might not have all the ingredients.
Once you have a basic meal plan for the week
it is easier to choose something from that plan each morning.
Make this choice as you are preparing breakfast or at least by
lunch. Check your menu plan as you prepare breakfast and decide
which meal best fits the activities of the day. If you are going
on a field trip or to the library and will be gone all afternoon
it will be beneficial to throw something into the slow cooker or
crock pot so that you have a meal when you return. If you have a
day when the children can help you prepare the meal then you may
want to choose a meal that is more involved and make it part of
their school day.
-
Involving children in dinner preparations
is a perfect way to accomplish two things at once. Not only
will you have a meal, but it is a learning time for your
children. Reading the recipe is good reinforcement for a child
who is learning to read. Placing biscuits on a cookie sheet in
four rows of three is a definite multiplication lesson for the
child who needs it. Having time to talk about what you have
learned that day as you peel potatoes can add fuel to their
interest in a particular subject. Each child should learn to
cook and be comfortable working in the kitchen even without
these academic bonuses. If they learn the most complicated
algebraic equations and can’t take care of themselves what have
we accomplished? It may be beneficial to assign each child a
day of the week to be in charge of dinner for a season.
Try some of the following tips to further simplify your meals.
Search for these and others at your local library or online at
Amazon.
Learn to use your crock pot or slow cooker. Try converting some
of your favorite recipes to the crock pot. Search the internet
and your library for new recipes to try. Using the crock pot or
slow cooker gives you a way to prepare that meal early in the
day and then be done.
On a day when you have more time, boil a whole chicken (at my
house we do two), adding peppercorns, onions, celery and
rosemary or another favorite spice to create a broth. Put it on
in the morning and enjoy the aroma while you do school. Pick the
chicken apart into bite size pieces. Plan your meals for the
next several days around this prepared chicken and broth.
Getting the meat ready is often the hardest part of fixing meals
like chicken enchiladas or chicken and dumplings. Doing this for
several meals at a time means you only have to do it once.
Freezing the chicken or broth for future use is another way to
have an easy meal to pull together. Of course, buying canned
chicken is simple also, but more costly than preparing it
yourself. Save the money and spend it on something to supplement
your curriculum.
Dried beans can work with the same concept. Soak a large amount
and cook them either in the crock pot or on the stove. Put them
in ziplock bags and keep them in the freezer until you need them
or plan several meals around them that week.
Making mixes ahead of time may simplify meal preparation for
you. The book “Make-a-Mix” by Karine Eliason includes many
recipes for making mixes ahead. This can save time in your
cooking process.
Have you heard of cooking once a month and putting it in the
freezer? If you like the idea of doing all the work in a couple
days and then enjoying the meals for the entire month as you
pull them out of the freezer, there are many books about cooking
this way. A couple examples are: “Dinner’s in the Freezer!” by
Jill Bond and “Once a Month Cooking” by Mimi Wilson and Mary
Beth Lagerborg. Search for these and others at your local
library or online at Amazon.
Be willing to experiment with these and other
methods for simplifying your cooking. Not every idea will suit
every person, but find the ones that suit you.
Remember, you will feel better and your
children will respond more positively if good meals are being
served. Behavior problems can be related to food, and children
need healthy meals and snacks. Boys in particular seem to be
better behaved and more focused when their nutritional needs are
being met.
A final note about having a house of order:
enjoy the process. If you learn to find joy in the simple things
then doing the difficult things will seem easier.
Melanie Skelton has educated her six children at home for eight
years. She is the co-founder of Utah Families Teaching at
Home and assists in teaching workshops to empower and help home
educators. She is the web designer for the website, found at
http:
http://www.utahfamilies.net/ and is in the process of
co-authoring a book about home education. This book will
help home educators better understand learning styles, personality
styles and levels of learning. It will teach the reader how
to apply this information to their home school and plan out a
curriculum that will meet the needs of their children.
[ hide article ]
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Language of Choice,
Making the Right Moves to Communicate with the Masses
by Beth Butler
Have you ever pondered over which
language you should put your mind to learning? Or perhaps which new
language you should advise your middle school child to register for next
school year? Sitting next to a family of four (mother, father, high
school son and middle school son) and mercilessly eavesdropping, I was
flabbergasted by the conversation taking place about which foreign
language to study and the various reasons why. All were in agreement
that the boys needed to complete
two years of foreign language study prior to the end of high school; the
disagreement that ensued was
about which foreign language to take and why....read more
I’m not much of a stats geek; however I do
study the trends as I like to keep informed in the educational genre of our
society as a mom and as an educator. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the
2007 Statistical Abstract there are more than 265 million people age five and
over in our country, and 216 million of them speak English in their home. The
family involved in this nearby conversation clearly never read the rest of the
report, tends not to listen to the languages being spoken around them in their
community or simply does not care which language would be found most useful and
practical as the boys travel through our United States of America.
According to this stats abstract the Spanish language was a huge second place
finisher with more than 30 million people speaking Spanish followed way behind
by Chinese with 2.3 million. Now, granted, the high school son was very vocal
expressing how he did not like his last semester of Spanish and was changing
next school year to German or maybe French.
I almost slipped a beverage napkin onto their table with the link to the site
stating German was way low in the population count of this abstract stating 1
million people in the U.S. speak German in their home lagging just behind French
who touts 1.3 million people speaking French in the home.
Our decisions to study one language or another need to revolve around three
strong considerations:
·
The potential future use
of the target language in your future. Perhaps this boy sitting next to me
planned to marry a girl of German descent or travel to Germany to work in some
export business tied to the U.S. Do you have future plans of working with a
specific company who deals specifically with particular countries?
·
Current resources
available within your geographic and monetary means. Is there a language course
available in the target language? Do you have the motivation to study and learn
this new language? Is the course affordable or is the program you are looking to
purchase approachable?
·
History or connection
with the target language. Perhaps you have an ethnic tie to this new language.
Did you grow up hearing this target language at a relative’s home? Do your
parents guide you gently in your decision based on their understanding of the
current global needs?
We all see the need to
expand our horizons beyond speaking just English. Now we need to give strong and
thoughtful consideration to just what that new language of learning should be.
About the Author: Beth
Butler is the creator of the BOCA BETH Language Learning Series for young
children. Find out how fun and easy it can be to raise a bilingual child. Sample
the BOCA BETH bilingual music and movies for free at
http://www.bocabeth.com
Call toll free 1.877.825.2622 or 1.813.244.1432
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Webkinz Fever
by
Seth Prezant
It was a six month standoff. My wife on one side my
two children and I on the other. Typically my wife claims victory, but
this time, this one time the troops got what they wanted. We got a dog.
We adopted a mutt, from the Humane Society. Before
we committed to a life-long obligation we had the family discussions
about responsibilities. “Yes, I swear dad, I’ll do it” is the answer I
got from the
two minors for every thing I threw at them. And although the children
were on my side, I had major
doubts that they would actually care for the dog. Eight months later I
am proud to report my son walks
our dog twice a day (when prodded) and my daughter makes sure the dog’s
water bowl and food bowl
are full (when reminded). My children actually share in caring for the
family pet. So when my kids asked
if they can adopt a virtual pet from Webkinz, it was hard to say no. .
...read more
My wife and I set ground rules about when they can
visit their Webkinz pets, the amount of time they can spend on Webkinz
World and after checking out the website’s content and safety, we gave
our approval. We particularly like the Frequently Asked Questions page.
The company states that “your child learns how to save and spend money”
and “Webkinz World also helps to teach children about responsibility,
caring for a pet, and getting along with others.”
After registering and teaching the kids about the
importance of keeping a password secret, a tiger and a kitten were adopted.
Silly names were given. And two children were happy. My kids would routinely
show off their pet’s virtual house, the items they bought, and the amount of
money they earned and saved for the proper caring of their new friends.
If you are familiar with Webkinz you are aware that your
Webkinz pet has a meter that shows how hungry, happy and healthy your pet is. If
your pet is sick, the meter shows a low number like 20. If it is healthy its
number should be 80 and up. After a couple of months, I noticed my son’s tiger
was showing signs of death at a meter reading of 10.
We took the tiger to the virtual doctor and found out our
pet had a fever, probably from a lack of sleep and healthy food. My son managed
to earn a great deal of money and saved most all of it. I reminded my son that
he has a responsibility to care for his virtual pet. He must feed it well, tend
to its needs and health and start spending some of that money wisely on items to
make his pet virtually happy. This is, after all, his responsibility.
“Dad”, he said, “seriously, it’s not real. It’s just a
computer game.”
Okay, one for the kid. Dad learns a lesson that even young
children know that nothing can substitute for the real thing. This holiday
season, my kids will not learn about shopping for gifts, online safety, nor
fiscal responsibility from Webkinz World.
They will hopefully learn these and many other lessons from
sitting with Mom and Dad while we shop for holiday gifts together online. They
will see how to compare prices and care for hard earned money by watching us be
responsible. And in the evening, after we feed our children a healthy dinner,
make sure their bodies are bathed, teeth are brushed, and story are read, my
wife and I will put our children to bed and kiss them good night. We will know
they are well fed, healthy, and happy and my daughter and son will know that in
this world, that’s what really counts.
Seth Prezant is the founder and Bugmaster of
www.CoolBugStuff.com
.
His award winning web site was created to help promote fascination and education
in science using nature’s most abundant creatures…Bugs! Seth is a true EEE
(Education & Entertainment Entrepreneur) providing educational and entertaining
nature shows for schools, camps, aftercare programs and home school groups all
around South Florida. The Bugmaster can be reached @
seth@coolbugstuff.com.
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Talking to Children About Death
by
Naomi Aldort Ph.D.
Q:
My six-year-old son keeps talking about death. His grandfather has just died
and he is fearful for himself. He asked me if he will have to die. I find it
difficult to talk about death without getting emotional. How can I talk with
him in a way that he can grasp without scaring him?...read more
A: Here is a conversation that took place
between three children:
Justin (5): I don’t want to die.
Ben (8): By the time you are old you may
not have to. They have just done suspended animation with a fish.
Lila (12): (In a rational tone of a
knowledgeable one): That’s never going to be possible because the way
evolution works, things have to be recycled and move on.
Ben: But you never know what will be
possible that you don’t know now. No one thought it was possible to fly,
have phones or go to the moon way before those things became possible either.
Justin: I don’t want to die.
Lila: Why?
Silence.
Ben: That’s so stupid. We don’t even know
that it is bad to die, maybe it is just waking up from all this to something
even better.
Justin: Still, I don’t want to die. I
like it here.
Lila: How can you know what you will
want when you are close to death?
Since his grandfather died,
your son is naturally curious about the subject and in the way death will
eventually touch him. If he went to the zoo he would talk about animals and if
he flew on a airplane he would be playing pilot. The best thing you can do is
join his interest as you would with any topic.
We often scare our children
by being mysterious or indirect about death. We tell them that the cat was
“put to sleep,” and we avoid the subject or change it when a child enters the
room. This attitude teaches the child that something is wrong with death. Yet
fear and sadness about death are cultural concepts. There are cultures whose
attitude toward death is not one of dread but one of joy. We have no way of
knowing what death is. As Lila said in the above conversation; how do we know
what we will feel as we age? And how do we know what we will want on our death
bed?
Fear is always about the
future and it only exists in thoughts (because the future does not exist
elsewhere). Living in the moment has no fear. We have a scary story about
death before it is present. When actually dying, fear is absent. As a parent,
when you think of death you are more likely to fear losing your child than
yourself. This common parental anxiety is not going away any time soon. Since
you don’t want to pass your fear on to your child, take his offer and explore
this vital theme with him; he may teach you peace. One of the greatest gifts
we can pass on to our children is a love of all aspects of being human,
including death. Say “yes” to your child’s invitation to converse and study
the subject of death in the same way that you would if he asked how
electricity works.
Write down the thoughts that
scare you. Notice that when you believe these thoughts you suffer; can you
prove that they represent reality? How would you talk with your child about
death if these thoughts did not occur to you? We inherited the thoughts that
pass through our minds and we take them as truth without investigation. We
develop fear of death by emulating the attitudes of our parents and society,
or by having an experience of losing someone we love and not being allowed to
fully express our feelings and get through them.
When you believe these old
recycled thoughts you produce and project fear and you are unable to be a
partner to your child’s natural interest. In your question you can find some
of the thoughts that limit your freedom. Write them down; “he is fearful for
himself,” and, “talking about it will scare him.” Then explore these
thoughts. Discover the thoughts that fuel your fear and notice how they create
your anxiety. Is he really fearful? Was he fearful before your nonverbal
input? Will talking about death really scare him? It is more likely that not
talking about it scares him. Still, if he is indeed scared, then exploring his
thoughts with him can be a relief or at least a validation.
You can also write down your
child’s thoughts as he speaks to you. He may think, “grandpa shouldn’t have
died.” Wishing what never be is painful. It leaves the child feeling helpless
and hopeless.
Ask him (and yourself) how he
feels when he has the thought that grandpa should be alive and he isn’t.
Listen to him and let him notice the pain that comes with this thought. Then,
ask him (and you) how he would be without that thought. This maybe the first
time he will be sensing himself without his grandpa being alive (because by
wishing he were alive he avoids the present reality). Both of you may realize
that you are fine and happy without grandpa’s presence, and that you need to
do some crying too. This is not a contradiction: wanting grandpa to be alive
prevents you from being present to the reality of the death and from feeling
your experience. The truth fully felt can bring both tears and relief. Death
is not changeable, but it is embraceable.
Two weeks before our trip to
the east coast one of my sons said to me, “Mom, what if the plane crashes?” My
answer was, “There won’t be any ‘you’ to worry or care about it.” “But Mom,
really, I am scared,” he said. “Yes, I hear you,” I responded, “because you
are imagining a future that, now, in the present, you don’t want. Tell me what
you imagine.” I then listened to him, validated his fears and expressed
confidence in our safety. “Statistically, our own yard is more dangerous than
flying,” I said. He laughed as we considered together the many ways one can
die in the yard, the bathtub, on the sidewalk, or in the kitchen. Then we got
into a deep discussion on our perception of life and death. We arrived at the
conclusion that if it were possible to know what death is, we could be looking
forward to it. Being unknown, we fill in the blank with painful images. He was
calm on the plane.
Of course, I am a mother who
wants my children alive and well, and they know that too well. As worried
parents we teach our children fear of death on a daily basis. Such an honest
conversation, as I had with my son, can undo some of the fearful concepts and
shed light on beliefs that aren’t even true.
Play imaginary games with
your son (if he wants to). Try on different death concepts: Pretend it is a
great achievement, that it is like birth, that it is like being expelled with
velocity into space, that it is like an eternal restful sleep, that it is a
waking up from this dream, or any other idea you and your child can invent.
Take each idea and play with it. How would it feel to perceive death in this
or that light? How would you prepare for it? How would you dress up for a
funeral or a visit in a hospice without the sad story passed on by our
culture? Let your child’s imagination fly with it. You will find that the
possibilities are endless and include both tears and laughter, sadness and
joy.
We know about death as
much as the fetus knows about birth. Each phase of existing comes to an end
without revealing in advance what comes next.
Could it be that death leads to
“nothing?” Yes. But “nothing” is another debatable “thing,” which is good for
another philosophical discussion.
You can also find another
opportunity to share death with your son. In hospices people often die
consciously, departing from their loved ones with joy and gratitude. Take your
child to a hospice where he may meet someone who is celebrating her own death.
My oldest son, Jonathan, volunteered in a hospice when he was ten or eleven.
He had the opportunity to care for a woman in her fifties just a few hours before she died.
Although she was unable to talk, he connected with her through touch and eye
contact. He came home sharing a sense of peace and clarity. This young man
says that he is curious about death and has no fear of it.
Enjoy the ride with your
child and join his human quest for understanding. We are all on this quest
with you as this little story shows: Standing on the beach the son of a
fisherman said to his friend, “My great grandfather was a sailor and died in
the sea, my grandfather died in the sea, my father died in the sea; I am not
going to ever sail to= sea .” His friend responded, “My great grandma died in
bed, my grandpa died in bed... ” Enjoy the ride.
Naomi Aldort is the author of, Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves. Parents
from around the globe seek Aldort's advice by phone, in person and by listening
to her CDs and attending her workshops. Her advice columns appear in progressive
parenting magazines in Canada, USA, AU, UK, and translated to German, Hebrew,
Dutch, Japanese and Spanish.
Naomi Aldort is married and a mother of three. Her youngest son is
thirteen-year-old cellist Oliver Aldort www.OliverAldort.com.
For more information: www.NaomiAldort.com or
www.AuthenticParent.com
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Establishing a Bicycle Trip Vision
By Becky
Douglas, Adventure Cycling's outreach and education coordinator.
This is the third in a series of
articles about youth bicycle travel. The articles cover all aspects of
developing and executing a bike trip for kids, and are based on
Adventure Cycling Association's
Pedal Pioneers Guide, a detailed
handbook for bicycle travel with kids (www.adventurecycling.org/outreach/pedalpioneers.com)
Bicycle
travel is one of the most classic pleasures that teaches a myriad of
life skills and has endless
educational opportunities. Your options for
what your child’s overnight bicycle adventure will look like are
infinite, and your child should be a partner in creating the framework
of the trip. Below are some questions
that will help to visualize her
trip. .
.
...read more
•
What is your trip’s purpose?
Recreation, education, testing your child's limits, and/or sharing something you
love?
•
Who is the trip for?
What is your child's age? Would
you include others to form a group, and if so, what would be the group's size?
Would there be boys and girls? What are their interests, and mental and physical
abilities?
•
How do you want to roll?
Your ride can be on the road, on mountain bike trails, or on rail-trails.
Bike-friendly routes with motorized traffic are widely available. If you
mountain bike on single track, traffic won’t be a problem, although your access
to services may be limited. Off-road routes offer a car-free experience.
•
Where do you want to travel?
You can bicycle in your backyard or far beyond. Factor in the amount of time
you’ll need for planning and taking the tour, the time of year, what you would
like to study, and funds. You can leave from your hometown or from an
international airport.
•
When do you want to take your trip?
Planning a trip around family schedules and preparedness is key. Also consider
heat wave, hurricane, and hailstorm seasons.
•
How much support will you need?
You can ride fully self-contained or lighten your load with a SAG (support and
gear) vehicle. Self-contained tours can require more specialized gear like
panniers, backpacking tents, and camping stoves, but allow a lot of freedom and
flexibility because you carry everything you need.
•
How much time do you have to prepare for the trip?
You need time to ensure safe cycling and to gather the resources to accomplish
this. Longer trips usually require more time to plan.
•
How much time do you have to prepare and train your child?
Some families have a year to prepare, while others prepare in just a few weeks
or months. Think about how your schedule will interact with your child's current
endeavors and plan training activities appropriate for your child's physical
abilities. Do you have the knowledge to lead your child in training for the
trip, or should you find resources in your community to help?
•
How many days do you want to ride and travel?
This is based on your resources and abilities. Be sure to add in travel days to
and from the start of your trip, rest days, and time to explore the land and
culture you are cycling through. Some children choose to do a section of a trail
each year to cover a greater distance over time.
•
How challenging of a trip?
Distance and terrain are the main challenges. Do you want to tackle big
mountains or flat expanses? There are many things in addition to the cycling
that will make this trip both difficult and enjoyable for you and your child.
The miles you cover each day, no matter how many, will be considered a success.
•
What is your budget?
Is it abundant, bare-bones, or moderate? Basic expenses include equipment (which
can be borrowed or bought second-hand), SAG vehicle costs, food, camping, and
travel to and from the tour. Additional costs include trips to local museums,
replacement gear, and souvenirs. If you want to do a group or fundraising trip,
donations can supplement your budget needs.
•
Will you camp or stay indoors?
Campground options include rustic forest sites, school yards, and full-service
campgrounds. Lodging options include church and school gyms, home stays (with
other home schoolers!), college dorms, and motels.
•
What are your culinary desires?
You can dine out, involve the family in cooking, teach your child his/her way
around the camp kitchen, or have a mix of the three.
•
Will your trip have a theme?
You can focus a tour on studying environmental or social issues, geology,
history, or even local foods. The theme topic often influences where you go, who
you interact with, and the depth of advanced daily planning that you need. Some
examples of thematic trips include rides on the Underground Railroad Bicycle
Route, Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail, and global climate change awareness rides.
Creating your trip is a very exciting process that will engage your child
through research, soul-searching, and logistics.
Throughout this series of articles, we will be referring to the vast cycling
resources that already exist in North America. The articles should be
supplemented with other resources that address bicycle safety, camping skills,
and group dynamics if you are traveling with several kids. We look forward to
sharing this journey with you over the next year, and creating memories that
will last a lifetime. Happy bicycle travels!
Becky
Douglas is the Outreach and Education Coordinator at
Adventure Cycling Association. Thanks to Kerry Irons for his help in writing
this article. The mission of Adventure Cycling Association is to inspire people
of all ages to travel by bicycle. They help cyclists explore the landscapes and
history of America for fun, fitness, and self-discovery. Becky is the
administrator of the
Pedal Pioneers Program, which aims to inspire and empower adults who are
taking kids on overnight bicycle adventures. She is also the author of
Pedal Pioneers: A Guide to Bicycle Travel with Kids and can be reached at
outreach@adventurecycling.org.
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Don't Bank on Just a Good SAT Score
by Jean Burk
“We’re not just looking for smart kids,
there are plenty of those around, but we’re looking well-rounded
students,” the Harvard recruiter replied. This question was asked by a
parent at the honors program when she wanted to know what SAT
score they were looking for in a student. The good test score must just
be the beginning of this prestigious college’s criteria. So what
exactly does that mean to
those of us who just want some college money for our kid to go to a good
school
—maybe even Harvard?
...read more
Many colleges give the
big scholarships to the students who will represent their school well
while they’re attending college as well as after graduation. Usually,
each college department has several big scholarships they like to give
to well-deserved students. How do they select these world changers- by
seeking out students who already have a proven background of abilities
and ambitions long before they have ever entered a college classroom?
These students started their own portfolio of accomplishments in their
early days of high school or before. Being well-rounded encompasses a
five-fold program that speaks volumes about the student.
Academics are important to
colleges, but they understand there is more to a student. Maintaining a strong
high school G.P.A. while being involved in other areas shows potential for
college success. The student’s SAT score generally solidifies his or her
academic achievements. An SAT math and critical reading score of 1200 shows
excellent preparation; a score around 1300 shows remarkable preparation; and a
score of 1400 and above is evidence of an extraordinary student.
The second part of the
portfolio is the student’s extracurricular activities. These show the colleges
what a student has been involved in along with his or her academics.
Participation in sports, music, dance, or a part time job would all be
considered extracurricular activities. Students have so many opportunities to
get involved and should start as early as possible.
Volunteer work is equal to
extracurricular activities in importance. This displays how the student is a
valuable asset in his or her own community. Some volunteer work ideas are Meals
on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, tutoring others, food banks, candy striper,
teen court, nursing homes, and library help. Look around; there are always
openings for volunteers to help out in the community. Start volunteering early
in order to log as many hours as possible. To really stand out amid other
college candidates, consider starting your own organization—one that fills an
important need for others.
Club involvement is another
important part of being a well-rounded student. Some club ideas are Drama Club,
Boy Scouts, and 4-H, Debate Teams, Student Government, and the YMCA. Also in
this fourth part of the five-fold program, it is noteworthy to become leaders in
these clubs. Most clubs have offices to be held. This is not only a good
experience but also will show evidence of your leadership abilities..
Last of all, you will want to
keep a record of all awards you have received. This is the fruit of your labor
and it is where you are rewarded openly for all your hard work. To name a few
awards, there are sports trophies, Piano Guild, Honor Society Awards, Who’s Who
Among High School Students, writing contests, art contests, and community
service awards.
Every student should start at
least in the ninth grade working on this five-fold program. Good records should
be kept, pictures taken and letters of recommendation solicited. Get the whole
family involved; this can be very challenging as well as life changing. By
focusing on the needs of others and the world around them, the student’s life
can be not only be enriched personally now but also financially later during the
college years.
For more
information visit
www.collegeprepgenius.com or contact Jean Burk at
info@collegeprepgenius.com Also sign-up for our free No Brainer
Scholarship Newsletter.
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A Very Lucky Day:
What is the probability of finding a four-leaf clover?
by Susan Jarema, Googol Learning
My daughter found her first four leaf clover this summer! It was a
very exciting event. I myself even pulled out my old box from the attic
with my childhood pressed leaf collection to see how many clovers I had
found.
I did not have Google (nor a computer) when found my first four leaf
clover, so I never had the chance to look up the odds quite so easily.
Based on experience, I would have guessed about 1 in 5000. However,
according to my research, the probability of randomly picking a four
leaf clover is 1 in 10,000. I must be luckier than normal! The next day,
both kids spent several hours combing through our lawn. They found eight
more! We all must be luckier than normal.
...read more
Further googling of clovers revealed that other factors may
explain the higher frequency of four leaf clovers. The extra
leaf is a mutation thought to be affected by weather and growing
conditions or possibly a recessive gene that appears in low
frequency. I also found out that there actually can by five, six
and even seven leaf clovers which are very rare.
If you find a four (or more) leafed clover, look around the
same area. There are often similar ones near by. This one
exciting event led to many new explorations in estimation and
probability:
- How many clovers are there in a square meter, our yard,
the school yard?
- How many clovers can you look at in a minute, an hour, a
day?
- How many lucky clovers can you expect to find in a day?
After we came inside the discussion evolved on to the
following new questions:
- What is the
probability of flipping a heads or tails on
a coin?
- What is the
probability when you roll dice, spin a spinner, and draw the
Queen of Hearts from a deck of cards?
What is the likelihood of being born with blues eyes?
-
Probability and Genetics
-
More
conditional probability problems
What is the chance of having an Earthquake? Do we have
insurance for earthquakes?
-
Earthquake Probability Map
Who pays for the insurance? How is it calculated?
-
Our
insurance premiums
And even what is the likelihood mom will give us ice cream
for asking such great questions!
According to legend the leaves represent hope, faith, love,
and luck — something we can always use more of. My weedy lawn is
approximately 1/12 dandelions, 1/5 moss and 2/3 clovers now. Can
you figure out how much grass that leaves? We've decided to give
up weeding and let the clovers grow saving us more time to
search for lucky clovers.
Tell
me the answer!
Not very much!
(1/12) + (1/5) + (2/3) + x = 1
(5/60) + (12/60) + (40/60) + x = 60/60
(57/60) + x = 60/60 x = (60/60) - (57/60)
x = 3/60
which can be reduced to x = 1/20 grass
Take some time to find your own lucky four leaf leafed
clover!
Susan Jarema is the founder of
Googol Learning, the
Crazy 4 Math Contest and
TVvgFREE.com. The Googol Learning Website has many free
resources to inspire mathematics and family learning in your home
through music, games, stories and layered learning.
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