Over the years, structures get modified for continuing growth. Here you will find the help to encourage life long learning.
Enjoy the bi-weekly articles below.
These sections are organized by age level, but the information is not confined to just these ages. Consider looking at other age ranges as well. Also, make sure to check out the Archives.
Enjoy the bi-weekly articles below.
These sections are organized by age level, but the information is not confined to just these ages. Consider looking at other age ranges as well. Also, make sure to check out the Archives.
LAUGH TO LEARN
All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other. August Wilson
Laughter occurs when people are comfortable with one another, when they feel open and free. And the more laughter there is, the more bonding happens within a family. Maybe we do not have enough laughter in our lives these days. There is so much stress, unhappiness, and fear in the world and in our families. No wonder we run away with tech.
But I want you to try something new with your children this week. How many times can you make them laugh? How many times can you enjoy a good laugh together? Parents who are dedicated to the best interests, social development, and academic success of their children can accomplish great things by using a variety of creatively humorous approaches to family occurrences, meals and study. Try including rhymes, chants, riddles, jokes, anecdotes, and games to make valuable connections and enhance learning. You as parents, grandparents, and caregivers can boost creativity and critical thinking skills, promote values, teach good moral behavior and responsibility, instill trust and confidence and provide children with a means of coping with sadness and disappointment by your use of humor and laughter.
Laughter is a link to creativity and divergent thinking. It may lead to new ideas or understandings. Laughter is important to physical well-being and stress relief for all ages. Laughter runs through many regions of the brain as a source of energy to help us grow stronger in our relationships and gives a great opportunity for success. It is a highly effective way to stimulate conversation for both the speaker and the listener.
When used when you are helping your children with homework, it enables learning and relieves boredom and monotony. It helps children stay "tuned in" to what they are trying to learn. After a long day at work, it may even help you as parents to diffuse frustrations as you come up with rhymes and riddles to help children remember important facts and information. Your "silliness" may help them retain information they need to use the next day.
When you have a meal together, it provides a time for bonding and building trust. Be careful that you don't laugh at the wrong thing or in a derogatory manner. Don't let your children make fun of each other so as to embarrass, ridicule or degrade each other. This may be counterproductive in social and academic growth.
From your parents, you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened, you discover you have wings. Helen Hayes
Give your children love, laughter, AND wings.
OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN
Your young people may be tiring of school and even wondering what education is for. One of the best ways for them to learn more or to continue to learn is through volunteering in a situation that fits their interests, ambition or passion. If they are finishing all their requirements for graduation and even AP classes, they may have time on their hands. If they are too young for a part-time job or not looking for work they can do to earn money, perhaps they can be looking into where they can help or be of service to those in need. Serving in a homeless shelter, providing willing hands to help prepare food or helping out at the local animal shelter are possibilities. If they are sincere and do a good job, your young people may request a recommendation for future work or education. High school counselors may even be aware of requests from community members for help or service.
Older students may look into internships in a profession where they think they are interested. Even if these are unpaid, they may help determine if further training or education is required. Better to find out before investing in a skills program or college and finding out that it is not for them. Internships are where your young people acquire pre-working world experience. Their participation in discussions and using questions to find out more are related to their future success. Asking questions is a great way to show their interest in learning, to clarify their place in that environment, and to "stand out." Your young people need to find out what they are doing is important in a real-world setting, and why. If they request time from their bosses, make sure their request is for a specific reason. Working hard, making decisions, and attempting to make a difference shows your children they can contribute in a positive and important way in their future choices.
Having the mindset of teamwork and passion for wanting to improve your path to becoming an effective employee shows you're ready to work ... Brent McCready
QUESTIONING TO LEARN
Questioning is a major form of human thought and interpersonal communication. Humans ask questions to get acquainted, to learn something new, to explore phenomena, to share experiences.
He that nothing questions, nothing learns. (Old Proverb)
You invite your young people to give opinions, to think, to imagine, to create through questioning. Use open-ended questions--questions that make your children think or speculate, give his or her opinion, such as "How do you think that happens? or "Why do you think that happened?" Each of these questions begins with "why" or "how." These are the best to continue conversation. Even if you open discussion with one-word answers, follow up with more thought provoking questions. When you ask a question, wait comfortably for an answer giving time to think. Listen fully to what others are saying, then asking the question in a different way or paraphrase what you think you heard:
By allowing your children to ask questions and your seeking to answer them, you foster their trust and further their learning as well as your own. Questioning can do as much for adults as for children -- helping to explore, discover and innovate. Children may question what you and others take for granted. Take time to help them navigate their way through uncertainty and find their way to breakthrough ideas. Encourage them to challenge things they do not understand and give them courage to contest the experimental ideas of their peers.
Thoughtful, productive questioning is a process that takes time, considerable thought, and often hands-on experimentation.. and can lead to powerful insights and fresh possibilities.
Warren Berger in the Wall Street Journal (blogs.wsj.com)
You and your children can learn together through asking great questions and finding greater answers, helping them to ask more important questions as they need to make decisions that are invaluable to their future.
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling
Check the website--changing minds.org/techniques--for a wealth of ideas.
HELP YOUR TEENS THINK LIKE ADULTS
Teens can have one foot in kid-world and the other in adult-world for years. Kari ODriscoll (https://yourteenmag.com)
Kari suggests a rule, a strategy that might work with your teens. "I will not do anything for them that makes me
angry." If I do something for them that makes me resentful,such as folding their laundry as they chat with their friends, my burden as parent becomes heavier and my own mental health suffers. It is not about punishing them for not planning ahead; they need to accept the responsibility for their own actions. If I have to give up something that's important to me or perform a task I loathe to make their lives easier, it's likely to prompt resentment to build inside me making me an unpleasant person to live with.
Now, I ask myself if they would do the same for me. What if I were running late and needed someone to throw my clothes in the dryer? Would they bring me my lunch if I forgot it?
Our children can live by the same rule. If they are uncomfortable doing things for someone else, like a boyfriend, best friend, a sibling or even me, they can exercise the right to say "no"politely. They can simply ask themselves whether indulging someone else's request is likely to make them angry or resentful before agreeing to do it or not.
Helping children understand mutual respect for others will go a long way helping them to know how to act
as adults.
All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other. August Wilson
Laughter occurs when people are comfortable with one another, when they feel open and free. And the more laughter there is, the more bonding happens within a family. Maybe we do not have enough laughter in our lives these days. There is so much stress, unhappiness, and fear in the world and in our families. No wonder we run away with tech.
But I want you to try something new with your children this week. How many times can you make them laugh? How many times can you enjoy a good laugh together? Parents who are dedicated to the best interests, social development, and academic success of their children can accomplish great things by using a variety of creatively humorous approaches to family occurrences, meals and study. Try including rhymes, chants, riddles, jokes, anecdotes, and games to make valuable connections and enhance learning. You as parents, grandparents, and caregivers can boost creativity and critical thinking skills, promote values, teach good moral behavior and responsibility, instill trust and confidence and provide children with a means of coping with sadness and disappointment by your use of humor and laughter.
Laughter is a link to creativity and divergent thinking. It may lead to new ideas or understandings. Laughter is important to physical well-being and stress relief for all ages. Laughter runs through many regions of the brain as a source of energy to help us grow stronger in our relationships and gives a great opportunity for success. It is a highly effective way to stimulate conversation for both the speaker and the listener.
When used when you are helping your children with homework, it enables learning and relieves boredom and monotony. It helps children stay "tuned in" to what they are trying to learn. After a long day at work, it may even help you as parents to diffuse frustrations as you come up with rhymes and riddles to help children remember important facts and information. Your "silliness" may help them retain information they need to use the next day.
When you have a meal together, it provides a time for bonding and building trust. Be careful that you don't laugh at the wrong thing or in a derogatory manner. Don't let your children make fun of each other so as to embarrass, ridicule or degrade each other. This may be counterproductive in social and academic growth.
From your parents, you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened, you discover you have wings. Helen Hayes
Give your children love, laughter, AND wings.
OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN
Your young people may be tiring of school and even wondering what education is for. One of the best ways for them to learn more or to continue to learn is through volunteering in a situation that fits their interests, ambition or passion. If they are finishing all their requirements for graduation and even AP classes, they may have time on their hands. If they are too young for a part-time job or not looking for work they can do to earn money, perhaps they can be looking into where they can help or be of service to those in need. Serving in a homeless shelter, providing willing hands to help prepare food or helping out at the local animal shelter are possibilities. If they are sincere and do a good job, your young people may request a recommendation for future work or education. High school counselors may even be aware of requests from community members for help or service.
Older students may look into internships in a profession where they think they are interested. Even if these are unpaid, they may help determine if further training or education is required. Better to find out before investing in a skills program or college and finding out that it is not for them. Internships are where your young people acquire pre-working world experience. Their participation in discussions and using questions to find out more are related to their future success. Asking questions is a great way to show their interest in learning, to clarify their place in that environment, and to "stand out." Your young people need to find out what they are doing is important in a real-world setting, and why. If they request time from their bosses, make sure their request is for a specific reason. Working hard, making decisions, and attempting to make a difference shows your children they can contribute in a positive and important way in their future choices.
Having the mindset of teamwork and passion for wanting to improve your path to becoming an effective employee shows you're ready to work ... Brent McCready
QUESTIONING TO LEARN
Questioning is a major form of human thought and interpersonal communication. Humans ask questions to get acquainted, to learn something new, to explore phenomena, to share experiences.
He that nothing questions, nothing learns. (Old Proverb)
You invite your young people to give opinions, to think, to imagine, to create through questioning. Use open-ended questions--questions that make your children think or speculate, give his or her opinion, such as "How do you think that happens? or "Why do you think that happened?" Each of these questions begins with "why" or "how." These are the best to continue conversation. Even if you open discussion with one-word answers, follow up with more thought provoking questions. When you ask a question, wait comfortably for an answer giving time to think. Listen fully to what others are saying, then asking the question in a different way or paraphrase what you think you heard:
By allowing your children to ask questions and your seeking to answer them, you foster their trust and further their learning as well as your own. Questioning can do as much for adults as for children -- helping to explore, discover and innovate. Children may question what you and others take for granted. Take time to help them navigate their way through uncertainty and find their way to breakthrough ideas. Encourage them to challenge things they do not understand and give them courage to contest the experimental ideas of their peers.
Thoughtful, productive questioning is a process that takes time, considerable thought, and often hands-on experimentation.. and can lead to powerful insights and fresh possibilities.
Warren Berger in the Wall Street Journal (blogs.wsj.com)
You and your children can learn together through asking great questions and finding greater answers, helping them to ask more important questions as they need to make decisions that are invaluable to their future.
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling
Check the website--changing minds.org/techniques--for a wealth of ideas.
HELP YOUR TEENS THINK LIKE ADULTS
Teens can have one foot in kid-world and the other in adult-world for years. Kari ODriscoll (https://yourteenmag.com)
Kari suggests a rule, a strategy that might work with your teens. "I will not do anything for them that makes me
angry." If I do something for them that makes me resentful,such as folding their laundry as they chat with their friends, my burden as parent becomes heavier and my own mental health suffers. It is not about punishing them for not planning ahead; they need to accept the responsibility for their own actions. If I have to give up something that's important to me or perform a task I loathe to make their lives easier, it's likely to prompt resentment to build inside me making me an unpleasant person to live with.
Now, I ask myself if they would do the same for me. What if I were running late and needed someone to throw my clothes in the dryer? Would they bring me my lunch if I forgot it?
Our children can live by the same rule. If they are uncomfortable doing things for someone else, like a boyfriend, best friend, a sibling or even me, they can exercise the right to say "no"politely. They can simply ask themselves whether indulging someone else's request is likely to make them angry or resentful before agreeing to do it or not.
Helping children understand mutual respect for others will go a long way helping them to know how to act
as adults.