Over the years, structures get modified for continuing growth.  Here you will find the help to encourage life long learning.
Articles are updated frequently.
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.

Whom Do Your Children Trust? 
          Trust is an important part of every good relationship, and as your child grows, he is learning about the role that this value plays in                his social interactions. Michele Balani 
     To help any of your children know who to trust and how to do so, you as parents must be their teacher by providing a supportive environment in which your children are not afraid to tell you things. You must be actively listening as your children share their experiences, their days, their friends, their thoughts, ideas, and dreams.  
      By carrying through on your promises, you show your children that you can be trusted. Giving them honest answers to their questions and being candid in your conversations, you help their trust to grow. By fairly setting family rules and expectations, you teach them responsibility and trustworthiness. Be honest in explaining beforehand what you expect and what the consequences will be no matter how old your childrn are,  
          When kids do something to break that trust, it should be made clear to them that trust has been broken and that privileges extended                during times of trust will not be extended. kidsrkids.com 
     Your children can expect that you will not share your private conversations with others. Although they may keep some of their own lives private, when something really matters and they need a trusted opinion, they need to feel confident they can turn to you. Be sure to tell your children that you will be there for them if they are faced with a problem or conflict that is difficult for them to handle on their own. 
      Clearly tell your children to whom they should turn other than you when they need help in a situation. Talk to your children about what to do and to whom they should go if someone interacts with them in an uncomfortable or unsafe way. Authority figures such as police officers or teachers may be able to help them by giving them advice and sharing their own experiences, training, and wisdom to know how to handle the situation. If you have been truthful in sharing with your children and trusting, you help them to know how to tune into their own feelings and to learn to trust themselves. Try not to teach your children to be overly fearful of their world so as to miss opportunities to grow through their interaction, communication, and activities with others.  
     Maybe you will need to discuss their friends with them and help your children to know friends who will be loyal friends and trustworthy. A trustworthy person is someone who can be relied on to be honest, truthful, reliable, dependable, credible and safe.  If you yourself are in any difficult relationships that reveal a lack of trust, end them. Show your children that you value trustworthiness in your own life. 
          Having patience, never withholding love and displaying trustworthiness yourself will go a long way in helping bring up trustworthy...            {young adults}  Rachel Norman 

Discipline is Your Duty 
     If you love your children, you will discipline them when they need it. If you love your children, you will be the one in charge. If you love your children, you will show them behavior acceptable to your family, friends, and society. 
     Discipline is not “old fashioned” or “out-of-date." It is one of our greatest needs right now, in our modern world. Humans simply must learn to behave and to live beside each other peacefully.  
     When you discipline your children, you are not being mean. Sensible discipline is a sign to your children that you care and are not out just to punish them, but to prepare them for their future. Disciplining children is more than making them behave for the time being. It is teaching your children to behave for a lifetime.  
     Too soon, they will be adults with the privilege of driving a car and owning a gun. They must have a conscience to handle these responsibly. Building conscience is what discipline is all about. There are right ways and wrong ways to exist in our world. 
     You have the duty to be direct and firm in helping your children know what is acceptable and what is not. You get right down to their eye level and tell them plainly why a particular kind of behavior is needed. You must be clear and distinct. “You have to stop what you are doing, and this is why...” You try not to be angry, but truly showing your children that you believe in what you say. 
     It takes time for ideas to sink in, for children to learn to control their impulses and emotions. It takes your patience and even your repetition. You must be consistent. Children like to test to see if you remember.  
     If you use punishment as a way of discipline too often, you build resentment in your children. It is better to build and use the strong civilizing loving bond between parent and child. Children will feel close to their parents and want to imitate their ways. Children need dads and mothers who think on their feet, are consistent and yet, flexible enough to use a variety of ways to discipline. Then children have a chance to become decent human beings and adults parents can be proud of. 

Financial Tools for Tweens and Teens
            Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. Ayn Rand 
       Too many of us and our children have gotten caught in traps that money has caused, or rather the lack of money knowledge. It is up to parents to help their children avoid these traps. When you are having conversations with your children, include those about money often.  
esperian.com suggests the following steps to help children manage their money. 
A budget is a financial plan based on income and expenses. Parents need to set goals and learn to live within their means. Children see how parents manage their money. Talk to your children as you shop. 
       As children get older, parents can share their household budget with children to show them where the money goes. Explain the bills that need to be paid and why you might be saying “no” to their latest request.  
       Help your children make healthy choices. Look for the best prices in newspaper or magazine ads and online for the things they want. Help them to save their own money for the desired item or ask for it as a future gift. You can help your children have confidence handling their money as they prepare for their financial future by helping them to be frugal. BUSY KIDS might be an app to help. Talk with them about ideas for earning their own money through opportunities such as performing services for others--babysitting, tutoring younger children, pet-sitting, or yard work. Explore ideas for their own business, such as designing greeting cards to sell or showing seniors how to use their computers or iPads. Encourage them to use their imaginations for a new business they might create. 
           Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. Miguel de Cervantes 
     Help your children to see using credit cards is really borrowing money that must be paid back on time, over time. Help your tweens and teens know about credit reports and credit scores. When your children see you using your digital devices to pay, help them to know it is not money at the touch of a button but money that is deducted from your checking or savings account.  
     Give your children lessons about money for their future lives. Talk about money daily, give your children guidance and help them make smart money decisions. Give them Dave Ramsey’s book Smart Money, Smart Kids. Help them know that money is only part of their lives, but that knowing how to use it is important. Discuss with them their needs versus wants, weighing their decisions and understanding the outcomes of those decisions.