Earnest Parenting » Education

3 Fun School Fundraising Ideas

Amy LeForge — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:28:41 +0000

As a proactive parent or teacher, you will undoubtedly be involved with the fundraising activities that go on throughout the school year. Many schools rely heavily on fundraising activities in order to purchase important equipment that enhances school life for many children. If you are seeking new ways to raise awareness and crucial funding for schools, here are a few ideas that never fail to get the pennies rolling in.

Tea Towels
A great way to raise funds is through the sale of tea towels that feature a self-portrait from the children in each school year. Many parents will be interested in purchasing a tea towel as not only are they practical, they are also a great keepsake to look back on with their child when they are a little older. Tea towel printing is easy when you choose a reputable provider, meaning you can gain funds quickly and simply.

Talent Contests
Why not take advantage of the X Factor/Britain’s Got Talent hype by putting together your own contest? From drama performances through to dance routines and singing acts, you can rest assured children will simply love taking part. Ask students who are interested in art to design a ticket which can then be scanned, printed and sold to parents who wish to attend this fantastic evening of entertainment.

Bake Sales
With cupcake fever currently sweeping the nation, a bake sale is a sure fire way to raise money for the school. Ask parents to contribute by bringing in cupcakes and muffins as well as other sweet treats and ask teachers to run the stands. Open up the school hall to the public for a morning and drum up interest by asking children to make bright posters for the bake sale. By organising an event such as this once a month, you can help to provide essential funding for the school as this method of fundraising has proved incredibly popular amongst educational institutions all over the country and beyond.

When inspiration is lacking but funds are needed whether it is to buy a new computer for the IT suite or perhaps gymnasium apparatus, try these fundraising ideas throughout the school year and see how much you are able to collect from supportive families.

Sophie has plenty of experience in fundraising for local schools, so from printed tea towels to bake sales you can rest assured that a significant difference can be made by organising and taking part in these fun activities.

Earnest Parenting: help for the serious fundraiser.

Image courtesy of 401k via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here

How to Make Pre-Kindergarten Successful for Your Child

Amy LeForge — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:11:49 +0000

Pre-kindergarten is the first formal classroom education that children between the ages of 3-5 attend. The purpose of a pre-kindergarten is to familiarize children with typical school atmosphere. As kindergartens are meant to be academically oriented, children are gradually introduced to school schedules in their pre-kindergarten.

At their young age, children are more creative with eagerness to learn anything. Parents, must therefore, take enough care not to over burden them with studies.

Pre-kindergarten is not mandatory for children, but it is beneficial for them as long as it remains play-based learning. But, nowadays, even pre-kindergartens have become almost like kindergartens with report cards, regular school schedules, and routines. Things like paying attention in class, following schedules, and practicing homework are beneficial for children, but too much of a mundane routine would also put off their creativity as children learn not only from books but also by observing their surroundings.

If you plan to send your children to pre-kindergarten, here are some tips:

Request teachers tell you about lessons in advance: It is always beneficial to get lessons from teachers in advance, as that would help you to understand whether your child has difficulty in learning. Moreover, you can also request teachers to pay special attention on the areas of weakness your child may have. These initiatives would help to correct children at an early stage and would give them confidence to learn more.

Balance overall education: Early education is advantageous for children, as parents get to know about the strengths and weaknesses of their child at a very early stage. Even though pre-kindergarten can prepare children to face academic studies, parents remain their most important teacher. So, parents should take time to study and play with them as that would help them to best informed about their children’s weaknesses.

If a child has learning difficulties, then such an approach would help parents to understand and solve the problem at an early stage itself rather than waiting till the child joins kindergarten school. At the same time, parents should not view the learning process only from academic perspective. The bottom-line is learning should be fun for children to let their creativity improve.

Reward System: Pre-kindergarten is the perfect stage when you can find out whether your child has interest in learning or not. Most of the kindergarten activities are creative and fun-based to motivate children. If you find that your child does not show interest in learning or in doing school lessons, then you can rely on rewards to motivate your child. Promising them with rewards they like is the easiest way to grab their attention and help them overcome their learning difficulties. Moreover, requesting their teacher to focus on their area of weakness would also help them.

Be a good listener: Children do the work at their own pace. One of the common problems that parents find is lack of patience to handle children. Parents must practice good listening skills, because children rely on parents to learn things. Moreover, parents should encourage conversation with children instead of cutting their conversation off in the middle.

Encourage creativity: Pre-kindergarten lessons are meant to increase creativity of children. But relying on the lessons alone is not enough to motivate a child. One of the best ways is to give choices to children and asking them to decide. This approach would give them a sense of freedom and would also help parents to learn about their interests. Moreover, it is essential for parents not to train their children with rhetorical questions. Spoon-feeding with certain notions would certainly affect children behavior at later stage. Instead, children should be asked open-ended questions with more choices, as that would make them think more independently and creatively.

Pre-kindergarten education introduces children to the school atmosphere without over burdening them with regular school tasks. But school education alone cannot improve a child’s learning skills. Parents must learn and play with their children to understand them better and help them overcome with their learning difficulties.

About the author: Ellen Spencer is a blogger and writer. She loves to work out and pays special attention to her fitness. These days she is busy in writing an article on Kegel exercise. Beside this she loves reading. These days she is reading a lot about Chronic fatigue syndrome as her elder sister is suffering from this.

Earnest Parenting: tips for parents of pre-kindergarten children.

Image courtesy of Pengrin TM via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here

Ergonomic Solutions for Homeschooling Laptop Users

Melissa Cameron — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:10:22 +0000

Almost everyone nowadays owns a laptop. The only problem with this is that most people are never taught the proper ergonomic techniques associated with owning one. It can be unhealthy for your wrists and joints if you are not properly positioned when using your laptop. It can lead to even more severe health issues down the road. Luckily, all of this mayhem can be avoided if you follow the guidelines presented in this article.

Ergonomic Solution #1: Docking Stations

Laptops are meant for portability. This is evident in the fact that they have crammed keyboard spacing, tiny monitors, and small tap boards to scroll and click with. Everything about a laptop is designed for efficiency and functionality. However, these luxuries don’t come without a price. An excellent ergonomic solution for handling this problem is to purchase a docking station for your laptop.

Basically, docking stations allow you to plug up your device to a regular desktop computer which already has a mouse and keyboard built into it. From there, you would need to still use proper ergonomic techniques but it would still be much easier than working on your laptop for extended periods of time. While this is a very effective alternative to simply using your laptop, it can also cost quite a bit of money; which is why we are going to give you another solution.

Ergonomic Solution #2: Separate Accessories

If you are someone who is on a budget and don’t want to go to a back pain specialist, then the next viable option would be to purchase a separate keyboard and mouse for your laptop. This way, you can simply go ahead and use your laptop like a regular computer. Note that you will still have to deal with the small screen, but at least you have several other ergonomic problems taken care of. Again, if you are looking for a solid solution which doesn’t cost that much, then this is something you should definitely consider.

Common Problems with Laptops

As we’ve previously discussed, what makes a laptop so attractive is the fact that they are small and portable. You can pretty much take them anywhere without worrying about them taking up too much space. As a result, they often promote several ergonomic problems. For one, there is the issue of keyboard spacing. Keys tend to be very scrunched up on a laptop (a lot closer than a regular keyboard). Hand cramps are the most common side effect to this. There we have monitor size- which is much smaller in relation to a desktop computer. This forces the user to strain their eyes and neck by having to lean in more often to see the screen.

The next problem is that the monitor cannot be moved or adjusted like a regular computer’s can. You are very limited when it comes to ergonomically correcting this area. The best thing you can do is adjust your monitor so that it sits at spot which doesn’t require you to do too much bending at the neck. Finally, we have the issue of small pointers.

Laptops don’t come with a mouse so instead, they offer tiny touch pads or dots which allow you to control the cursor on your monitor. For anyone who has ever used a laptop, you know how difficult and frustrating they can be when you are using them for extended periods of time. They can also cause tons of unnecessary stress on fingers, hands, and wrists.

Conclusion

In general, laptop ergonomics is about being as comfortable as you possibly can. You don’t’ want to “force” yourself or your children into certain positions for extended periods of time. This is the number one for sure way to injure your body. Simply make sure that your neck and head sit evenly compared to your laptop screen and that your wrists are sitting naturally on the keyboard. Never slant or slant them upwards or downwards as you would on a regular computer.

About the Author

Melissa Cameron discovered the Internet in 2003 and has been freelance writing ever since. She lives in Austin Texas with her family and she is currently writing a series of articles on back pain and the importance of developing an ergonomic work space with the help of a California Chiropractor specializing in lower back pain in Sacramento.

Earnest Parenting: help for laptop users who don’t want to go to the back specialist.

Photo courtesy of Guillermo Esteves via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here

Help Your Child Like Their Least Favorite Subject

Amy LeForge — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:12:01 +0000

When children develop passions about school subjects, it is a moment of both pride and comfort for the parent. Encouraging a child to flourish in their favorite subject is one of the greatest joys of parenting, and can expand a child’s talents exponentially. Unfortunately not every subject can be a favorite, or even tolerated. These subjects can be detrimental to the child’s education, self-esteem, and family relationship. Luckily, you have power as a parent to help your child love their least favorite subject.

If You Can’t Talk About It, You Can’t Fix It
Your first goal should be to work on communication with your child. Do not get upset with them for their resistance of the subject. Instead, encourage them to express themselves more thoroughly about it. When they open up to you, you will better understand what the issue with the subject is.

Do not to judge your child. Even if you found the subject easy when you were in school it doesn’t mean your child should too. In fact, curriculums for many subjects have changed drastically over the years, especially history and science classes. You may be learning right along with your child.

Understand The Subject Well Yourself
Your second step should be to better understand the subject frustrating your child, as well as the structure of the classwork. Does your child complete assignments alright, but have issues with the tests? Or is the homework each night a gauntlet of challenges? Sometimes children can understand the basic material early in the year, but then miss a key concept and feel lost later on.

There is no harm in asking to see your child’s textbook so you can understand better. This will deepen your knowledge of the subject if you need a refresher yourself, and is a wise choice for subjects that want answers specific to that book and phrased in a certain style.

Use Different Techniques To Ease The Problem
An excellent technique is to have your child outline what they feel they don’t understand. Have them list on a piece of paper what bothers them about the subject – you may find out the issue is a classmate distracting them, or something similar. Even if you can’t help, you can share the list with their teacher for advice.

Another technique is to make games out of tasks like studying for a test or quiz. You can involve the family, even, and as your child improves it will make him/her self-confident enough to outperform the family on your own unique quiz show.

Try employing a tutor to help your child in the subject. Sometimes your child simply needs input outside of family and school to help them.

An additional technique is to incorporate a subject your child loves into the one they struggle with. Make the dreaded math problem into a funny word with their English or foreign language vocabulary. Make up silly acronyms to help them memorize scientific concepts. Laughter often equals learning.

When children have least favorite subjects in their curriculum it can be a great source of stress for the entire family. If you can focus on better communication with your child, understand their frustration, and implement techniques, you can change your child’s attitude towards these subjects. If you don’t give up, your child won’t either.

Author Amanda Lee is a career counselor and content contributor for hometuitionagency.com.sg, which emphasizes Chinese tuition as an integral factor in international studies.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents of children who hate a subject or two in school.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here

Thank a Teacher With Kumon

Amy LeForge — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:47:26 +0000

Schoolteachers work very hard. To honor the best of them, Kumon is running a Thank a Teacher Contest on their Facebook page. If you’d like to help reward the hard work and dedication of a very special teacher, click on over and vote on the finalists today! 3 teachers are going to win $1500 to spend on their classroom, and you can help choose those winners.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here