Is Your Child Ready For an Allowance?
March 31, 2009
Children think money grows on trees. Maybe not literally, but they sure think there is a never-ending supply of it. They see you at the grocery store pushing a cart overflowing with the week’s groceries; you hand the cashier a piece of plastic and suddenly it’s all yours. People come to the door asking for money to support a charity and it magically appears from the bottom of your purse as if you were pulling a rabbit from a hat. Instead of “mama” or “dada”, “checkbook” might have been your child’s first word. It makes no sense to them then, that every time they ask for something they’d like from the store the answer is usually no. How do you teach the value of money to a child?
Is an allowance the answer?
What You Should Know About Scholarships
March 30, 2009
When it’s time to go to college, the word “scholarship” is confusing for both students and parents. We automatically think about student loans, FAFSA, tuition and fees, EFC, grants, and work study. But what we don’t realize is that knowing more about the scholarship process could save us thousands of dollars when trying to cover the cost of our kids’ education.
Scholarships are “free money” given away by the government, private institutions and organizations, charitable foundations, schools, universities, clubs, etc. Unlike loans, scholarships are not repaid to the scholarship provider.
Some of the scholarships available are:
- Athletic Scholarships
- National Merit Scholarships
- Academic Merit Scholarships
- Professional, Career, and Trade Association-Sponsored Scholarships
- FAFSA
- Work Study
- Ethnic and Religious Scholarships
- Community Organization Sponsored Scholarships
- Special Scholarships
- Alumni Legacy Scholarships
- Transfer Student Scholarships
With so many scholarships, how do you know which one to apply to or where can you go for an application?
Some scholarships are based on your kid’s grades or financial needs, while others are awarded based on ethnic groups, athletic or artistic abilities, or given to students interested in a particular field.
In some instances, your kids don’t have to have perfect grades to apply for a scholarship, and some don’t even ask for any proof of income.
Is Medical Transcription Certification Necessary?
March 30, 2009
Is Medical Transcription Certification Necessary?
by: Mila Sidman
Becoming a certified medical transcriptionist is really a personal choice. At present, there is no requirement for MTs to become certified at this time.
To become certified you will need to pass an exam given by the AAMT (American Association of Medical Transcriptionists). This is a two part exam, written and practical and takes about 5 to 6 hours to complete. It is a very in depth exam and most MTs take a prep course before taking the exam.
The exam consists of two parts. The first part is a written exam which consists of 120 multiple choice questions about anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, English and grammar, etc.
The second part of the exam is a practical test where you transcribe several different reports.
Once certified it means you can use the letters “CMT” (certified medical transcriptionist) behind your name. You must recertify every 3 years.
Certification is highly regarded in some circles of the MT field and some MTs believe it opens doors for better opportunities.
Dyslexia: Is the Shoe Perhaps on the Wrong Foot?
March 29, 2009
Reading is the most important skill that a child must acquire at school, because one must learn to read to be able to read to learn. The implication of this is that the child who is a poor reader will usually also be a poor learner.
Unfortunately poor reading skills, and therefore poor learning skills, have become a reality for an alarming number of people. The $14 million National Adult Literacy Survey of 1993 found that even though most adults in this survey had finished high school, 96% of them could not read, write, and figure well enough to go to college. Even more to the point, 25% were plainly unable to read.
Even more alarming is that reading difficulties are not limited to people who are environmentally, culturally or economically disadvantaged. Many children come from good homes, go to good schools and score average to above average on IQ tests. Yet, they battle to learn to read, and many never succeed.
Children with reading difficulties share a number of common symptoms. They are inclined to reverse letters or words, to omit letters, to lose their place, to remember little of what they have read, or to read with poor comprehension. These children are considered to suffer from a learning disability (LD), commonly called dyslexia.
Nurtured by Love or Matured by Nature?
March 28, 2009
"There is nothing new under the sun," states Ecclesiastes 1:9. This is certainly true of the nature-nurture debate, the modern name for the ageless argument about the importance of learning in the development of the child. While one side argues that the development of the child is mainly a process of maturation, with learning playing no more than a supportive role, the other side maintains that learning determines the entire course of a child’s future.
The wise king Solomon certainly supported the nurture assumption when he stated in Proverbs 22:6, "Train the child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." The famous French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, posited a natural development of the child. In fact, he wanted the child to be protected from the influences of society so that he can grow up as Nature intended him to be.
A thorough study of feral children, and children who were raised or kept in extreme isolation, makes it difficult NOT to support the nurture assumption.
FERAL CHILDREN AND WHAT WE LEARN FROM THEM
The 7 Biggest Baby Sleep Mistakes That Parents Make
March 27, 2009
When parents face difficulties with infant and child sleep issues, they can often feel helpless and alone. Although it seems like everyone has advice to give, it seems like nobody offers a definitive plan as to how to get your child to sleep through the night
The topic of infant sleep is foremost in every new parent’s mind, and the information available on the subject is highly varied. Some books recommend getting up with your baby a dozen times a night, while others suggest letting them cry until they throw up! With contradictory advice like this, its no wonder parents are confused.
Although most parents can appreciate that their infant needs to sleep in order to grow and develop, many are unaware of the important sleep associations children acquire along the way. If a child is not given the opportunity to develop strategies to fall and stay asleep on their own, they may become dependent on outside stimuli to assist them. Consider these tips below for helping your child get the sleep they need?
1. The single most important skill you can teach children is how to fall asleep on their own without any external help. It is a life skill that is just as important as learning healthy eating habits or the benefits of daily exercise.
Tools to Find Family-Friendly Content
March 26, 2009
The Internet, is magnificent in its resources for families. Educational resources abound. Kids can easily find help for their homework blues without venturing to the library. Kids can chat with friends from far away for free; friends who, probably just a few years ago, they would never hear from again. And, of course, there’s plenty of entertainment to satisfy the whole family once the chores and homework are complete.
However, the Internet can often be an inappropriate place for kids to surf unsupervised. Plenty of content is only appropriate for mature audiences. And, sadly, there are ‘bad seeds’, those who the children never should talk to.
Help keep your children away from these unsuitable materials. Many search engines and directories have filters and options that only return pages that have passed a particular profanity or "kid-safe" filter. These types of filters vary from web site to web site, but may do one of the following:
* Only allow you to search a selection of links picked by the site’s editors to be "kid-safe" or free of profanity.
* Not show links containing profane words, these being words designated by a site to be profane. This list may not contain all possible profane words or combinations.
Face Painting Is Gaining Popularity For Parties And Events
March 25, 2009
Face Painting Is Gaining Popularity For Parties And Events
by: Cynthia Kaloust
Face painting is the new rave in party entertainment. Over the past decade, face painting has gained popularity and become a more sophisticated art form. Event planners are receiving an increase in requests than previous years and having to find face painters to accommodate the demand. New technologies for developing skin safe paints with vibrant colors and glitters are propelling the industry by allowing face painters to create an immense array of amazing designs. As an emerging art form and entertainment form, new face painters are popping up everywhere.
Traditionally face painting was created for cultural meaningful events such as tribal wars, gatherings etc. In modern society, face painting has emerged in sporting events, theatre, and creative expression. Face painting is a fun and creative way for artists and their clients to express themselves. Children and adults enjoy the process. Expressing your inner personality through the artist can be exciting and fulfilling. Face painting allows you to escape, to transform, to venture into another aspect of yourself. Although this is unconscious, it explains the lure of face painting. Transforming yourself into a cat, lion, alien, rabbit, monster, and butterfly allows the painted to enhance themselves, to express themselves in a way they are not able to do by themselves.
The Real Dangers to Kids Online and How to Avoid Them: Top 5 Internet Safety Tips
March 25, 2009
The Real Dangers to Kids Online and How to Avoid Them
Did you know
- 1 out of 5 kids has been sexually solicited online
- 1 out of 4 kids has been sent a picture of naked people or people having sex online
- that May 21, 2002 there was the first death of a child linked directly to an Internet Predator?
Parents’ biggest concern about the Internet used to be pornography, but there is definitely a greater fear today.
You have probably taught your child not to talk to strangers, and in many situations, they would remember this. But the Internet is different.
Due to the Internet’s anonymity, strangers are talking to children all the time. They try to gain the child’s trust by having friendly conversation at first, but over time, their true objective of sexually soliciting the child becomes evident. Children and parents alike are unaware of this, yet this is exactly what is going on via the Internet.
What can today’s parent do? Armed with information, there’s quite a bit a parent can do.
Software4Parents.com’s Top 5 Internet Safety Tips
Calming Tips for Hyperactive Children
March 24, 2009
Parents of hyperactive children know the “Would you please just settle down?!” phrase well, and likely use it on a regular basis.
There are a number of tips to help parents settle their hyperactive child down. These quick tips and relaxation techniques take the same amount of time as yelling and scolding but produce incredibly different results in hyperactive children.
Quick Calming Tips:
Try quick tips to calm a hyperactive child down during temper outbursts or unusually rowdy days. These calming tips are not novel to adults by any stretch. How many times have you heard “Take a deep breath and count to 10″ or “Calgon, take me away.” What works for big people works for little people as well._ Deep breathing is one of the simplest ways to calm the body. Teach your children to take deep breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth) when they begin to feel frustrated and out of control. Parents, you do this too!
_ Draw a warm salt bath or bubble bath to wash away the hyperactive child’s stresses of the day.
