Mother’s Day On A Student Budget

Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 11th and, as a student, you probably don’t have much free cash to show your mother a little appreciation on her special day.  The good news is that Mother’s Day isn’t really about spending money so much as it is about showing your mother that you really appreciate all the things she does for you.  When it comes to Mother’s Day, it’s the sincerity and the thought that counts.  It is also about family and connectedness so don’t forget to engage your Mom’s significant other and any siblings you may have.  Here are some really great ways to show your mother a little love on her special day.

Keeping It Clean
While doing chores that you are already responsible for doesn’t count, you can do work your Mother would normally do to make her life easier. Do the laundry, wash her car, clean the house or do all the cooking for a week. Giving her a break will not only make her day, it will also give you an idea of just how much work she puts in to her family and her home.

Spring Picnic
With exams and end of term stress, most of you have not yet been able to enjoy the warmer Spring weather.  Plan a picnic with your family so that you can all spend some time together.  Take your Mother to the park or to another great natural setting.  Make a lunch or dinner for the family to share including all her favorite foods.  Pack some outdoor activities such as soccer or baseball for added family fun.

Family Entertainment
If you mother likes going to the movies or the theater, take her out to see a show on Mother’s Day or stay at home and watch her favorite movie with her (even if it’s not your favorite movie!).  You can make some popcorn and prepare all her favorite snacks too.

Dinner El Fresco
If you are planning to cook your mother a special meal for Mother’s Day, then take it outside! Dinner on the roof, in the garden or in the park is a great way to make a family meal even more fun.  Play charades after dinner or bring a board game that you all enjoy.

Putting in the time and effort to do something special for your mother is what will make Mother’s Day special for her.  Making a cake, creating a card, writing a poem or cooking a special meal is a fool-proof way of showing appreciation on her special day.  Your mom does so much for you and she really deserves a little bit of creativity and imagination this Mother’s Day.  For me this will be the first Mother’s Day since my Mom passed away so it will be challenging but I’ll remember all the great times we had together.

P.S.  Mom’s…it is OK to give us hints on what you’d like to do on your day.  When we’re small we also appreciate you helping us make it a special day!

Note: Adapted from a post originally published 4/25/2014 on the Tutor Doctor Corp. blog

7 Steps To Stress-Free School Mornings

A great visual reminder of what the morning routine is for younger children! (Image Credit:http://themerrymummy.blogspot.com/2010/09/routines.html)

Do many of your mornings feel chaotic as you wrangle your kids through the morning routine while scrambling around for gym clothes and searching for missing text books? Do you often have to make school runs to drop off forgotten homework or items for after-school activities? If your mornings are stressful, you all get a bad start to the day. While you will always get the odd morning when things don’t go smoothly, setting up routines and processes will help you and your family to get a calm, peaceful start to the school day.

Start The Night Before
One of the biggest barriers to a successful morning routine is tired children. Ensure that your students get enough sleep on school nights so that they wake up rested and refreshed.

Pick an outfit for younger students and get your teens to set out the clothes they will wear the next day to prevent last-minute fashion emergencies. As students get older, they will need more time to get ready in the morning so ensure that they get up earlier.

Breakfast really is the most important meal. Studies show that students who eat breakfast are more attentive, get better grades and have fewer behavioural problems. Provide a balanced breakfast and have some quick fixes on hand, like cereal, for mornings when things aren’t going to plan.

Start a routine where students put their homework in their bags when they are done with it and where they pack their backpacks the night before. Check diaries for upcoming events and sporting activities to ensure that they have everything they need for the next day.

Lunch Duty
One thing to realise is that you can’t do everything yourself. Consider sharing lunch duty so that each family member gets a turn to make lunches. Lunches should be made the evening before or at least prepped so that you only need a couple of minutes in the morning to put things together.

Planning lunches that comply with school meal requirements and buying everything you need on the weekend will help to make your mornings smoother.

Prioritize
Of course it would be wonderful if your child was able to clean their room and make their beds before leaving for school. Perhaps you even dream of a clean kitchen or laundry in the basket. But trying to cram too much into one morning will leave everyone in a bad mood. Prioritize the things they need to do to prepare for the day and leave the rest until they get home.

If a morning routine is a new concept in your home, try introducing one thing at time. This will enable your students to grow accustomed to one new process so that it becomes a habit before introducing a new idea. It only takes a couple of weeks to turn a new routine into a habit, so persevere; you will be so glad you did when your mornings are peaceful.

 

Note: Adapted from a post originally published 4/28/2014 on the Tutor Doctor Corp. blog

Monday “Think About It”

I just attended a funeral for a 19-year-old who died in an automobile accident.  Thinking about what the family is going through at this time made me wonder ‘is there anyway to prepare for such a tragedy?’  How do you make sense of it?  How do you move on?  What can people who attend the wake, funeral or memorial do or say to help ease the pain of such a loss?

Sunday Morning Shout Out

Stress researchers now believe that the greatest risk for many children is the wear and tear of the way we live, which makes all of us more vulnerable to dangers from depression to obesity to substance abuse.  Dr. Laura Markham, Clinical Psychologist

It was a typical day by most counts.  It was full of the usual demands of an active household, with three young, vivacious, seemingly never still children and two loving, ambitious, tired, worn out parents.  Home, community, and work commitments had left their habitual mark.  Sometimes the mark felt like a gentle wrinkle on the face, detritus from the day.  The exhaustion, the wear and tear, like a pesky old friend.  While the day had been sunny, the night quickly went south.  Tonight, the mark felt like a gash across the face.  The normal exhaustion was accompanied by anger and sadness.  She wanted a better way.

Image Source: http://www.edupic.net/math_gr.htm#clocks

Sure it was the worn out factor.  Seven o-clock isn’t called the bewitching hour by chance.  It was also stress.  Most adults can think to themselves  about the source of their stress and what they can do about it.  What about children and when adult stress ambushes the family?  Like a pebble tossed into the water, undulating out ring upon ring of water, adult stress can create or add to the stress children already have in their lives.  Children have a lot of it already!  As stated in the first quote, the hyper pace of our days is taking its toll on our most vulnerable population.  The American Psychological Association (APA) found in its annual poll on stress, that teenagers are as stressed out as adults.  Frantic, multitasked everything, for everyone, is just a poor way for us to operate.  It is hard on the emotions and self-control, harms the immune system, and wreaks havoc on the family trying to stay connected and cohesive.

In the article “Ten Ways to Help Your Children With Stress,” Dr. Markham offers ten suggestions for families to employ.  From encouraging us adults to slow down and get centered in our lives and resisting the urge to over schedule our children, to teaching our children stress reduction strategies, like exercise and guided breathing, and choosing age appropriate activities that connect rather than over stimulate everyone’s senses, this article is chockfull of many great ideas.  It helps the parent who regrets the bad moments and bad nights, and wants more consistently pleasant, less stressful beginnings and endings to the day.  Someday, 7’oclock will seem like a kinder hour.  Until then, I hope to rein in some of our lives.  What do you do to handle stress in your home?

Top Six Things Teachers Need From Parents

Image Source: http://revivinghope.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/a-list-of-things-they-dont-teach-you-at-school/

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to educate them too. It is not just the ‘job’ of your child’s school to provide learning skills and opportunities to practice and utilize them.  Studies show that parents who get involved in the education of their students see much better results in confidence and grades.  Of course teachers understand that parents have hectic schedules and very little time to share with their kids, but setting aside just an hour or so a day to dedicate to academics can make all the difference in your child’s life.

Read To Your Children
Reading helps you to open communication as most children will have questions about the text.  Reading to your children encourages them to read and this is one of the best gifts you can give since effective reading will make studying and getting through all those text books so much easier.  Your children are never too young or too old to learn to love reading.

Introduce Yourself
Get to know your children’s teachers and make sure that you touch base regularly. Don’t be the parent who only contacts the teacher when they have a problem; instead keep the channels of communication open and offer help as often as your schedule allows. Teachers have a tough job and it’s nice for them to feel like you are on their side.

Conflict Resolution
Encourage your children to socialize with their classmates outside of the classroom and guide them in problem solving with students that they don’t get along with. If students are able to resolve conflicts on their own, teachers don’t always have to be the referee.

Take Part
A great way to help the teacher out is to get involved in school activities when your schedule allows. Helping to organize events, raise funds or with maintenance around the school will help you to form a relationship with the very important educators who are responsible for your child’s schooling.

Teachers can accomplish so much more when they have the support of parents and a team they can count on. There are many benefits for you too; you get to meet other parents and many of the teachers and children with whom your child spends their day.

When you participate in school activities, your children will be encouraged to do so too and they will feel like you care about their education and success. Getting involved helps to illustrate just how important education is and that it is something worthy of investment.

Make Learning Fun
Reading books at home, teaching your children how to measure ingredients and bake, playing educational games together, taking courses outside of school and discovery the art, history and science museums together shows your family that learning is an essential, lifelong pursuit that can be fun too.

Pitching In
Teach your kids the skills they will need to navigate classroom life like cleaning up after themselves, taking responsibility, following instructions and being able to work in a team. Each child and teacher are different and the best way to navigate each school year is to be open to communication with your teachers and your students so that you can resolve issues before they grow.

– See more at: http://tutordoctor.com/blog/blog/top-six-things-teachers-need-from-parents/#sthash.TPXsa161.dpuf

Note: Adapted from a post originally published 3/31/2014 on the Tutor Doctor Corp. blog

Teen Inventors Saving Lives

Image Source: https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/bioengineering/top-5-medical-technology-innovations

Sometimes the best solution to problems come to inquisitive minds that can redefine the issue and recognize new paths to solutions.  Often these solutions are adaptations of something already known to a new area or they are creative innovations that provide breakthrough resolution to a new or existing problem.  Often the mind that brings the insight to the world would be considered less than an expert in the field and tend to to be under the age of 30.  In some instances the invention is created by an individual under the age of 20 and often the focus on social or health issues.  This is really exciting because these teens are thinking outside the box to create solutions to medical problems that change the world and help to save lives. Below are examples of inventive young entrepreneurs who have solved complex medical issues with devices they have created themselves.

Catherine Wong

Need a medical checkup but can’t get to the doctor? Whether you live in a remote area or just want to keep tabs on your heart, Catherine’s invention attaches to your cell phone and allows you to measure your heartbeat. Catherine’s device allows you to take a test called an electrocardiogram which can alert users to irregular heartbeats which would give them time to seek medical help.

Tony Hansberry

Tony is a student at the Carnell Cookman School of Medical Arts which is the first American school to have an integrated medical curriculum. Tony developed a new suture method which radically reduces the time it takes to perform a hysterectomy. This makes the procedure safer for patients and it reduces the recovery time and cost of the operation.

See the video here.

Jack Andraka

Jack may be just a freshman, but his future is already looking bright. He recently won the $75,000 grand prize at this past spring’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair becoming the youngest participant to do so. Every year, 40,000 people die of pancreatic cancer as it is one of the most lethal cancers, with a five-year survival rate of 6 percent. That may be about to change with Jack’s new invention which comprises a small dipstick probe that utilizes 1/6th of a drop of blood to accurately see if the patient has cancer. The test is easy to administer and only takes five minutes to complete.

Suman Mulumudi

15-year-old Suman attends Lakeside School and has built two medical devices that would reduce healthcare costs and improve accuracy. Suman has built the Steth IO which is a device you can add onto a smartphone which turns it into a stethoscope which is far more accurate than traditional stethoscopes.

His second invention aids in the administration of angioplasties; a procedure that clears blocked arteries. Here lesion in arterial tissue have to be repaired using a stent. The hardest part of the procedure is placing the stents in the correct places. Suman’s device helps to measure the length of the lesions so that accurately sized stents can be used thus reducing the need for repeat hospital visits.

Suman’s invention uses a microprocessor from an optical computer mouse and combines it with 3D modelling and printing to create the LesionSizer which measures the length of the arterial lesions for more accurate results.

Note: Adapted from a post originally published 4/21/2014 on the Tutor Doctor Corp. blog

Monday “Think About It”

I just came across an interesting document titled “Sensible Solutions For Safe Schools” that suggests the number one way to stem violence in schools is to ‘put character in the curriculum.’  A wonderful suggestion I think.  The problem statement put forward on page 10 of that report made me wonder why more education policy makers in State Capitals and Washington DC don’t recognize the problem they are causing with their Common Core and Race to the Top policies?

In the United States, educators are considered “highly qualified” based solely on their content knowledge.  As society evolves, there is a need for training the “whole child,” which encompasses academics, social skills, character building, physical and emotional health, and in some instances, survival.  If we continue to teach the way we always have, many students will be “left behind,” not because they lack the academic skills, but because they do not possess the ability to care for and protect themselves and others.  Ultimately, the students of today will be our leaders for tomorrow, and it becomes the responsibility of the classroom educator to reach not just the mind, but theheart of each student with whom s/he comes in contact.

Our current education system seems to value only what it can measure.  Year after year, educators are required to give more assessments in more subjects more frequently.  Yet, all of the attention being paid to this one small part of education suggests that knowledge is the primary goal of education.  This assumption comes at the cost of the rest of the child, and ignores the fact that knowledge is a means to an end, and not an end in of itself.  Gandhi once wrote “without the right education, the community will not only remain backward, but become increasingly so… [Knowledge of academic content is] essential in the world of today.  Without [it] one is crippled.  [But] it is also necessary to learn how to put the knowledge thus acquired to proper use.”  Just as we do not expect students to learn math, science, language, and other skills on their own, we cannot expect them to also learn character and peace creation on their own.  If we value character development and peace creation as much as we value math and language arts, we need to teach them.

Sunday Morning Shout Out

Image Source: http://www.edutopia.org/meetup-ascd-annual-conference-registration

Tonight was our daughters’ art show at school.  How fortunate they go to a public school where arts are taken seriously!  How great to see pint size pupils portrayals of Picasso!  How fantastic to see both the principal, vice-principal, and a great crowd of parents and community members turn out to support the arts at this smallish, rural elementary school!  The Art Club is one of the man y clubs offered at the elementary school as an after school activity.  Just a nicety, think again.

The arts have many purposes in our life, with sheer enjoyment topping the list. At the Edutopia website, the article “Why Arts Education is Crucial and Who is Doing It Best,” by Fran Smith, looks at why it needs to be viewed as an essential element in our schools.  It discusses how through the years, research has consistently shown that arts is linked to gains in: math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill.  It has also been found to improve motivation, concentration, confidence, team work, and to level the iniquity that can exist with arts, when one looks at the exposure someone may have to the arts in a more affluent home compared to a low-income one.  Art is widely realized and valued across our country, with 47 states having arts education mandates. There have been many fantastic collaborations between strong arts communities and schools, with examples of schools in the Minneapolis and Chicago School Districts cited.

Yet it has become something of an endangered species.  As an original article from 2009, it discusses how the USA Federal ‘No Child Left Behind’ Mandate led many schools to decrease overall time spent participating in the arts, to place an increasingly narrow focus on reading and math:

 A 2006 national survey by the Center on Education Policy, an independent advocacy   organization in Washington, DC, found that in the five years after enactment of NCLB, 44 percent of districts had increased instruction time in elementary school English language arts and math while decreasing time spent on other subjects. A follow-up analysis, released in February 2008, showed that 16 percent of districts had reduced elementary school class time for music and art — and had done so by an average of 35 percent, or fifty-seven minutes a week.

I am curious as to what your child’s school is doing with the arts in wake of the new Common Core Standards. Another Edutopia blog article “Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core,” by Susan Riley, discusses one arts integration specialist’s ideas for enhancing Common Core practices through the arts. It makes sense on paper, but does it make sense at your child’s school?  Are there the resources to make these ideas happen? Is there the know how and savvyness to make this happen at your child’s school?  I would really like to know how you see this playing out. My fear is that just like with No Child Left Behind, art and great art shows will be a casualty and a consequence of overemphasis on testing focused on math and ELA skills, at the expense of great learning and enjoyment in a wider array of subject areas. I hope I am proved wrong….

Happy Easter!

Can We Praise Our Children Too Much?

Image Source: http://bipolarboo.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/f-a-i-l/

The power of positive parenting is amazing and parents who grew up with little praise understand that children respond better to positive encouragement than they do to reprisals or the promise of punishment. But sometimes, praising your kids becomes such a habit that we tend to overdo it.

“Somehow, parents have come to believe that by praising their kids they improve their self-esteem,” Paul Donahue, PhD, founder and director of Child Development Associates, says. “Though well-intentioned, putting kids on a pedestal at an early age can actually hinder their growth.”

It’s ok to lose
Sometimes you need to praise the process rather than the outcome. If your child’s baseball team lost, but they went to every practice and tried their little hearts out, then you should praise their resilience, their tenacity and their effort. But take care not to pretend that they didn’t lose. Losing is part of life and they have to learn to deal with the disappointments.

Teach self-motivation
When you over-praise, your kids lose the value of a positive word from mom or dad and the good feeling that comes with achieving something noteworthy. This will mean that you will have to find other ways to motivate your child. Some parents here turn to cash or material incentives but, warns Jenn Berman, PhD, a marriage and family therapist and author of The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy and Confident Kids this will lead to kids who can’t self-motivate: “I believe that we want children who are self-motivated. If you tell your daughter, ‘If you get an A on the test I’ll give you $5,’ then you are creating a situation in which your child is motivated by money, not by the positive feelings of success.”

Steps to proper praise
Each child and situation is unique and as their parents, you know best how and when to praise, but the experts do agree on a few pointers:

Be genuine: Focus on praising when you are sincerely impressed. If words like ‘good job’ and ‘that was great’ pepper your every sentence, it may be time to cut back.

Be specific: Pick out the exact things that you thought they tried really hard at and praise those for example, instead of saying “You are great at science” try “I was really impressed by the work you put into your science project. I know the other kids didn’t do their share so you had to work a little harder and you did a great job of managing your team.”

Say it like you mean it: To praise your children’s every action, even when you aren’t impressed, is to reduce the value of their efforts, so choose wisely.

Praise younger children more: In a study of 24-month old children (Kelley, et. al., 2000), researchers recorded how mothers responded to their toddlers while they attempted a challenging task. A year later the same families were invited back and kids were tested again. Researchers found that the 36-month old kids who were most likely to take on new challenges were the ones whose mothers had praised them more.

Note: Adapted from a post originally published 4/10/2014 on the Tutor Doctor Corp. blog

Monday “Think About It”

Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness. Image Source: http://adolescentconnectedness.com/

In the last three months I have lost my Mom and Step-Dad.  The loss brings about a whirlwind of emotions and memories.  Both were in their late 70’s, led decent lives and did what they could for their children and yet they maintained a certain distance from us as they did their ‘own thing’.  Today I don’t see such a separation as my world revolves around my daughter  and I see this with many other families that I have contact with. A study published in 2003 by the Pew Research Center found that “The amount of time parents spend with their children continues to go up. Fathers have nearly tripled their time with children since 1965. Mothers’ time with children has also increased, and today’s mothers spend more time with their children than mothers did in the 1960s.”

I might summarize it as a ‘I define myself’ versus what seems to be happening today where I feel as if  ‘I’m defined by my children’.  My current pondering is what is the correct balance here or is it not about balance but instead what amount of connectedness is ideal?