The “Project” Season

The end of the school year has come to be associated with “projects” at our household. I am not talking about painting and home improvement projects—but rather school projects. For my teenagers (and for several years now), the last month or two of school has been dedicated to these large, involved, and sometimes expensive, end of the year projects for various classes in school. I don’t remember having to do so many projects—major papers, multi-faceted group projects, and big presentations when I was in school. One of my daughters told me yesterday that one of her 11th grade teachers suggested … Continue reading →

You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You

Tyler and I enjoy reading together. Reading has always been a part of his life. I firmly believe that the reason he reads so well is because I’ve always had reading material sprinkled around the house. He assumed that everyone had reading blocks at their house and was surprised to find out this is not the case. Initially for our reading block, I read to him. When he started reading independently, he would read a few books to himself while I read a few pages from one of my books and then I would read a book to him. The … Continue reading →

Preparing Kids to Say Goodbye

One of the things that comes up at the end of the school year is the reality that kids have to say goodbye to beloved teachers and classmates. For some, this can be a painful, difficult, reality of school letting out for the summer. As parents, we may have to step in and help our children learn how to say goodbye and face their emotions over the ending of another school year, as well as the parting from friends, teachers, and the comfortable daily routine of school… As with most emotional situations, allowing children the opportunity to talk things through … Continue reading →

Staying Focused For the End of the School Year

Things have a tendency to fall apart in our household around the first week of May. The weather has warmed up enough that even if we do have some more rain and clouds, enough of the “nice” weather has shown its face to make the inevitability of summer obvious. The end of the school year is well within sight, and social and extracurricular activities shift to spring/summer things, which makes it very challenging for the teenagers to keep their minds in school. It gets harder and harder to get the kids out of bed and out the door on week … Continue reading →

Helping Children Discover Gifts and Talents

One of the amazing joys of parenting is watching as our child’s individual personality unfolds—including interests, specialties, gifts and talents. Some of those gifts and talents can be hidden—just waiting for a little prompting and nurturing to come out and see the light of day. As parents, we can help our children discover their special gifts and talents—as well as help nurture them along as they grow and develop. Providing children with a variety of experiences and exposure to diverse ideas and activities is one of the best ways to help children discover their special gifts. This can be hard … Continue reading →

Eight Homework Helping Tips

In a previous blog, I wrote about how some parents help too much with their kids’ homework-some going so far as to complete science fair projects themselves. In the June 2006 issue of ParentLife, eight tips are offered to help parents become better homework helpers. Help your child with his homework but don’t do it for him. Your role is to offer assistance, if needed, not to supply them with the answers. If your child is struggling, show him how to put on his “thinking cap” and find the solutions on his own. Officially designate a study area, one that … Continue reading →

School Isn’t the Only Place to Get Educated

We parents expect a great deal from our schools and the “educational process”—and, we have every right and reason to. BUT, with the increased budget cuts and changes in our schools, more and more is being left out of curriculum and classrooms. Additionally, we may forget that there are plenty of other places and ways for our children to obtain information, knowledge, and education OUTSIDE of school… Of course there are extracurricular activities like dance, sports and arts classes—but there are plenty of other opportunities to obtain “education” that we might not think of. Volunteering for community or church projects … Continue reading →

How About a Family Book Club?

There seems to be an abundance of family activity suggestions for families with young children—but what about “tweeners” and teens? Here’s a suggestion for starting a family book club that just might get everyone reading and relating (with some debating thrown in for good measure!)— If your middle or high schoolers are already reading a book in school, it might be fun for mom and/or dad to read the same book and then you can have some conversations and debates about the book at home. Middle and high school reading lists are increasingly sophisticated and this might give you the … Continue reading →

“Helping” Your Kids With Their Schoolwork

As parents, we want our kids to be successful in school. However, some parents take helping too far. In an article in the February 25, 2007 issue of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, it was pointed out that some parents “help” too much. Teachers are seeing book reports written with language far beyond a child’s normal vocabulary. A tell-tell sign that the child didn’t write the report or received extra “help”. Another example that teachers are seeing a lot is in the case of science fair projects. Some of the projects are too complex for the child to explain, again, a sign … Continue reading →

Should You Make Kids Save for College?

When my kids were younger, we had a rule that a percentage of their money needed to go into savings–this went for earned money, birthday and gift money and other money that came their way. Over the years, with two households and two separate sets of rules, that “savings plan” has come under attack and while saving is still stressed at Mom’s house–it isn’t necessarily the rule of the family any longer. I always admired families who had a “college fund” that the kids contributed to, and I’m definitely on board with teaching kids how to tithe and save. As … Continue reading →