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Types of New Years resolutions to encourage your children

Susan Cumberland January 9, 2015

A new year provides an excellent opportunity to have a new start and make some positive changes in your life. Your kids can also benefit from a new start by making new years resolutions. Having the skill of goal setting will help your child in the future, and will help them become better learners. Here are some types of New Years resolutions that will encourage your children.

Make positive New Years resolutions

Make sure all of your child’s resolutions have a positive spin on them. So, instead of saying they don’t want any cavities, have them say they are going to brush their teeth twice a day and not eat so much sugar. Or, instead of saying they want to stop being such a picky eater, they can say they will be open to trying new foods.

Fewer resolutions will encourage your child

Don’t let your child become overwhelmed by having too many resolutions. Make sure all their resolutions are attainable. If they do have quite a few goals they really want to make, they should prioritize them so they stay focused on the most important resolutions.

New Years resolutions for young children

Your younger children might not have so many academic goals they need to think about right now. However, you can help them create resolutions that deal more with character. This will help them succeed academically later on. For example, helping them get organized now will help them with their organizational skills as a teenager. Have them make a resolution to make sure their whole room is clean before they go to sleep. Or, they can aim to clean up one activity before they move on to another.

Break down goals for teens

Teens can have more complex goals, but it is still important to make sure they are attainable. In order to do this, split a large or hard goal into small steps. This is a good goal setting skill that will help them later in life. An example of a resolution that can be broken into steps is obtaining an A in a class they find difficult. They could break this into smaller goals like reviewing 30 minutes every day, seeking help from their teacher at least once per unit, and making flashcards for each unit at least three days before the test.

Another example is to try to saving money. Your teenager can have several smaller goals to make that happen. First, they can put at least 50% of each paycheck they get straight into their savings account or piggy bank. Then, they can make a budget for the rest of their money. With their budget, they can focus on a specific area or store they don’t want to spend so much on. For example, “I will not spend more than $20 at Tim Horton’s a month.”

For each goal your child meets, make sure you acknowledge their accomplishment. Seeing their results and what they can do will help build their confidence. So, sit down with your kids to make some new years resolutions, and have a Happy New Year!

Teach your kids organizational skills

Susan Cumberland January 2, 2015

They may not have too much homework or a job, but it is important for kids to learn how to be organized. Teaching your kids organizational skills will help them later when time management can make or break their grades, and being late to work can get them fired. Here are 5 organizational skills kids should learn.

Get rid of clutter

If your child has a desk at school with an open front or drawer underneath that allows for some storage, it can easily get cluttered. In order for them to keep their space at school neat, encourage your child to regularly get rid of things they don’t need. Papers are especially easy to pile up, but even little kinder surprise toys or dollar store erasers can easily be purged. Unless your son or daughter is starting a collection, you may want to get them to reduce their pile of various animal-shaped erasers that is doing nothing other than cluttering up their desk.

Have a place for everything

For the toys and novelty school supplies that your child doesn’t want to get rid of, at least teach them to have a place for everything. Even just making sure they hang up their jacket when they get home will teach your kids organizational skills. It will also help their elementary school teacher keep the coatroom from becoming a zoo in the mornings. So it’s a win-win!

Don’t allow playtime until things are put away

Once they have a place for their toys, encourage your kids to put them in that place once they’re done playing. Before starting with the next game, make sure they clean up from their last activity.

Learn to have a schedule

Even though they might not have a lot of homework, it is still good for your child to start keeping track of their schedule. Maybe it’s a chart in their room outlining when they have to do their chores or go to swimming lessons. Or, they could even keep a little agenda to write down when they have a field trip or that they have a spelling test on Thursday.

Learn to be on time

Finally, teach your child the importance of punctuality at a young age. Building this habit while they are young will help them later. Before long, turning an assignment in one day late could result in the loss of an entire grade.

Teaching your kids organizational skills will not only help them now, but will also greatly benefit them later in life! So start with these little things while they’re still young to get them off to a good start.

How to find educational crafts and activities on Pinterest

Susan Cumberland December 26, 2014

Especially during the holiday season, you may be looking for ideas on how you can make education fun for your child. But between decorating your house and preparing family dinners, you probably won’t have a lot of time to think of super creative educational activities. Luckily, there is a tool on the Internet that can help you out! Pinterest is a popular social media site that is very useful for discovering creative ideas in many categories – not just education. Read on to learn how to use this up-and-coming site to find fun educational crafts for your kids.

Try these two Pinterest tricks to search for educational crafts and activities!

One way you can start searching for educational activities on Pinterest is simply by clicking on the button with three horizontal lines on the right of the search bar. This will open up the categories list, where you can click on education. Right away you will see a bunch of great educational crafts!

If you are looking for a more specific subject, this is when you head to the search bar. If you know your child is struggling in math, or even just doesn’t like math, try to find a fun activity to get them excited about it. Simply type in the subject you are looking for, along with “activities” or “crafts.”

Not every item that comes up will be amazing. However, once you come across one awesome idea, you can springboard off that and do a new search with related tags. For example, say you were searching for “geometry activities” and came across this cone-shaped scone idea. From there, you can search for “math baking” to find all sorts of yummy math projects!

$Pinterest math idea with cone cookies$

Now that you know how to find educational crafts, how do you save them?

In order to keep track of all the educational activities you find on Pinterest, you will need to make an account on this social platform. Then, whenever you see an idea that you like, you click “pin it” on the top left-hand corner of the post.

This will save it to a “board.” You can create different boards for different categories of pins. So, you could have one for math ideas and another for science. This way, you can come back to it when you log in to your account at a later time.

You can also “follow” other people’s boards, so you can keep up to date with any new educational ideas or things they find on the web that might be useful to you.

Time to put your Pinterest knowledge to work!

Once you’ve figured out how Pinterest works, it’s time to start pinning! There are lots of great “tags” to check out on the social platform for creative educational crafts. Since we’re approaching the holidays now, try searching for “holiday math activities” or “holiday homework.” You may be surprised with what you find. There is everything from gingerbread worksheets or this fun Christmas counting tray. Happy holidays!

Encouraging organizational skills with teens

Susan Cumberland November 28, 2014

As your teenager gets older, they will most likely find more and more homework being piled on them. They will also be increasingly concerned about their grades as they get closer to university. Getting their organizational skills under control is essential before they reach the doors of university. Here are some good organizational habits your teenager should pick up while they’re young.

Start learning organization by being money-conscious

It is a smart idea for teens to start keeping track of their money so they will have good spending habits later on. Encourage your teen to make a budget to help them learn proper financial skills. This way, they won’t be hit with a wave of shock right out of high school about how expensive everything is and how hard it is to pay for university. They should also take this time to build up good saving habits, perhaps by getting a job and learning how to save their earnings. All of these types of activities will get them prepared and organized money-wise for facing the university.

Use a planner or agenda to organize your life

If your teenager doesn’t have an agenda from school or it is not suiting their needs, then they should get one that they like and would make use of. It may be worth it to spend an afternoon personalizing an agenda. A simple Pinterest search will give you plenty of great ideas about how to create or decorate an agenda. Hopefully, if your teenager likes their agenda, they will be encouraged to use it. Or, if they use technology a lot for school, they can use an organizer on their device. On a laptop, a calendar or sticky notes application can be useful to keep track of events and assignments.

Learn to not procrastinate (a major organizational skill!)

This is a skill that teenagers will really want to get under their belt before they go to university. It is essential to learn to manage your time before you get to university in order to have a smooth transition from high school!

One way to do this may be for your teenager to make a weekly to-do list of everything they have to get done, and then planning out when they are going to do it. This can easily get overwhelming if they have a lot to do. So, once they know what they have to get done in the week, they should try to make a plan for each day of the week. Set one specific goal for each day. That way, as long as they get that one goal for the day done, they will feel accomplished.

To get a bigger picture, use a whiteboard calendar to keep track of all your activities for the month. Here is an example by another blogger.

Create a clear space to have a clear mind

One thing that will positively contribute to your teen’s organized mindset is having their own study space. Having a space free of distractions will help them focus, and will encourage them to accomplish the homework goals they have set out for the day or week.

Everyone has their own things that work for them, but hopefully, these tips help your teen get started on the path to the organization!

How kids benefit from starting a collection

Susan Cumberland November 15, 2014

kids benefit from starting a collection

When you think of kids starting a collection, it may seem like just a silly obsession. However, there are some great skills to be learned when your child actively collects a specific item, whether it’s baseball cards, figurines, or fun magnets from different cities. Read on to find out what your child can learn by starting a collection.

Foster research skills

As your child begins adding to their collection, they will want to know about each new addition. This is the perfect opportunity for them to learn how to research. For example, if they collect rocks, they can research about each new rock they get in order to find out what type of rock it is by analyzing its properties. They will love becoming an expert in something that their parents may not know so much about.

Learn the importance of money by starting a collection

Starting a collection is also a great opportunity for kids to get a better sense of how money works. If kids are encouraged to pay for new additions to their collection themselves, the items will be even more valuable to them and they will get more practice in money management. It is also great to teach them smart spending by helping them learn to figure out what a good purchase is. Taking them to garage sales or flea markets will help them learn what a bargain is and how to look for one.

Obtain exceptional organizational skills

This is an important aspect of maintaining a collection, as kids will actually gain a lot of valuable real-life skills through this. When collecting, kids spend a lot of time arranging, organizing, and maybe even cataloging their prized possessions. These skills are important for many different professions and even just around the house, so it is very helpful for kids to learn them at a young age. That way it won’t be so hard later in life when it becomes more of a necessity than a hobby.

Starting a collection will help your child become a better storyteller

Along the collection journey, every item your child obtains will come with a memory. It is important for kids to know the history of their collection and how to tell people about it. For example, they may have a rock that they got on a family trip to Yellowstone National Park. They will learn how to tell the story of how they got it, and will get practice storytelling whenever someone asks them about it. In order to do this, they also need to know all the facts of their collection. Then, they need to learn to tell them in an orderly and concise way. It’s great for kids to learn this while they’re young, as it will build confidence and give them good presentation skills.

Starting a collection gives kids an opportunity to gain some very important skills that will help them later in life. The subject of their collection can be absolutely anything they are interested in, as long as it is not too expensive or unsafe. So if your child shows interest in expanding their collection of a few quarters they have with interesting designs, encourage them to start looking for more!

Educational YouTube resources for better learning

Susan Cumberland October 31, 2014

YouTube is a website that has become increasingly popular since it was created in 2005, and is now one of the main sources of entertainment for many people. However, this social media giant is not just for watching music videos, random video blogs (vlogs), or beauty tutorials. Many content creators on the popular site have dedicated their channels to educational videos, which can be very useful for people of all ages and interests.

Maybe your child needs some extra help understanding a biology concept, like the digestive system. Or, maybe your child is a bit bored and wants to get ahead with their understanding of school subjects. If there is a specific concept that interested them in one of their classes, but their class didn’t go into detail with it, they can learn even more about it on YouTube.

There are many excellent educational YouTube resources for enhancing your child’s understanding of a subject, or even teaching them a complete lesson. Educational resources in video format are also great if your child is a visual learner. Here are just a few examples of some great YouTube channels to check out, for kinds of different subjects!

Math YouTube videos

ViHart: This is a great channel for a visual learner who wants to learn more about math. Vi Hart takes a fun, creative approach to math, mostly through applying complex math concepts to doodles or music.

Mathademics: This is the perfect example of where you can go to get a simple, yet complete lesson on a certain math concept. They have everything from fractions and decimals, to algebra or geometry. This is just one of many math tutorial channels. If your child is having trouble with a specific math concept, search it up on YouTube and you will find many more tutorials!

Science YouTube resources

Veritasium: This popular YouTube channel is completely dedicated to science, (mostly to physics), and features everything from experiments, to interviews and video blogs (vlogs). Its creator has an educational background in explaining complicated topics to people through various methods.

The Spangler Effect: Here, Steve Spangler dedicates each video to a specific science topic and performs an entertaining demonstration. These videos are perfect if you do not have the materials for an experiment on hand, but still want your child to have the learning experience of one.

SciShow and SciShow Space: These two channels feature a person answering interesting questions science explains in a fascinating way. From why beaver butts smell like vanilla to how ‘ginger’ kids are formed, this channel entertains all ages with facts you can use at parties over and over again.

Minute Physics and Minute Earth: This is an animated drawn series that explains several scientific questions.

ASAP Science: This channel is similar in style to Minute Physics and Minute Earth, except the target here is to explain complicated matters in a broken-down, simple way. The creators choose topics that teens are likely to ask, or that affect teens. For example, they’re not afraid to explain the science of what a certain drug will do to the brain. They’ll face topics related to sex education, and do it in a way that makes it entertaining and easy to digest, while remaining as factual as possible.

DNews: Made by the Discovery Channel, this is a daily show that focuses on news-related items to do with science. They talk about new science discoveries and answer questions such as why you get angry when you’re hungry, as well as other ‘why’ questions that boggle our mind. For parents concerned about age appropriate material, watch out since this show can sometimes explore more ‘grown up’ topics.

Educational YouTube resources: technology

Kipkay: If your child loves to create and build things, and is interested in technology, then they will love Kipkay’s channel. Amongst various prank and hack videos, this educational YouTube resource has how-to videos demonstrating how to make unique and creative items from everyday things.

YouTube channels with mixed topics

CrashCourse: This is the ultimate tutorial channel, as it has crash courses on eight different subjects, and is extremely entertaining and engaging. John and Hank Green, also known as the vlogbrothers on YouTube, delve into both science and humanities courses geared mostly towards high schoolers. These concise lessons are perfect for previewing a subject before you learn it in school, or for review before a big test.

Mental Floss: This is a show that lists facts on various topics. At the end of each video they also answer interesting questions that we rarely think of and also rarely find answers to. For example, did the colour orange come first, or did the fruit precede it? Note: Mental Floss is also a magazine you can read.

CGP Grey: This is a channel full of animated videos that explain several topics in humanity. It is made by a teacher who explores complicated topics we never thought were that complicated. For example, did you know that there are many bizarre borders in the world, and the number of continents there are is actually hard to define? Also, if voting systems confuse you, or you question the cost of the British monarchy, CGP Grey delves into these topics from various angles to get you thinking in new light.

Good Mythical Morning: This family-orientated channel is made by Rhett and Link, who are popular for their other sort of quirky and funny music videos on YouTube. However, they started this channel to talk about unique news items that are not about Justin Beiber or the ‘big’ and also depressing things. They originally aimed to cover interesting items we often miss in the news. Lately they’ve been getting more topical and not so time-sensitive with their shows, but still fun to watch them to explore things like the weirdest jobs in the world.

Ted: This channel may not have tutorials on specific subjects, but there are many Ted Talks that will get you and your child thinking. There are also quite a few on the topic of education that are very eye opening.

No matter what subject your child is interested in, try searching it up on YouTube and see what comes up. Aside from these channels that are full of educational content, there are many people that have posted one-time videos that can be very helpful. For example, there are plenty of music videos on YouTube, made by teachers and students alike, that take a fun, creative approach on a variety of subjects. If your child is feeling inspired, they can even try making their own educational video.

Have fun exploring the educational side of this entertainment hub!