by Five Mom, Christy Crandell
As a mom, I know that talking with teens can be tough. I also know, however, that kids who learn a lot about the risks of ... Read more
Helpful Hints For Parents About Teens, Dating, and Sex
By Kim Fredrickson
There are many new and wonderful experiences that teens often can't wait to delve into. For parents, this season of parenting brin... Read more
Solutions for Today's Top Five Internet Dangers for Teens
By Michelle Hainer
It's hard to imagine what life was like before the Internet, when your social network included people you'd actually met in person... Read more
Each year, millions of students gear up for a battery of pre-college testing. In order to help students do their best, Americans spend about $4 billion dollars on classes, tutors, study guides and books.
While helpful, many test prep resources can be dull, making it more difficult for students to stay focused. To help make effective test prep more engaging, Wiley Publishing, Inc. has created a unique and exciting way for students to build their vocabulary and raise scores using Stephenie Meyer's popular "Twilight" series.
The "Twilight" books have a very loyal following, particularly among teens. Many parents looking to harness that passion into constructive study time find that the "Defining Twilight" guides are a perfect fit.
The series first began in June 2009 with "Defining Twilight" and then expanded to include "Defining New Moon." The third and latest book in the series, "Defining Eclipse: Vocabulary Workbook for Unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT," will arrive in stores on May 24, just in time for the release of the movie "Eclipse."
Author and test prep expert, Brian Leaf says, "Every time I see a newly administered SAT test, I am amazed at how many of the vocabulary words appear in the 'Twilight' books - words like solicitous, macabre, inexorably, inure, baleful, ecstatic, blithe, placate, haggard, belligerent, stymie and nebulous. Students who learn all the vocabulary words in the "Defining Twilight" series will absolutely raise their test scores."
"Defining Eclipse" has 40 four-page chapters with well over 600 vocabulary words and synonyms. Just grab a copy of "Eclipse," refer to the page where each vocabulary word appears, read the word in context, and come up with a definition. Then check definitions against those provided in the workbook, make corrections, and complete the drills. Students will acquire vocabulary skills, learn synonyms, word parts, and memorization tools, and get drills and quizzes to integrate what they've learned.
To find out more about "Defining Eclipse" and other books in the series, visit cliffnotes.com.
It's a question every parent will face eventually--should I let my child take on a summer job? Whether it's dog walking, house-sitting, or a formal job at the local grocery, there are many issues to consider before giving the go-ahead.
When kids start talking about summer jobs, too often their focus is on the money they can earn and how they can spend it. They spend much less time considering the logistics of the job itself and the responsibility that comes along with taking on this kind of activity. As a parent, you can help them through the planning stages and give them an idea of what they can realistically take on.
For the pre-teen or early teen set, intermittent jobs present a good opportunity to ease into the idea of having a regular job. Doing yard work for the neighbors, weeding gardens, walking dogs, or tending pets while neighbors are on vacation are all jobs a pre-teen or teen should be able to take on with minimal help from parents. Older kids could also tackle mowing, babysitting, or house sitting.
Money-making "events" can be fun, too, like garage sales, bake sales, a car wash, or the classic lemonade stand. These have the added advantage of offering opportunities for the younger set to help out. Have the older kids do the planning and setup, and give them a chance to supervise the younger ones--fairly, of course. Indentured servitude of younger siblings at the lemonade stand should be frowned upon.
Aside from all these traditional options, your teen might be interested in taking advantage of today's advancing technology. Some teens have found a chance to make useful spending money by coding websites for their friends. Others have marketed products online through eBay or their own dedicated websites. Some of these motivated and creative teens have gone far beyond just making pocket money and have literally become millionaires. While there's no guarantee your child will become the next Internet sensation, making him aware of the possibilities of having his or her own business could prove an important part of his education. This kind of endeavor could go beyond just a summer job, as well, and become a year-round activity.
For older teens, the lure of a "real" job starts to beckon, especially once they've achieved the Holy Grail of a driver's license. Local businesses might be in need of summer help, or check with employment agencies in your area for information about businesses or organizations that might be looking specifically for younger employees. For example, local summer camps might be in need of counselors or other staff.
Whatever your teen decides to do, be sure to consider the following before committing to a job or project:
• Is your teen legally old enough to work for a local company?
• Do you feel your teen is responsible enough to take on a job or project?
• If your child isn't old enough to drive, are you willing/able to shuttle her back and forth to work?
• If your child reneges on promised chores, are you willing/able to fulfill his obligations?
• What will be the consequences if your child doesn't fulfill her promises?
Sitting down with your teen and discussing these issues before committing to a job will go a long way toward impressing upon him the seriousness of the endeavor he's decided to take on. Also, if you discuss various contingency plans ahead of time, you'll be able to respond quickly and fairly in case your child becomes ill and can't do the job she's promised, or simply proves unwilling or irresponsible.
Whatever conclusions you come to about your teen's pursuit of employment, the idea offers many opportunities to educate your child about how the real world of work functions, and to give him or her a good idea about what life is like after school. Responsibility, financial management, a work ethic--all of these can be important lessons learned through a summer job.
Whether you are a parent of a teen or a teen yourself, you know the importance of having funding for extracurricular activities. Youth groups, sports teams, bands and other high school activities all need to raise money. Fundraisers can be fun if you know how to put a new twist on typical fundraisers.
Successful fundraising is just a few steps away if you follow these ideas.
1. Baked Potato Dinner. A lot of groups do pancake breakfasts or spaghetti dinners, but serving baked potatoes and all of the fixings is a great way to raise money. Potatoes are relatively inexpensive and can be baked in bulk. You can buy cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, broccoli, butter and chili in bulk packages. Find somewhere to hold the dinner, like the school cafeteria, where there is enough room for everyone. The students can sell tickets ahead of time and also at the door.
2. Picnic Basket Auction. This idea works well at another event, like a back to school night or school carnival. It can also be done independently. Provide a picnic basket for each student and then have them decorate and fill it with food with a budget of $10. Each picnic basket is raffled off in a silent auction.
3. Singing or Musical Telegrams. These are perfect for a high school band or chorus and work well around Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. Students can sell telegrams at school and participants fill out the recipient's name, their address (or room number if the telegrams are to students) and then have the students deliver the telegrams on a specific date. Search online for lyrics for a singing telegram, or have band members play a piece of appropriate music.
4. Growing Kit. Buy seeds in bulk for fast growing flowers and then purchase some clay pots from a surplus garden store. Have a meeting with the teen group where you all fill the pots with potting soil, attach the seeds to the outside and then wrap up the pot with cellophane and ribbon. Sell the pots at a flat rate around school and in the community. This fundraiser works well in the spring and before Mother's Day.
5. Candy selling with a twist. Instead of selling the standard bars of candy why not make some candy from scratch and sell it at a premium price? People enjoy homemade candy more than commercially made bars. You can distribute recipes to the group, or if the high school club is small, you can organize a candy making party. The pieces can sell for higher amounts that regular candy and you can keep most of the profits.
6. Group yard sale. This one requires a bit of organization, but it's well worth it. Have all the members bring clothes, toys and household items the week before the sale. One group of students can organize the items and price them, while the other can canvas the neighborhoods with signs. The day of the yard sale you can sell muffins in the morning and chili toward the afternoon as an additional form of fundraising.
Jamie Jefferson writes for Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons, where you can find the latest office supply coupons, including any current offers for $30 off $150 coupons.
It's a fact in American society--credit is a way of life. While some people have sworn off credit cards, the majority of us still depend on our plastic to pay for everything from everyday groceries to large, special purchases.
However, it's also a fact that the majority of Americans are drowning in credit card debt. How can you teach your teen to use credit responsibly, avoiding the pitfalls of too much debt on too much plastic, but making wise use of the benefits of a credit card?
Many credit card companies are now offering special cards aimed directly at teens. Unlike many of the marketing pushes at recent high school grads and college students of past years, these cards are set up specifically to help you teach your child how to handle a credit card responsibly.
One popular option for parents is a prepaid debit card for teens. Often referred to as an "allowance card," this option allows you to determine exactly how much money your teen will have access to. You fund the card with your child's allowance, money paid out for chores, birthday money, etc., and then your teen can use the card just like a credit card. They'll have to keep careful track of how much money remains on the card and budget their purchases to keep from going over their spending limits. These cards are generally aimed at the thirteen-and-up crowd, and come equipped with a variety of parental controls. There are also a number of educational tools available, both through the credit card companies and other, independent companies, to help you teach your child responsible financial management.
Examples of the pre-paid debit card include:
• Visa Buxx
• Allow Card by MasterCard
• Current Card by Discover
A step up in the responsibility department from the prepaid debit card is the student credit card. These typically are co-signed by a parent and have a very conservative spending limit--usually $500-1,000. Since by law your child can't have his or her own credit card until they're 18 years old, you're listed on the account as the responsible party.
Before progressing to a student card, your teen must have a checking account and know how to manage it. While this is often taught in school, it's an excellent idea to sit down with your teen and walk through the process with them. Perhaps start with the debit card, then use a month or two to establish responsible use of a checking account before moving on to a student card.
Credit cards aimed at teens have plenty of detractors. But before jumping onto the anti-credit bandwagon, consider the advantages.
• Your teens can build a credit history before going out on their own
• Your teens can learn to handle credit responsibly, under your tutelage
• The world is changing--plastic and other alternative payment methods are becoming more prevalent than old-fashioned cash
In the end, it's up to you and your child. Only you know if your teen is responsible and mature enough to handle a credit card. But, as with other facts of life, like drinking, drugs, driving, and relationships, it's better to send your child into adulthood with as much knowledge as possible. In the long run, education will pay off with a higher level of maturity and responsibility, and hopefully save your teen from the pitfalls of massive credit card debt.
The day your child comes to you and asks if he can ask a girl out is the day when you realize he's not a baby anymore.
But is he old enough to date? When should he date? What happens if your girl accepts a date without asking you? What is dating these days anyway?
Don't panic, mom. There are answers to your dating questions. First, much has changed since we were in the dating world. As we hear so often, kids these days grow up much faster than we did. But that doesn't mean that we have to allow exposure to things we can control. We might not be able to control what kids hear on the playground at lunch, but we can control some of the experiences they have. That means, yes, you can control this aspect of your child's life, too.
It's important to realize that there are many factors that play into whether a child is ready to date. Sometimes the decision is made for him or her, as you might have religious or other beliefs that dictate the appropriateness of when a child should start dating. But assuming that you have no specific beliefs one way or another that will influence your decisions, how can you know when the time is right?
First, it's important to remember that many children these days refer to a date when in fact they aren't talking about a one-on-one date. Often, children 'date' in groups and that might bring you more comfort than picturing your child on a solo date with another child.
Second, there are no hard and fast rules, only guidelines. Ask yourself these questions:
♣ Is your child responsible?
♣ Does your child think for him or herself? Able to make decisions not based on what other children are doing, but on what's right for him or her?
♣ Does your child understand the concept of sex and understand that it's OK to say "no"?
♣ Is your child amenable to having a chaperone? This is one way to let your child date earlier than you might otherwise feel comfortable. You simply accompany him or her on the date, but do so in an inconspicuous way. For instance, take them to the multi-plex but sit apart from them or see a different movie altogether. But then you're there to collect and drive them home. You might also allow your child only to have "dates" at home-- watch movies, enjoy a snack, and listen to music. You can easily keep an eye out that way.
The general rule about dating for most parents seems to be that kids can date around age 14. Many kids will feel as if they have had dates before that if they, say, head to the movies in a group of other kids and one boy or girl they particularly like, but dates alone often begin at 14 to 15. Some parents believe that their kids shouldn't date until they are old enough to drive.
The decision on when your child should date doesn't come quickly or easily for most parents. It is usually arrived at after a good deal of examination over the child's emotional and physical maturity and your own standards of appropriateness. It's also not a one-size-fits all proposition. If you have several children, you might decide as they come of age that they are ready to date at different ages.
The school year is more than half over and the struggles your child has been facing these past few months have not gone away. Now is a great time to evaluate how your child is performing in school, and to hire a tutor if need be. If your child is having a little difficulty or just needs a bit of enrichment, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has plenty of options. Private tutors as well as large companies that offer tutoring services are available throughout the metro area for kindergarten through college age students.
If you feel your child does indeed need some one-on-one attention, you'll first have to decide if you'd prefer a private in-home tutor or if you are willing to send your child to a tutoring center. Many parents have such hectic schedules these days, that they may prefer in-home tutoring.
Kumon Math and Reading Center
K-12 Tutoring Service
www.kumon.com
There are 12 Kumon Math and Reading Center located in and around the Twin Cities area. Created over 50 years ago by Toru Kumon, the Kumon Math and Reading Center uses a unique approach to help students master the art of studying. Known more as an instructional method rather than a tutoring service, Kumon strives to instill discipline and implement structure to help students develop the skills needed to succeed on their own.
Huntington Learning Centers
K-12 Tutoring Service
www.huntingtonlearning.com
With 11 centers located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Huntington Learning Center uses personalized learning programs to assist children in developing the skills needed to improve their academic performance, learn and succeed. Huntington Learning Centers offer tutoring services in all academic subjects and age levels, as well as test preparation.
Sylvan Learning Centers
PreK-12 Tutoring Service
www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com
Nine Sylvan Learning Centers can be found within approximately 30 miles of downtown Minneapolis. The tutors at Sylvan teach students the fundamental skills needed to improve academic performance. The certified tutors at Sylvan facilitate a personalized learning program to help your child catch up and stay on track to reach their full potential.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
K-College Tutoring Service and Guidance
www.kaptest.com
Though it seems most tutoring services are structured around K-12 test preparation, there is a metro area tutoring service designed for the older students. College bound students wanting to score higher on the SAT, ACT, PSAT, SAT Subject Tests and AP exams can find assistance at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. Located in St. Paul, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions provides on-line test preparation and classroom courses, as well as private tutoring. Kaplan also provides other educational and career tutoring services, including preparation for test relating to such fields as medical, dental, business and more.
With the wide range of resources found at Kaplan, the company also offers information and test prep materials for state administered skills tests for students in K through grade 8. At the high school level Kaplan provides resources for all the standardized tests, including the GED.
Many if not all the tutoring centers mentioned in this article also provide in-home tutoring. However, there are also many online listings for private tutors located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. "In-home" tutoring can actually be done elsewhere, such as a public library, a school room, a quiet café or coffee shop, and arrangements can even be made for tutoring done at the parent's office. For parents who choose to hire a private in-home tutor, take the time to research and interview different applicants to find the most qualified tutor in your area.
When interviewing potential in-home tutors, request a resume and references. Talk about the tutor's past and most recent work experience and attempt to get a sense of how they interacted with their students. Discuss your expectations and ask questions to determine if the tutor would be able to meet those expectations. The resources at Wyzant (www.wyzant.com), Tutors Teach (www.tutorsteach.com) and Care (www.care.com) provide the information needed to find an in-home tutor in the Minneapolis- Twin Cities area.
Should Students Take a Year Off After High School?
As your high school seniors race to finish college applications or wait nervously for early decisions, some may be having doubts about being ready for college. Here are some things for you and your child to consider.
by Bob Roth
As High School students approach their senior year, an important question sometimes arises. Are they ready for college?
Students will always be apprehensive about leaving home to attend college. They usually worry about the amount of work, fitting in and making the grades. Parents worry about the expense and whether their children will do well.
While many students head off to college without resolving these issues, others take time off to look at options and alternatives. Reasons for hesitation or delay may include:
- Need time to mature
- Want to travel
- Volunteer for community service
- Want to support a cause
- Need to work to earn money for college
- Want to gain some experience or training
- Lack of motivation
- Need time to figure out what they want to do
- Want to join the military
Personal decisions usually move people toward something or away from something. For high school students, their decision to take some time off is often intended to help them better prepare for college or disclose possible alternatives to college. When the young adult is not a good student, doesn't have a clue about his/her interests and abilities or needs close supervision and guidance, college may not be right at this time.
Opportunities to work, learn and explore should be well planned and closely monitored. The time should be used with a clear purpose in mind. Students can use the experiences to expand their viewpoints about their work and career direction, eliminate areas they dislike and get a good understanding of life in the world of work. However, if the young person decides not to go to college, his/her parents should require them to accept a job and go to work every day. Sitting around at home should not be an option.
Taking time off for the sake of taking time off is seldom a good decision. It is usually a sign of immaturity and dependency. Yes, it may also mean that the student is not ready for college. Parents don't want to send their children off to college, only to have them fail out in the first or second year. Neither do they want their children to graduate with a cumulative average that is completely unimpressive to potential employers. There isn't a high demand for college dropouts and underachievers.
When students delay entering college, they should plan to do something with their time to get better prepared. Summer jobs are great motivators. They help students understand the importance of a good education and a good job. Taking a year long vacation will seldom resolve anything. Therefore, parents would be wise to help the student lay out a plan. That plan should include:
- Specific goals and objectives (What will be evaluated and learned?)
- Testing and career counseling can be helpful. (Include as an objective.)
- A job. (Hard work clarifies choices, builds motivation and improves life skills.)
- A deadline / time limit for each objective (How much time will be allowed?)
- A method for measuring outcomes (Rating scales are usually helpful.)
- Acceptable alternatives to college (Must be realistic and career oriented.)
Parents play a critical role in each step. However, the best results are achieved when the student is fully invested in this process. When a student is simply going through the motions, parents must be firm about the process, the goals, the timing and the outcomes. Otherwise, students will learn little about their capabilities and direction.
For the most focused and capable students, delaying entrance into college is a viable choice for only a few. However, students with broad capabilities and experiences may benefit from a brief delay that can clarify their direction. Since many students have not yet discovered their talents and skills, they may need some time to explore and mature. This can be done in college, at work, through counseling and testing or a combination.
Wise parents work very hard to help their children gain the perspective and motivation that will lead to success when and if they do decide to enter college. When the decision is not to attend college, students must be capable, clear and passionate about their direction and career possibilities.
Bob Roth, a former campus recruiter, is the author of The College Student's Guide To Landing A Great Job -and- The 4 Realities Of Success During and After College. Known as The "College & Career Success" Coach, Bob also writes articles for more than 175 College Career Services Offices and Campus Newspapers. Additionally, Bob has developed 20 Self-Scoring Learning Tools™ that help college students find success. He has been interviewed on numerous radio programs across the country and also by many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal. Lastly, Bob serves as an Adjunct at Marist College, teaching a course in Career Development. Visit Bob's web site: The4Realities.com.
