Dad of Divas

One Dad's Quest to Regain Control of his Kingdom

Why Parents Must Play an Active Role in Their Child’s Education

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A child’s education isn’t a school’s sole responsibility. For a child to flourish academically, they will need help and support from their teachers and parents.

If your daughter or son is falling behind in class or struggles to grasp difficult concepts, you might need to encourage learning in your own home. Find out why parents must play an active role in their child’s education.

Better Academic Outcomes

According to a study by the Michigan Department of Education, a student is more likely to earn better grades and test scores if their parents are involved in their education. It can lead to improved academic outcomes and much higher graduation rates.

Also, the same study found that parental involvement will help students produce a higher quality of work and set realistic goals for the future. Yet, students whose parents aren’t involved in their education are more likely to drop out of school.

 

Improved Behavior

Almost every teacher will struggle with disruptive behavior in the classroom at some point. For this reason, many educators will introduce an effective classroom management strategy to restore order and help students reach their potential.

However, a teacher can only try so much in the classroom, as it is also a parent’s responsibility to help their children become more engaged and respectful at school and home. Parents must take the time to help children develop a respect and appreciation for education. By doing so, they will be more likely to listen to their teacher and engage in a lesson plan.

How To Showcase The Importance Of Education To Your Kids

An Established Learning Structure

Parents are responsible for establishing a strict learning structure in the home. For example, they must schedule a specific time for a child to complete their homework or read a book each evening. If a parent makes learning a priority, a child will soon understand the importance of education. Encourage your child to fall in love with learning by creating a designated study area or cozy reading space. This should be fairly easy to do, even with limited space.

Gardening will allow children to play in the dirt while learning how to eat right, and the process of photosynthesis while developing their bodies.

Extracurricular Education

The syllabus restricts most educators in the classroom. However, parents can improve a child’s education by embracing different topics and turning everyday activities into fun learning experiences.

For example, a child can learn about animals at a zoo, identify various insects during a walk in the park, or understand probability by playing age-appropriate card games. You can even talk to their teacher about the syllabus, which can help you choose activities or trips to support their education. For example, if your child is learning about a specific historical era, you can take a trip to a museum or visit a historic site to bring the topic to life.

Teachers’ skills and support can only stretch so far. If you want your child to secure top grades, pass tests with flying colors, and enter a high-paying career, you must play an active role in their education. Encourage them to embrace their passions and interests, aim to make learning fun, and set strict rules regarding homework and study time.

Fun ways to teach your child history

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Fun ways to teach your child history

Often, children struggle to find history interesting, with many believing that it is a dry topic full of boring facts and figures that has no relation to their daily lives. However, history can be an exciting and fun topic that can ignite your child’s curiosity if taught in the right way.

  1. Explore Your Family Tree

By teaching your child about their own history and that of their family, you will be able to show them how history relates to their daily life and the present era in a way that relates directly to them and their family. There are many online resources through which children can discover their family tree, such as GenealogyBank, which allows children to explore their genealogy online in an interactive way. This site gives kids a direct insight into the lives of their relations with newspaper coverage, the world’s largest obituary collection, and a huge collection of birth, death, and marriage certificates.

  1. Take them on Historical Day Trips

Every child loves going on a day trip, and taking your children to historical landmarks can be an interactive way to bring history to life. Historical monuments can help to spark a child’s imagination and show them the place where history really happened to connect them better with the subject. Historical landmarks in the U.S include the Freedom Trail in Boston, Alcatraz, and the Statue of Liberty. Not only this, but many famous landmarks have fun entertainment, re-enactments, activities, and information that is aimed at children, making it even easier to get them involved.

  1. Use Fun Entertainment Media

Children can find learning out of a textbook incredibly boring, and one of the better ways to grasp their interest in history is through using fun entertainment media such as movies, books, and television shows. Although the information in these may not be entirely accurate, they can help to show the exciting side of history and children will want to find out more about the time period that their favorite characters lived in. You can then use this media to start a conversation about the broader time period that the movie or show was set in.

  1. Recreate Battles and Events

If your child is incredibly active and loves imaginative play, you may also want to try encouraging them to recreate the battles and events of the past. From asking them to create an informative defense as a lawyer for one of their favorite historical figures, to creating sword fights and battles with them on your lawn or at the nearby park, you will be teaching them all about history without them even realizing that they are learning. After playtime, you may then find it easier to engage them in the facts of the event and what really happened.

History can be an exciting subject for children once textbooks and fact sheets are thrown aside, and this is even easier if you are able to relate history to their daily lives. From online resources and websites to children’s history books such as Horrible Histories, there is an astonishing number of fun ways to get your child interested in history.

5 Ways To Inspire Your Children To Love Learning

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5 Ways To Inspire Your Children To Love Learning

What influences a child’s willingness to learn? Are some kids just born loving books and others less so? Is it down to individual personalities? Well, although there are certainly different aptitudes at play, the truth is that every child can love learning – provided it’s approached in the right way. Learning should never just be limited to a classroom environment either – in fact, social, academic and intellectual growth often flourishes the most outside of the formal instructional environment. So, how can you steer a child onto the right path and inspire a lifelong love of learning?

 

Love To Read

Reading is a keystone habit that unlocks a lot of good in a person’s life, so teaching a child to truly love books for their own sake is a huge gift to give. A child must understand that reading equals more than just book learning. And whether it’s learning their words almost by accident as they read a favorite bedtime story or being able to critically analyse a key text while studying, reading brings benefits from a richer vocabulary to better communication skills. Having a child that is read to frequently and is part of a family where everyone reads instills a love of learning which will see them through life – from passing exams at school to searching rn to bsn online, they will pursue the learning they love in life.

 

Encourage Open Communication

Education should not be a passive act that is done to your child – you need to make sure they are engaged in the process. Create an atmosphere where it’s okay for children to express their preferences and opinions. Hard as it may be not to discount any worries which seem trivial from an adult perspective, if kids pick up that their views don’t matter they are likely to become disengaged.

 

Keep Track Of Their Interests

Use a child’s interests to make whatever they are learning relevant to them. This achieves the aim of making learning fun in a natural way. Whenever you find a subject that gets their creativity involved then pursue it – ask them questions, get them to find out any relevant information, give them books on the topic. Encourage them to persevere when things get a little tough as well – they will soon see how it pays off.

 

Find Their Learning Style

Each of us has a set of preferences about the way in which we learn. Discovering your child’s learning style can have a transformative effect on how much they enjoy learning. Some may be primarily visual learners, some aural or verbal – others social, logical or solitary learners. Still others may be a mix of these styles. Using techniques that work best for your child will result in a feeling that something is ‘clicking’ and learning. becomes a better experience. Explore different methods with young children to see which they respond to.

 

Show Your Enthusiasm

The best teacher is one who is engaged and passionate in the topic, so it’s important to show your children what you are interested in and like learning about yourself. Share the joy of discovering new information with your little ones. Let them see what you love learning about by visiting exhibitions, historical sites or planning family days out to places of interest. When your child sees how excited you are by learning, so they will begin to discover their own passion for knowledge. This will spark a lifelong connection with it that will help them as they go on to formal study but also keep their minds inquiring and active in everyday life as well.

How to Keep Your Teens Safe From Alcoholism and Addiction

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How to Keep Your Teens Safe From Alcoholism and Addiction

During our child’s teenage years, our involvement and influence in their lives have a tremendous impact on their ability to confront and handle uncomfortable situations and emotions. In the future, they may experience exposure to drugs and alcohol. It is imperative we equip them with not just the knowledge of substance abuse consequences, but with the emotional tools that can steer them away from that path all-together.

 

We have the ability to keep our teens safe from alcoholism and addiction, and here’s what to do:

 

Bring awareness to the subject

Alcoholism and addiction are not happy and comfortable subjects to talk about. Rather, they are issues that need to be treated seriously and spoken about often. Inform your teen about the short and long-term consequences of drugs and alcohol. What may seem like a simple experimentation can turn into a lifelong addiction. Furthermore, a majority of addicts had no intention of becoming addicts in the first place, and your teen is no different nor can they convince themselves that one drink or smoke won’t hurt; many recovering addicts can testify against that with their own experiences.

 

Introduce them to healthy coping mechanisms

High school is going to be overwhelming for your teen. They’re stressed because there are countless exams to study for, piles of homework, college plans to consider, after-school activities to keep up with, a social life to maintain, and they need to maintain their own personal well-being in the midst of all that! This stress may cause them to act irrationally, such as taking dangerous drugs to help them study for a test or cope with anxiety by turning to a substance that temporarily numbs their body. Encourage your teen to discover new hobbies and emphasize that expressing stress through a creative or healthy outlet is not only healthy, it’s fulfilling for their self-esteem and confidence. In conjunction, learn new ways to deal with stress together such as relaxing in mindful and silent solitude or taking slow, deep breaths. By directing your teen towards healthy and reliable activities and coping mechanisms, you won’t have to worry about what they are doing on a bad day without your supervision.

 

Communicate daily and often with them

Try to be your teen’s friend. Now, you don’t necessarily have to talk about serious or deep things with every moment alone with them! To put it simply: get to know them. Be consistent with asking how their day has been or how they have been feeling. Acknowledge their feelings and validate what they share with you. Gradually, it will become easier for them to communicate freely and honestly with you about any subject. Evidently, your teen will undeniably want more of your involvement in their life! Genuine communication builds a foundation of trust between the two of you and solidifies to them your intention of being caring and concerned, not interrogative or intrusive.

 

Set an example with your own actions

Be someone you would want to admire and respect. That will unquestionably illustrate itself to your teen. Don’t be a parent that speaks negatively about drugs and alcohol but uses them yourself. Being hypocritical not only sets a bad example for your teen – you will have no credibility in their eyes whatsoever for anything. Why would anyone, especially your own child, want to trust you who does the exact opposite of what they criticize?

 

Our teenagers are wonderful and unique people and we always want to trust them to make the right decisions, but everyone faces an unexpected and negative roadblock that can consequently impact their life sometimes. Because we are parents, we have a responsibility to positively influence our children and guide them the best we can. While alcoholism and addiction are uncomfortable topics to talk about, they are important to confront. But by sitting down and bringing awareness to the subject, our teens will gain awareness, learn of healthier alternatives to express their emotions, and hopefully seek to attain fulfilling lives that do not include drugs or alcohol.

6 Lessons to Teach Your Daughter Before She Leaves for College

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6 Lessons to Teach Your Daughter Before She Leaves for College

College is both an exciting and frightening stage for both parents and children. The best thing we can do as a parent during this time is offer our knowledge and insight on how to take on these exciting years to contribute to the already good head on our children’s shoulders.

 

These are six lessons to teach your daughter before she leaves for college:

 

  1. Never allow anyone into your life that fails to meet your standards

 

Develop relationships with people who not only have your best interest in mind but theirs as well. Your social circle should be comprised of individuals that positively influence one another, share your values, and will always be friends you can rely on until the end of time. Don’t waste your time on people who are shallow, unmotivated, and unsure of themselves; their energy and attitudes will only bring you down with them.

 

  1. Invest time into maintaining your emotional and physical well-being

 

The most important relationship in this world is the one you have with yourself. Putting time into your emotional and physical well-being is necessary since doing so keeps you grounded and clearheaded, decompresses stress and anxiety levels, and enables you to come back to center with yourself. With that said – love yourself, take more time to be in solitude, and explore all the classes and hobbies that interest you!

 

  1. Put in the hard work, effort, and sacrifice into the goals you wish to accomplish

 

You will never get things done unless you take action. In the words of Manoj Arora, “You will either find a way, or an excuse.” Don’t expect to suddenly wake up one day and have everything fall into place. That attitude breeds a sense of entitlement towards success which prevents you from being motivated to take steps forward or accomplish goals wholeheartedly.

 

  1. Trial and error is important, and should not be feared or resisted

 

No one is perfect, and trying to meet a standard that doesn’t exist is only a waste of time and energy. Embrace the fact that you will make mistakes, fail, and be disappointed – you’re human. What matters at the end of the day is that you get up back up again instead of criticizing yourself for things that already happened or cannot change. See your mistakes as learning experiences instead of setbacks.

 

  1. Say “no” to the things that make you uncomfortable

 

College will open your doors up to new experiences – especially parties, concerts and music festivals. Since attending these events may interest you, please be safe! Say no to drugs such as ecstasy or LSD. They completely warp your sense of reality, thus leaving you in a vulnerable state where you might unintentionally injure yourself or be taken advantage of by another person.

 

  1. Plan for the future

 

When you’re young, you feel like you have all the time in the world. However, while you may feel that way – it is imperative for you to be diligent about mapping out a game plan for your future, save money, and have a general idea of where you want to go with your career. You don’t need to have your entire life figured out by any means because no one can predict all that! Instead, focus on what matters most in adulthood: financial and professional security. These things determine the quality of your life for the next few years.

 

Because college is an incredible time of independence and exploration of one’s interests and abilities, preparing our daughters to take it on is the best gift we could give them. When your little girl finally leaves for college, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that she has the six lessons mentioned above to rely on.

Teaching Your Children Gardening Can Help Them Grow Too

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Teaching Your Children Gardening Can Help Them Grow Too
Gardening will allow children to play in the dirt while learning how to eat right, and the process of photosynthesis while developing their bodies.

Introduction

Dads have fun participating in several activities with their kids while they are growing up.  However, one particular activity can be fun, a great lesson about our environment, and assist in the improvement of their motor skills.  Gardening will allow children to play in the dirt while learning how to eat right, and the process of photosynthesis while developing their bodies.

 

Focus On Gardening

In the modern world, children spend several hours consuming different media, and young teenagers spend less than a half-hour doing vigorous physical activities, which may explain why almost 20 percent of kids are considered obese.  Thus, it is more important than ever for fathers to teach their children about the importance of other activities such as gardening.  Teaching your children when they are young about its benefits will help them get more physical activity in their daily lives, and it will also help them learn about the benefits of healthy food.

Gardening will allow children to play in the dirt while learning how to eat right, and the process of photosynthesis while developing their bodies.

Gardening Affects Your Brain Body And Soul

Even the Public Broadcasting Service – or PBS – agrees.  There are plenty of ways that gardening can help your little ones.  Specifically, children will start getting curious about science issues such as photosynthesis.  Learning why plants need the sun to grow will make them more curious about how all the elements work together.  But, they will also learn math lessons while measuring how big the plants grow.  It will create a lot of excitement.

 

Another benefit from gardening is how it affects their bodies physically.  They will love getting their hands dirty while “playing” in the dirt.  The exposure to the outside elements can strengthen your child’s immunity, and overall health, as your child’s body comes into contact with things you won’t find inside the house or school.  Additionally, the physical activity will help their little bodies become stronger.  Such movements as using a wheelbarrow to move dirt, pulling weeds, and raking are great exercises that will help your child, and your garden, grow stronger.

 

Getting away from the smartphones, and tablets, will also help your child learn how to communicate, and build teamwork.  After all, a successfully created garden requires everyone working together to plant things in such a way that every plant or flower grows well.  You child will also benefit from the learned responsibility of taking care of your garden by adding the proper amounts of fertilizer, water and sunlight.

 Gardening will allow children to play in the dirt while learning how to eat right, and the process of photosynthesis while developing their bodies.

Gardening Fun With Games

As a father, you can even make a game out of it with your children.  You can teach them about photosynthesis, the different parts of a plant, and other lessons about plants.  By having them participate in these activities, they will actively learn all about the different parts of the photosynthesis that allow plants to grow.  There is little doubt that, as they learn, they will become excited, and more eager, to help grow more plants, and food, for the garden.

 

Conclusion

As you, and your children, begin the process of cultivating your own garden, it will be a fun learning experience for them.  They will begin to understand how plants grow through photosynthesis.  But, they will also get excited when they realize that they helped in the process of growing the plants, and food, in your garden.  It will be a life lesson that they will carry with them for years to come.

What to Tell Your Kids When Schools Teach Contrary to Your Values

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What to Tell Your Kids When Schools Teach Contrary to Your Values

One of the biggest problems many parents have with public education is the fact that schools tend to teach secular values because there is supposed to be a separation of church and state. Even if a Christian teacher has a classroom of 42 students of mixed faiths, that teacher can’t be biased in teaching values. However, what can you do if that teacher is teaching something that is contrary to what you are teaching at home?

Creationism vs. Evolution

Creationism vs. Evolution at the Center of Many Debates

To many parents, the debate between those who subscribe to the theory of creationism often conflicts with those who believe that evolution is how we came about as a people. They say we started as a one cell organism and over time evolved into the thinking, feeling, intelligent creatures that we now are. On the other side of the fence are those who believe that a supreme being called us into being with just his breath. This is how you raised your children to believe and isn’t it your right to do so? It’s not that you totally disagree with evolution, but the discussion is in how life got here in the first place. Teachers will go out of their way to show your children how they ‘feel’ life began and so contradicting everything that you’ve worked so hard to instill in your kids. Is this even ethical or right? Unfortunately, creationism vs evolution is at the center of too many problems.

 

How to Explain to Your Kids that You Believe What You Are Teaching Them

Some parents get entirely too worked up when trying to explain that they don’t agree with what a teacher is saying. They hold fast to their faith in creationism and resent the fact that teachers call this thinking archaic and then go out of their way to try to disprove it. The truth is, there are learned scientists on both sides of the coin, so who is to say which is closer to the truth? Could creationism and evolution coexist? A growing number of highly educated people do believe that there isn’t as much a discrepancy between the two as man has made out to be. It is possible that a Supreme Being called that single cell to life and then breathed the DNA into it, the genetics to allow for evolution. There are two schools of thought on opposite poles and then there is a center point where both can be true.

be-informed

Some Tips that Just May Help

Sometimes it is necessary to reach out to an unbiased third party to help you sort through these types of issues with your kids. “But teacher says…” and then in school, that same child will spout off, “But my mom says,” or “Daddy told me….” And the battle continues. A pastor might be a good resource, but of course, that pastor believes much as you do. The school psychologist might be a good place to start but just as your pastor will lean towards creationism, so too will your school psychologist tend to err toward core curriculum. There is no easy answer but the best advice is to stay calm, reassure your child that you do believe what you say and that it’s good they are learning both sides of the issue.

One day they will be a mom or dad like you and then they will have the experience to know what they believe. Until then, tell them to learn all sides of a question and this will put them in a place of power. Truth always wins out, or so we’re told.

Tuesday Talking – Teaching School Spirit

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This is my next installment of the Tuesday Talking posts, and today we are talking about the teaching of school spirit. How do you teach school spirit to your kids? How do you show school spirit in your daily life? Let’s talk about it!

school-spirit

school-spirit


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5 Ways To Teach Your Child About Money

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#IAmProtective#IAmProtective

As a parent you want the best for your child. You want them to succeed in their endeavors and you want them to appreciate the things that they have and understand the value of money and not simply expect to get things. As a parent it is sometimes hard to find ways to teach your child about money, but beyond this, also talking about complex issues such as: life insurance, how much life insurance you need, the difference between universal and term life insurance, annuities versus other saving models and so much more.

I have found over the years that it is not always easy to teach your child about money, it takes time, patience and much more. I also have found that what works for one child may be a complete flop with the other. That being said, lately my daughter has been asking for a lot. She always seems to have something that she needs. While you and I know that these usually are wants and not needs, as a parent I have to redirect and work with her to see and understand this for herself so that she can make good decisions for her financial future.

Money

 

Below are my top five ways that you can teach your child about money and its’ value!

  1. Let them earn the things that they want
    Growing up myself, I can say that I saved, especially when I got into my teen years. My parents made it very clear that if there was something that I really wanted that I could work to make the money and get it for myself, and I think that my wife and I are working to do instill this in our own daughters too.
  2. Help them understand the importance of giving to others
    However, it also is important for us to instill in them the importance of giving to others too. Whether that means providing financial or other gifts to local food banks, teachers, or other people in need or volunteering their time, it all goes back to giving away something of themselves. J-Mom and I are very passionate about this and we try to lead by example to our girls, showing them what we do.
  3. Saving versus spending.
    Explain and demonstrate the concept of earning interest income on savings. Consider paying interest on money children save at home; children can help calculate the interest and see how fast money accumulates through the power of compound interest. Some parents even offer to match what children save on their own.
  4. Have your child open a savings account at a local credit union or bank 
    Allowing them to start early and see how saving money can lead to greater wealth can be an amazing tool to help them to be successful in later years. I have fallen into the trap in trying to make them keep the money in their account. I would encourage you to reconsider this and to not refuse them when they want to withdraw a portion of their savings for a purchase as this can backfire and could cause them from wanting to save at all. Some parents will consider things like introducing children to U.S. savings bonds. Bonds are still a good value, costing one-half their face value and earning interest that in some instances will be tax-free if used for a college education. Perhaps more importantly, when given as a gift, bonds will not be spent immediately, reinforcing saving and goal-setting lessons.
  5. Have regular family discussions about finances.
    Start early and help kids to understand many topics and be money smart. Some of the topics that you could cover could include areas such as: the difference between cash, checks, and credit cards; wise spending habits; how to avoid the use of credit; and the advantages of saving and investment growth. With teenagers, it’s also useful to discuss what’s happening with the national and local economies, how to economize at home, and alternatives to spending money. All of this information will be important as they take on more responsibility for their own financial well-being.

money

 

These are only a few tips for how to teach your child the value of money. This post could probably have included hundreds of tips and I just touched the tip of the iceberg with my top five. That being said, I found that there are amazing resources available online to help you with learning about this topic, information about life insurance quotes, the amount of life insurance your need, college preparation and so much more.  Below are a few good posts that I found that I wanted to share with you!

 
Also in exploring this topic I found another great site that I thought I would share as it covers a little bit of everything. The site has a learning library that is very complete. Check it out here: http://cbi.as/ec5d5

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Finance Degrees Are Still Sought After #DadChat

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Finance-Degrees

Finance Degrees Still sought after

It’s important to nurture a healthy interest in fiscal matters in your kids from an early age. From buying them polka-dotted piggybanks to opening their first, proper, bank account, teaching your children to look after their money is a valuable life skill. When it comes time to choose an undergraduate degree, if they have shown a proclivity for number-crunching, there are few majors that offer a more stable or rewarding career path than those in finance. Here are some more reasons a finance degree is still a sound investment for your kids.

 

They’ll always be in demand

Recent employment stats from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that available finance jobs are growing faster than those in other sectors, and opportunities for employment are excellent. This tends to be the case wherever you go in the world: there are no cities that operate outside of economic systems, so fluency in finance will make your kids valuable global citizens.

 

There’s a vast range of specialisms

From fraud prevention to brokerage, your child might grow up to entrap the wolves of Wall Street, or even become one. They can also go on to further study. Pursuing, for example, a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance will equip them with invaluable skills for employment in almost any business, or for setting up on their own.

 

The pay is superb

The demand for talented finance graduates means that your efforts are more than likely going to be remunerated with an exceptional pay: those who choose to work their first job in an investment bank, for example, have some of the best starting salaries. On the lower end of the payscale, personal financial advisors, finance managers and financial examiners can all expect to make in the region of $60,000 – $70,000. On the higher end, progression to upwards of $100,000 is totally viable in a good company.

 

They’ll benefit personally

Understanding how to analyse data, having a grounding in economics and nurturing accounting skills are all directly applicable to everyday life. Not only will these skills help your kids to live within their means, they’ll also help with their everyday investments, budgeting for their future, and saving up for the wedding, house or car they have always dreamed of.

Encouraging your kids to follow their passion in life is part and parcel of being a parent. With a finance degree, you’ll have the peace of mind that they’ve taken those crucial first steps to a successful career.

Image by OTA Photos, used under the Creative Commons license.

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