Mom's Car StereoWritten by Sherri L Dodd
Do you remember car stereo days of youth - windows down, hair wildly blowing and radio blaring latest and greatest musical hit? Depending on which friend was with me at time, my in-dash could be playing dance, hip hop or even heavy metal. But no matter which music was selected, purpose of volume was to drown out your own exuberant impressions of coolest music sensations. With all pleasure that my melodic actions used to bring me, I have to wonder what has happened to my car stereo.In my transition to motherhood my stereo has also taken on a new life. I find myself usually working with two options, first of which is talk radio. Now, I need to tell you that I have never intentionally strived to be an intellect. I did what I needed to get by, but generally to me, ignorance was bliss and anything that required a logical conversation seemed boring and stifling to my spirit. Then I had kids and took on career of a full-time, at-home mom. When you go from constant adult interaction to negotiating and teaching your children, it is no longer impressive and a sign of intelligence to use ‘big words’ or rational reasoning. In fact, a simple four to five word sentence is typical protocol for conversing with a baby, and toddler-hood only merits a few more jabs in your vocabulary’s database. And in conversing with either, you must speak slowly, purposefully and with wide-eyed emphasis. This is why I absorb talk radio – reaching back toward adult discussion. Sure, I get together with other moms here and again, but even that is not necessarily appropriate place to hear views on politics, social issues or even current headline news. After all, a difference of opinion could make rest of playdate a little awkward, even well after changing subject. Talk radio, on other hand, offers complex viewpoints and even opportunity to phone in and recapture some of that assertive argument skill that put you at head of your debate class. Radio option number one is chance to use perception and feel adult in dialogue again. Now option number two was not initially so much my idea. Cutesy, bouncy rhythms and rhymes, clever
| | How To Help your Child LearnWritten by Barbara White
How To Help Your Child Learn.Just as every snowflake is unique, so is every child. The way that your child learns depends a number of different factors, which combined together, create his unique learning style. By helping your child discover how he learns best, you will set him up for life time success in learning, and reduce frustrations that come through trying to learn in a way that does not use his particular strengths and to him seems uncomfortable. Every parent has been through school system and hopefully discovered ways that facilitated a style of learning that worked for them. However it is a fallacy to presume that a parent’s style is necessarily going to be best way for their child, in fact it could have a detrimental effect to insist that they learn in that way. For example traditionally accepted environment to do homework is to sit at a desk in a quiet spot to help concentration. However this is only likely to help learning for a percentage of students. If this is not a comfortable way of learning for a child it can actually inhibit flow of ideas and create a learning vacuum where mind becomes a blank. Some may need to spread out on floor, sit cross-legged on bed or even in front of TV to find an environment where their best learning can take place. Some students need music or background noise, food or drink and to feel comfortable before real learning can take place. Some remember best when they can move about or learn by doing, some need to visualize or see pictures, write or read information for themselves, and others need to hear information and speak it back in order to remember it. Using a combination of two of these modes may work best for some students. Another important factor that comes in play is way a child perceives and orders information in their mind. The conventional method is for information to be structured in a logical step by step process, which leads in a linear form from beginning to its logical end. This method works for many students, however some may have learning styles which in take information and put it into meaningful bits or chunks, which are stored in mind in a more random way. Such a student will reach desired result, but will not use a sequential logical format in learning process.
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