Welcome Back to School
Students come back to school and most of them are starting a new grade.
My wife is a teacher and she notices a great difference between the students
that have parents, guardians, or relatives helping them from those that do not.
But what should you do as that adult in your child's life to help?
Scholastic.com offers these ideas and more:
Kindergarten - Set aside plenty of reading time! Have conversations about books. Read together every day. Make frequent trips to the library and get your child her own card. Lay the groundwork for a lifelong love of reading.
1st Grade - Allow for time to run around. Your child still needs plenty of time to be active. Make sure he has free-play time in a park, playground, or backyard. Set limits on TV and computer time.
2nd Grade - Provide practical math materials. Put an analog clock in your child's bedroom. Use measuring cups to make a favorite recipe together. Supply a ruler and a measuring tape to explore the home environment.
3rd Grade - Give your child a good children's dictionary that will be useful for a few years. Show him how to look up a word he isn't sure how to spell and what information each definition offers: parts of speech, pronunciation guide, and multiple definitions.
4th Grade - Make use of organizational tools. Create a quiet and dedicated study area — a desk or special nook — for your child. Stock it with a container for pens and pencils, a small pencil sharpener, and a nice set of markers. Set her up for success with a homework notebook or other organizer.
5th Grade - Provide practical writing practice. Give your child a diary, help him find a pen pal, or even encourage supervised e-mail correspondence. The more your child writes, the more comfortable he'll become with this all-important skill. Let him whip up the grocery list or create a restaurant-style menu for dinner at home.
Middle School - Provide the opportunity to explore. Is your child a budding thespian or the world's next Picasso? Give him the chance to really delve into an interest with an extracurricular class at a local art center or even a community college.
New Years Resolutions Oz Style
Happy New Year. Now everyone should resolve for 2010 that they work to help others and take care of themselves along the way.
Dr. Oz said it best this week with his lucky 13 things you can do (if you would like his 16, you can
visit USA weekend).
Help Someone Else - This one I love.
It is amazing when you help just one other person how it energizes you.
It does not have to cost you money. I remember on May day I always brought
flowers to the older lady down the street. You can do the same thing by just
running a simple errand for the person down the street. You can also just check on
them once a day to make sure that they are ok. It is amazing how out of town
relatives would love a quick Email from you that their distant realative is ok.
Change Your Boundries - Evaluate your life and get out of the fish bowl. The Gold fish sees a
bigger world beyond the bowl and can not do anything about it. You can make a change in
your life that allows you to challenge your boundries. The world offers limitless
possibilities. If you family finances look hopeless, change your attitude and find
new opportunities. Just dwelling on limitations will never allow you to get out of your current situation.
Stop Rushing - Slow down your life and enjoy what is around you. I know I missed many
opportunities because work was everything for me. It may be school and activities for you.
Just slow down a little and take the stress out of your life.
Stop Trying Extreme Diets - Just because someone else lost weight does not mean that you
will. I love the new campaign by Taco Bell. They are trying to find their Jared.
Jared lost weight not by just going to Subway, but he walked 3 miles back and forth to
Subway each day. That might have helped. Exercise and healthy eating is the key.
Don't Skip Meals - This is very difficult for me. I do not like breakfast. My morning coffee
is all I eat most days until at earliest lunch. However, do what ever you can to not eat heavy
between 7 pm and when you go to bed. It gives your body no time to use that intake.
Enjoy What You Eat - Don't be so hungy by the time that you eat that you do not enjoy
each bite. Savor what you eat. It will slow down your meal time and let you appreciate it.
Take Vitamins that Make Sense - Dr. Oz takes 1,000 units of Vitamin D daily to minimize risk
of heart disease, cancer, mutiple sclerosis and immune disorders. The alternative is
exposure to hot sun. He also takes 400mg of Omega-3 fats daily to stimulate our brains. If you
take them both at the same time, then take them with a tablespoon of lemon flavored cod liver oil before
you brush your teeth.
Eat Well - 7 servings of Whole Grains, 5 servings of vegetables, 4 servings of fruits,
2 servings of low fat dairy, 1 serving of tree nuts such as almonds. Serving is the size of
a deck of cards. Target your waist at 1/2 of your height.
Exercise Exercise Exercise - Walk at least 10,000 steps. Amish have an obesity rate of
less than 10% because they do not depend on cars.
See Your Doctor - 40% of diabetics are walking around undiagnosed. If you wait, you lose
because your ailment gets worse and affects other parts of your body.
Sleep Regularly - Some individuals need 6 hours, others 9. No one should be doing 3, then
5, then 9, then 3.
Brush and Floss Regularly - I see a long line at the local Denture place every morning
at 7am. You can end up there too.
Kick Up Your Feet - At the end of the day, relax. Treat your feet to a bath of Epsom salts and
hot water.
Humor Corner
Healthy Jokes
Secrets for a happy and healthy life: Get a girlfriend who cooks well. Get a girlfriend who take care well.
Get a girlfriend who looks well. And most of all, make sure that these three girls don't meet each other!
Wife: What will I get if I keep cooking for you like this?
Husband: Well, you will get my life insurance money very soon.
100 laughs a day is equal to 10 minutes of exercise! How can it can get any easier than that?
I keep trying to lose weight, but it keeps finding me.
It's not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it's the seconds.
How can I go on a diet? The refrigerator is still full.
I gave up desserts! (It was the worst twenty minutes of my life.)
Dieting is wishful shrinking.
DIET PILLS"I'm prescribing these pills for you," said the doctor to the overweight patient, who tipped the scales at about three hundred pounds. "I don't want you to swallow them.
Just spill them on the floor twice a day and pick them up, one at a time...."
Deciding to take up jogging, the man was astounded by the wide selection of jogging
shoes available at the local sports shoe store. While trying on a basic pair of jogging shoe,
he noticed a minor feature and asked the clerk: "What is this little pocket thing here on the
side for?" And the clerk: "Oh, that's to carry spare change so you can call your wife to come
pick you up when you've jogged too far."
A school teacher asked a student, "John, will you please conjugate the verb 'to go' for
the class?" The kid began, "I go... um... you go... ehmm... he goes..."
"How about a little faster?" asks the teacher. And the kid, "Sure! I run, you run, she runs..."
Site of the Week
Dr. Oz Dr. Oz provides the site of the week with his great data base of knowledge through his TV Show.
