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How to Help Your Children have a Memorable Last Day of School

March 30, 2023 By Harpermac

Last Day of School

The last day of school usually brings excitement and high energy to those children looking forward to their summer break. But for some kids the end of the school year can result in anxiety and sadness. They might be worried about missing their friends, their teacher or are already feeling anxious about the next school year. No matter which reaction your kids are having, there are several steps you can take to make sure their last day of school is fun and memorable.

Listen

If your child is acting out, gets moody when you talk about school coming to an end or seems anxious, encourage him to talk about his feelings. Let him know it’s alright to be sad about school ending – lots of kids feel the same way. Going over the summer schedule or making solid plans for play dates with his friends may help him feel more secure.  [Read more…] about How to Help Your Children have a Memorable Last Day of School

Originally posted on May 9, 2013 @ 2:06 pm

Easy Science Fair Projects for the Curious Student

March 30, 2023 By Harpermac

Students who are curious about the universe often jump at the chance to participate in science fairs. These events, typically held at least once a year in schools, provide an opportunity for a student to conduct research, plan for how to carry out the project and learn how to obtain the required materials.

Science fairs also give students a practical introduction to the scientific method, in which students must test their hypothesis and carefully record the data before reaching any conclusions. They also have to set up the project and document your procedures so that other people can test your results by repeating the work they did.

Participation in a science fair requires students to effectively communicate the results of their work through images and words, as well as the items used to make the project. Learning to communicate scientific information to the public by presenting data to teachers, fellow students and family members helps students become scientifically literate, because they must understand what the project is about before they can explain it to others.

Here are three science fair projects that can help students learn more about the physical world.

Simple Generator

Philips Lightbulb
Building a simple generator for a science fair project is a great way for students to learn about electricity. To do it, you begin by making a box with one open end out of cardboard, and then you place a large nail through the center of the box. Next, you clamp magnets around the nail and spin them to verify that they can spin freely.

Remove wire from a solenoid valve’s core, tape one end to the side of the box and wrap the wire around the box for 250 turns. Connect both ends of the wire to a small light bulb to complete a circuit. When you spin the magnets inside the coiled wire, you generate electricity that will power the light bulb.

How Many Seeds Are Produced by Different Fruits?

Passion fruit opened to reveal seeds
Students are familiar with seeds from different fruits, such as the black seeds that they spit out while eating watermelons or the tiny seeds that dot the exterior of a strawberry. But have they ever wondered how many seeds are produced by different fruits?

To make this science fair project, gather a variety of fruits and use a knife to cut them open (under appropriate supervision). You make a list of each fruit on a sheet of paper and note how many fruits you are using.

Counting all of the seeds found in each piece of fruit and dividing it by the number of fruits gives you a measure of each fruit’s average seed production. You can then think about the meaning of your results, noting whether similar fruits have similar amounts of seeds and seeing which fruits are the most productive.

Effectiveness of Automobile Sunshades

Mercedes Shade
The sun’s rays can damage the interior of a car on a hot day, so people often use sunshades to protect it. However, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily effective.

For a science fair project, work with three identical cars and use two types of sunshades: one made with plastic air bubble insulating material and another that uses reflective foam. The third car has no shade and serves as the control.

After parking the cars in the sun and closing the windows and doors, you check the temperature on each dashboard using an infrared thermometer every two hours until the sun goes down. Recording the data enables you to see which car heats up the least, and therefore which sunshade is the most effective at blocking heat.

Science fair projects are a great way for students to learn about how the world works, as well as potentially gain some recognition from teachers and fellow classmates. They may even spark a life-long interest in science that could lead to a career and an opportunity to contribute to our collective knowledge.

Originally posted on January 23, 2013 @ 7:36 pm

Book In Focus: Parenting Well In A Media Age

March 30, 2023 By Lara

We cannot deny it: we are living in a media age. Think back to when you were growing up. It might be that you didn’t have television, or perhaps if you did, your viewing time was limited. The chances are that you didn’t have Internet access. After all, the Internet didn’t really become widely used till the last decade or so.

Today, however, our children are bombarded with information from all sorts of media: TV, radio, and the Internet. There is no way that we can shelter them from these, is there?

One question enters my mind: is it really necessary to shelter children from the information available to them? After all, we cannot overlook the fact that there is a lot of useful information to be had. I suppose the trick lies in us knowing how to handle the amount and quality of information that our children access.

This is where this book, Parenting Well In A Media Age, comes into the picture. I haven’t had the chance to read the whole book, but I came across it on Amazon; and the title was enough to catch my attention. The product description reads:

This illuminating investigation takes a fresh look at the role of media in children’s lives. An overview of the formidable challenges parents face and creative ways to overcome them are included, as are strategies for turning a home environment from “high-tech” to “high-touch.” Moving beyond demonizing the media, this work, like none before it, articulates the difficulties of parenting in our depersonalized society. It offers hopeful alternatives for all parents wanting to protect children from, and teach children about, media’s impact.

I like the way the contents were described – it does not pinpoint media as “bad” in general. Instead, it highlights the fact that our society can become depersonalized even more because of the way information is presented. I am sure that no one will disagree when I say that parenting is a highly personalized job!

Then again, due to our busy schedules, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of providing our children with entertainment alternatives more than we ought to.

Go watch this education DVD while I make dinner. Go play with your PS3 or Xbox360 while I finish some paperwork. Go on the Internet to find the answer to your question.

These are some common “commands” some parents give their children too often. Perhaps in this book, we might find ways to handle various situations better. I am quite interested in getting my hands on a copy.

Has anyone read the book? Or maybe, you have your own pointers on how to become a good parent in this media age.

Originally posted on April 25, 2010 @ 2:14 pm

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