Why Parent's Should Avoid Paying For Their Children's College Education

Friday, 4 January 2013
There are many parents that pay for college education of their children. They consider it as their duty and are willing to any lengths to pay for their education fee and other expenses. Here are some of the reasons I feel that parents should avoid paying their children's education expenses.
a) Most parents dig into their savings to pay for their children's education expense. I may sound selfish but your saving is for your retirement. If you spend your saving on your child's education, you will have no money for your future. At times, parents have to delay their retirement because they don't have enough savings.
b) If children known that they have to pay for their college education, they will work harder. They will try to get scholarships to reduce the education burden. If parents pay for college education, children will take their education for granted. They will not put in effort and will get lower grades.
c) When children pay for their education they become responsible at an early age. Most kids start realizing their responsibility only when they reach mid 20s. Children need to be taught the value of working hard. They need to understand the importance of money and the effort that goes into earning it. So if you don't want to spoil your children, don't pay for their college expenses.
d) When college expenses of your children are met, if gives them a false sense of security. They start depending on their parents for all their necessities and luxuries.
e) Students tend to become lazy if their college expenses are met by their parents. They start to enjoy their free time instead on concentrating on their education.
So next time you pay for your children's education, make sure you remember the points that I have mentioned.

The Benefits of Educational Programs at Home For Young Children

Staying involved in your children's education is one of the most important acts you can do to encourage future educational success. Most parents have high hopes for their children and wish that their children will live a happy, successful and fulfilled life. Education plays a large role in children's success and can also create many possibilities for their future. To create that success, it is important that parents guide and help their kids at young age in order to create strong building blocks for their educational future.
Though many parents are ready and willing to help their children get a head start in their learning, they do not have the ability or understanding of how to personally teach their kids. In order to help parents to assist their children in reading, writing and arithmetic at a young age, educational programs have come into existence to create a medium for parents to teach their children by using specialized educational material. As educational programs have progressed, there is now a diverse amount of material available including books, workbooks and flashcards as well as musical instruction and computer games. The diversity in the educational material allows children to have fun while they are learning. As a parent myself, I have found that the hardest part of learning for children is keeping them focused. By having a diverse collection of educational material, kids will always feel challenged and stimulated.
Educational programs are specifically beneficial to home school parents or parents who have children struggling at school. Children who struggle with reading, writing and math at a young age will have a harder time in school in future years. Educational programs allow parents to work with their children one on one, and expose them to a different method of teaching then in their classroom. Giving that specific attention to your kids and combining it with diverse, interactive and stimulating educational material will facilitate your kid's growth in education.
The question is: There are many educational programs out there, but which one do you choose? I have had tried many educational programs for my own children. I have found the best brand out there is Hooked on Phonics. This company had a large amount of material to choose from that you can purchase based on your kids needs. They also provide several programs designed for kids between the ages of 3 - 10 which targets reading, writing and math. They have even created educational activities for babies and toddlers!
When purchasing any educational material for Hooked on Phonics, buying online at HookedOnPhonics.com will provide you with the best price for the product. This is what I have found when buying educational material for my own children.

A Parents Guide - How To Improve Your Children's Education And Grades

A primary responsibility for all parents and guardians is to ensure their children get the best education possible, thereby increasing their children's chances of leading successful, independent, adult lives. Regardless of what grade level your children are in now, Elementary through High School Graduation, there are important steps all parents must take in order to help their children do well in school. Unfortunately, many parents expect school teachers and school systems to carry the entire responsibility of educating their children, allowing other activities and family matters to supersede this vital area of children's lives. So, what steps can you take, as the parent or guardian, to better improve your children's education?
Priorities And Setting Goals-
Communicate to your children the value and importance of working hard each and every day, setting achievable and attainable goals, being sure to lovingly encourage and praise your children for each goal achieved. Some parents have a tendency to criticize and berate their children for grades received, labeling their children as "Stupid", "Lazy", and other demeaning names which only create poor self-esteem. Having high expectations for your children to "do their best in school" can only be accomplished by taking steps to build up your children's self-confidence. While your son or daughter may be very good in math or spelling, but struggle with reading or biology, be consistent in your praise for their good education skills. Remind yourself of the old adage, "If you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all".
Identify Problem Areas-
If your children exhibit poor performance in studies, observe your children closely and ask them questions to identify problem areas and offer helpful solutions. A few examples of common problems some children have are:
  • Spending too much time on extra-curricular activities
  • Waiting until the last minute to work on homework assignments
  • Difficulty in understanding study material and teacher objectives
  • Slow reading skills or undiagnosed health issues
  • Poor diet and sleep patterns - tired and irritable
  • Difficulty interacting with other children - being bullied at school
Family Routines-
Studies show that parents who create and maintain family routines raise successful students, versus parents that don't. The study environment is an extremely important aspect of providing your children optimal opportunities for success in school. Where do your children study and complete homework assignments? Consider having your children study and do their homework at a table or desk, rather than curled up on the couch where they are likely to fall asleep. Provide a calm and quiet atmosphere to read or study, without the distractions of a radio or television playing in the background. Make it your family routine that homework assignments must be completed before play time with friends, chores, or other activities.
Provide A Tutor-
There are many benefits to providing your children a Tutor. Providing your child/children a Tutor is an excellent way of showing your children that their education is of vital importance to you, especially if you did not receive optimal education yourself, or you have forgotten portions of subjects your children are currently studying. Opportunities for your children to receive direct, 1-on-1 tutoring, helps alleviates stress and worry for many children, and has been proven to greatly increase grade scores.
Maintain Parent/Teacher Relationship-
When was the last time you attended your children's P.T.A meeting, or the Parent/Teacher Conference held at your children's school? Waiting for your children's school to inform you of how your children are performing or behaving in school, rather than your actively seeking consistent involvement, quickly teaches your children the wrong message. Spend ample time with your child's teacher, through face-to-face meetings, telephone conversations and email exchanges, keeping yourself informed of your children's progress at school. Set the right example, get involved.
What Else Does Family Involvement Include?-
Family involvement takes into account many things. Read to your child. Have your child read to you. Have your child see you reading. Limit time spent viewing television or playing video games. Take time to do activities together, such as playing cards or board games, gardening, going to the park or zoo. Find opportunities to use fun times as an educational tool for your children's benefit, as well as your own. It's never too late to improve your grades.

Educational Benefits Of Children's Puzzles


Education Software For Children and Adults

Education software is available on an incredible number of topics for children and also for adults. There are software programs for children from infants to teenagers in reading, math, geography, foreign languages, art, music and many other topics. Children's education software allows them to learn through interactive play on the computer.
For adults, software can be found for achieving many educational goals, including adult literacy, foreign languages, and learning to play a musical instrument.
Children's Software Featuring Popular Movie and TV Characters
Some popular animated characters in children's movies and television shows are in education software made by various companies. Winnie the Pooh, for example, stars in Disney's preschool software that teaches the alphabet, numbers, colors, and sorting. Disney/Pixar has software for grades 1 and 2 that features Buzz Lightyear, the popular character of the movie Toy Story. Blue, the dog in the television show Blue's Clues, is featured in several preschool and kindergarten software programs that are produced by two companies: Humongous and Infogrames.
Software Featuring Popular Children's Book Characters
Clifford the Big Red Dog, a well known character in children's books, is featured in software produced by Scholastic Books. The Magic School Bus, a popular science cartoon book, is featured in science software produced by Microsoft. The ever-popular book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seus is featured in The Learning Company's software for reading, rhyming, and skills.
Other Creative Children's Software
There is also software that is very engaging and educational, although it does not have popular characters from books and the media. The On Track line of software produced by School Zone Interactive offers numerous reading and math products for children. Lego Media has educational software for preschool and kindergarten that feature lego people and buildings. Jumpstart software, which is produced by a company known as Knowledge, is designed for every grade of elementary school. Knowledge also introduces children aged 5 to 7 to music in software called Adiboo: Discover Music, Melody & Rhyme. Topics Entertainment is one of the few software companies that offer programs for older children, such as Math and Science Excelerator for children aged 8 to 11. An excellent software program for introducing children to foreign languages is: "KidSpeak Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese," made by Transparent Language.
Adult Education Software
There are many companies selling a wide variety of software programs for adults. The most well known adult software for foreign languages is made by Rosetta Stone. The Education Activities Software company offers a series called Reading in the Workplace, with versions for jobs such as clerical, health care, electronics, and food service. The EAS math software includes programs for algebra, integers, geometry and also a program on Math for Everyday Living. The science software has topics such as: Photosynthesis; Genetics and Heredity; and the Human Body. Many companies offer software to help people study for the GED test, which is equivalent to a high school diploma. There are many software programs that teach people how to play a musical instrument. Piano instruction software, for example, is sold by Adventus, eMedia, Alfred Publishing, and Selectsoft.