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The Typical Contents of a (search) Diaper Bag

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By Marlin Rollins

 As a business owner and mom, I regularly commute between my home office and a rented office space. Sometimes I begin to feel like a baggage handler by the time I make it to the office. Believe me, toting a laptop computer, diaper bag, stack of files, lunch for the day and my infant son is no easy task. I am hoping it counts as exercise though!

The diaper bag I carry seems to have taken on a life of its own as it has grown to its capacity. It definitely holds more than baby items. It is my lifeline!

I recently went through my bag hoping to scale down a bit. Here are some of the items I found:

Diapers and Wipes and other baby things (it IS a diaper bag after all)

Cell Phone (doubles as a teether, but don’t forget to lock your keypad so baby can’t call Tokyo)

Tylenol For Baby

Tylenol For Me (or something stronger)

Business Cards

Energy Bars (sometimes lunch is a luxury)

Telephone Headset (device that allows you to breastfeed, talk on the phone and work on the computer at the same time).

Loose Change (usually left over from a McDonalds drive-thru trip)

Crayons and a Coloring Book (to keep my 4 year old occupied while I’m on the phone with clients)

Dollar Bills (to bribe my 4 year old while I’m on the phone with clients)

Duct Tape (for emergencies only….again with the 4 year old and being on the phone with clients)

Sandwich Bag full of Cheerios (for baby and sometimes the energy bars aren’t enough)

To Do List (in case you actually find time to work)

In my attempt to scale down, I realized I just needed a bigger diaper bag. I see no reason to fight it. My needs will only increase as my son gets older and more mobile. Diaper bag designs will just have to evolve to work for me!

Right now I am thinking one with wheels would be good. I can picture it now: a huge diaper bag on wheels that will hold all of the above items, plus my files, my laptop and my lunch with an infant seat mounted on top for my son.

In all seriousness, diaper bags have come a long way since my daughter was born. I did end up scaling down a bit and began shopping for something a little more sophisticated. Something without a bunny design would be a great start! I was really pleased to find a great selection of fashion forward bags for moms. They are functional yet hip! The available fabrics are out of this world and you can find every style and size imaginable. I finally settled on a bag that fits both my mom and business owner lifestyles. I feel like a million bucks now.

Well actually, a million bucks is a bit of an exaggeration. The diaper bag was a tremendous improvement to my “look” but I will still need to do something about my ponytail and sweatpants. That will have to be a different article.

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Homeschooling: What to Teach and When

By Hong Kirby

 Homeschool parents benefit from technology to enhance and complement traditional ways of teaching on school campus. There are several educational software and teaching packages that can help develop a curriculum. The internet is a very useful means that is full of educational resources; online dictionaries, libraries, encyclopedias and museums.

Depending on your State’s homeschooling law, the following may apply:

1. School officials can inquire about the parents’ qualifications to instruct or teach their child; however instructing parents do not necessarily need to have a particular educational qualification. A high school graduate or less can instruct the child, provided that she has the capability and a sound mind.

2. Children in the elementary level should be taught the following: English, which includes reading, spelling and writing; math, geography, science, civics, history, physiology and health, music, physical education and art.

3. Children in the high school level, should be taught the following: English, which includes speech, language, literature and composition, science which will include chemistry and biology; social studies, geography, economics, history of the U.S.A, world history, mathematics which will include algebra, geometry and statistics; music, art, physiology and health, physical and safety education.

4. School officials can inquire regarding subjects that the child should study, demand the length of homeschool year, and allocate instruction hours for every subject.

While they can determine instruction hours for every subject, they should not control the method in which these subjects are to be taught.

This means that homeshooling parents can determine and evaluate instruction hours based on their method of homeschool, not necessarily to be able to imitate the public school, rather equal and match it according to efficiency and systematic approach.

In homeschooling, it is up to the parent to determine the child’s intellectual needs. Subjects to be taught do not require specific hours of teaching, although each subject needs an allotted time, in order for the child to absorb fully what is taught.

Moreover, schedule keeping is not a significant factor in homeschooling where usage and understanding of time are so much different.

5. School officials can recognize and classify instructional materials, only for the reason of determining the subject and the child’s grade or level. They should not utilize this right to demand the way or style of teaching, with which subjects are to be taught.

When the child is having difficulty in a certain subject, for instance in reading, then the parent should allow longer hours for reading allowing the child enough time to learn that particular subject.

On the subject that the child willingly and easily learns and grasps, the parent may shorten the time spent on that subject and allocate the extra hours for subjects which the child finds hard to comprehend, to subjects that the child poorly progresses on.

At homeschooling, the child can take the time to learn and explore each subject at his/her own speed, in his or her own capacity. And the parent can find creative ways to make learning and teaching fun.

A few efficient and helpful teaching materials that are not tangible, such as community service, travel, visits to parks and museums, etc., will definitely grant significant learning skills and knowledge aside from those learned from books.

6. Parents and school officials must reach an agreement on a system of evaluation or assessment for the child; either standardized testing, periodic reports on the child’s progress or dated samples of work.

Determine your child’s learning ability and style so that:

1. You’ll know what approach to use or be well equipped in teaching them. It is a wrong notion that some parents have, to presume that their kids learn the way they do. For example, when parents are visual learners, they also expect their children to be visual learners. Just remember that children are different individuals; usually having distinct learning styles compared to their parents and even their siblings. The sooner that you learn and comprehend each child’s learning style the sooner that you can effectively teach them.

2. You’ll be prepared to decide on a curriculum for homeschooling. If you are not familiar with your child’s learning styles, there is the possibility that you will select a curriculum that can not be an effective tool for your child’s learning.

3. You can better identify and understand your child’s educational needs. When children fail to effectively communicate, they, much like everyone else, get upset and discouraged. However, if you understand your child’s learning styles, you can be able to assist your child to understand themselves better, enabling them to interact and correspond better with their peers.

Understanding their learning styles and their capabilities will enable you to determine how many hours they need for each subject; homeschooling does not require strict hours of teaching your child in any subject. It all depends on how well your child progresses; if he can do his math in less time in regard to the curriculum set for him, then good. If you feel he needs to spend more time in reading, then he should.

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Obama Grants: Encouraging Moms to Get a Degree

By Fred Jackson

 Despite the fact that higher education is important, there are often a number of obstacles that can hinder potential students from enrolling in college. For single mothers especially, family obligations and financial concerns are often at the top of this list. Obama grants meant to encourage mothers to return to college to earn a degree attempt to ease some of the concerns associated with going to college.

In many cases, the purpose of federal grants is to help disadvantaged groups to attend college. One endowment often given to low-income students is the federal Pell grant. The benefits of Pell grants have been increased in order to be a greater help to potential students, since the Obama administration has stated that it places a high priority on education. In particular, working moms are especially encouraged to apply for the Scholarships for Moms program, which is just a title given to a portion of the standard Pell grant program. By equipping low-income mothers to earn a degree, the administration believes that this will provide a stimulus to the lagging economy, and be of great benefit to the families of those mothers, as it will increase their earning power in the work force.

While the cost of education is high these days, $5,000 from a Pell grant may not seem like a lot of money, but it can be a help when you consider the other expenses associated with going to college. As well as books, supplies, and housing, a student has also travelling expenses to pay. For a single mom, other miscellaneous expenses may also include childcare. A great advantage of the Pell grant award is that the money awarded does not necessarily have to be applied to college tuition. Providing the expense is vital to obtaining an education, it can be covered by the grant money.

It must be remembered that this program doesnt cater specifically to traditional students; it provides opportunity for traditional and non-traditional students alike. Mothers who want to return to college to earn a degree are just as welcome as a student who is fresh out of high school. Consideration is given equally to potential students who would prefer to go to a small community college as well as mothers who would like to stay home and take care of their children while taking online courses. The most important thing is that all willing students are able to earn a degree that will provide them with significant opportunity in the job market.

Obama grants are purely an effort by the current administration to show that education truly is the key to a bright future. Everyone from young adults to working mothers has a chance to go to college, by the allocation of a significant amount of money to pay for education.

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Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 7:00 pm and is filed under education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.