Why Choose Educational Toys

Children spend the majority of their time playing. Most everything learned during the early childhood years is accomplished through play so the toys available to a child are very important. There are a wide variety of toys available today that are labeled educational, but anything a child plays with that enhances their natural growth and development in a positive way can be an educational toy.

Electronic and computerized toys are typically what comes to mind when you think of educational toys. These toys can teach children numbers, letters, shapes, and even more advanced topics like dinosaurs or geography. Computer toys offer excellent educational benefits for school readiness skills, but they do very little to promote creative thinking or to enhance social and emotional development.

The best educational toys are those that invite children to explore a variety of ways to play with them. Simple props for dress up and pretend play allow children to create their own play scenarios. Boxes, tents, hats, and handbags promote creative thinking and enhance young imaginations. Children learn problem solving skills as well as social skills through dramatic play.

Toys like blocks or building sets are wonderful educational toys. Natural wooden building block sets help in the development of fine motor skills and stimulate creativity. Toys that allow a child to create whatever he imagines are very beneficial to healthy growth and development. Children can experiment with various shapes and sizes as they stack the blocks and learn which combinations stand and which fall over.

Art activities can be educational as well. Tearing paper or scribbling with crayons can not only be creatively stimulating to a toddler, but it strengthens small muscles that will soon be used for pencils and scissors. Markers, paper, and glue can quickly become a child’s masterpiece. Allow your child to direct his own art activities whenever possible. Children typically learn the most from self-directed play.

Jigsaw puzzles are one of the best toys for cognitive development. Board games teach a child to take turns and follow the rules while increasing language and counting skills. Children can eagerly explore new ideas and interests with scientific toys like microscopes. Word games enhance vocabulary as well as spelling skills.

The most tried and true educational toys are still books. Books create adventure and fantasy in a child’s life. Reading to your child and exploring books together can be the most beneficial tool in promoting education and literacy throughout life.

Children are very eager to learn during their early years. Their favorite toys will be things that are both fun and easy to use. Even ordinary household items like a spoon and a pot can become educational toys for little minds. Follow your child’s lead as you play together. Progress play with open ended questions that stimulate creative thinking in your child.

Not all toys provide educational benefits, but any item that invites a child to explore, create, or discover can be considered educational. Always choose toys that are appropriate for your child’s developmental level and try to provide toys that cater to his specific interests.

By: Nicole Munoz -

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For more tips on parenting and educational toys, please see our website www.thekidstoystore.com

Learn To Plan And Save For Your Child's Education

Paying for a child’s college education is one of the biggest expenses that parents will face in their lifetime, other than perhaps buying a home. Because of this, parents should take action early on and begin planning and saving when their children are newborns in order to make the most of their savings as well as eliminate any excess financial burdens from waiting until the last minute. There is a time scale of planning that parent’s should follow from 15 years until college until the day of college. This plan is very helpful and should be followed if at all possible.

When there are 15 years or more until college, then parents should open an Education IRA to save for their children’s college. This IRA has special restrictions and rules, so it is best to talk to your banking representative about the implications involved in this type of account. Also, when there are 15 years or more until college you may consider investing in some more aggressive funds. Aggressive investments should be reserved for this time period only because as the time for college nears you will want to ensure that the money is carefully guarded and not at risk.

When there are 10-15 years until college parents should start looking into prepaid college tuition plans. More and more colleges are offering this type of plan because the cost of tuition is rising exorbitantly and colleges want to offer parents an option for paying college expenses over a longer period of time. If you are not interested in this, then you could simply look into different savings plans supported by your state. This is a great help to many parents and should not be overlooked. In addition to this, during this time period you will want to ensure that any risky or aggressive investments are transferred to more conservative and secure investments.

When college is only five years away, you will want to make sure your investments correspond to the cost of college and that everything is stable and on the right track. If this is not the case, then you can either begin saving more aggressively during this time or rely on student loans to get your child through college.

When your child begins college if you realize you can pay for some of his or her education, but not all, then take out parent or student loans to make up the rest. However, take out the least amount of money in loans as possible. Although student loan interest rates are low, you will not want to be in more debt than necessary.

Finally, make sure you begin saving early and more than likely you will be able to meet your child’s education needs with little or no extra support like loans.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_840.shtml

Funding Part-time Education

Being a part-time student has advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it seems like every program is geared towards full-time students. How can you pay for your education and make both your budget and time work?

As a part-time student, you have some advantage over full-time students. You can work more hours during the school year to earn more money. However, you might be a part-time student so that you can take care of your children, or because you volunteer someplace. These are the times when it can be harder to fund part-time education.

Full-time students get a discount on tuition: generally, each of their courses is less expensive than each of yours. This means that you will be spending more money to go to school. Full-time students also have the advantage that they get more funding from scholarships, bursaries, and other sources. It’s disappointing to see “full-time status” as a requirement on so many applications.

You can apply for loans designed specifically for part-time students. You want to find a loan that best matches your profile. If you are working, you might be able to begin paying the loan back right away. If you are not working, then you will want a loan that you don’t have to pay back for at least a few years, and ideally until you have done your school. This isn’t a problem if you will one be in school two or three years (taking a one-year diploma or certificate, for example). However, if you are doing an undergraduate degree that takes four years typically, on a part-time basis this will likely take you six to eight years.

One way to finish your degree faster and still be a part-time student is to take classes during the entire year. Many full-time students only take classes for two semesters a year, or eight months. If you take half the classes for the full year, you will have done 75% of the courses a full-time student takes. This means that you will be done school sooner, and increases your chances of getting a loan that you don’t have to repay until you graduate.

The key to being a part-time student is time management. If you have kids at home, you will need to block out certain hours a week to work on school. If you are working full-time and taking courses on the side, it might seem like the reading is the least important thing for you to do. Keeping on top of your schoolwork now will make it easier when crunch time rolls around and you are doing exams, essays, and reports.

If you are going to school part-time to increase your skills for your job, you might be able to get your employer to pay for all or part of your education. Even if your education is not directly related to your job, you might be able to get special scholarships because of your association with your workplace. Ask your employer and ask your school about what is available.

Your school’s office of student awards and financial aid will be able to help you discover certain awards that are only awarded to part-time students. The Organization of Part-time University Students (or OPUS) can help you find work, find scholarships, and discover new ways to pay for your education. If your school is not affiliated with OPUS, you can check them out on the web, and go to your school’s equivalent department.

Time management skills will also increase your ability to earn money. This will help you pay for your education faster. And the skills that you develop in time management (organization, work ethic, planning) will also help you in your money management.

Manage your money wisely. It can be difficult when you are a part-time student and all of your friends are not in school. They might be out at the bars or shopping all the time, but you have to be realistic about what you can afford. Choose cheaper options, like having your friends over instead of going out, to help make your lifestyle fit your means.

Going to school part-time can be a lot of hard work, but the end result is ultimately rewarding. Explore your options with your school, with your bank, and with your employer to work out the best deal for you.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_851.shtml

Community College Is An Excellent Educational Bargain

It's not news to anyone that college costs are skyrocketing. The average cost of one year at a private college or university has risen to a shocking $31,465. It's no wonder that parents and students look at that number and wonder whether a college degree is in their reach at all. However, many families overlook the tremendous costs savings that could be achieved by attending a community college for two years. Tuition at community college is typically half that of a public institution and just one-tenth that of a private institution.

For many years, community colleges fought the image that they were the last resort for students who couldn't get in anywhere else and that their programs were not as challenging or comprehensive and those at larger colleges universities. Today, however, community colleges are thriving centers that not only provide state-of-the-art career education, but also provide a high-quality educational foundation for students who wish to transfer to a college or university after two years.

Because most colleges and universities, regardless of size, require students to take core courses in their first two years before choosing a major, taking these courses at the community college level will save money. Additionally, core courses at the university level are often held in large lecture halls with hundreds of students. At community colleges, class sizes rarely exceed 30 students. So, paradoxically, community college students receive more individualized attention yet pay much less for that privilege.

Instructors at the community college level are required to hold a Master's degree in their instructional area. Some have pointed to this as evidence that community colleges cannot provide the same quality of instruction as colleges and universities that employ professors with Doctoral degrees. However, very few of those professors actually teach the core courses that students take during their first two years of college. Additionally, community college instructors often have real-world employment experience that gives them a more practical perspective than university professors, who are immersed in the world of academia.

Transferring to a larger institution at the end of two years at community college is often easier than being admitted as a Freshman. Also, many states guarantee admission to their state colleges and universities to community college graduates who maintain a certain grade point average. Even prestigious Ivy League colleges like Harvard, Yale and Brown have accepted transfer students from community colleges.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_855.shtml

Educational Toys Take a Vacation

I walked to pick up my kids from school, another successful year of sports, educational toys and activities having been crossed off my list. Summer vacation was upon us and I was elected camp director for 2 months, having met the stringent requirement of a heartbeat and not being present for the vote.

Some may have been amused by the conspiracty, certainly the Cheshire cat grins on Jack 5, and Charlotte 7 were a clue, but the ear plugs and aspirin my wife gave me along with the first aid kit made me feel like the petrified slave awaiting his fate in the Collisseum tunnel in the move Gladiator.

Well, the joke would be on them I counterred. The kids thought discipline would vanish like Harry Potter on his Quiddich broom, and my wife pictured me tied like Rocky and Bullwinkle to a train track with 6 weeks still to go.

I knew I would face near mutiny if I tried to run an NFL style training camp, my preference, so I decided on a Meatballs meets Jacques Cousteau approach instead.

My objective was to keep up their learning but without the obvious educational toys that were a part of our activities the rest of the year, and also to let them have some unwind time and unstructured time that would test their imagination and organizational skills.

My first hurdle was their attention span. At that age it lasts about as long as they can keep one of Dad's secrets from Mom. So I deceided that we needed to keep moving, but not in a hot, noisy polluting car. No we would go green and bicycle everywhere this summer. My rationale was that we would come across a playground every 30 minutes, a street corner every 2 minutes and a new question every 7 seconds. A perfect match for their active minds.

I would let our environment be our cirriculum. Our first excursion was to the heart of our pretty little city, the beach. No problem I thought, we lived on top of a big hill only 10 blocks away. Heck, we could pack our swimsuits, towels and a lunch, there was lots of room in my backpack. So off we went.

Well, our first stop was -- the end of our court. A stop sign at the end of a quiet street which I always rode through without stopping, after looking both ways of course. "Stop Jacky, Stop" yelled Charlotte, evidently the only one mature enough to follow the rules of the road. Jack slammed his pedals backwards, threw his bike to the ground and thrust himself forward like he was running from the dentist. "Jacky, you have to stop at a stop sign, and you too Daddy", Charlotte said, making me feel 5 years old and 3 feet tall. "I didn't see it Charlotte", was Jack's excuse, I was frantically reviewing a series of them in my head to see which one might suffice. It was no use, I was as defenceless as a husband who had forgotten his anniversary. Best to take my lumps and make it up, big time. "You are absolutely right Charlotte", I said and proceeded to lecture them both on the rules of the road.

So off we went, down, down, down, coasting, braking, looking, stopping and coasting some more, all the way to the beach. This was great I thought. It was a hot day so a visit to the water park was due. As Jack and Charlotte jumped and squealed in the cool spray, I sat with all the moms on a vench reading a collection of People, Style, Better Homes and Gardens and Sports Illustrated.

Hunger was starting to set in, for me not the kids, so I yelled to them that they had 5 more minutes. Kids apparently don't understand regular converstion outside. We sat down on the grass and I pulled out our lunch, melted squished cheese and tomato on a bagel. "That smells like stinky feet", was Jack's observation. I had to agree and I quickly avoided any comments on its visual resemblances. "Dad, there's a hot dog cart over there", Charlotte pointed out. Without second thought I was slathering an assortment of mustard, ketchup, relish, onions, sauerkraut and hot peppers on 3 jumbo dogs. Energy replenishment I told myself, and since their mother was not ther to provide a thorough nutritional analysis, I was making this executive decision.

Back on our bikes we cruised the boardwalk, mile after mile alongside the blue gray waters, boats sailing past, all the while the sun shining brightly. Suddenly Jack again performed one of his daredevil dismounts, this time seemingly unannounced.

Like an oasis in the desert, I stood there hot, sweaty and parched staring at one of the most beautiful sights I could have imagined, an ice cream stand. Without saying a word, only a coy glance amongst the 3 of us, we found ourselves in an all out sprint, with a roller derby finish. Charlotte, with her advantage of height over Jack and youth over me was the clear winner.

We sat on a bench entranced, enjoying our ice cream, the warm breeze off the lake, warm sunshine and the best years of our lives.

Now, just a quick call to Mom, you didn't think we were going to ride back up those hills and ruin a perfect day, did you?

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/parenting/article_1248.shtml

Charlotte – Mecklenburg Schools Lead the Nation in Preschool Education Programs

One program in Charlotte Schools is focusing on the littlest learners. Recognizing that good learners begin early, education officials have developed an award winning preschool program called Bright Beginnings.

Bright Beginnings

The Bright Beginnings program involves full day, literacy based programs for four year olds in the Charlotte – Mecklenburg area. More than 3000 students benefit from the program at five education centers and fourteen elementary schools. Over time the program has spread beyond the public school system and has been integrated into preschool classrooms throughout the community by partnering with the Smart Start, Child Care Resources, Child Care Centers, and More at Four programs, which all target the education needs of preschool students.

Developing Pre – K Experiences

Teachers and program developers recognize the need for enriching experiences at the preschool level. Students at this age have very limited opportunities to explore the world around them, and the Bright Beginnings Program hopes to change that. By exposing children to new and different things, program developers believe that they can strengthen student vocabulary, a skill that they hope will carry over when the students learn to read. While many of these new experiences take place in the classroom, Bright Beginnings also encourages students with field trips to local learning centers, such as Discovery Place and ImaginOn.

Aligning Pre – K with Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction

Bright Beginnings has recently been incorporated under the North Carolina State Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction area. Teachers hope to build connections between what they do in the Bright Beginnings program and what students will need to do when they enter kindergarten. The new partnership seeks to produce students entering kindergarten who are better prepared to learn and kindergarten teachers with a clearer idea of what their students have been exposed to and how they can build on that knowledge as they move through kindergarten. The program has the potential to raise student achievement at every grade level, as better prepared students advance year to year. Bright Beginnings recognizes that as Elementary Education Standards increase, preschool student curriculum must as well. As the director of the program explains, “(Children) are expected to learn more. The standards have increased, not just in college and high school but in kindergarten too.”!


Professional Development for Teachers

As part of Bright Beginnings commitment to preschool education, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has used federal and state grant money to ensure that the teachers working in the program are highly trained and qualified. All teachers must be certified in early child development, meaning that they have studied children from birth to kindergarten.

National Recognition for Bright Beginnings

Several years ago, Bright Beginnings sold its award winning curriculum to Pearson Publishing. Through this partnership, the curriculum has been distributed nationwide and continues to grow in neighborhoods far from the Charlotte – Mecklenburg area. The director of the program credits Bright Beginning’s success to the continued dedication of teachers and developers to work towards better learning practices. She comments, “We’ve started some new things and we’re going to continue to build them. We have gotten great marks for our curriculum for years. (Charlotte – Mecklenburg Schools) is a leader in the nation.”

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_866.shtml

Grant Your Self A Better Education For Less

“I'm not going to college because I just can't afford it.” How many times do we hear those words form worried high school juniors and seniors. It's no wonder they think like that when tuition fees have been rising anywhere between 2% to as much as 26%. Before we all get lost in the Doom and Gloom there is a lot of GOOD news out there, you just have to know where to find it.

There really is an endless amounts of grants, scholarships and loans (those should be your last avenue), there really is no way a student cannot afford to attend college. Most students will be able to meet the following qualifications for a Pell Grant, (financial need), you must be attending a 4-year university you cannot be an inmate at a federal prison. That may well sound crazy but if your child is in a local penal facilities, they can still receive a Pell Grant. Nonetheless, if you meet those requirements, you are also eligible for the Academic Competitiveness Grants and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants.

You must as a high school student, actively participate in math, science, or a language. You can see the curriculum criteria by states at http://www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov. Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary, says that the purpose of this program is to involve students in what she calls the “global economy” of today's world. “Math, science and critical foreign language skills are the new currencies.”

More than 500,000 students will be receiving these grants throughout the nation which amounts to more than $790 million dollars. The grant payments can be an additional $750 during freshman year; $1,300 during sophomore year; and up to $4,000 during junior and senior year. So lets do some math on the subject, if a student attends a public California university (say UCLA), the tuition fees would be somewhere around $7,000 for an in state student. If that student is granted the $4,000 by their last year, just from the SMART Grant, that leaves $3,000. Now subtract another $1,000 from the Pell Grant itself, and we are left with $2,000 left outstanding to be paid, thats $38.46 per week, not too much for an education.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_888.shtml.