Fun History Lessons…

http://www.chrisdunmire.com/articles/rockford-sock-monkey.shtml

Learn how to improve your drawing skill in no time…

http://www.drawingcoach.com/

Creativity is messy so others may ask, “what the heck are you doing?”

Find your answer here:
http://www.creativity-portal.com/articles/artofthesong/creativity-messy.html

Join Jill, Queen of “Just Get Started”…

http://www.creativity-portal.com/bc/jill.badonsky/just-get-started-muse.html

Make a Summer Mini-Book.  Inside pictures are found at Two Peas in a Bucket

Looking for a Leadership Development Plan is a worthy cause because there are so few leaders today. As we look at the younger generation, it is difficult to find the leaders of tomorrow. Today’s schools prepare our young people to follow: to follow their teacher, to follow their employer and to follow their leader. Following isn’t a bad thing, unless everyone becomes followers.

As you look at today’s school, it is easy to discover they are not preparing your children to think and lead. Multiple choice and true-false tests only give students an opportunity to tell back to the teacher what the teacher is thinking. More time is spent in our public & private schools to send students down the conveyor belt of education, requiring each student to do the same as the “generic” student. This does not train your children to think for themselves, but to learn specific facts and data.

The school systems do not provide opportunity for thinking and discussion which is absolutely necessary for future leaders. You must change our view of schools and education so we actually train your children to become strong leaders who make positive changes in our society.

To develop leaders, you must start at the beginning. Let me give you 3 steps of a leadership development plan

Step 1 - Character Building
A strong leader must be strong in character. Thus, you must begin your leadership development plan with character building. Character qualities such as integrity, work ethic, perseverance, courage and honesty should be established as quickly as possible. When you establish perseverance and courage in a young person, he is ready to become a leader who can weather the trials ahead. Instill strong character in a young person and you will prepare them for leadership as an adult.

Step 2 - Develop a Love of Learning
It has been said by many leadership coaches to lead you must read. Reading and learning are a natural part of every leaders’ life. For many teachers and home educators, this may be a new concept. It is more important to develop a love of learning than to pass the next standardized test. Standardized tests usually develop a “hate of learning”.

Your students should love learning and you can help by changing your approach to teaching. Spend time reading really cool books that draw your students into the lessons of the story. Treasure Island, Anne of Green Gables and Call of the Wild are some of our favorites over the years. Use games to teach concepts instead of worksheets. Take time to explain the “reason why” a child is learning a concept. When given a reason why, children are much more excited about what they are learning.

Henry Doherty said it best, “Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.”

Most of all, you need to be an example. When you love learning, your students will follow your example. It’s that simple.

Step 3 - Mentoring
To become well-rounded adults who are able to lead, mentoring is the best option. Mentoring should occur in two arenas: academic & real life. With academics a mentor should take their students through a process that teaches them to learn independently.

The best way to learn independently is to read, write and discuss. Students and mentors choose a book to read. Each day they keep a reading journal about what was read. On a regular basis, mentors lead a discussion about the book they are reading. Students use their notes or reading journals to guide them in their discussion. Open-ended, Socratic discussions develop deep critical thinking skills in students. The ability to think through lessons in books prepares students to think through problems as leaders.

Real life mentoring is also important as you raise leaders. During the teenage years, students should seek out opportunities to work with a mentor in the field of their choice. By doing so, they will learn invaluable skills in their area of interest and be more prepared for the future.

In summary, it is vital to develop strong character in children as they prepare to lead those around them. Equally important is continuous learning. A love of learning should be established early. Independent learning should continue through the teenage years.

Cicero stated it well. “Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes in; read as one goes out.” The task of the educated mind is, simply put: READ TO LEAD”

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You may share or reprint this article, as long as you do not change any of the article and include the following bio in full.

Kerry Beck is the author of Raising Leaders, Not Followers and Teach Your Children “How to Think” with Mentoring. Featured in magazines, radio shows and podcasts, she would like to give you a free report called “What is Leadership in Education?”

I received this article from Marcia of Get Organized Now.  Hope this helps!

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When you prioritize, you’re determining what needs to get done and in what order you should perform those actions. Very often, one may concentrate on getting lots of easy tasks done. But just because you’re crossing off tons of items on your To Do list, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re completing the important stuff–the tasks that will help you achieve your goals.

1. Look into the future. What do you want out of life? Do you want to play guitar well enough to be able to perform for your children? Do you want to travel the country? Do you want to have a beautiful vegetable garden in your backyard? While it is certainly important to get your day- to-day things done, it’s also important to schedule in time for activities that will help you achieve the ‘higher level’ goals you’ve set for yourself.

2. Make a Master List. This is simply a long running list of everything you want to accomplish. It’s in no particular order, but is essentially a holding place and a reference so you don’t forget any activity and so you’re not trying to remember everything that needs to get done.

3. Scan your list and assign A, B or C. Assign each activity one of the following letter codes:

A - Those activities that are important AND urgent and will impact you greatly if you don’t accomplish them right way.

B - Those activities that are important to be done, but not urgent. You have time to accomplish them before they have a great impact on your life.

C - Those activities that may be nice to do sometime, but if you don’t do them you wouldn’t be terribly disappointed.

4. It’s not set in stone. Your letter assignments may change over time. Just because you assign an B priority to one of your activities today, doesn’t mean it has to stay a B priority. It may turn into an A priority or a C priority in the future. Use your priority assignments as a guide, but don’t be reluctant to change them if the need arises.

5. Focus. Now it’s time to focus on just a few activities listed on your Master List. You’ll want to include a mixture of activities on your Daily To Do list. I recommend you choose three A priorities, two B priorities and one C priority. Each day, you’ll have a total of 6 activities to focus on.

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P.S. Get organized once and for all! You can be Finally Organized, Finally Free. Get 2,175 organizing tips, ideas and techniques to help you organize your home, your time and your life! Visit:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/foffhome.html

P.P.S. You can be Finally Organized, Finally Free at the office too! Visit:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/foffoffice.html

Do you know what “nonage” means?  I learned this morning because I signed up for daily words at dictionary.com.  I thought one word a day might help my vocabulary.

Nonage means a time of youth or immaturity.  Thomas Paine uses it here:

It occasionally puts children over men, and the conceits of nonage over wisdom and experience.
– Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man

This reminded me of the way our society views youth.  Youth is elevated above anything else, especially wisdom and experience.  When raising a true leader, they will seek wisdom and experience and not rely on their nonage.

I just realized I forgot to tell you the secret button to click so you don’t have to pay full price for Making Math Fun.  Sorry about that.  To buy all the Math games for half-price, here’s what you need to do.

1.  Click on this link:  http://math.familye-biz.com

2.  Click the book icon in the upper left hand corner to pay only $13 for the entire package.

3.  DON’T click on the buy button at the bottom of the page.  If you do, you will pay the full price of 27.97

July is Ice Cream Month, so let’s celebrate!

Make your own homemade ice cream … in a coffee can!   Here’s the recipe I found at about.com

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1-pound coffee can with lid
* 1 3-pound coffee can with lid
* 1 pint of half and half (milk can be used instead)
* 1 egg, beaten (optional)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup, or 1/4 cup of strawberries

PREPARATION:
Add all of the above ingredients to the 1 pound coffee can; mix well. Put the lid on the coffee can and secure with duct tape. Place the 1 pound coffee can into the 3 pound coffee can. Surround with crushed ice and rock salt and place the lid onto the 3 pound coffee can.

Have your kids sit on the ground and roll back and forth 3 to 4 feet apart. Roll for 8 to 10 minutes. (The kids can kick the can back and forth as well.)

Check to see if the ice cream is hard; if it isn’t, replace the lid, add more ice and rock salt. Roll for another 8 mins.

Remove the lid to the 1 pound can and serve in bowls.
Serves 4-6 people.

I posted some other ice cream fun on my blog right here:
Ice Cream Month Celebration

Blessings,
Kerry

ps.  If you missed the 1/2 price Making Math Fun, Teresa told me she would extend the sale for my customers.  Here’s the link to get Making Math Fun at half the price…only until Saturday, July 21.

Making Math Fun