The Negative Effects of the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana on Students

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The hot topic for voters around America seems to be whether or not we should legalize Marijuana. It has become popular belief that not only is Marijuana safe it should be legal. While no one can say for sure if these claims are definitively true, we can apply what we do know to make the right decision. What exactly do we know; and is this safe for our children? The side for legalization never really discusses marijuana use in children and young adults. There is great concern in this area as more and more information becomes available but there is still so much we don’t really know for sure yet. 

What are some of the concerns with legalization of marijuana and the youth? 

We all know how important it is for children to practice good eating habits, get healthy amounts of exercise, and drink plenty of water. We also know that cognitive health is just as important. Especially in the adolescent years when the brain is very active as so many changes are taking place. Research is suggesting now that teens who smoke marijuana may experience future problems with memory, learning, even thinking! Studies have also shown students using marijuana are less likely to finish high school as it clouds their ability to concentrate effectively making learning and keeping up with their studies very difficult. A quick “Google” search will pull up several studies of this nature for more information. 

 Just like cigarette smoke, smoking marijuana is harmful to your lungs. Some studies have reported it could be worse though it has not been confirmed, merely suggested. The fact that we just don’t have enough information is another area of grave concern. We don’t fully understand yet how this will affect students in their adult years to come. Studies have not had time to mature and record the data. When a student is involved in smoking Marijuana they’re risking their future on hopes that the people who claim it’s harmless are right. If they’re wrong, they may pay dearly for a childhood mistake. 

 Consider now the teenager learning to drive. When you first got your learner’s permit and drove the family car, you were probably anxious, nervous and very scared. This is a healthy reaction. This fear heightens your senses which helps keep you safe. Imagine now a 15 year old learning to drive under the influence of marijuana who has no anxiety, fear, or nervousness. His senses have been dulled. He doesn’t notice the car that blew past the stop sign coming their way. I don’t need to fill in the rest. The years spent as a child are important years for learning. If the child is sedated with Marijuana, the child may struggle to keep up with his or her peers. 

 When we decide to legalize marijuana, we are putting it in our stores. Putting it in our stores means much easier access for everyone. Even if you put an age restriction on marijuana there’s always the store clerks who fail to check IDs or friends with older siblings who buy things for them. While keeping it illegal does not solve the problem of students using marijuana it at least makes it not quite as easy to get to. 

Some fun ways to teach children first aid

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Have you ever thought of the type of activities your kid may enjoy in your absence? Well, if you didn't know, this is the fact. Those kids at times indulge in rough games they play in your absence. It is not every time they do it in the presence of adults. It is safe to train your kids on first aid tips on the kind of potential accidents they may be involved in. They are kids you know! Unless you look for fun ways of teaching them, there is nothing they will ever learn in something as boring as first aid lessons. Some fun ways of doing it include the following: 

1. Be a playing doctor

Kids learn best while in a relaxed state and in a fun environment than when they are closed into a learning atmosphere. The kind of games you play around with them should be educative. Play doctor is one of the common ways to teach your children first aid. While playing with them, act as a doctor. Real blood may scare them, so you can look for something that looks like blood. Create a situation of incidence of a fake wound and treat it as if it were real. There are a lot of things that you can do to demonstrate what happens during first aid. Just make the environment relaxed and lively. 

2. Make a first aid kit accessible

Most families have a first aid kit but the problem is that the kit is far from the reach of children. Do not do this. Make it accessible and ensure that the kids know the purposes of each item in the kit. At times, allow children to play with the contents of the kit. I know they may misuse the contents especially the detergents and cream. Give room for this. Until they touch the kit for fun, they will never get closer to it even when they need to use it. Make sure you monitor their activity with the first aid kit since some contents should be kept out of the reach of children.

3. Make a priority list

Children are very impatient naturally. Some may not even sit and listen for more than ten minutes. This should not stop you from teaching them first aid tips. Definitely not. You can divide your lessons into very small subtopics and make a priority list on how you are going to handle the course. For instance, you can start with how to stop wounds from bleeding, as you go, proceed down to dealing with swellings. This way, your kid will not get bored with the training. Start with the exciting or intriguing stuff.

4. Choose your words carefully during the training

You can choose whichever form of lesson you want. As long as you handle them well, you will always come to the results you aspire for. What matters is the language you choose? The training should be free from threats in any form. Ensure that as you are training kids, you are not telling them that accidents will occur. Rather, you are only telling them that it might occur. In other words, do not scare them that they will come across accidents even the minor ones. This will bring fear to kids and will block them from understanding anything out of fear. Make it as relaxed as possible. You are training them not building fear in them! 

Reasons students should have a longer summer holiday

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Like anyone else students also need a break from books for a while before resuming to the routine. Public and private schools have short summer holidays of about 3 months. It is important for students to have a longer summer holiday because of the following reasons; 

Firstly, students will spend more quality time with family and friends. It is important for students to catch up with their family members and friends so as to have a healthy relationship with them. For this to happen, there is need of a good number of days after being in school for a while. 

Secondly, long summer holidays help in reducing stress long accumulated stress in students. After going through stress of attaining good grades in class, a long summer holiday will be an ideal way of relieving some of that stress. It will help students to return to a normal mental state. 

Thirdly, during holidays older students take part in part-time work to earn some money; therefore a long summer holiday is of benefit to such students who are learning to be independent. These jobs that they do during the holiday helps them with job experience even after school. 

Fourthly, a longer summer holiday is good for kids to explore and try new things. Many kids go camping during the holiday; this is important for development even outside the classroom since they learn many new things. 

Fifthly, during holiday some parents travel with their children to explore the world. Longer summer holiday can be beneficial for such long trips. It makes children to bond with their parents and also get enough time to enjoy a different environment and to learn new things that the world offers. 

The sixthly reason why students should have longer summer holidays is to reduce chances of developing burnout. Much work in class with short holidays may result to burnout which may lead to poor performance in class and so it is only fair that the kids should have longer summer holidays to relax. 

Seventh important reason for long summer breaks is it ensures that parents have a good time with their children as it helps in a child’s development. Children are taught life skills that are rarely taught by teachers in school. Therefore a long period will enable parents to notice any developing negative behavior in their children and try to correct before it gets out of hands. 

Eighth reason is that during holidays, parents normally plan the family finance and school fees is taken care of ,therefore longer summer holiday will enable them to take their time in budgeting for the family and prepare the fees before the kids return to school. 

Ninth reason why the students should have a longer summer holiday is because everyone enjoys leisure time especially kids and they should have quality time for leisure so that when they re-embark on books they get to focus more. 

The final reason why longer summer holidays could be great is the fact that they lower the financial burden on schools. Reducing a month or more off the school year means less expense on teaching and school resources. This saves money both for institutions and parents. 

Although having long summer holidays is still a debatable subject, it has it benefits which you have so far seen in this article. 

Problems associated with teaching religion in public schools

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There have been many varying opinions if religion belongs in school. Most public schools in USA are not permitted to teach or preach religion or spread any religious information. Many people including lawmakers state that it is dangerous to teach religion in a public school. 

 The Law 

 According to the McCollum vs. Board of Education case in 1948, a decision was made by the United States Supreme Court, stating that religion is banned from being taught in public schools. This ruling was based on Jim McCollum who was a child in elementary school that did not participate in religious classes. He was persecuted along with his family and isolated from his peers. The outcome was that religion should be left up to parents to pass on to their children and not the public school system. This led to the separation between Church and State, stating that religion should not be taught in a public school and should be left at home. If a school teaches religion they are in direct violation of the law. 

 School is For Everyone 

 According to the law, everyone is welcome in a public school. All students are entitled to free education. Religion in school often goes with the beliefs the majority of people practice and in the United States, it is the Christian religion. If a student does not follow this religion they can be singled out. There are many denominations of the Christian religion whose teachings will not be for everyone. Students that are not practicing a particular religion can be excluded from school activities and courses that take place during the day. If a student is excluded it can further isolate them from their peers and they will not get the most out of their education. Public schools are funded by taxpayers. If the parent’s do not want their child to attend religious teachings in school they may be opposed to paying their school taxes. They may not want to support programs that force religion on their students. They may have an issue when it comes to tax laws and paying their share. 

 Religious Freedom 

 The United States gives everyone religious freedom and they have the right to practice any religion of their choice. A person has the freedom to choose their own religion and beliefs. If a school teaches religion then they are going against these freedoms that are in the Bill of Rights. 

 Teaching is a Fine Line 

 It is the job of the school and the teacher to make all students feel welcome and allow everyone to feel comfortable. A school is a safe place. Parents and students may feel uncomfortable learning about religion and they may feel uncomfortable with the religious ideas that are being taught to their child in a public school setting. This may further isolate students. 

 While many people value their religion and practice their beliefs, there is still the separation of the church and state. Religious teachings do not belong in public schools. If a student does not follow the religion being taught this can lead to further isolation and the student is not getting the most out of their education. Hence there is some logic behind excluding religion from public schools. However, parents who want to have their kids receive religious education have the choice of sending them to religious educational institutions. 

How to teach students to work in teams

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Teaching students to work in teams is instilling an essential life skill in them. Students learn best through teamwork. As their teacher or tutor you must structure the way teams are formed and how they function. You must know or have an estimated number of people you want students to work with. You must set goals for your groups and understand what you want your students to achieve by the time the teams exercise is over. To do so, here are some tips on teaching your students to work in teams.

Selection of group members

Know the right method to use for the formation of the groups. You may select members of different teams personally or give students a chance at choosing their group members. Some students may complain about the way the teams have been formed and may want to be reassigned to another group, but this should not be encouraged since in future they may be forced to be in a team with members whom they dislike or disagree on many issues with. 

Assign them a challenging project or topic 

The topic should require a lot of research so that every student will have a responsibility and have a chance to contribute to the teamwork. The project should require students to meet several times and work together towards completing their project. The project should have an oral presentation where at least everyone gets a chance to say something and they should have a presentation of their research, such as a poster. 

Assigning of responsibilities to each team members 

In a team, every member should have a role to pay for the team. There should be group leaders who make sure that the members are still aiming towards achieving the same objective. During the assessment the teacher should access each team member at an individual level to find out if the member did his part. 

Setting rules for the teamwork 

If they are holding a group discussion in a class, their voices should not be loud enough to disturb other members in the room they are holding their discussion. Teachers should ensure there are penalties in case team members fail to take on their responsibilities like attending the teams' meetings to ensure each member remains committed. 

A teacher should create time to monitor the groups 

A teacher or the lecturer in charge could sacrifice one of his lessons in a week to monitor how the teams a working. This will create room for members from different teams to do their presentations. The teacher can give guidance to the students to increase their skills on teamwork and even give assistance to the teams where needed so that they can meet their team objectives. 

Coaching students on teamwork skills 

When the teacher is in class, he or she should teach the students the importance of teamwork skills. Communication, conflict management, leadership and decision-making should be on top their lists. To enhance student teamwork skills, the teacher should spread multiple opportunities for teamwork skill building using simple lectures and practice exercises on topics including constructive feedback and active listening, followed by reporting and committing on their responsibilities to the team. 

Teaching students how to work in teams in a great life skill that will later serve students when they take on internship or holiday jobs. There is hardly any work environment this day that does not build on the ability to work in teams. Teacher can therefore apply the tips above in teaching students how to work in teams. If you have any other great ideas, feel free to share with is. 

How to prepare a conducive environment for homeschooling your kids

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'Back to school' is one of the sweet statements that parents would love to hear every day. This is the time most parents breathe with a sigh of relief, having reduced their responsibilities at home. Come on! Your child is not her teacher's responsibility. You got a role to play in preparing a conducive environment for homeschooling your child at home. Their education should continue even at home. Here are some simple ways of developing a conducive homeschooling environment at home: 

1. Have a reading culture

At the early stages of schooling, children tend to imitate people around them. This is one passive yet effective way of teaching a reading culture to your child. When they see you reading, they tend to have a look at their own book. You must not be asking for extra classes in school for your kid. There are books which can keep you on track. Once you develop a reading culture in the family, your children will always read without any struggle. 

2. Be organized

You can also minimize clutter if you want your children to study from home. Children tend to study in an organized environment, free from too many objects. You can give them a few books at a go and some toys. If you give them more than what they are supposed to use, they will get distracted. Avoid distraction as much as you can. Keep away what is not needed. Help a child to do one thing at a time. 

3. Keep things within reach

Do not keep anything that the child should use in any learning activity out of their reach. Make your shelves child-friendly. Remember, once you have established a learning environment, make what is needed available since children will always study every time they feel like. Do not have a culture of locking everything, even the one which cannot harm them. 

4. Let the child try

You got to shift from doing things for your child to doing things with your child. There is a lot your child needs to learn apart from schooling. She can even learn how to carry out basic chores in the house. Instead of doing things for her, do them with her. This is how to make use of the curiosity of children. You will be surprised how a child will get interested in learning even at home. 

5. Unlock the inner teacher in you

Did you know that you have an inner teacher in you? Yes, you can unlock it. You should know you are the most experienced in handling the development of your child. There are a lot of courses you can take on early childhood development. Having such knowledge can help you to make a conducive environment for home-schooling based on the level of development of your child. You are a parent, but there is something in you that can help in teaching your child. The school teacher will never come home to create such an environment for your kids. It is you. 

Homeschooling is becoming a trend among parents across the world. While it is a great way to go, it is important to create favorable conditions for it to occur. Remember a school is already structured to handle schooling activities. A home on the contrary is not. Yet there is a lot of cheap material available online and in stores which you can use to transform your home to a conducive learning environment for kids. Above are a few ways to go but we there are definitely more methods you can find in homeschooling Facebook groups.

How to increase the brain power of your child

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The human brain has more than a hundred billion brain cells. Although the brain is relatively small it controls thinking processes, memory, learning emotions and other body functions. Intensive learning takes place in the early stages of our life. The brain of a child undergoes extensive fine-turning processes. While you can't predict the future of your child, you certainly play a pivotal role in harnessing your child’s potential from an early age.

How to increase the brain power of your child?

• Essential fatty acids

Essential fatty acids are necessary for promoting brain growth, development and maximum brain power. They also assist the ability of a child to learn new things and boost memory. Fatty acids are found in fish, nuts, seed oils, blue-green algae and eggs.

• Grains

Grains are Carbohydrates and the main source of energy for a child's brain. Don’t use highly refined carbohydrates that will cause drowsiness and interfere with the child’s blood sugar level. Check how a child’s concentration drops after consuming white flour products such as cakes, biscuits, donuts, white bread or any other high-sugar diet?

Even pasta, noodles or white rice can affect sugar concentration levels. The best sources of carbohydrates are from whole grains such as buckwheat, brown rice, oat, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and millet.

• Vegetables and Fruits 

Nutrients like minerals and vitamins transform the body's building blocks into beneficial materials for the brain. Some of the best brain vitamins are vitamin B6, B12, vitamin C and folate.

Children deficiencies have been linked to lower brain functions. Using some minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc are also essential. Deficiencies can lead to poor memory and reduced concentration. These minerals and vitamins are found in fruits, fresh vegetables, beans, seeds, wholegrain and nuts. Hence, you should include a wide range of wholesome natural and fresh foods to your child's diet.

• Stimulating the Right Brain

You may be aware of the many functions of the right brain, but what may not know is how the right brain gets stimulated. It is best activated by visual images, high speeds and a stress-free mood. What does this mean for educators and parents? The answer is simple - we adapt our teaching processes to help our children get in touch with their 'genius brain'! It means that in the early years, we should be harnessing right-brain strategies to teach, even on subjects that are typically accessed by the left brain such as languages and mathematics.

• Teach Reading with Flashcards

If you are using flashcards to teach reading, start with words that are familiar and often used around the house; and progress from single words to couplets, phrases, sentences and finally books! 

• Give your child enough breakfast. 

 Breakfast offers a child nutrients and the energy needed for the morning when school learning takes place.

• Enough drinking water

Ensure your child drinks enough water. A dehydrated mind is a foggy mind.

• Limit sweet foods

Stopping eating sweet foods will boost a child’s health hence improving the mind.

  • Discuss and share the information about healthy food

When you discuss, share information about healthy food choices and nutrition. Convince your child to eat healthy foods. Set a good example as a parent by eating healthily.

Applying these strategies consistently over a long period of time have been reported by most parents to work for both kids and adults. Let us know if you have other brain boosting strategies which could benefit other parents. 

How to get students to cope with the loss of a teacher

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Just as you would feel like giving up in life when you lose a loved one is the same way students can get discouraged if they lose a beloved teacher. Students who are so attached to their teacher would feel more discouraged and out of place if they lose their teacher. You should be there for such students. Nobody chooses to lose a loved one. Do not make the student go through more pain than what they are already going through. But how can you do this? Here are some tips! 

1. Allow students to attend memorial services

This is very critical when it comes to getting students to cope with the loss. Basically, it is more of an assurance to the students that indeed the teacher is gone and that there is nothing they can do to have their teacher back. The first stage of healing is usually the acknowledgment that indeed the teacher is gone. Some students will actually never get out of the situation until they attend the funeral. It helps them to accept reality and get closure.

2. Be as understanding as possible

You may not be feeling the pain to the same level the students are feeling. However, it is not time to show yourself as strong about the issue. Let the students feel that you are also grieving with them. This makes them feel normal to be emotional about the situation. Once they feel like what they are going through is normal, they will find themselves healing naturally. There is nothing as impossible as forcing a healing process. It never works. 

3. Give students time to grieve when necessary

There are many ways you can help students to grieve in a way that will lead to their healing. You know the students you are dealing with. Therefore, do not force them to get back to the normal routine. Nothing can ever be normal if you lose a teacher. Therefore, you can look for what can work well for them. For instance, you can give them a chance to write ‘rest in peace' notes in honor of the teacher. As they do this, they will cope with the situation. Let those who want to sob go ahead. After all, it may not last for more than a month. 

4. Do not compare anybody with the lost teacher

Whether the teacher looked bad or not, you may not know the position he or she held in the hearts of their students. Well, it is good to give them hope in the future but not make them feel like you were waiting for the demise of the teacher in question. If you start comparing a dismissed teacher to the ones who left in a manner to suggest that they are left with better teachers than the lost, they will be mad at you and this will hinder their healing. Just make them understand that as good as the teacher was, there is nothing that could have been done to save their life. 

5. Show some love and care

This is the time students will need much care. You know at this point they are fighting with nature and to some extent God. They feel like nature is against them. Do not join nature against them. Show them more love and care so that they can know that no matter what has occurred, someone still values them and thinks about them. Do not be too hard on them. It will just add more wounds. 

The healing process for any loss is slow and a lot of factors will facilitate the process. It is important for the school administration to take cognizance of this and put the right structures in place to deal with grief. Unfortunately, since this is a rare occurrence, most schools are ill prepared when it happens.

How To Get Children To Develop An Interest In Math At An Early Age

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Recent studies have shown that a child’s math skills at kindergarten are an excellent predictor of future academic success. There is no doubt that math is everywhere, and it can be fun, depending on how you play with it. 

As parents or guardians, there are a few ways that we can help our children develop an interest in math at an early age. This is great news to most parents since math can look scary when it is presented in the form of tests or quizzes. However, talking math in a fun and natural way can give your kids a head start and make them comfortable with most math concepts. 

1. Bake Something Together 

Algebra is an integral part of math. Fortunately, it is a concept that we use in most day to day activities. You can introduce your kid to the concept of fractions by baking something together. Whether its cake or cookies, you will both be required to measure recipes. You can start by talking about easy fractions such as ½ or a ¼ a teaspoon or cup. This way, your kids will be able to count with ease. Moreover, when it comes to baking, you will also have an opportunity to discuss aspects such as dividing or multiplying certain recipes. 

You could ask your child a math question like; how many ½ cups take to fill one whole cup? 

2. Measure and Count 

As mentioned earlier, math is part of our everyday life. One thing that kids really love is to count. Therefore, as a parent, you can create a habit of asking your kid to count and measure everything you come across. You could count how many chairs are at your dining table. Or, you could count how many cars are parked outside. When playing football, you and your kid could measure how far he/she can kick the ball. 

3. Build A Lego Together 

You have probably heard of the phrase that children tend to develop careers when they are young, right? Well, there is some truth in this statement. Building something together can help your child develop an interest in math. For instance, when building a Lego, you will have to count, add and subtract. This will allow your child to not only have fun but also incorporate math skills. 

4. Involve Math in Your Bedtime Reading 

Nearly every family has a policy where the young one gets bedtime reading every night. But, incorporating a math problem into it can direct your child’s interest in maths at a very early age. When we talk about involving math in your bedtime reading, we don’t mean that you read the multiplication table to your kid. 

You should find fun and interesting math-related stories. Thanks to the internet, you can find lots of these. You can then ensure that you read a math related problem to your kid at least thrice every week. At the end of the story, you could ask your kid what he/she has learnt. Or perhaps, ask some light questions from the passage. 

As simple as these methods may appear, they are quite effective when it comes to getting your child to develop an interest in math at an early age. There are plenty of other ways on how you can achieve this objective. The key is to encourage your kid to see the numbers around us in a fun and natural way. 

How to detox your child from addiction to electronic gadgets

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Over the past few years, our children and society at large have become addicted to electronic gadgets. Looking back at our childhood and reminiscing on all the time we spent outside either contributing to the society or getting in trouble, then we get a good laugh and wish our children can get to experience that. Research has shown that the effects of our addiction to technology can cause short attention spans, sleep deprivation, less physical activities and reduced person-to-person interaction. As a result, it has been recommended by the American Association of Pediatrics that a child gets a limit of 1 – 2 hours of screen time to ensure overall wellbeing and proper development of the child. As a result, the goal of most parents and guardians is to reduce their children’s over-dependence on electronic gadgets in this era of technology and all the pros and cons it comes with. 

Everything needs to be used in moderation and going by that, here are some ways to detox your child from electronic gadgets; 

Leading by example - Children tend to emulate what they observe from the community, thus if you create a gadget-free environment at your home where you limit or remove your electronic gadget use then your child will also do that. Encourage your child to create an electronic gadget free environment by acknowledging that it can be difficult to detox but also to take their suggestions of what could be done instead. 

Set rules – Every household has rules which range from removing shoes to doing dishes. Making an electronic gadget free-session can be a rule whereby no one is allowed to use any gadget during a family time such as during meals. This will strengthen the family bonds as you get to share your opinions and experiences. 

Go outdoors – What is better than the memories we make with friends and family under the sun? Going outdoors is fun and caters for everyone as the activities are endless. Depending on where you come from, you can go to the beach, go for a hike or even go out camping. Another wholesome activity includes volunteering with a charity where you will get to make friends and teach your child the importance of helping. Getting involved in sports is a wonderful option as the sporting options are endless and you get to promote physical fitness in the process. Other options include family picnics, planting a garden and even walking a dog. 

Indoor activities – These are good old-school fun activities. Playing board games with the family and even inviting friends is at the top of the list since the games can be educational, for example scrabbles. Learn new skills, for example, painting for fun, your child might be the next Picasso, cooking using both the family recipes and trying out new ones, making music by playing instruments like the piano, guitar, and flute. The list is endless but is sure to give a family bonding experience whilst encouraging new skills. 

Detox from electronic gadgets should be encouraged for both the young and old.