Education

Long ago, summer vacations were instituted for young people who were needed, by their family, for working on the farm, in the fields, or in the kitchen.  You know, places where few young people can be found spending their summers today.

Even today, for high school and college students summer vacations still serve a purpose.   A lot of kids use the summer months to work to save money for college.  But for the younger grades, the only purpose I can think of is convenience for family vacations.

The drawback to taking a few months off for summer vacation is that young brains tend to forget a lot of what they’ve learned.

According to Psychology Today.com:

University of Missouri psychologist Harris Cooper finds that children typically forget between one and three months’ worth of schooling during the summer. Math and spelling skills suffer the most, while reading is least affected by the break.

Now would be a great time to spend an extra hour each night with your little Einstein in the making.  Buy a few scholastic workbooks (you can find a great selection in the book section of just about any store and an even better selection at Teacher Supply Stores).  Even if your Eistein isn’t so little, extra mental activity is always a good idea.

Of course, the best thing to do is to stock up on these workbooks before the summer months and require a certain number of pages to be worked each week. Since most schools are already back in full swing, it’s too late for that.  Not to fret, though, you can still make up for lost time by grabbing workbooks and setting aside a little time each evening for a month or two.  Some parents and grandparents would balk at the idea thinking that it wouldn’t be a very ”kind” or “fair” thing to do to the child. (What they’re really saying is that it won’t make them very popular with the young person.)  But you and I know that it would be the most kind and fair thing to do for the child.  It could make a huge difference in their upcoming school year - give them a little edge (and that’s always nice to have.)

You really wouldn’t even HAVE to buy workbooks.  Plain, old-fashioned pencil and paper will do just fine.  Come up with 10-20 problems for them to work through each night and give little spelling quizzes.  The benefit with workbooks would be this:  You’d know the problems were age-appropriate.  However, if you’ve been following thier school work, you should have a pretty good idea what they should and shouldn’t know.  If in doubt, get out their papers and books from the previous year. 

Believe me, when they “get” problems that their peers are struggling with, you’ll gain that popularity back and then some. 

A really cool bonus is that you’ll be giving your own mind a nice little workout each night.  If the child is really young, you probably aren’t going to benefit from revisiting math or spelling on their level (unless your math skills are as loatesome as mine!), but when we challenge ourselves to explain something to someone else in a language they understand, we push ourselves outside of our own comfort zone - and that’s always a good thing to do, mentally.

As if we needed another benefit, let’s not forget the sweetness of extra quality time with some of our favorite people on earth!

Make each moment count double,

~ Joi

We adults make many and varied mistakes, you’ve got to give us that.  But one of the worst mistakes we make is when we get too comfortable and overly content with our knowledge.  When we stop challenging ourselves, mentally, we stop growing mentally.  That, as you can imagine, doesn’t lead anywhere worth going.

I’m not suggesting that we have to enroll in college classes.  In fact, the bulk of my own education hasn’t been acquired anywhere near a classroom.  What I’m suggesting is this:  Each day, go out of your way to learn at least one thing that you didn’t know the day before.  It’s as simple as that.   You could “tackle” a new subject each week (or month, depending upon the depth of the subject).

For example, when I was homeschooling our 3 daughters, we had our regular subjects each day.  But for the last hour of the school day, we had what we called “Unit Studies,” where we dove into subjects that varied by the week.  One of the funnest things we did, at the beginning of each school year, was to come up with the different subjects we’d be covering in our Unit Studies. 

The subjects (some weekly/some monthly) below are a few of the ones I recall off the top of my head:

• The Underground Railroad
• Tigers
• Mary Todd Lincoln
• Madagascar
• Cleopatra
• Bach
• Beethoven
• African Elephants
• Sharks  (I timed it to coincide with Discovery Channel’s always amazing Shark Week. Yay, me.)
• The Renaissance
• Vincent Van Gogh
• The US Government
• Shakespeare
• The Bronte Sisters
• Eagles
• Thomas Jefferson
• Dinosaurs
• Snakes
• Harriet Tubman
• Polar Bears

Etc… etc… etc…

Subjects such as these would make wonderful “Unit Studies” for all of us to pursue.  If we took a different subject each week and nightly  read online articles and/or library books about our subject - within a year, we’d be experts on over 50 different subjects! 

I know I don’t have to tell you how much our brains would love all that stimulation.  Quite frankly, it’d make us more rounded, much more interesting people as well.

You can use the subjects above, or round up some of your own that interest you. Listed below are my favorite educational websites. They’re the perfect place to find subjects AND informative articles.

My Favorite Online Educational Websites

• National Geographic
• Discovery Channel
• MSN Encarta
• History.com
• Algebra Help (I need all I can get)
• Extreme Science
• Science at NASA
• Smithsonian Education
• Animal Planet

Of course, you can also Google your subject and act accordingly. The main thing is to just get started and, then, to keep it up once you do.  Have fun with it.  Your brain is going to love every educational moment.

Make each moment count double,
~ Joi

The following is a sponsored post.  It’s been a while since I’ve done one, so let me remind you what thay means.  In a sponsored post, I’m paid to “review” a book, product, service, or website.  I’m not paid to like it or tell my readers that they’ll like it - simply to tell you what I think about it.  Fortunately for everyone involved, in my years of web publishing, I’ve noticed something - people who are willing to pay people to “see what they think” about their product or service usually have a great deal of confidence in what they’ve created.  If they didn’t, why would they risk it?!  I’ve noticed something else.  The confidence exists for a very good reason.

Tools To Life

People who are truly interested in improving their world are in a constant process of gathering information, books, and products (or tools) that will help them.  They know that the only way to improve their world is to improve themself.  After all, first things first, right?!

I’m excited to be able to tell you about one of the best Self Help Programs I’ve ever seen. Tools to Life is a completely free, online self help coaching system and support network that their publishers refer to as a labor of love.  They have been helping people loose weight, improve their relationships, resolve depression, overcome anxiety and get better careers for over 20 years!  They wanted to bring this success “online” so they could reach even more people ith Inspirational motivation  and community support.

The article archive is amazing.  The titles below are just some of the subjects covered:

• Why Go Vegetarian? - 12 highly compelling reasons are presented, and I was ready to board the train by number 5!
• Choices - Your Life is a Choice - Another one of my favorite articles is about the choices we make each day, whether or not we even realize a choice has even been made.
• Boost Your Metabolism, Lose More Inches - I don’t even have to tell you what makes this article a must-read, do I??  The title pretty much says it all.  If it’s not enough, I have another phrase to catch your eye:  Swimsuit season.  This article will tell you how you can burn calories while you sleep.  I kid you not!  It’s a great read.

The articles I listed above are just a few of the hundreds and hundreds offered on Tools to Life.  I haven’t read them all yet, but I’m working on it.  I’m giving my printer a workout, since each one makes the “worthy of being printed out” grade.

Another section of the site that you’re going to love are the Inspirational Videos.  I watched them and wished like mad there were more.  They’re as addictive as they are motivational and inspirational.

The website provides a wealth of information, inspiration, and motivation.  However, its real charm lies in the way it has built a community of people who want to not only improve their own world, but the worlds of others as well.   That sort of mindset inspires you to move in amongst them, doesn’t it?  Life Coaching Support Groups quickly become like close friends who are there for you. In this case, they just happen to be friends who can help you lose weight, improve your relationships, resolve depression, overcome anxiety and get a better career! With friends like that, who’d have enemies?!

I urge you to go (now’s as good a time as any - nudge, nudge) to Tools to Life and have a look around. Sign up and become part of the community, it’s 100 percent free. Some people honestly pay for this type of life coaching and advice! Visit Tools to Life and start a fun, exciting, and productive new journey - a journey we all like to call Self Improvement.

I love one of their sayings on the website, “Achieve your success in 15 minutes a day.” When you think of it like that, it’s as though all of our goals, hopes and dreams are on the table across the room and all we have to do is walk over there to claim them. What are we waiting for?!
 

There’s a reason we’re seeing Alzheimer’s in the news more and more - sadly, it has become more prevalant. Five million Americans suffer from this devastating brain illness, to say nothing of the suffering of their loved ones.

So, naturally, we’re all on the look out for ways to protect ourselves against this beast. At the same time, we’re always looking for ways to improve our overall health, including the health of our all-important heart. Fortunately, many of the things that are beneficial to one part of our bodies are also beneficial to the other parts. This is never more true than when it comes to the brain and the heart. In fact, the heart actually plays a very big role in keeping the brain healthy.

We know the things we should do to keep our heart strong: Avoid smoking, get regular exercise, and eat a diet heavy in fruits and vegetables. These steps improve the health of blood vessels leading to the heart - so, in turn, they improve our heart’s health. What we don’t realize (until now, of course!), is that they also improve the health of blood vessels to the brain - so, in turn, they improve our brain’s health.

We should all start doing the following to protect and strengthen our hearts AND minds:

1. No Smoking! If you smoke, stop. Find a way. Make a way. This should be the year you do the smartest thing possible for your health. It’s absolutely critical for your heart and your brain.

2. Exercise more. Find ways to become more active!

• Buy an exercise dvd or even just an exercise mat. Wear comfortable clothes around the house, then you’ll be more apt to work out on or with your new fitness tools.
• If at all possible, buy a treadmill or exercise bike. Place it right in front of your television and work out while watching your favorite show. 30 minutes will pass quickly and you can feel good knowing that you got your work out in for the day!
• Park a little further from the door each time you go to the store. Once you’re inside, take the longest route possible to what you came for. Then take the longest route possible to the check out. It may not seem like much at the time, but all the steps add up, and your brain, heart, and overall health will thank you for it.

3. Eat more fruits and vegetables! I think we’ve all seen those words so often that we’ve become almost immune to them. Think about it, we started hearing about the dynamic duo before we were even old enough to read. “Eat your fruits and vegetables…. Don’t eat so much of that! Eat your fruits and vegetables..” To children, they can become the enemy pretty fast. On one hand there’s Ice Cream sandwiches, Sweethearts, and hot dogs - while on the other there’s fruit cocktail, lima beans, and carrots. Once we were able to read, we read about fruits and vegetables in health class every semester - they were always there, taking their rightful place in the food pyramid, in all of their colorful glory.

Today? They’re still everywhere we look. The articles about losing weight tell us to eat more fruits and vegetables. The articles about heart health extol their virtues. And now, even information about keeping our mind’s healthy tells us that we should eat more of these wonder foods.

The thing is….we really should! The nutrients and vitamins our bodies and minds need are right there in nature’s finest. We can’t allow our eyes to just glaze over when we read the words - and we can’t say, ‘”I had mashed potatoes for supper last night and fries for lunch…I’m doing okay.” Wrong! First of all, if the only way you can claim to get your fruits and vegetables is through the almighty potato, you need to rework your diet entirely. And I won’t even get into the fries…

Start finding ways to get more vegetables and more fruits into your day. Think of it as a color’s game, see how many different colors you can work into a meal. It won’t take long to see that those white potatoes don’t provide a great deal of color or variety.

Here are a few ideas from a fruit and vegetable fanatic:

• Keep fruit on hand and in a central location. You’ll find yourself grabbing an apple on the way out the door or a pear as you head to the sofa. I love to take a bowl of grapes with me to the bath. My inner Cleopatra is totally into that sort of thing.
• Buy fruit juice. Apple juice is about as yummy as anything you can pour into a cup…anything that doesn’t answer to the name of coffee, that is.
• Make your own fruit cocktail with grapes, strawberries, orange wedges, pineapples, blackberries, etc.
• Add fruit to Vanilla Yogurt and top it all off with granola. It’s dessert-quality delicious, even kids will think so.
• Buy a new Vegetables only cookbook and experiment. Read my post about the book Being Vegetarian - you’ll see just how fun and creative Vegetables can be.
• Add bananas to peanut butter sandwiches - thank you, thank you, very much. Long live the King’s sandwich of choice.
• Look up great Smoothies recipes and have fun whipping up different varieties.

Once you start experimenting with ways to work more exercise and good food into your life - you’ll have so much fun AND feel so much better, you’ll never want to stop. The trick is to start - and there’s no time like NOW!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

Here’s a really great story about Nuns who are leaving their brains to science, in the hopes of aiding the battle against Alzheimer’s: Nuns Leave Their Brains to Science.

Good for them!

We’re all pretty familiar with the characteristics of the disorder known as schizophrenia: A noticable withdrawal from reality, illogical, uncacceptable patterns of thinking, delusions and (even) hallucinations. There are also other emotional and behavioral disturbances that vary from person to person. At the risk of oversimplifying, a person who suffers from schizophrenia is locked inside of a nightmare.

The term, schizophrenia, means “a splitting of the mind” and was first used in the early 1900’s. We think of schizophrenics, today, as individuals who want, more than anything else, to avoid everything that realtiy represents. More and more is being learned about the disorder, in hopes of helping those who suffer from it to lead more normal lives. Whatever “normal” is!

Many people wonder what puts a person at risk for this particular mental disorder. Especially those who have schizophrenia in their family - they’re seeking reassurance that they, themselves, won’t one day have to face this disorder.

According to Healthwise, the following situations put an individual at a higher risk for developing schizophrenia:

1. Have a mother, father, or sibling with schizophrenia ( genetic predisposition). But having a relative with schizophrenia does not mean you will develop this disorder. Many people have schizophrenia who do not have a relative with this condition, and many people who have relatives with schizophrenia will not develop this condition.

2. Have another disorder that is like schizophrenia (such as schizotypal personality) or have family members with such a condition.

3. Had a childhood head injury, especially if you have a family history of schizophrenia.

4. Were exposed to a viral infection, malnutrition, or medications ( diuretics) used to control a mother’s high blood pressure prior to birth.

5. Have a substance abuse problem. It is not yet clear whether the abuse triggers schizophrenia or whether a person with schizophrenia is more likely to have a substance abuse problem.

6. Have a father who was over age 50 when you were conceived. It is not yet clear why the age of the father may put you at higher risk. Research is ongoing to better understand and prove this risk factor.

For a fascinating look at the sort of things that a person living with this disorder faces, you have to see the VIDEO on ABC.com. The video is a 3D simulation that mainly focuses on the hallucination symptoms of the disorder. It’s a real eye-opener.

If you or anyone you know suffers from the disorder, or if you have any other concerns and/or questions, you should visit, and bookmark, Schizophrenia.com.

Interesting stuff, here!

The Science of the Sexes DVD from the Discovery Channel is about as fascinating as it gets.

From the Website:

This definitive trip around male and female anatomy confirms what our bodies know, but we often forget: men and women are made for each other! Listen, but try not to blush, as intimate portraits and real-life situations are combined with scientific analysis to show that from conception to old age, our bodies grow, adapt, compliment and support each other.

Episode One: Growing UpAn expert debate on the issue of nature versus nurture prompts an intimate look at two teenagers – one boy and one girl – on different continents. Who has the advantage?

Follow Dr. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and world-renowned expert on gender differences, to Africa to determine if the development of the male and female brain could be linked to our evolutionary past. The latest research on spatial ability between the sexes is revealed, and there’s an unlikely connection: testosterone levels and finger length!

Episode Two: Different by DesignTake a look at sexual progression from adulthood to old age. From sexual attraction to physical stamina, every angle is explored. Watch as identical twins are put to a real-life test of sexual attraction. And, thanks to some computer animation and unique endoscopic filming techniques, you’ll see what goes on inside their bodies when they’re aroused.

Study the mechanics of intercourse using an MRI scanner and get a close-up look at the peaks and valleys of brain activity in the two sexes when processing.

…”A close-up look at the peaks and valleys of brain activity…” I am so there.

If you’ve ever watched a Discovery Channel special, you know just how addictive they are. So much great information, presented in a way that’s as fascinating as any movie Hollywood can produce…even the Bourne movies (also addictive!).

I guarantee, Science of the Sexes DVD won’t let you down.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

It’s a regrettable thing to have to begin a post with an apology, but that fate falls upon my keyboard this morning. A while back - okay, several months, I admit it - I was sent a great book by its publishers (Thank you, thank you, thank you again!). Whenever I’m sent a book or products to review for one of my blogs or sites, I pride myself on getting it done right away. 9 times out of 10, we’re talking a day or two. However, books can take a little longer. Especially if there’s a lot of great information to process, which was the case with “The Not So Big Life,” by Sarah Susanka.

I’m truly sorry that this review wasn’t posted sooner - but that’s what you get for publishing such a thought-provoking, life-affecting book like this one! What’d you expect? This isn’t just a book, after all, it’s an education. And no education that I know of can be completed in mere months. None worth having anyway!

Actually, it’s a two-part education. The MAJOR is in an area I already knew I loved with a consuming passion: Self Help. The MINOR is in an area that I never really thought much about - the fascinating world of architecture.

A Little Background

The author, Sarah Susanka, is an architect as well as a writer. She’s the author of the bestselling book, “The Not So Big House.” In TNSBH, she gives her expert advice on making homes BETTER, not BIGGER. Guess what philosophy she brings to “The Not So Big LIFE” - right, how to make our lives BETTER, not BIGGER. Brilliant? Brilliant.

From the inside cover:

Most of us have lives that are as cluttered with unwanted obligations as our attics are cluttered with things. The bigger-is-better idea that triggered the explosion of McMansions has spilled over to give us McLives. For many of us, our ability to find the time to do what we want to do has come to a grinding halt. Now we barely have time to take a breath before making the next call on our cell phone, while at the same time messaging someone else on our blackberry. Our schedules are chaotic and overcommited, leaving us so stressed that we are numb, yet we wonder why we cannot fall asleep at night.

Wow, does that sound familiar or what? We’ve become somewhat like hamsters running around in a wheel….gotta get there, gotta get there, gotta get there. Problem is that there keeps moving.

In a very, very entertaining manner and with an extremely well-written style, Sarah Susanka details the similarities of designing a home and designing a life. Thought provoking? Try thought propelling, thought arousing, and thought awakening.

From Chapter 1, “Blueprint For a New Way of Living” to Chapter 12, “Being at Home in Your Life,” I was challenged to look at every nook and cranny of my life - upstairs and downstairs, inside and out. Exhausting and invigorating at the same time! The reader is led on a tour of their own life, to examine everything from their foundation to their present structure. You’re shown how to find cracks in your foundation and how to mend them. Your structure (or life) will only be as firm as your foundation.

Another problem with writing a book review for such an amazing book is that if I told you everything I wanted to tell you, two things would happen:

1. The post would be so long, I’m not sure anyone would even attempt to read it.
2. I’d give away everything and you wouldn’t have any need to buy the book!

I don’t want 1 or 2 to happen, so I’m trying to keep from giving away too much. Personally, I’d do just about anything to make sure each and every one of you bought this book journey. It’s that important.

One of the things that makes “The Not So Big Life” so special - and the main reason this particular Self Help Enthusiast is telling you, “If you buy two books this year, make one of them The Not So Big Life and the other one Dean Koontz (pick one)” - is this: There isn’t an author or so-called “expert” telling you what your weaknesses or strengths are. YOU determine them. A so-called “expert” isn’t giving you a ridiculous one-size-fits-all solution or advice - YOU come up with what’s best for you. With clear guidance and tons of real-life examples, your given the map…but the journey? It’s yours.

If you ask me, that’s the whole key to self help anyway. That’s why it’s Self Help rather than Somebody Help. It’s also the only way we’ll ever grow.

The chapters of “The Not So Big Life” deal (in beautiful depth) with the following components of Self Growth and, in turn, a “better” life:

1. Developing a Blueprint for a Better Way of Living
2. Noticing What Inspires You
3. Identifying What Isn’t Working
4. Removing the Clutter
5. Listening to Your Dreams
6. Learning to See Through the Obstacles
7. Improving the Quality of What You Have
8. Creating a Place and a Time of Your Own
9. Proceeding Through the Construction Process
10. Moving Into Your Not So Big Life
11. Maintaining Your Newly Remodeled Live

The Not So Big Life Notebook

Readers are encouraged to create a notebook and use it as they read the book. I bought a nifty purple on and did just that. While it slowed down the review, it proved to be unbelievably rewarding. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was doing more than just interacting with a book. My purple notebook wasn’t just a compilation of reflections and notes - it was a blueprint for an even more rewarding life.

It never ceases to amaze me how insidious our conditioning is. I’m conditioned to be always too busy. For you it might be something else, something that seems equally real and equally frustrating. Just like the fish that doesn’t realize it’s surrounded by water because it’s in it constantly, our conditioning is so much a part of our experience that we forget it’s there and fall into the idea that the outer world is conspiring to keep us from doing what we want to do, when in fact our obstacles are self-generated.

Great stuff! This is the most timely book one could hope for. It gets us right where we live and shines the spotlight on all the right places. Use the link to the right or scour your local bookstore….just be sure you read this book.

When I was thinking of a closing sentence to sum everything up - a closing sentence to compel you to buy this book - I kept coming back to the same thing. I’d toy with things like: “Instead of going to Applebee’s this weekend, do something that’ll impact your life even more than their garlic potatoes…” - but then I realized how much I love Applebees, and how much I want some of those very potatoes. Then I thought…beg! Yeah, that’ll work. But I always came back to the same phrase - so that’s what I’ll go with.

This is the book you were meant to read.

Here’s a quote that’ll grab you by your shoulders and give you a little shake:

“Nature takes away any faculty that is not used.” ~ William R. Inge

Let’s see, I’ll ponder it over more tomorrow - somewhere between reading Shakespeare, brushing up on my geometry, conjugating Spanish verbs, and jogging around the park. You know, one of my typical Sundays.

Make each moment count double…then read something worthwhile,
~Joi

There’s no getting around several truths in life:

1. If you want to be fit and healthy, you have to adopt a healthier lifestyle, which includes exercise and a healthy diet.

2. If you want to stay mentally sharp, and guard yourself against mental decline, you have to keep challenging and working your mind.

If we eat junk food, our bodies will reward us with extra weight, an unhealthy heart, and a multitude of physical woes and worries. If we let our minds coast along on cruise control, it’ll reward us by growing as dim as an old light bulb.

Click HERE and HERE to learn more about the benefits of learning a second language.

Make each moment count double!
~Joi