Back in the early 2000s, my husband and I joined forces, he as a software engineer and me as a teacher, to design a kids savings and money management software program. We called it KidsSave. In that program we included a fun way to teach kids basic money skills. It was such a powerful tool that we decided to include it for free on our kids and money website. One of my favorite features of the KidsSave Money Counter is…
Ryan just sent me this text message: “Do you think the people I gave money to this morning scammed me?” Ryan went on an early 8-mile run with a group of people this morning. On his way home, he stopped for gas. While filling up, he was approached by two very distraught females saying they had run out of gas. They asked if he had any money they could use to buy some gas. Ryan gave him all the change…
Turns out, we can actually teach in a way that’s compatible with our brain. And when we do, interest level increases, retention improves, and confidence builds all leading to more complex learning. That’s the conclusion of decades of research about how our brain works. The good news is, brain-compatible teaching is not that difficult to do. It all begins with designing an effective learning environment. Here are 5 easy steps you can take to create an environment conducive to…
As parents we want our kids to grow up to be independent, healthy, happy, and financially secure adults. Getting them there takes a lot of hard work. But knowing what your goals are can help. For example, is it one of your goals that your kids be responsible for making sure they remember to leave the house prepared? If it is, then bailing them out every time they forget is not going to get them there. If you rescue your…
Nobody likes to make mistakes. They’re annoying, frustrating, and sometimes even embarrassing. And they often make us feel like we’ve done something wrong. Unless we change the way we think about them. And when we do, we can discover that mistakes are one of the most powerful teaching tools we have. Consider your child being in charge of making a class poster for the school play. He brings home the poster board and stencils and begins to work. “Do you…