A lot of teens nowadays do not understand the value of earning and spending money. They were not oriented that investing is necessary even if they are still students. As parents, you play a crucial role in this area.

You should be able to teach your kids on how to save money. They should be able to understand the concept of money and investment as early as childhood. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow old.

Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:

1. Your children should be educated of the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they may be able to remember what you taught them.

2. Always explain to them the value of saving money. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.

3. When giving them their allowances. You need to give them their allowances in denominations. Then you can encourage them that they should keep a certain bill for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money can be saved and they can buy new pair of shoes or the toys they want once they are able to save.

4. You can also teach them to work for money. You can start this at your own home. You can pay them fifty cents to one dollar every time they clean their rooms, do the dishes or feed their pets. This concept of earning little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.

5. You can teach them to save money by giving them piggy banks where they can put coins and wait until they get full. You can also open bank accounts for them and let them deposit money from their allowance. You should always show them how much they have earned to keep them motivated.

Money and saving is not something that is learned by children in one sitting. You should be patient in teaching them and relating the value of money in all of their activities. Children will learn this easily if you are patient and consistent in guiding them and encouraging them in this endeavor.

Summary:
In 2003, the Los Angeles schools implemented a new policy of graduation requirements. The intention was to graduate Los Angeles schools students that were better-educated and groomed for college and high-level jobs. Requirements included graduates to pass one year of algebra and one of geometry, or equivalent coursework.

Though the intention was good and the Los Angeles schools policy should work in theory, the reality is giving a much different and more dismal picture. Lo...


Keywords:
los angeles schools, schools, los angeles


Article Body:
In 2003, the Los Angeles schools implemented a new policy of graduation requirements. The intention was to graduate Los Angeles schools students that were better-educated and groomed for college and high-level jobs. Requirements included graduates to pass one year of algebra and one of geometry, or equivalent coursework.

Though the intention was good and the Los Angeles schools policy should work in theory, the reality is giving a much different and more dismal picture. Los Angeles schools students are unprepared to meet the new demands and are failing algebra by the thousands. Coursework that used to differentiate a college-bound student from those planning to attend technical schools or directly enter the workforce, algebra is now the cause of many Los Angeles schools students giving up and dropping out.

According to Los Angeles schools Superintendent Roy Romer, algebra is now the reason for more student dropouts than any other subject. The frustration of consistently failing algebra gives a sense of hopelessness. More and more students are giving up the hope of a high school diploma from the Los Angeles schools as futile. Some have even thought of committing suicide — all because of a mathematics requirement, and it will get worse before it gets better!

In the fall of 2004, 48,000 Los Angeles schools students in the ninth grade took Beginning Algebra. Of this group, 44 percent failed and seven percent received a grade of D, totaling 29,000 Los Angeles schools students either failing or just barely passing. Of those students who repeated the class in the spring, almost three-fourths failed again.

The failures and near failures, especially for students who had to repeat the class, has left many Los Angeles schools students discouraged and teachers frustrated.

One Los Angeles schools algebra teacher said that he failed 90 percent of his students, but seemed to blame the children for the failure. He noted that many students ignored their homework, rarely studied for tests, and often skipped his class. My question is this: Are the students lazy and do not care, as depicted by this teacher — or are they being taught algebra in a manner they cannot understand and have just given up, possibly long before this teacher was assigned to them?

I know from experience that not all mathematics teachers should be teaching math. I took basic mathematics coursework all through school, and then decided to attend college as an adult. This meant that I had to take a lot of extra mathematics classes to catch up to the other students’ skill level. In one class, I absolutely could not understand the instructor or the math he was teaching, which thoroughly confused me. In middle school, my math teacher told me I should have been taking advanced math, because it came so easy to me. Finally, I spoke to the college instructor after class, asking if he could explain it to me differently. His response, “If you can’t get it here, hire a tutor.” Later, in my eighth college math course of Inferential Statistics, I told my professor, who had a Ph.D. in statistics, about the incident. He said that anyone, who cannot explain mathematics at least five different ways, should not be teaching the course at any educational level.

Apparently, Los Angeles Schools Superintendent Romer agrees with my professor. He believes the fault is in the cumulative failure of the ability to teach mathematics adequately in the public school system.

With the increased mathematics requirements, there is a shortage of credentialed teachers in the Los Angeles schools at all levels — meaning that teachers are certified in their subject or had the subject as their major or minor in college. Los Angeles schools high schools have 20 percent of their math teachers who lack these credentials. Even the state has problems with 40 percent of all eighth grade teachers teaching outside of their field of expertise.

Many Los Angeles schools students are beginning algebra who cannot add fractions or convert percentages to decimals, and they do not know their multiplication tables. Algebra teachers cannot provide a review of basic math, since the Los Angeles schools mandate they teach at a rapid pace. Additionally, many students repeating algebra are assigned to the same teachers, from whom they previously did not learn.

Now, the Los Angeles schools have raised the graduation requirements again, before making the prior policy a success. By 2016, Los Angeles schools graduates, who are now in the second grade, will be required to meet the entry requirements for the University of California — whether they plan to attend college or not. This means that the 2016 graduates must pass a third year of advanced mathematics (such as Algebra II) and four years of English.

Knowing simple algebra means the difference between a menial job at near-to-minimum wage and a high-level career. Even blue-collar apprenticeship programs, such as electricians and plumbers, now require higher math skills to calculate needed materials. It is obvious that the skills are needed, so the solution for the Los Angeles schools is not a new policy that is more stringent than the first.

With some algebra being introduced now in kindergarten, the Los Angeles schools from elementary through high school must be equipped to appropriately teach it and motivate students to learn it. The “failure to graduate” threat only produces a higher dropout rate for the Los Angeles schools. The solution is credentialed teachers with a slower teaching pace and remedial math classes for students prior to repeating algebra.

Summary:

Golf is a great way to enjoy time with your family and friends. Whether you play a leisure round of nine holes or are able to enjoy a full round of eighteen holes, the game of golf is rewarding on many levels. A beginning golfer can shoot a resonable score.

Keywords:

golf, beginning golfer, beginning golfer shoots lower score

Article Body:

Golf is a great way to enjoy time with your family and friends. Whether you play a leisure round of nine holes or are able to enjoy a full round of eighteen holes, the game of golf is rewarding on many levels. The best news is every beginning golfer can shoot a resonable score.

A beginner only needs a handful of items to get started. A few lofted golf clubs, say a nine and seven iron, and a putter. If you want, grab a metal wood, but no more than a five wood. Gather some golf balls, tees, a towel, and throw your stuff in a golf bag. You are ready to play some golf!

You are probably wondering about all the other clubs and why they were left out. They are for the golfer who is ready to mix playing golf with practicing golf. If it makes you feel less awkward, take the full set of clubs with you, just use the ones mentioned until you are comfortable with your golfing abilities. Let me explain myself.

Golf is a sport. Like all other sports a score determines the winner. In golf the lowest score or fewest strokes win. Most people who play sports enjoy competition. Why not learn how to play golf to win from the very beginning. After all an early success will bring you back to the golf course sooner. And I don’t know of a better place to be than on a golf course.

If you are playing with others of your same ability you need to learn how to score the lowest. This is why you are only using a few clubs for now. If you can keep the ball moving forward towards the target (the flag) instead of sideways (the direction most beginners hit towards) you will always score lower than you opponent. The clubs that are easiest to hit are the ones with the most loft, your seven and nine iron. These will never travel as far as your opponent’s big dog, (their driver or 1 metal) but they have a greater chance of moving the ball in the direction of your target. So it may take you six or seven shots down the fairway to reach the green, chances are your score will be less than your playing opponent when totaled.

Making solid contact with the golf ball will always win the game. Using the higher lofted clubs will have you hitting the ball with precise contact faster than any other club in the bag, except your putter. When you can stand at address over a golf ball with a seven or nine iron and hit a good shot seven out of nine times you can expand your club selection to any other club. I use this technique when teaching beginners to play and they are my proof that it works. The confidence you gain from hitting good shots by making solid contact will show up with every other club once you master the higher lofted irons.

IPod video was a surprising new device at its appearance, due to the new and exiting quality that it could offer: playing videos. Besides this, the iPods have known, since their appearance on the market, a constant evolution, which lead to the fact that the public and the potential customers had more and more expectations regarding this product. With a new offer and design, the new product iPod video had a series of new ads, some authentic and some suspicious, because of their fake or less real aspect.

Due to the fact that the product was not yet in stores and people didn’t expect such a product to appear, there were a number of teasing and controversial ads (regarding their authenticity) which appeared and circled on the Internet. By bringing a new and relevant feature to the device, such as the video feature, the potential customers were surprised by the evolution of the product and so, the ads purpose was established. One of these ads represents the iPod video in an unreal shape (meaning that the authentic iPod has other optical features and another design). The ad was very short, as it lasted only 15 seconds. The video begins with presenting some corners of the new device, which are revealed in a computerized manner.

This one side of the device turns and the other one presents a screen which played the most recent music video belonging to the band Black-Eyed Peas (Pump it). The music and rhythm were dynamic and fast and so were the characters, who were dancing while driving. Suddenly, the slogan Introducing the new hand held movie theatre appeared and shortly after, the phrase new hand held movie theatre was cut out and the new phrase new iPod appeared on the screen, resulting Introducing the new iPod.

The controversy around this ad is focused on the fact that the actual iPod video doesn’t have the same characteristics as the one in the ad: the actual device looks very similar to the 1st to 4th generation of iPods, meaning the screen is over the buttons, but the one revealed in the ad presented a very large screen, which completed one side of the device.

Still, there are many ads of the new iPod video which are, for sure, authentic. The main idea of these is the fact that music can be seen, as well, besides just being heard. This is why the Apple company opted for integrating famous artists in the ads for their product: one of the ads featured U2's Original of the Species from the Vertigo - Live From Chicago DVD and another two featured Eminem and Wynton Marsalis. The ads featuring these artist were much longer than the usual ones and they basically played famous songs, but not together with their videos; instead, the producers opted for some more authentic images illustrating performances of these artists, which would look natural and more spontaneous. The ads for this new product were focused on the video playing capabilities of the device and the producers wanted, at the same time, to symbolize the new range of possibilities that the new model of iPpod had to offer.

The main idea of the ads was clear, even though these 3 ads had very different targets. Based on the fact that the clients of the new device come from different backgrounds and are of different ages, the producers and the marketers managed to pick some artists that represent generations and symbolize best their tastes and lifestyle: Eminem stands for teens and hip hop music, Wynton Marsalis is representative for adults who like classical and jazz music and U2 is somewhere in between the other 2 opposite styles.

In parallel, the ads with the dancing silhouettes continued with more specified backgrounds, which were representing the video options. The iPod`s video ads show that the product has definitely evolved, has a more mature image and optimized new features.

If you have a problem with birds, you have probably tried many solutions. Some of the most popular include plastic animals, scarecrows, wind chimes, or highly reflective tape. All of these things can do a great job of reducing bird problems. I have quite a few cherry trees in my backyard, and I used to struggle a lot with birds. After I applied all of these solutions, my problem went almost completely away. Unfortunately, the solution only lasted a few months.

Apparently, birds have a natural tendency to get bolder as time goes by. While at first my scarecrow scared them senseless, now I look outside and see them sitting on his shoulder. And munching on cherries from my tree. Those insolent little fiends! I’m not saying I mind birds. I love having them around my yard. But you see, I’ve already designated one tree specifically for allowing birds to eat off of. But it seems that birds can’t be content with what they’re given. They always feel the need to go over to my own trees when there is a tree just for them that doesn’t have any scary things around it.

I saw many gardening stores marketing a type of bird netting. I decided to use it. Bird netting is basically a giant net that you throw over the entire tree. The holes are about one half of an inch wide. I purchased enough of this to cover one whole tree. It was quite a hassle to install, but it definitely worked after that. I didn’t have any more problems with birds taking cherries from that tree. But one day I woke up and made my daily rounds. On that day, I found 2 birds caught in the netting that had been choked to death. I felt absolutely terrible. I buried the birds and immediately took down that netting. I didn’t want to protect my tree at the cost of the birds’ lives! Sure, I’ll kill off a few bugs, but birds are a little too nice for me.

For a while I felt too guilty to prevent the birds from eating any more. I thought that I would make it up to them by letting them feast on my cherries. I even took down my scarecrow. But a few months later I saw something in a fabric store that made me rethink my generosity. Almost every fabric store sells a material called “tulle”. It is very fine netting with holes too small for any bird to fit its beak or head into. While it is easy to find, it is also extremely cheap. Buying enough to cover one tree ended up costing less than half of what it cost for the lethal bird netting.

I installed the tulle onto my tree (I’ll admit it was a lot harder to install than the bird netting was. I had to attach several large pieces together at the seams) and watched it for a day. I wanted to keep an eye on it every second, so that if a bird got caught I could quickly help it out. Fortunately, no bird ever got caught. Tulle is a much safer and cheaper alternative to bird netting, and I suggest it if you have any problems with birds. Just remember to let them have at least one tree for themselves! Sharing with birds is an essential part of being a good gardener.