Money Saving Tips: Buy Halloween Candy in Bulk and Share

You can save a ton by buying Halloween candy in bulk, but it usually means you have to give out the same type of candy and get stuck with the same type that sits around the house until you throw it away. One way around this is to partner up with a friend or neighbor and split the leftover candy, so you will have a variety that your family can enjoy.

Get 3 Ways To Improve Your Memory

There are Three Tremendous Ways to improve memory Status:

1. Vary Your Study Space:

Carey cites a study in which students who studied a list of words in a windowless room and again in a room with a view did far better on a test than students who studied only in the viewless room.

Surprisingly, that study was conducted in 1978, and still we haven’t learned.

“The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious,” writes Carey.

Dr. Robert A. Bjork, psychologist at the University of California, L.A. and senior author of the research, states, “What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting.”

2. Vary What You Study:

The same principal may apply to what you study. Carey suggests that musicians and athleteshave known this for years. They practice cross-training. “Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example,among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeperimpression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time,” Carey writes.

3. Test Yourself Often:

It also turns out that when a student is required to retrieve information, say for a test, that information is re-stored in the brain in a more accessible way for future use. Carey reports that researchers don’t know why this is true, just that it is. “It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing,” he writes. “The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” Carey quotes Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College, as saying. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.” Practice tests, then, are powerful learning tools

Best Ways to Motivate Your Teen To Earn Good Grades in High School

As an educator, I would prefer that grades reflect the intrinsic value of learning rather than being work that earns a salary. However, education is also tied to the work world, which does reward with money. Young people may not develop a love for learning right away but the habit of study can develop that over time. Money for grades can motivate but must be awarded within the actual capabilities of the child. An arbitrary standard of money only for As may be too high for an individual kid so one must know what one’s child is capable of achieving.

—Guest John Stinespring

Fiendish Plan

For my 11 and 8 year olds my fiendish plan is to make an A worth an outrageous amount of money. Make the A worth the effort. They each have 6 subject areas in their report cards. I’d say making an A worth $20, a C worth $2 and a B about $8 - this will likely get their attention.

—Guest Scott Boyer

Working Together

The best motivation is to work together with your teen on self-change. Plan a mutually agreed upon date & time to sit down with your teen--don’t just pull him or her away from what they’re doing. At this time discuss 1 or 2 of your personal or professional goals with your teen & listen to your teen discuss his or her academic objectives with you. Once you decide on your goals, set specific but relevant short-term goals that will serve as stepping stones to your overall goal. In addition, set milestones & decide how you will measure the progress of your goals. Most importantly, decide how you will celebrate your successes. Create a plan to help you assess setbacks, obstacles, & possible failures. Teach your teen never to give up but to always come back with a PLAN B! Working with your teen on goals will help you bond, make the process more enjoyable & allow you to grow as an individual. Use each other for support & encouragement. You will be surprised what you can learn from one another

—IvanaPejakovic

Privileges

I have a 16-year-old in a dual enrollment high school/college program w/ a 3.5 GPA. He has always been motivated with privileges. If the grades slip, the privileges begin to disappear. It has always gone hand in hand with trust - to stay out later, to have friends over, to see certain movies, etc.

—Guest Sherry

Fairness

I don't think its fair that a student who makes F's or D's and they get it up to a C or B and they get praised and rewarded the a student who makes A's his/her whole life and are never rewarded then for making a once ever B or C and the get severely punished. That is just not fair and I am tired of seeing that in parents and schools.

—Guest Danny

Motivating your teen to earn good grade

This can be challenging. I found money motivators to be a temporary solution. But I do often talk with my son about how if he wants 'the finer things in life' one day with a good paying/satisfying job - he needs to get into college - and he can only do this with really good grades. That seems to be working right now. Also, in addition to sports, we require he do other types of extra curriculars like Science Fair that enhance learning/help him in class. This also encourages friendships/associations with the smarter kids in school. I believe that steering your child into the right peer group is a huge motivator. Peer pressure is a big influence at this age.

—chrismoy1

Ability needs to be considered

While getting A's is a great goal, not all kids can get an A in all subjects. I think it's damaging to reward the child who got 3 A's by just showing up and not reward the child who tried really hard and got C's. I think we need to make it clear that we expect assignments to be completed to the best of their ability and handed in on time. Then the grades they are capable of will happen. There should be consequences for not doing the assignments or doing a poor job. Most parents know what their kids are capable of. Don't make the standards to easy to achieve. But don't make your expectations so high that there isn't any point in trying because they'll never get there anyway. See where the child is currently at, then make the goal improvement...not the end result. ie: if they are failing a class, the first goal needs to be to pass...not an A.

—Guest Pam

Carrots and Stick

I prefer to use the carrot and stick policy. She does well she gets the predetermined reward, like - a toy or a dinner at a place of her choice etc, does poorly loses certain privileges like TV,computer time, etc. Seems to be working fine so far. Can't say for the future.

—Guest Aj

Get your kids in a good school

Get your kids in a school where the enviroment promotes them to learn for themselves. The better the school, the better the grades. If your kids don't like the school, why should they make good grades? Just makes them feel like no one cares. -Speaking from a student's perspective. Yes, money is nice, but you don't need to bribe your kid.

—Guest 17yr old

Rewards other than money

I reward with computer time. My girls love to be on you-tube looking up their favorite songs or playing video games so I reward each A with 2 hours computer or video game time, each B with 1 hour and 30 min for each C. If they get a D or an F, they lose their time altogether. It has started working recently, because they don't want to lose the other stuff they earned because of being lazy in one class!

—Guest Annette

Non-Payment

Hi - as an educator, life long student and mother of 4 - I believe that you set the best example by your own love of knowledge. I wouldn't dream of paying for good grades as they carry sufficient intrinsic rewards and make the kid look pretty good too!

—Guest Bonitaj

Works while it lasts....pros and cons

I rewarded with money for about 2 years, but when the economy turned and I couldn't afford to keep it up, her grades actually went down. She told me her incentive to keep working hard was gone when I stopped paying her! I think it's a great concept, as long as you can keep it up. I'm not sure what I can do this year to keep her motivated, although, it aggravates me because I was self-motivated. Now I tell her that her reward is A) self-esteem for good grades, B) getting into a good college C) getting a good job! It's not getting me very far and I wish I'd never started with the money in the first place. She's the one that will reap the rewards of working hard not me, she just doesn't get it yet (16 yr old).

10 fascinating flirting facts

So you’ve mastered the art of eye contact and can beckon a romantic prospect with just a few coy glances… but do you really know all there is to know about the fine art of flirting? Just to make sure you’re up to speed, we culled some very surprising information that you can use to your advantage. Read on for some juicy tidbits that may up your meet-cute quotient in no time.
1. Flirting is good for you. Studies show that people who flirt have higher white blood-cell counts, which boost both immunity and health.

2. Think batting your eyelashes is enough? Wrong! All told, scientists say there are 52 “flirting signals” used by humans. Of these, the hair-flip technique is the most common.


3. In some places, flirting is illegal. In Little Rock, AR, an antiquated law is still on the books warning that engaging in playful banter may result in a 30-day jail term. In New York City, another outdated law mandates that men may be fined $25 for gazing lasciviously at a female; a second conviction stipulates the offender wear a pair of blinders whenever he goes out for a walk.

4. Why wait for Friday? Lots of people get their flirt on during their morning commute. A full 62 percent of drivers have flirted with someone in a different vehicle while on the go, and 31 percent of those flirtations, it turns out, resulted in a date.

5. Flirting need not occur face to face. According to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of people who look for love online say they can easily flirt with someone via email or IM.


6. In the Victorian era, fans were the ultimate playful props that could communicate all sorts of messages. A fan placed near the heart meant “You have won my love.” A half-opened fan pressed to the lips was an invitation, saying, “You may kiss me.” Hiding the eyes behind an open fan meant “I love you,” while opening and closing the fan several times was a chastisement, implying, “You are cruel.” Given how much a fan could come in handy, it’s a shame they ever invented air conditioning.


7. These days, cell phones do the flirting for you. In one survey, half of all mobile phone users have texted flirty messages to keep things interesting while separated from their amour.

8. Watch out; you can overdo it. According to the Social Issues Research Centre, the most common mistake people make when flirting is maintaining too much eye contact.

9. Sometimes, flirty gestures aren’t what they seem to be. Research has shown that men tend to routinely mistake friendly behavior for flirting.


10. Flirting is universal. A woman living in New York City and one in rural Cambodia may not have much in common, but when it comes to attracting a little attention, they both employ the very same move: smiling, arching their eyebrows, then averting their gaze and giggling. Animals flirt, too: birds, reptiles, and even fish have their own way of making romantic advances. The moral of the story: If the simple sea bass can act cute in order to further a romantic agenda, you can, too — so give it a go!

Money Saving Tips

When you have a teen who is active in clubs, sports and other school activities, you soon realize that they spend more of their after school time at school then at home.

Finding independence in a structured setting like this is good, keeps your teen involved with their peers and safe. But it can cost you if your teen is hitting the vending machine everyday to get a snack.
While its perfectly fine that they are hungry, anyone would be, snacks can cost up to $2.00 from a vending machine! Considering you can get the same bag of chips at the grocery store for fifty cents a-piece when you purchase a variety pack, the convenience cost of the vending machine is too much.

One tip that I learned the hard way: Get the snacks your teen really wants. Otherwise, they will sit in your cabinet untouched.