Wow! I came across this awesome program today that I just had to tell you about. It's called TenMarks. Kind of a cool name huh?

Summer is here and the kids are out of school for a couple of months. I can remember when kids had three months off for the summer. (Wonder if that dates me?) Anyway, the summer break is nice but one thing that tends to happen over a two month break is that some kids tend to get rusty in some of what they learned over the past school year. Maybe it's that old "use it or lose it" syndrome. This is especially true when it comes to math skills.

I think we would all agree as parents that math skills are a fundamental concept that people use all of their lives. So many things in life require at least some basic understanding of mathematics. This company called TenMarks created this incredible program that not only refreshes what your child learned this past year, but also prepares them for a more solid start in the upcoming year. How great is that?

TenMarks has a program designed for children from grade 3 up into high school including Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry. The lessons are quick yet thorough and if your child needs some extra help in some areas there are tutorials that will walk them through the steps in an easy to understand systematic manner. Plus, get this… the kids actually enjoy working with the program. Now that is really cool! Check it out and let me know what you think.

Dave

TenMarks Online Summer Math Program (3 Month subscription)   By Tenmarks Education Inc. Summer is around the corner…and if your kids are like most kids, they'll lose two hard-won months of math skills by the end. Keep skills strong and active with TenMarks summertime math program! Studies have shown that 82% of students who used TenMarks in the summer increased their scores in post-summer evaluations. With individualized programs that meet the needs of all types of students, you don't have to worry about being force into a one-size fits all approach. Simple and effective, concepts from the previous year are reviewed with "Step Up" programs; core, grade-appropriate math skills are built with "Foundation" programs. Dynamic, interactive worksheets adjust automatically to students' unique needs, learning styles, and aptitudes. On-demand hints and video lessons can be accessed at any time – before starting a worksheet or when students get "stuck." Step-by-Step solutions help students see exactly where they wrong, while a "do-over" functionality provides additional questions that focus on the areas students still need to work on. Self-service math instruction and real time results are effective learning tools for students in this digital age! It's also simple for parents to implement. Custom assessments eliminate the guesswork in "placing" your students at a structured level. Automatically graded reports let parents see the percentage of correct problems, how many hints were used, date completed, and motivational rewards, earned by students after a set number of problems. Designed to take only twenty minutes, three time a week, and accessible anywhere you have internet access, TenMarks will help keep math skills sharp while still allowing for the freedom and fun of summer. This subscription-software service will last 12 weeks. Grades 3-10.

By now we’ve probably all heard the alarming statistics about how childhood obesity is on the rise in the United States. The combination of easily accessible junk food and a mostly sedentary lifestyle characterized by hours of playing video games and surfing the Internet has resulted in ever-expanding waistlines in the pre-teen crowd. As a parent, this is something that concerns me very much. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to help my children make healthier eating choices and make sure they use their kids fitness equipment on a daily basis.

Fortunately, I can exert a lot of control over the kind of food my family eats. This makes it fairly easy to substitute healthy alternatives in place of highly processed stuff that contains little nutritional value. For example, gone are the pre-packaged chips, cookies, doughnuts, and candy that my sons love so much, as well as the sugary juices and sodas that they used to drink all day long. Now I encourage them to snack on fruits, vegetables (like carrot and celery sticks), yogurt, and nuts. I do let them have an occasional treat, but I don’t buy those items regularly anymore.

In addition to better eating, I’ve purchased some kids fitness equipment for our basement and backyard. I learned that if I just tell the boys to “go out and play”, they quickly got bored and wanted to come back in within 20 minutes. But now that they have a trampoline, jump ropes, bicycles, skateboards, and even a miniature climbing wall, they can spend hours on these activities. Really, the key was to buy kids fitness equipment that would specifically appeal to them instead of expecting them to use adult exercise machines.

If you’re currently trying to get your own children to be more active, then buying targeted kids fitness equipment is something that I definitely recommend doing. It’s not practical to expect children to find adult exercises appealing, so just because you already have a treadmill or elliptical trainer, don’t think your work is done. Can you imagine a child finding a regular old treadmill fun? Of course he or she will give up after a few minutes and never want to go back. You need to spend some time shopping for kids fitness equipment that is fun for that age group. For example, what 10-year-old wouldn’t love bouncing and flipping on a trampoline? Put one in your backyard, and it’ll be an instant hit — not to mention a terrific way to burn off lots of calories!

I choose not to believe that our children are automatically condemned to a future of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Parents can do a lot towards instilling healthy habits in their offspring, beginning with buying the right food and making kids fitness equipment available at home. It doesn’t take long for children to adjust to these types of changes, and with any luck, these healthy habits will last a lifetime.

You may hear warnings that your children should not be watching television because it could give them ADHD, cause learning problems, or any other type of warning thrown out there. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with a little television if your children like kids shows that are going to teach them something. You do not want to park them in front of the TV all day, but a half an hour a few times a week is certainly not going to harm them. In fact, children can learn a lot from these shows if you choose the right ones.

There are all types of kids shows out there. It may come down to the ones that you can stand when choosing which of them you want your children to watch. If you simply can not deal with one of them, perhaps you should just skip it. Your child will never know the difference. There are enough quality kids shows out there that you can avoid or even ban the ones you do not like. They have other quality options out there from which you can choose that they are also going to love. Watch any you are considering to make sure you approve.

There are always kids shows that come and go. They rise and fall in popularity all the time, but most stick around. You may have to follow them from channel to channel if they really start doing poorly, but you can usually find them. If not, there are always DVDs that you can buy, as most kids shows produce these and put them out on the market. Some are collections of the episodes your children have already seen or that are show in TV, and some are specials that are brand new. Many have both options for you. Kids love repetition, so they will watch the same show over and over again without growing bored of it.

As you may have guessed, some kids shows are better than others. Some have more of an educational twist than others, and some are strictly for fun. Beware of the ones that promise to teach your children something specific, because those promises often can not be kept. Instead, look for kids shows that teach letters, numbers, opposites, colors, sounds, and some simple words for younger children, and those that expand on those themes for preschoolers. There probably aren’t any shows that are going to make your children geniuses, unless they already are.

You will never know if you approve of what you are showing your children in kids shows unless you watch them too. You want to sit down and go through a few episodes before you decide if you think that a specific show is right for your family. This is something you should be doing for kid shows until your children are well over 13 years old. Some shows marketed for younger children should never be viewed by them, as they have material too mature for them. If your kids are asking you about subjects you do not think they are ready to understand, rethink your viewing policies.

As your children get older, they are going to find new interests, some of which you know nothing about and really could not care to learn about either. If they are asking you hundreds of questions about things and you do not know how to answer, you may want to find others that they can chat with to satisfy their curiosity. Children often latch on to something and obsess about it for a while. Don’t worry – this passes for the most part as they get older, but for a while, you may feel you are going crazy. If you want to find someone for them to talk to, look around for safe chat for kids options they can use.

Chat for kids should never be just for kids. This is not something you want them to do alone. There are a lot of strange people out there and some of them are dangerous. If your find a good chat for kids that your child can start to learn how to use, you want to be sitting with them for each and every session. At the very least, you want to check in every few minutes to see what is being said in the chat room. If you do not pay attention, anyone could be saying anything to them, and if you follow the news, you know how dangerous that can be.

Before you allow your children to use chat for kids, you want to research the options out there for them. This means finding places that you feel you can trust. Though you can never really be sure each person in a chat room is really a child, you can eliminate a few types of chat right away. Any chat associated with a popular show on that show’s official web site is going to be a good choice, as well as those sponsored by companies that you trust. Do not allow them to use any random chat for kids they can find online. Generally speaking, these are just not safe.

Instead, find chat for kids rooms that are moderated and that have a clear policy about imposters and those that say inappropriate things. Again, never leave your child alone in a chat. The moment something happens, you can pull your child away and report what happened to someone in charge. Also take this time to teach your children what is right and wrong in a chat, and how they should handle themselves. They can learn a lot about how to talk to others politely and with respect in both real life and in online conversations. Teach them how you would handle any bullies and what is appropriate and what is not. They will learn a lot from you.

Lastly, make sure that you keep an eye on chats even as they get much older. They will not protest when they are young and you are sitting with them in chat for kids. However, when they are teenagers, they are going to be insisting on your trust and that you give them some privacy. You can do that by laying down some ground rules about where and when chatting is allowed. You can still insist they chat online in a common room of the house and that you can peek over their shoulder on occasion. Keep up to date with the latest abbreviates too, so they can not sneak something past you.

When school lets out and you see the bored faces of your children looking at you for something to do, you better have something going on for them. They can partake in all types of summer activities at home, but you also want to have some things they can do with other children in a group setting. Children should be free to have fun and use their own imagination to entertain themselves, but you can also find some constructive and fun things they can do with friends without you having to worry about where they are. Activities for kids are everywhere, so look around to see what is available to you.

You can find out about organized activities for kids in your community through your local school district. They often send home fliers and booklets that outline what is available in the community throughout the summer. If your child is in a group like Girl or Boy Scouts, they have their own summer activities that you can sign your kids up for each year. You can also see what your local paper lists for you, and if you have a parks and recreations department in your community, they are just a phone call away. See what they have going on as well.

Some children do better with structure, making these activities for kids the very best bet for them. Just remember not to fill their entire summer up with things to do away from you. Family time is essential, and there is no better time than the summer to have some of that. Ask your children if they have any special interests or things they already know they want to do. You can then look for camps or programs that will work for them. Sign them up early and then you know when you have free time otherwise.

For family activities for kids, you want to plan at least one summer vacation. This can be hard with two parents working, but even a long weekend is enough. You just have to take the time to find something suitable for everyone. Camping trips can be fun for most families. If you take some time, you can find a campgrounds nearby. If not, perhaps you know friends or family that have the room for you to come stay with them for a little while. You can find family activities to do there as well.

Don’t forget to allow your children to come up with their own activities for kids. They probably have friends in your neighborhood that they want to spend some time with for sleepovers and lazy days at the pool. Children will have fun at organized events, but it is really good for them to have some free time to come up with their own things to do. Without the opportunity to amuse themselves, they will never be content on their own. Learning to entertain themselves is a great tool that will stimulate their imagination, an essential tool for life long productivity.