Giving to Children’s Charities
Author: Veronica Scott
Giving to children’s charities can be among the most rewarding things you can do with your money. Selecting the right charity, however, can seem complicated with the wide variety of charities out there. While most charities are reputable and trustworthy, there are some instances of fraud or other issues that can make giving to charities something worth taking a closer look at. Overall, thankfully, the act of giving to children’s charities can be tremendously rewarding and compassionate.
Picking a Charity
When choosing a children’s charity, take a look at your own priorities first. What issues are important to you? If you have a relative with a particular illness, you may want to donate to a charity that has an association with that particular illness. Most people give to children’s charities with which they have a particular emotional attachment. To pick a charity, make a list of some of your own priorities and start planning from there.
Next, take a look at the geographical location and situation of the children that the charity aims to help. Are you interested in helping children internationally or are local children’s charities more your cup of tea? Your charitable donation can make a difference regionally, locally, nationally, or internationally. Make sure you learn as much about the location your donation will be assisting, so as to be able to give with confidence.
Also take a look at what activities the charity will perform to assist children. In many cases, you can assign your own donation to the areas in which it is needed most. If, for example, you wish to distribute some funds or equipment to the building of a new playground at a children’s cancer center, you can request that those funds are given to the proper area. If it appears that your charitable donations will simply be allocated to administration purposes, you may want to consider another more active charity.
Giving to a large organization differs from giving to a smaller organization in a number of ways. With your donation to a large children’s charity, you may be helping with a big project or helping fund other parts of a large charity organization. With a smaller grassroots organization, you may be able to be more aware and enlightened as to where your funds or donations are being allocated.
When it comes to making sure that the children’s charity you intend to work with is legitimate, you can contact the tax services branch of your local government. All registered charities will have a business number and will have ample tax and government information. If the charity you are looking to work with does not have a business number or registration information, do not donate to them.
Finally, decide what type of donation you wish to make. Some charities accept monetary donations primarily, while others accept donations of time or even toys. There are some organizations that offer ways to connect children with great toys, like dollhouses or stuffed animals. With a simple internet search, you can find out more information about helping the various children’s charities and how your money, time, or toys can be donated to help brighten the day of a youngster today.
How To Help Your Child Learn
Author: Barbara White
Just as every snowflake is unique, so is every child. The way that your child learns depends a number of different factors, which combined together, create his unique learning style. By helping your child discover how he learns the best, you will set him up for life time success in learning, and reduce the frustrations that come through trying to learn in a way that does not use his particular strengths and to him seems uncomfortable.
Every parent has been through the school system and hopefully discovered ways that facilitated a style of learning that worked for them. However it is a fallacy to presume that a parent’s style is necessarily going to be the best way for their child, in fact it could have a detrimental effect to insist that they learn in that way.
For example the traditionally accepted environment to do homework is to sit at a desk in a quiet spot to help concentration. However this is only likely to help learning for a percentage of students. If this is not a comfortable way of learning for a child it can actually inhibit the flow of ideas and create a learning vacuum where the mind becomes a blank. Some may need to spread out on the floor, sit cross-legged on the bed or even in front of the TV to find an environment where their best learning can take place. Some students need music or background noise, food or drink and to feel comfortable before real learning can take place. Some remember best when they can move about or learn by doing, some need to visualize or see pictures, write or read the information for themselves, and others need to hear the information and speak it back in order to remember it. Using a combination of two of these modalities may work best for some students.
Another important factor that comes in play is the way a child perceives and orders information in their mind. The conventional method is for information to be structured in a logical step by step process, which leads in a linear form from the beginning to its logical end. This method works for many students, however some may have learning styles which in take information and put it into meaningful bits or chunks, which are stored in the mind in a random way. Such a student will reach the desired result, but will not use a sequential logical format in the learning process.
There are two main ways the brain makes sense of the information it receives, and although we all use both ways there will be a leaning towards one way or the other. The first way can be termed the ‘analytic’. An analytic has a tendency to focus on the details, and fit them together to make sense of information. The ‘global’ however needs to see the bigger picture and fit in the information so it makes sense in the wider scope of things. A global sees all the parts are related to each other to make up the big picture, but may have difficulty in separating the parts outside of the bigger picture. An analytic has no problem focusing in on the parts, but may have difficulty seeing the bigger picture and how the details fit together in the wider sense. An example of this can be seen in the approach to doing a jigsaw. The analytic will focus in the jigsaw pieces and how they fit together. He may fit together several sections before looking at the picture to see where they go. The global, on the other hand will probably do the edges pieces first, and frequently refer to the picture to see where a piece would go.
By observing your child in natural normal situations you will be able to pick up clues as to the innate strategies he/she uses to understand the world, to concentrate, and remember. By giving your child opportunities to try a variety of methods of learning you can help them discover and encourage their unique style of learning. The earlier a child discovers what works best for them, the more success and self confidence will be attached to their learning experiences in life. As a parent you are in the best position to help them in the process of discovery
Does A Child See What You See?
Author: Arlene Evans
How to Tell if a Child has a Color Vision Deficiency
Joey Knight was puzzled. What did his parents mean by color? Green shirt, red shirt, brown shirt, gray shirt. Huh? They all looked pretty much the same to him. He figured his parents were just smarter than he was.
Approximately 1:12 males and 1:200 females has some degree of color vision deficiency or colorblindness.
Pre-school books, puzzles, games and other toys are colored intensely enough that most children can tell the colors apart, although they may not look the same to the child with CVD as they do to most people. However, two percent of the male population (and a rare female) cannot see red or green at all, and they confuse other colors as well. These children may not catch on easily to pre-school games that are based on color. They may also resist playing with puzzles that rely as much on color as on shape. They may not be as enthralled with crayons as are most children. They’d just as soon draw with a fat pencil. They may not see optical illusions that are easy for other children to see. These children who are severely affected by CVD see all the reds, oranges, yellows and greens as one color and all the blues, violets and purples as another.
Children who are mildly or moderately affected with CVD may have difficulty matching light shades of colors, especially red (or pink) and green. They often confuse these colors with other colors, such as gray or tan. Those who see red faintly confuse blue and purple because they don’t recognize the red in purple.
From everyday conversation children learn that “grass is green,” “the sky is blue,” etc. To help children with CVD learn color names (but not always recognize the color itself), parents can label objects in their homes, like a picture of a “Bear” for a brown couch or a “Fire Engine” for red drapes, or a “Sun“ for a yellow wall (although most children with CVD recognize yellow). Parents can also teach their youngsters the first letter of color names printed on crayons so the children can identify them more easily. They can also encourage pre-school teachers to reinforce this teaching-learning process in the classroom.
It’s important — for children with and without CVD — not to point out “mistakes” or to chide children for not naming colors “correctly.” Some children — and adults — simply don’t see as many colors as other people do. Also, it’s better for parents to say, “I like that green shirt” rather than ask, “What color is your shirt?”
A mother with a preschooler who had a moderate CVD said her husband had become extremely frustrated with their son because he had tried to teach the boy color names. No wonder the boy couldn’t learn color names. Some colors, especially lighter shades, looked identical to him.
Another mother with a son with CVD said she thought her son had a language problem. “I thought he wasn’t understanding the words,” she said, when he couldn’t tell color names.
CVD is known as a sex-linked recessive disorder. It is carried on the X chromosome. A male has an X and a Y chromosome, and a female has two X chromosomes. When a male inherits an affected X, he will have CVD because, unlike a female, he doesn’t have an unaffected X to dominate the affected X. Because a male always passes his Y chromosome to his sons, he does not pass CVD to his sons; he does, however, pass his X to his daughters who are then “carriers.” A carrier typically doesn’t show symptoms of CVD, but has a 50 percent chance of passing her affected X on to each of her children. The females who inherit the X will, like their mothers, be carriers; the males who inherit the affected X will, like their maternal grandfathers, have CVD.
If you have a concern about your child’s color vision, consult an eye care specialist. Specialists generally have color vision tests for pre-school children. Your local school nurse can usually test children as young as four easily and quickly using special books that utilize an affected person’s confusion of red and green with gray.
Best of all, a child need not realize that he “failed” the test. He can simply be told how well he did. Parents can speak with the examiner beforehand to be sure this happens. “Your eyes are fine. You just don’t see as many colors as most people,“ is one explanation. The child can be told he’s like his (maternal) Grandpa or perhaps a (maternal) uncle. Usually, the type of the CVD as well as its degree — whether it’s mild, moderate or severe — runs in families. The child observes that the older family member has coped well with his CVD. There’s no need in the pre-school years to delve into occupations that require accurate color vision.
The child with a severe CVD might realize that in some instances he can actually “see” things that others have difficulty seeing. For instance, some animals are camouflaged — chameleons, for instance. Their color changes according to their surroundings. A child with typical color vision might not see a chameleon as readily as a child with severely reduced color vision. A child with severe CVD is not confused by color and pays more attention to form, shape and movement.
A delightful book that explores feelings associated with colors is Mary Le Duc’s Hailstones and Halibut Bones. This book can be enjoyed by parents and children regardless of their color vision.