education

https://soundcloud.com/familybridgesusa/learning-to-learn-feat-our-kids

Language English

Learning to learn

Sara — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:35:53 +0000

Learning to learn

About this episode

There are many different learning styles. To foster greater learning, we should figure out how our children naturally learn & facilitate those types of activities. In this podcast, our special guests are our very own kids!

Sara Tue, 09/01/2020 - 10:35

Soundcloud Embed

1 September 2020

Alicia La Hoz, Psy.D. Founder & CEO

Omar Ramos Host

Veronica Avila Co-Host

Podcast Series

Additional Info

TOOLS

The Struggle is Real podcast is based off the book, The Struggle is Real: Parenting in the 21st Century written by Dr. Alicia La Hoz & Dr. Paul Meier.

Podcast season

Tags

Building a vocabulary

Words have value. In this podcast, our panel discusses how to raise children to communicate with clarity and wisdom, and on how to use their...

Raising a reader

Research shows that reading to children and discussing the book as you read is the single best way to increase your child’s IQ and instill...

Learning to learn

There are many different learning styles. To foster greater learning, we should figure out how our children naturally learn & facilitate those types of activities...

https://soundcloud.com/familybridgesusa/raising-a-reader-feat-todd-tarpley

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Raising a reader

Sara — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:29:54 +0000

Raising a reader

About this episode

Research shows that reading to children and discussing the book as you read is the single best way to increase your child’s IQ and instill a love of reading. Tune in to learn some tips on how you can inspire a lasting love of reading in your children.

Sara Tue, 09/01/2020 - 10:29

Soundcloud Embed

1 September 2020

Todd Tarpley Award Winning Children's Book Author

Alicia La Hoz, Psy.D. Founder & CEO

Frederick Ford Beckley Writer, Actor & Producer

Veronica Avila Co-Host

Podcast Series

Additional Info

TOOLS

The Struggle is Real podcast is based off the book, The Struggle is Real: Parenting in the 21st Century written by Dr. Alicia La Hoz & Dr. Paul Meier.

Podcast season

Tags

Building a vocabulary

Words have value. In this podcast, our panel discusses how to raise children to communicate with clarity and wisdom, and on how to use their...

Raising a reader

Research shows that reading to children and discussing the book as you read is the single best way to increase your child’s IQ and instill...

Learning to learn

There are many different learning styles. To foster greater learning, we should figure out how our children naturally learn & facilitate those types of activities...

https://soundcloud.com/familybridgesusa/building-a-vocabulary-feat-principal-es…

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Building a vocabulary

Sara — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:25:29 +0000

Building a vocabulary

About this episode

Words have value. In this podcast, our panel discusses how to raise children to communicate with clarity and wisdom, and on how to use their words for good.

Sara Tue, 09/01/2020 - 10:25

Soundcloud Embed

1 September 2020

Estuardo Mazin Principal at John Barry Elementary School

Alicia La Hoz, Psy.D. Founder & CEO

Omar Ramos Host

Veronica Avila Co-Host

Podcast Series

Additional Info

TOOLS

The Struggle is Real podcast is based off the book, The Struggle is Real: Parenting in the 21st Century written by Dr. Alicia La Hoz & Dr. Paul Meier.

Podcast season

Tags

Building a vocabulary

Words have value. In this podcast, our panel discusses how to raise children to communicate with clarity and wisdom, and on how to use their...

Raising a reader

Research shows that reading to children and discussing the book as you read is the single best way to increase your child’s IQ and instill...

Learning to learn

There are many different learning styles. To foster greater learning, we should figure out how our children naturally learn & facilitate those types of activities...

https://soundcloud.com/familybridgesusa/marriage-or-carriage

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Marriage or baby carriage: Talking to your kids about marriage & education

Sara — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 14:08:05 +0000

Marriage or baby carriage: Talking to your kids about marriage & education

About this episode

The “success sequence,” is the research supported notion that people who get an education, then a job, then get married and, lastly, have children are more likely to experience financial prosperity in the future. How do you talk to your kids about following the success sequence? Tune into our panel discussion this week for tips.

Sara Fri, 08/28/2020 - 09:08

Soundcloud Embed

28 August 2020

Dr. Alexandra Solomon Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Alicia La Hoz, Psy.D. Founder & CEO

Omar Ramos Host

Veronica Avila Co-Host

Podcast Series

Talk to your kids about relationships

Additional Info

RECAP

The “success sequence,” is the research supported notion that people who get an education, then a job, then get married and, lastly, have children are more likely to experience financial prosperity in the future. It can be hard for parents who have not themselves followed the success sequence to encourage their children to do so. However, it is important for parents not to feel ashamed about their past and instead use their experiences as a tool to instruct their children about an easier way to succeed in life. Parents who have not followed the success sequence should feel a sense of pride in their own resilience while, nonetheless, instilling values in their children that will lead to their future success.

CONVERSATION

What have your life experiences taught you that you can pass on to your children?

THIS WEEK'S ACTION

Take some time to reflect on your perceived successes and failures. Ask yourself what you would encourage your children to do differently from you and what you would want them to emulate.
Start the conversation with your children about the success sequence. Ask them what their goals in life are and guide them through the best way to go about achieving those goals. You can use the worksheet under the “tool” section of this page as a jumping off point.
Don’t be ashamed of your past. Instead, allow the wisdom you’ve gained from your experiences to guide your children into the smoothest path for their lives.

TOOLS

The Struggle is Real podcast is based off the book, The Struggle is Real: Parenting in the 21st Century written by Dr. Alicia La Hoz & Dr. Paul Meier.

Podcast season

Tags

parenting

teenagers

Guard your child's heart

Boundaries are important in relationships and in life. Setting boundaries for your children helps guard their heart and helps keep them safe. Tune in to...

Is it true love?

The chemical changes that take place during periods of infatuation can cloud judgement and blur the lines between true commitment and attraction. In a truly...

Unpacking the unmentionables: Talking to your kids about drugs, sex & porn

Talking to your kids about drugs, sex and porn can be tough - but it's necessary. Tune in to get tips on how to start...

Identifying abuse: The warning signs

Domestic violence can be seen everywhere. It doesn’t discriminate against race, gender, religion or economic status. It entails more than just physical violence and includes...

Marriage or baby carriage: Talking to your kids about marriage & education

The “success sequence,” is the research supported notion that people who get an education, then a job, then get married and, lastly, have children are...

Preparing them for puppy love

The current cultural trend in America is for children to begin dating at earlier and earlier ages. This means that now, perhaps more than ever...

Raising future spouses

As a parent, have you ever thought that you aren't just raising your own children, but you are also raising someone else's future spouse, life...

Talking to children about divorce

Divorce is a stressful and emotional experience for everyone involved. And when children are involved, it can often leave them feeling as though their whole...

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Backyard Science

savannah — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 10:39:17 +0000

Backyard Science

savannah Tue, 08/20/2019 - 05:39

Aug 20, 2019

Learning isn't something that only happens in school. I talked a lot about failure in one of my past blogs, but along with failure is learning. Striving to learn helps you grow as a person. When someone is usually talking about learning, their minds tend to think of school. Learning is much more than finding out what the quadratic formula is or what DNA means (Deoxyribonucleic acid. Thanks, Mr. Sankey.) That's the only science fact I remember from my three years in middle school. But learning is so much more than school.

Figuring out how to do basic house repairs (none of which I can do) is a way of learning. Instilling into your kids the thirst for knowledge is setting them up for success in life. No one will have to sit them down and teach them how to do something. They will go and figure it out themselves. And it is your job as a parent to encourage that kind of extra-curricular learning. Here are a few ideas you can do to help encourage learning outside of the classroom.

Making Homemade Bouncy Balls

Ingredients:

1 Tb of Borax
½ Cup of Warm Water
1 Tb of Cornstarch
2 Tb of White Glue Food Coloring
2 Plastic Cups
1 Plastic Bag

Instructions:

In a cup, mix the Borax and warm water.
In a different cup, mix the glue, cornstarch, and food coloring.
Add the glue mixture to the water.
The glue should begin to harden after 8-10 seconds. Use a plastic fork or spoon for fishing it out of the water.
Start Rolling the mixture into a ball. The more you roll the ball, the harder it will get.
When done, store the ball in a plastic bag, so it does not dry out.

Making bouncy balls is just a fun experiment that lets the kids get their hands dirty, but not make too big of a mess. If you lay a trash bag on the workspace, then all you have to do is gather it all up and throw out whatever is plastic and wash off whatever isn’t. And now your kid knows how to make bouncy balls. They can brag to all of their friends about their new collection.

Building a Marshmallow Spaghetti Bridge

Building a spaghetti bridge is a fun and time-consuming activity that helps teach kids to critically think while also planning ahead for any mishaps that may occur. Also, there is something unique about making something that isn’t a necklace out of pasta. Plus, it’s inexpensive with minimal mess.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Pasta (Spaghetti or anything like it)
1 Bag of Marshmallows (I prefer the mini marshmallows)
1 Marker

Instructions:

Sit down with your kids at a computer and look up some pictures of simple bridge layouts, something that shows the basic shapes of bridges. Find one that they want to build.
Once you decide on a design, it’s time to start measuring how many pieces of spaghetti you are going to need and measuring them out.
I always like to start with the base of the bridge and build on it. Use the spaghetti as your beams for building the bridge, and the marshmallows as the joints to hold it all together.
Now run wild with it. But be careful, you don’t want to have any of the spaghetti snap mid-construction.
After the construction is all done, test it. See how much weight your bridge can hold. I recommend using pennies as your weights. If the bridge breaks, then ask yourself where did it break and how can we make it better?

I love this project because it teaches so much more than “bridges.” It takes careful planning, critical thinking, and a lot of patience to build. And when it’s all said and done, you will have made something with your kid that they will be proud to show off.

Making a Story Book

Kids love to tell stories, but if we are honest with ourselves, they aren’t always great at telling them. So help them write a story. Learning to layout and organize your thoughts into a cohesive and articulate idea is a skill way too few have nowadays.

Things you need:

Paper
Stuff to color with (crayons, markers, colored pencils)
3-hole punch
1 Binder or folder

Instructions:

Ask your kids if they want to write fiction or nonfiction and help brainstorm all the different ideas they could write
Help them outline their ideas into an order that makes sense
Have them write out their story (and if you are making a picture book with them, then tell them not to draw anything yet.)
Go over their story with them and help fix plot holes in their story. Be their editor. (Editor only, do not author the story.)
Now that they have a fully cohesive story have them draw it out.
Put it in a binder or folder so that it is all together and can be read as a book.

Teaching isn’t just the sole responsibility of a teacher. And learning doesn’t have to be some annoying thing your kids hate. It can be a fun activity that excites and stimulates the brain. The best learning happens when you don’t realize that you are being taught something until it’s all said and done.

by José-Andrés Alegría

children

school

Language English

How to Lessen the Stress of Homework

savannah — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 09:06:13 +0000

How to Lessen the Stress of Homework

savannah Wed, 08/14/2019 - 04:06

Aug 14, 2019

Homework is already stressful, to begin with, so why make it any harder than it has to be? It tends to be the everyday stress that comes along with school. Which only gets worse when you have practice after school, or when you have a big project due soon. So how can you make it that homework is nothing more than just a passing thought? First things first, you have to reframe your mindset. Is homework fun? Not at all. But at the end of the day, it's supposed to help you learn. You get what you put into it. It's like practicing your jump shot or dance routine. Like them, homework is there to reinforce what you might have learned in school, and if you didn't get it in class, then it's good practice.

Pick a place

Find a place where you can't take a nap, or be distracted by food or people. And make this place the area where you always do your homework. Every time you sit down there, your brain should know that it is time to go to work. It's kind of like when you go to work, and your mind knows that it's now time to work and not nap even though there are days when I want to take a nap at work. A quiet space where you can buckle down with little to no distractions will help you in the long run when it comes to the day to day stress of homework.

Prioritize what needs to get done

After you have your space and settle into it, the next step is listing out what's due and when and what needs to get done today. Sometimes you have math homework that's due tomorrow and some history homework that's due three days from now. So why would I do the history homework first? Prioritizing is all about time management.

You know yourself better than anyone, so you can have a rough idea of how long each assignment will take you. My college roommate would save his 4-page papers for the night before they were due. (I am not encouraging this, but he got away with it because he knew that he needed 5 hours for research, writing, and editing.) When I had a reading assignment, I would plan it out, so I did not have to read the whole thing in one day. I know I can read about 60 pages in an hour. So if I had to read 100 pages for class, I knew that I needed about 2 hours to read it all. Always give yourself time for breaks.

Learn the tricks

There is this thing called the Pomodoro technique for when you are doing work. It goes like this; you decide what task you are working on then you set a timer to 25 minutes and work until it goes off. After 25 minutes, you get a 5 minutes break. After the fourth break, you get to take a 30-minute break. The mind can only hold focus for so long before it becomes wasted energy. Be smart with what time you have and don't try to cram all the information in at once.

Background noise

If you're anything like me, then the fourth thing on this list is a must. I need some background noise when I study. I tried having the T.V. on, but that just ended up with me watching T.V. I can't listen to music with lyrics because I will start writing down what I'm hearing. So my solution is Lo-fi. It is the best study music ever! It is a hip-hop jazz beats mixed with some electronic elements. No lyrics but the calming melodies help put my mind at ease while I do work. And if music is too distracting, look up some white noise like rain or a waterfall. Or if you're like my one friend who cannot listen to anything when she studies, then do what she does. She puts on headphones and leaves them unplugged that way you block out noise, and people are less likely to bother you.

Make it a routine

Routines make life so much less stressful. Why should you have to worry about making time for homework when you can make it part of your routine? There is mental relief in knowing that at least one thing has been taken care of in your day. Routines make the stressful, stress-free. Homework used to be the bane of my existence. But with a little discipline and a readiness to work, then maybe it can be less stressful. Homework is meant to help reinforce what you learned and help practice what you don't understand. But the day-to-day grind of school can increase stress and anxiety, so plan accordingly. Make a space where you can work with little to no distractions, make a list of what needs to get done and prioritize, help yourself focus by playing some white noise, studying in increments helps keep you focused in the long run, and lastly make homework a routine and alleviate the stress that homework brings.

P.S. Know the difference between recognition and recollection

When you study, do you remember the material or are there keywords and phrases that trigger your memory? Don't just absorb information and data dump it onto a test, never to remember it again. Actively studying will allow you to remember without any hints or clues to guide you along.

by José-Andrés Alegría

school

Language English

The College Student Struggle is Real

Sara — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 16:15:33 +0000

The College Student Struggle is RealSara Thu, 09/14/2017 - 11:15

Sep 14, 2017

Contributed by Vanessa Ortiz

People always ask me how I manage to balance two jobs and going to school full-time. I’ll let you in on a little secret of how I stay sane...it’s called planning! Ta-Da!!! No, but honestly, I have to plan my days weeks in advance in my yearly calendar, or else I would go insane. I have to write down deadlines and highlight them. Balancing two jobs and full-time college is very challenging, but I know I can handle it because I find time for myself, and I reward myself when I get paid two checks in one week. I’m always tired, but I often have to remind myself that this is just temporary, and my dream career is so close yet so far. Without further ado, here are a few tips for being successful when balancing two jobs and school:

Allow yourself enough time to sleep at least 8 hours to be well rested for the next day.
Spoil yourself, but don’t go crazy.
Take time to do things you love like spending time out with friends.
SAVE...save...save! There’s no point in earning two checks and not saving any money. Put it into your emergency fund.
Go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week for 30 minutes to allow your brain to destress from all of the mental work you have to do.
Use an agenda that’s easily accessible and easy to write in. Write down important dates and little reminders for yourself.

For more resources on personal and professional development, you can follow Family Bridges on social media @familybridges.

habits

young adults

Language English

Going Back to School.... in Chiapas, Mexico!

Sara — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 22:03:11 +0000

Going Back to School.... in Chiapas, Mexico!Sara Fri, 02/03/2017 - 16:03

Feb 3, 2017

Contributed by Barb Linek

Wow! Everybody knows that going back to school involves many new experiences. However, I think I took this to a whole new level by taking a course in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico. I have only been to Mexico once before and that was many years ago for just one week. It was pretty is about all I remember. On that trip, I had virtually no contact with the local people, just the large group I was traveling with. This trip is a completely different experience. We are a small group, just five students, with a professor who has had a strong connection with Chiapas since 1994. So he knows everyone! We’ve been here for a week now, and we are exhausted. We have been all over town, day and night, visiting various organizations working for peace and justice. Maybe Chiapas doesn’t ring a bell for you? It’s the state where a Zapatista uprising against the Mexican government took place in 1994 demanding human rights for the indigenous (native) peoples and justice for the poor. The many organizations we are visiting existed some years before that uprising because Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who served the Diocese of San Cristobal from 1960-2010, helped them get started. Just a few decades ago, indigenous people were not even allowed to enter the city of San Cristobal! The organizations are making progress but there is still a long ways to go. It is amazing to see all these groups working together to change the system or, in some cases, to create their own system to meet people’s needs. What do I hope to learn from this experience in Chiapas? I’d like to know how to organize and empower the voiceless back in the Chicago area. On Sunday we visited Acteal, a small, very poor, indigenous community up in the mountains, 90 minutes drive from town. They don’t even speak Spanish but they were organized and fighting for their human rights for some years before they were attacked in 1997. The paramilitary killed 45 people, mostly women and children, while the police watched. In spite of, or maybe because of, this massacre, the people are still politically active, fighting for their rights. They also have a women’s collective that makes and sells beautiful embroidered clothing. I think that is a great idea. So many creative people in Chicago want to sell their own artwork or crafts but it might be more effective to work together and form a collective. I think we have a lot to learn from the people of San Cristobal. We need to work together more to get things done! You’ve heard the saying, “Two heads are better than one?” Then what if you put ten heads together? Or twenty? I bet we could accomplish even more! Follow my journey on social media @familybridges with #BarbsJourney #journeys.