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A New Home for the VolunteerSpot Blog

Check out the latest news and content at SignUp.com

The VolunteerSpot blog has moved and is still alive and well! We continue to add new helpful tips and ideas every month with the goal of making life a little easier for all you awesome (volunteer, PTA/PTO, teacher, faith group, league, workplace, neighborhood, and community) Organizers out there.

600x300 SignUp Idea Center on laptop

 

SignUp.com’s Idea Center

We invite you to search our VolunteerSpot blog archive for past posts that may be of interest, and for fresh, up-to-date content, head over to the SignUp Idea Center. Here you’ll find fun ideas, best practices, smart planning tips, and free downloadable graphics, PLUS printable and fillable checklists, letters, coloring pages, appreciation certificates, thank you notes, and much more. 

We’ve got you covered when it comes to volunteer management (for nonprofit organizations, schools, teams, whatever your cause!), fundraising, holidays and other seasonal events, family reunions, picnics, potlucks… you get the point!


600x300 SignUp Idea Center on laptop

Whatever your interest, Start Planning Now at SignUp!

Posted at 10:02 AM in Back-to-School, Charity Auction Ideas (Schools too!), Classroom Activities & Party Ideas, End of the School Year, Fundraising Ideas, How 2 VolunteerSpot - Tips, Tricks and Technical, Online Sign Up Feature Friday, Personal Organization Tips, Potluck, Social Media for Schools & Nonprofits, Summer Fun, Tips for Non-Profits, Volunteer Action - Motivation and Coordination, Volunteering at School, Volunteering by the Season, Volunteering in the Community, Volunteering with your Congregation | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences. If you have school-aged kids, you'll attend them. And if you're a teacher, you'll schedule them. They're quick, they're important, and they're just the tip of the iceberg for developing a strong teacher-parent-student relationship.

SignUp.com makes it easy for both parents and teachers to make the most of their time together. From scheduling to reminders, from planning checklists to student follow-ups, your conference will be meaningful and easy! Please check out our helpful idea-center articles and resources below:

 

Learn how to use SignUp.com for parent-teacher conference scheduling here:

 

Parent Teacher Conference SignUps

Teachers - we asked top teachers to share their tips for showing parents how much you value their child's presence in your classroom, and how to surface strengths and address concerns.   

Parent Teacher Conference Tips for Teachers

Parents - check out this helpful reference of what to do before, during and after your conference to get the most out of your teacher meeting.

Parent Teacher Conference Checklist for Parents

 

Include students in the conversation with these helpful tips and conversation starters.

Parent Teacher Conference FollowUP

Posted at 03:05 PM in Back-to-School, Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

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SignUp.com Potluck Ideas

Savvy Tips and Ideas for Planning Potlucks

SignUp.com is full of resources for organizing your school and nonprofit events, but we don't stop there. In the Potluck Planning Idea Center, you can find recipes, SignUp sheets, printables and more to make your potluck or party a hit too! Whether you're planning a family reunion, holiday get-together or teacher appreciation meal, SignUp.com has got you covered. 

Potluck-Planning-Center

Browse our Potluck Planning Center for:

  • Free Potluck Printables and Meal Cards
  • Free, Online Potluck SignUp Sheets
  • Potluck Planning Tips
  • Teacher Appreciation Potluck Ideas
  • And more!

Visit the Potluck Ideas Center to help you with all of your potluck planning and share your ideas with your friends!

 

Posted at 04:30 AM in Back-to-School, Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: potluck ideas, potluck meal cards, potluck planning, potluck recipes, signup, signup.com

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Digital Parenting Advice on Friendship and Identity

Webinar Recording with Slides 

Our free parenting webinar, Friendship & Identity in the Digital Age, was a huge hit - but don't fret if you missed it! We have free access to the full webinar recording with slides here! Author, speaker and expert, Devorah Heitner, PhD of RaisingDigitalNatives.com shares advice, best practices and practical real-world tips on everything from kids and social media to texting, gaming, apps, bullying, digital citizenship, and more.

Friendship and Identity

Worried that your kid is feeling left out when others share photos online? Concerned about their digital footprint and online safety? Then don't skip this webinar recording! Listen and share with your friends and family, and don't forget to have those important conversations with your kids about social media, about sharing pictures, reaching out for help, texting, and being good digital citizens. Click here to access the free webinar recording with Q&A.

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: digital parenting advice, digital parenting webinar, friendship and identity in the digital age, raising digital natives, volunteerspot webinar

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Summer Music for Families

Get Ready for Summer with Awesome New Music for Families!

Summer is almost here and so far, 2016 has been an incredible year for Kindie music. What is Kindie music? Kindie artists are family-friendly independent singer/songwriters, duos, and bands that create music parents and children can both enjoy. Kindie music spans all genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, folk, country, and jazz. If you’d like a quick primer on Kindie music, check out this “2016 Summer roadtrip playlist”. As a bonus, all of these songs on the playlist can be downloaded for FREE between May 18 and May 25, 2016. In this article, we’ll give you a few recommendations on some of our favorite albums and songs so far this year.

Frances england

France England (Photo credit: Frances England)

Frances England‘s new “Explorer of the World” is one of the most consistently brilliant and beautiful albums of 2016. As we noted in our album review, “This album is the soundtrack to the adventures you want to take. Her songs cultivate curiosity and wake up wanderlust by inspiring you to look up and admire the beauty in the world around you. The beauty of the every day. The beauty of the far away.” In addition to the title track (which you can download from the 2016 Summer roadtrip playlist), one of our favorite tracks, “See What We Can See,” is a perfect song for summer. 

 

The Grammy-winning Okee Dokee Brothers released their latest album “Saddle Up” on May 13th. “Saddle Up” is filled with songs inspired by their adventures riding horseback along the Continental Divide. While the album is filled with wonderful “bluegrass pop” tunes, one of our favorites is an ode to the mysterious, elusive, and mythical “Jackalope”.

The Sugar Free Allstars are a family funk super duo from Oklahoma City. In our album review, we described their new self-titled album as a “symphonic funknado that will pick up your family and send them spinning!” There are many songs our family enjoyed on this album, but it is hard to beat the AC/DC and Air Supply inspired funk fusion that is “Monster Truck”.

In March, the musical kaleidoscope of joy that is Mista Cookie Jar, released his latest album “Music is Everywhere”. This album is one of our favorites and includes wonderful songs like “My My My” (the quintessential sob inducing home video soundtrack song) “Gratitude” (a funky song of Thanksgiving), and “Young at Heart” (a soft soulful reflection on childhood). However our favorite song is a funkified folk tune that urges you to “Hold On to Your Dreams”. You can also learn more about Mista Cookie Jar in our recent interview.

One of the newest artists in Kindie music is the sweet and perky pop of Emily Arrow. Emily Arrow’s songs are drawn from children’s literature and bring a warm new dimension to classic stories. Her debut album, “Storytime Singalong, Volume 1” was released in February. One of our favorite songs on the album, “Louise Loves Art” was inspired by Kelly Light’s book of the same name. 

These are five of our favorite, but there has been (and will be) so much more great Kindie music this year including The Not-Its, Mike Phirman, L.A.R.D. Dog and the Band of Shy, Red Yarn, Laurie Berkner, Recess Monkey, The Hollow Trees, 123 Andres, Chibi Kodama, Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam, Michael and the Rockness Monsters, KB Whirly, Hullabaloo, The Whiz Pops, Brady Rymer and the Little Band that Could, and so many more! 


About Full Van Fun:

FullvanfunFull Van Fun (www.fullvanfun.com) is focused on bringing families together to enjoy a shared experience. We present stories, interviews, tips, reviews, and more about exciting destinations, great music, and scratch-made Farm to Family food that the "full van" (i.e. parents & kids) can enjoy. Sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss any of the fun!

 

 

Posted at 02:32 PM in Classroom Activities & Party Ideas, Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: family fun music, full van fun, kindie music, music for families, music for kids

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Free Webinar | Friendship & Identity in the Digital Age

Digital Parenting Tips

Concerned about cyberbullies? Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of  apps your kids are using to communicate? Tips, advice and best practices for parents of digital natives in our FREE webinar, this Wed. 5/18 at 12p ET! Join VolunteerSpot and author, expert and speaker, Devorah Heitner, PhD of Raising Digital Natives for a can't miss parenting webinar that focuses on how to help our kids form lasting friendships and identities in the digital age.

Free Webinar: ‘ Friendship & Identity in the Digital Age
Wed. May 18th, at 12p ET. Register today >>

Friendship and Identity in the Digital Age Webinar

In this webinar, you'll learn:

How to be a good digital mentor (not a spy!)

What digital citzenship means

How to help your kids create a positive digital footprint

What friendship & identity for digital teens means

And more!

Register to reserve your free spot today!

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: digital parenting advice, digital parenting webinar, parenting webinar, raising digital natives, volunteerspot webinar

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Digital Parenting 101 | Conflict Resolution

Tips for Raising Digital Natives

Our friend and digital parenting expert, Devorah Heitner, PhD, of RaisingDigitalNatives.com, is serving up big time parenting advice that can revamp the way you approach conflict resolution with your digital native. Catch an excerpt of her latest post below and read the entire thing here.

Conflict Resolution

Kids deal with small conflicts every day—it’s part of growing up. But their conflicts now have a different dimension, and are often made more complicated by technology. While today’s devices allow us to be connected in ways we couldn’t even imagine when we were kids, technology has added layers of complexity to the social sphere.

If you are a regular reader, you know me to be very tech-positive. I believe that the benefits outweigh the hazards—if and only if we develop the necessary skill sets to use the technology the right way.

That’s good news. If we treat it like a skill set, that means it can be learned—and more importantly, taught. The challenge is that there’s a pretty wide continuum of unkind and difficult behaviors, ranging from perceived slights to thoughtlessness, unkindness to intentional drama and gossip, and in extreme cases, bullying.

A further challenge is that the rules, conventions, and expectations are still evolving. While it seems like text messaging has been around “forever,” it’s still new enough that everyday behavior is not yet governed by a clear set of cultural norms. It’s still very much in flux, which makes parents feel like they are “behind the times,” and “can’t keep up” with what their kids know.

More good news—if you feel equipped to help your kids handle a face-to-face conflict, then . . .

Click here to read the entire article.

 

Also see:

Stop Texting, Enjoy Life: Your Kids Are Watching

Overwhelmed by Apps? Tips for Parents

3 Real-world Tips for Parent-School Engagement

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: conflict resolution for digital natives, conflict resolution for teens, devorah heitner, digital parenting advice, raising digital natives

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Parenting in the Digital Age | Homework Hints & Tips

5 Homework Tips and Tools That Can Really Help Your Child (and You!)

Reeling from the most recent parent-teacher conference? Battling day in and day out to get your child to complete and turn in homework? You’re not alone! Parents just like you are searching for new tools and ideas to make homework time less stressful, easier, and well, more fun! Our friends at “Inspire” by Gamer Parents!, have 5 great tips to revolutionize your homework world – check it out:

Homework Help Tips and Tools

1. Use Online Flash Cards: “Inspire” by GamerParents is bringing a whole new twist to the digital flash card movement. What if your child had to answer a multiple choice flash card on their phone in order to return to the game they were playing or the Instagram feed they were checking out? Inspire’s patent-pending technology gives parents the tools to help their kids study anytime, anywhere – the Inspire apps literally override any other app your kid is using and locks it until they answer the question.

With an intuitive, inexpensive online toolkit from "Inspire", parents and students can quickly build their arsenal of digital flashcards based on the subject and curriculum they’re using in class. Parents can then set up a framework for when and how often kids see the flashcards on their devices based on how well kids answer them, i.e., if the student answers a question wrong, Inspire's responsive timer will subtract 3 minutes from the timer's time and next flash card will appear 3 minutes earlier than normal. If the user answers a question correctly than the timer will add 2 minutes to the time allowed to play. Learn more

Inspire Digital Flashcards

2. Study, Don’t Cram: Did you know it’s been scientifically proven that you are more likely to retain important information in your long-term memory through the spaced repetition and reinforcement of that information over time (versus cramming it all at once)? A great homework tip for truly helping your kids . . . regularly reviewing material that they will be quizzed or tested on. A University of California study revealed that 90% of students who studied with flashcards using this spaced repetition method performed better on the exam than their ‘cramming’ counterparts. Learn more on Examtime.com.

3. Use the Cloud: In the digital age, there’s no room for “I left it at school” excuses. Free cloud sharing platforms like GoogleDocs and Dropbox make it easy for students, especially high schoolers, to work on and save homework papers, projects, presentations, you name it - and access them from anywhere at any time. Help your kid securely create their own cloud sharing account so they can enjoy doing their homework in their favorite surroundings outside of the house – school, the library, a coffee shop, you name it. Bonus tip: “Inspire” by Gamer Parents turns all devices into truly, smart devices with digital flashcards that make it easy for kids to study wherever they are. Learn more

5 Homework Help Ideas

4. Switch It Up: Understanding how we learn can be key to overcoming homework struggles at home. KQED.org shares in their Mind/Shift article, How Does the Brain Learn Best? Smart Studying Strategies, that varying study environment and schedules can help reinforce the learning material your child’s brain is covering. If your child gets stuck on a problem for a long time, taking a walk, even hopping on social media for a minute can allow for “mental incubation” of the material and incite flashes of insight towards solving it. The article shares that even “Quizzing oneself on new material, such as by reciting it aloud from memory or trying to tell a friend about it, is a far more powerful way to master information than just re-reading it, according to work by researchers including Henry Roediger III and Jeffrey Karpicke.”

5. Open Access to Classmates: Find easy, accessible ways for your child to communicate with other classmates on homework, projects, and even tutoring time. Skype is a great free tool with secure log-in that allows your student to call their classmate for free over the internet and even share their computer screen if working on a presentation together. Group messaging apps like Voxer and GroupMe can also assist your student in connecting with other classmates about school-related work; and Remind connects teachers with students via simple, secure SMS messaging on their mobile device. Are you a teacher? Learn how "Inspire" by Gamer Parents! can be used to help your students study more successfully! Click here

Bonus tip: Homework overload is an all-to-common reality for students even as young as kindergarten. The success of completing and turning in loads of after-school assignments can affect a young person’s attitude, stress levels and self-confidence in a negative way. When it comes to homework time, make sure your child has some voice in when and where homework gets done – making it their choice helps foster a positive environment for them to receive encouragement and focus on homework they’re choosing to complete themselves.



Inspire by Gamer Parents
“Inspire” by Gamer Parents!
is a great tool to help your child study over an extended amount of time, even when they’re using their phone for something else. Not to mention, there isn't a day that goes by in which a student cannot use Inspire - school breaks, snow days, sick days, etc, all students can learn at their own pace with Inspire and never lose progress! Learn more

Inspire by Gamer Parents

Posted at 04:30 AM in Classroom Activities & Party Ideas, Personal Organization Tips, Teacher Tuesdays | Permalink

Tags: digital flashcards, gamer parents, homework help ideas, homework help tips, homework help tools, inspire by gamer parents, inspire flash cards, kids online tutor, online flashcards, online tutoring for kids

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Texting While Parenting

Stop Texting, Enjoy Life: Your Kids Are Watching You

By: Devorah Heitner, Raising Digital Natives

Kids learn their values and behaviors from watching us. Are you texting when your kids are talking to you? Are you checking your emails while they are around? Are you "allowed" to answer your phone during dinner (when they aren’t) and blaming it on work?

Texting While Parenting

The pressures of today’s constantly connected world seems to put us in a perpetual state of multitasking. I feel the same pressure in my own day to day life, so I get it.  But what watching us multi-task and “double screen” say to our kids? Can we set a better example? If you can commit to the discipline of not checking your phone constantly, it will send a powerful message to your kids. You are in control—not controlled by your devices. The boundaries you set, and adhere to, will not only free you, but they will also set an example for your kids.

In other words, if you put away your cell phone during important family time—they will too. When you show your kids that family time is important, they will come to value it more too. Many of us are checking email hundreds of times a day. Productivity experts and family experts agree—this doesn’t help your productivity or your relationships. If you text at dinner, don’t expect your tween or teen to leave their phone somewhere else or turn it off.

Modeling a balanced use of your own devices could be the most important message you can send your child about the role of technology in your family. Try going to the park or playground tech-free. Find a family "safe word" that is funny but serves as a good reminder. One family I know, everyone is allowed to nicely call one another out on being "screen monsters," and we remind each other to "be here now."

    Related: Overwhelmed by Apps? 3 Strategies for Parents

We’ve all seen families and friends eating lunch while checking their smartphones. It’s a scene we’ve all witnessed in restaurants, and it always looks worse on others, doesn’t it? Either on your own, or with your spouse/partner, take a mental inventory of  your own family’s time where each of you is on his or her own screen. You have to be really mindful and objective, as much of the time it is not planned this way. But as you look back on the past week or any typical week, where do you find members of the family in their own corners or even right next to one another, absorbed in their individual digital worlds?

One mother, Susan Maushart, unplugged her entire family. She and her three teenage children lived “unplugged” for 6 months. While the kids were initially resentful, she found that the siblings grew closer to one another (and not purely because they were upset with their mother!) and that old talents and hobbies resurfaced without video games and texting to eat up all of their free time. While the full  unplugging is a radical step, getting more mindful of how family time can be eroded by the pull of networked connections can help your family stay connected. She wrote a book about the experience that I recommend: The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale.

Stop Texting, Parents

It may not be fun for you, but ask your children what their least favorite tech habit of yours is. You may already know your own weaknesses, but it can be really helpful to get their view on it. What do you do when a family member wants to talk with you? Do you close your laptop or put down your phone? If you watched a video of yourself, would it surprise you? Would you like what you see? I struggle with this as a full-time consultant and speaker too, as the boundaries around work are a little different than they might be with a 9-5 job. Even so, many parents with 9-5 jobs have expectations of constant accessibility, too—and they find that accessibility  to be just as much of a management challenge as anyone else.

The kids in my workshops are on to their parents. When I ask what problems in their lives are exacerbated by technology , every single kid from 4th to 7th grader answers the same way. They all complain about the most important people in their lives being inaccessible because of technology. As a parent, it kills me to hear this.

When parents are glued to smartphones or engrossed in email, the children in my workshops tell me they feel like they’re not needed. And they designed an app to fix it! One workshop group came up with an app called, “Stop Texting, Enjoy Life” for their parents. Here’s how it works. The app is voice-activated and when triggered by a child’s voice, will actually shut down mom or dad’s phone.

They were clever enough to design the app with a voice recognition feature , so random kids can’t come up to adults  on the street and turn off their phones. As parents, we have put timers on our children’s  use of technology and these clever kids are letting us know they want the same consideration in return. They want to feel important to us, and not just pushed aside by the demands of today’s world and our greater accessibility to everyone  

What can you do to change habits around this kind of media use? Begin by looking for opportunities for shared media use and unplugged time. Choose one small area at a time where you can  change habits. For me it is resisting the urge to check email thirty times a day. Enlist a friend or your spouse to do a 1-week habit-change challenge. Or start the equivalent of a “swear jar” and put a dollar into the jar each time you check your phone during scheduled unplugged time. Have fun with the challenge, and acknowledge the difficulties to your kids in becoming more mindful about everyday habits of digital connection. You’re setting  great example for them!



image from https://s3.amazonaws.com/feather-client-files-aviary-prod-us-east-1/2016-02-21/269b834bbd5a44f3af7a26366b57b82e.pngAbout the Author: An experienced speaker, workshop leader, and consultant, Dr. Heitner founded Raising Digital Natives to serve as a resource for schools and organizations wishing to cultivate a culture of responsible digital citizenship. She has spoken at schools across the United States and beyond as well conferences and meetings including SXSWedu, TEDx Naperville and the National Association of Independent Schools. Her book, Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in the Digital Age will be published by Bibliomotion in fall 2016. Her curriculum:Connecting Wisely: Social Emotional Insights and Skills for Plugged in Kids is available from Youthlight Press. Dr. Heitner has a Ph.D. in Media/Technology and Society from Northwestern University and has taught at DePaul University, Street Level Youth Media, and Northwestern University. She is delighted to be raising her own digital native, too.

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: devorah heitner, digital parenting, digital parenting advice, digital parenting guide, raising digital natives, stop texting while parenting, texting for parents

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Privacy and Social Media: Best Practices for Students

How Teens Can Be Safe Digital Citizens on Social Media

Our friends at GoEnnounce are serving up tons of great social media safety tips for students and their parents. Check out an excerpt of their popular article below and read the entire thing here.

Social Media Teenagers

Social Media continues to become a bigger part of our daily lives. It’s important to understand how to control the information you are putting out there to use social media safely.  One area that many students overlook is privacy. We like to think checking a few boxes will keep all our information safe, available only to those we’ve marked as friends, but the reality is more complex.  Follow these best practice methods to protect yourself and use social media effectively.

Colleges and Businesses Are Watching

As part of the applicant screening process, many colleges and potential employers are looking towards social media to judge your potential. A 2014 Kaplan survey found that 35% of college admissions officers admitted to visiting an applicant’s social media page to learn more about them.  

What Does Your Social Media Say About You?

Think about your social media accounts. Do your profile, posts and comments represent the true you? Do you showcase your achievements both inside and outside of school?  Do you look like a hard worker, or do you look like someone who’s always hanging with friends and ready for a good time? Are there suggestions of inappropriate behavior on your page? What about your “followers” or who you are “following”? The people you are connected to, who tag you in photos, or leave comments on your social media can . . .

Catch the rest of this great post, click here.

 

Related: Overwhelmed by Apps? 3 Strategies for Parents

 

GoEnnounceGoEnnounce.com connects students with their networks to help them achieve more. It's a safe place for students to e-nnounce and track achievements, projects, and goals to get the encouragement and financial help they need to succeed. Start a Student Page and apply for our monthly scholarship here. 

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips, Social Media for Schools & Nonprofits | Permalink

Tags: goennounce, social media college application, social media privacy, social media privacy for teens, social media tips for teens

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Winter Safety Tips for Seniors

And Ways Family and Neighbors Can Help

Cold winter months are especially hard for senior citizens who live on their own. Whether you're a helpful neighbor or a local relative, here are some tips for keeping the seniors in your life safe during winter:

Senior Winter Safety

  1. Shovel and salt: Falls are great dangers for seniors no matter the time of year. Help shovel walkways, wheel chair ramps and driveways for seniors, and salt paths to prevent ice buildup. Check out more tips for preventing senior falls from our friends at Care.com, click here.

  2. Visit and call often: Winter weather can make it hard for seniors especially to get out about in their normal routine; this can leave them without inter-personal contact for days on end. Visit and call regularly to help combat seasonal depression and encourage your kids to as well!

  3. Check detectors: Heaters, lanterns and fireplaces are regular household items during the winter but serious fire and carbon monoxide risks too. Double check that your senior has proper, working smoke and CO detectors in their residence. *Note: Space heaters should be plugged into outlet, not an extension cord and kept at least 3 feet away from anything that could burn, including the wall.

  4. Dress Warmly: Without appropriate layers and access to heat, seniors can easily become hypothermic - where there body temperature dips below 95 degrees. Fill dressers and closets with warm coats, sweaters, scarves, hats and gloves that are easy to access.

  5. Stash back-up supplies: In case of power outages, make sure your senior has back-up flashlights, lanterns, and batteries as well as non-perishable foods and bottles of water. 

  6. Offer rides: Keep your senior off potentially dangerous winter roads and offer to pick up (or take them to get) their prescriptions, groceries, etc while you're out running errands.

Posted at 04:39 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: safety tips for senior citizens, senior safety in winter, senior winter safety tips

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5 Healthy Money Habits for Busy Families

Family Budgeting for Financial Confidence

Is improving your family’s finances one of your goals for 2016? If so, abiding by a few simple financial principles can help. Check out these tips from our friends at Thrivent Financial:

Healthy Money Habits for Busy Families

1. Spend less than you make: A recent Money Mindset Report* from Thrivent Financial found that “only 27 percent of Americans are very confident they are making the right decisions with their money and the same percent admit they currently live above their financial means.” Living within your means sounds good, but can be hard when bills and expenses for school, teams, music lessons, you name it, add up so quickly. Manage your family’s budget and spending with online tools like the Home Budget Calculator from Thrivent Federal Credit Union. Plus, members of the Thrivent Federal Credit Union have free access to FinanceWorks™, an online tool to track spending, create budgets, review spending and saving habits and more.

Financial_Principles_to_Live_By

2. Be wise with debt: Prioritize paying down debt and work hard to minimize credit card debt by paying off your balance each month if possible. If your wallet is full of credit cards, resolve this year to pare down to just one or two - making it easier to keep track of balances and due dates. Check with your credit card companies about “pay off” amounts so you’re not stuck with a last-minute interest charge; and get fresh balance numbers on outstanding student, car and home loans to build a comprehensive long-term pay-off strategy with your spouse.

Thrivent Financial

3. Protect yourself against setbacks: Emergencies, illnesses and injuries can have major financial consequences. The Thrivent Financial survey found that 32 percent of Americans don’t have an emergency fund, 53 percent don’t have life insurance and 89 percent don’t have disability income insurance.  Whether you call it a “rainy day fund” or the “emergency stash,” setting aside some dollars every month for emergencies is wise planning. And don’t overlook the protection insurance can provide – a little knowledge goes a long way! Learn more

4. Have a short and long-term plan: If you’re like most people, you have many financial goals — building a nest egg, saving for your kids’ education, preparing for retirement, etc. But it’s hard to achieve goals without a plan. While your long-term goals may seem overwhelming, a good practice is to identify two to three actions you can act on this year to get your family on track for the long term. For help, consider working with a Thrivent Financial representative who can help you implement financial strategies that reflect your values. Read more

Family Budget Tips

5. Give back: Survey results from the 2015 Money Mindset Report showed that more than 1 in 3 Americans (35 percent) think the purpose of the money they make is to give back – whether during their lifetime or after. Giving back is a key healthy money habit and a great way to engage kids in family finances. Living generously can take many forms: sharing an offering at church, setting up a monthly donation for a favorite nonprofit or volunteering your time. You may wonder how you can manage to give when family budgets are tight. Check out these planning ideas.

Thrivent Financial

More about Thrivent Financial:

Thrivent Financial’s unique approach blends faith, finances and generosity. No matter how much money you have, Thrivent offers products, tools and sound financial guidance to help you feel comfortable and confident with your finances. It's not just about making more, it's about doing more – for your family, your church and your community. Learn more about saving, spending and sharing as well as unique volunteer opportunities to make a difference in your community. Click here 

* The Thrivent Financial 2015 Money Mindset Report, conducted in partnership with Wakefield Research, surveyed 1,001 U.S. adults ages 18+ to learn more about Americans’ relationship with money, including how they make decisions when it comes to their personal finances, giving back to others and the role of faith in their finances.

Posted at 04:06 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: family budget ideas, family budget tips, family budgeting, family money habits, financial literacy, financial planning for families, healthy money habits, thrivent financial, thrivent financial services

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5 Things to Do for Your Teen in the New Year

Tips & Resources for Parents of Teens

Thanks to Microsoft Learning for this great post!

Want to pave a bright path for your teen’s future? From digital parenting to financial planning and college preparedness, the resources for helping your teen succeed are but a click away. Check out our top 5 picks below:

5 Things to Do for Your Teen in the New Year

1. Check out Microsoft certifications: Did you know your teen could earn college credits before they even apply to school? Microsoft provides a unique opportunity for teens to acquire valuable IT skills and for parents to save big on college tuition. Microsoft professional certifications help your child:

- Demonstrate their skills on the latest technologies and real-life business challenges
- Achieve greater success in college
- Build outstanding resumes
- Increase employability while in college and after graduation

The American Council on Education (ACE) recommends bachelor and associate degree college credit for select Microsoft certifications including administering Microsoft Office, configuring Windows operating systems, as well as development and coding with HTML5 and Javascript programming languages. Additionally, Microsoft Certified Associates and Specialists on average make $16K more per year in employable salaries then their non-certified counterparts. Now that’s a bright future for your child! Learn more about the ACE program and Microsoft Certifications, click here.

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2. Start Planning Financially: How is your teen’s financial literacy? Do they already have their own job and bank account? For many, that answer is no, but that does not mean they can’t still learn about budgeting and saving money. We love this list of financial literacy tools and resources from NerdWallet.com, click here. And for parents, the teenage years are the time to learn about college savings plans (if you haven’t already) that make sense for your family, as well as what’s new in the way of student loans and government assistance for college. Check out StudentLoans.gov for the low-down on financial aid, responsible borrowing and financial counseling for college.

3. Help with Volunteer Ideas: A robust college or career path is paved with lots of service. Whether it’s through a club or group at school, or simply on their own, teens should prioritize community service, acts of kindness and helping others as they near graduation. Not only does it round out college and job applications, but it teaches vital life values like compassion, time management, leadership skills, and dedication. See: 5 Ways to Encourage Teens to Volunteer

Parenting Tips for Teens

4. Be a Good Digital Parent: Feeling lost in the digital environment your teen seems so apt to navigate? Quit over-monitoring and start mentoring – learn what the new apps are that your kids and their friends are using. Ask your kids to demo them for you and show you how they use them to communicate with others. And finally, talk to other parents! Ask what programs, apps and tech tools their kids are using – compare, share and collaborate. See: Overwhelmed by Apps? 3 Strategies for Parents

5. Teach Driver Safety: Whether your teen is a new driver or working on getting their license, driver safety simply can’t be emphasized enough. StopTextsStopWrecks.org reports, “In 2013, ten percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes.” Talk to your kids about the importance of not texting while driving – it is both against the law and is super dangerous. Snapchatting, Instagramming, etc can be easy temptations for teens on the road too. Be aware of the real dangers and communicate with your teen often about them.

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Posted at 04:38 AM in Personal Organization Tips, Volunteering at School | Permalink

Tags: advice for parents of teens, microsoft certifications, microsoft learning, planning for college, student loan info, teen driver safety, teenager advice

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Family Travel Tips

Free eBook: 11 Expert Tips to Better Family Travel

Traveling with kids can be one of the hardest things a parent has to do - and during the holidays, it's even more chaotic! Stress less (and save time and money) with these hints, tips and tricks in our NEW free eBook with the experts at TravelingMom! Download and share today >>

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In this eBook:

  • Packing tips and tricks
  • Fun ideas for helping kids lead
  • Family safety musts
  • Top-rated travel apps
  • Easy ways to save money
  • Stress-reducers for eating out
  • And more!

Traveling this season? Download and share our free eBook: 11 Expert Tips to Better Family Travel

 

Also see:

6 Secrets to Family Road Trip Success

9 Must-Haves for Your Family Road Trip

Spring Break Safety Tips for Families

Family Road Trip Music Kids (and Parents) Love

 

Posted at 04:37 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: family road trip ideas, family road trip music, family travel book, family travel ideas, family travel tips, traveling mom volunteerspot, travelingmom ebook, volunteerspot ebook

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Busy Mom’s Holiday Survival Guide

5 Key Ingredients to Save Time & Stress Less this Holiday Season

Whether you’re shopping, decorating, or organizing the class party, the holiday season has likely got you strapped for time (and cash!). Check out our top 5 holiday survival tips and resources to save time and money this season, and make sure to share with your family & friends!

Holiday Survival Guide for Moms

1. Print Shop: Transform your precious memories into magical gifts for your family, child’s teacher, friends and neighbors, and save BIG with Photobucket’s Print Shop and holiday giving guide. Discounts up to 80% off on Canvas Prints, Blankets, Photo Albums, Puzzles, Framed Prints, Holiday Cards – and more – available for a limited time. Shop now!

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2. VolunteerSpot: Save time organizing holiday class parties, performances and potlucks with free online sign-ups from VolunteerSpot. Coordinate parent helpers, donations, holiday volunteers and even collect money for the teacher gift with VolunteerSpot’s free online scheduling and sign-up tool. 

Holiday Class PartyRely on 24/7 mobile access and eCalendar syncing keeps everyone on track too! Get started

3.. DIY Holiday Decorating Hacks: Spend less mula decking the halls this season with DIY decorating hacks for every occasion. Turn cheap plastic ornaments and a clothes hanger into a beautiful wreath like this crafter did:

Try these cute name labels and printables for your favorite potluck dish, click here. Or order personalized holiday Acrylic Blocks, Framed Prints and Blankets with Print Shop from Photobucket, big savings here.

4. Family Giving Guide: A great way to reduce stress and stay healthy is to volunteer with your family! Add family giving to the holiday calendar and find easy ways for you and your kids to help others and truly live the spirit of the season. 

  • Donate gently used coats/blankets to a local shelter
  • Volunteer at a foodbank together
  • Pack sandwiches and water bottles in a pair of gloves to hand out to homeless people
  • Write holiday cards for a local nursing home
  • Bake a sweet treat for a new neighbor

More ideas in our free Family Volunteer Ideas eBook, click here. 

5. Easy Teacher Gift Ideas: Don’t torment yourself finding that perfect gift for your child’s teacher! Go with tried and true advice straight from teachers > think money, gift cards, gourmet coffees and tea, a handwritten card from your child, charitable donations, and personalized gifts (check out Print Shop for customizable oliday gifts and cards, click here). And don’t miss the NEW teacher gift guide in our Holiday Class Party eBook too.

Discount Holiday Cards

Posted at 04:30 AM in Personal Organization Tips | Permalink

Tags: busy mom survival guide, discount holiday cards, diy holiday decorating, holiday party ideas, holiday survival guide moms, mom holiday tips, stress less holidays

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