Fun Things a Teacher Can Do the First Day of School Read more: Fun Things a Teacher Can Do the First Day of School

The first day of school is an exciting moment for everyone, but it also can be an overwhelming one. Even teachers may feel nervous. There are some fun ways to break the ice that will have all of your students excited for a great year to come.

1. Birthday Lineup

   • This is a great way to get your students interacting and talking with each other. After introducing yourself, tell the children to get up right away and line up in order of their birthdays. For a challenge, give them a time limit. You could play it again only the second time they'll need to line up alphabetically by their last name. It might be a little chaotic, but you might see some leadership skills take over.

   First Day Bingo

   • Another great way to get your students interacting is to play bingo. Print blank bingo cards and hand them out. Tell the kids to walk around the classroom and ask their classmates to fill their names in the boxes. When they are finished, you are ready to play bingo by calling out the students' names. Offer homework passes as prizes.

   Get Personalized

   • Print each student's name on a sheet of letter-size paper. Hand the sheets out to the class and give the students a few minutes to decorate their paper. Keep the personalized nameplates displayed on their desks until all of the students have become familiar with their classmates' names -- or even keep them on the desks all year long.

   Who are you?

   • Give your students some art supplies and a few minutes to draw a quick self-portrait. Ask them to leave room on the bottom of the sheet to write their name, favorite subject, color, food and one fun thing they did over summer vacation. When they are finished, have each student stand up with the completed picture and read it aloud to the class. This way they can introduce themselves and already know exactly what they are going to say.

A View on Home Schooling

If you're one of the many people questioning whether or not to home school, you're probably also questioning your child's current education. I know I've been there and it's well worth considering, especially since we are talking about your child. Chances are they are one of the most important, if not the most important person in your life. We always want better for our children, better than we had ourselves--it's just a natural to feel that way. Giving them the best education is one of the most important things you'll ever do for them. You can do this; you can educate your child.

For the most part public schools are just that, public. There's nothing wrong with that but the kids learn the same, at the same rate, at the same time, and they normally don't move ahead until the class is ready for the next lesson. Teachers with a classroom of up to thirty children don't have the time to focus individually on each and every child. The classes of kids are taught in a group, and that groups will be mainly taught by accommodating the majority of the class. The kids at the top of their grade level will have to wait to learn the next lesson, while at the same time kids at the bottom will struggle to keep up with their classmates. I know my kids got bored at public school. They needed more, just as hundreds and thousands of other kids just like them. Home schooling isn't for everyone, but for those that embark on this journey it's like no other.

Home schooling gives kids the option of expanding their learning to levels beyond their wildest dreams. And that's how it should be; learning should be offered to maximize each child's full potential. How ideal it that? Home schooling will prepare any child for all the challenges and opportunities of life. Every child has a special talent and that can be brought out be expanding their horizons, expanding their minds of knowledge, giving them every opportunity to have the optimal learning experience they deserve. It will ensure their future success.

Home schooled children have a different lifestyle, at least when it comes to their education. Home school gives them the freedom and flexibility to express themselves openly and honestly. If you have the opportunity to home school your children, there's no greater joy than seeing first hand the joy of learning in your child's eyes. I know it was the best thing I've ever done!

This Little "Secret" Can Stimulate Your Child's Learning Ability A Hundredfold

Can you imagine a learning tool that synchronises your brain and allows learning to happen almost by itself? That speeds up learning and allows the concepts learnt to literally stick in your mind? A tool that is simple, easy to use and is available free online? What home schooling (or any other) parent wouldn't want to have it?

Well there is such a tool, and it's not a mind altering, hocus pocus scam either. This very wonderful and useful tool that will not only improve your child's learning ability a hundredfold but will also teach them music appreciation is...

Baroque music

Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which was created in the 1600's.

Baroque music is music created to a very specific rhythm. This rhythm brings the left and right hemispheres of your brain into perfect synchronisation. It changes your brainwaves from the Beta waves of ordinary consciousness to the heightened learning state of Alpha waves. When your brain is in the Alpha state it goes into a very light meditative state that is optimal for learning.

Learning under these conditions allows you to relax and literally imprints the information directly into your mind for easy retrieval.

Now many people get very wound up about words like, brainwaves, meditation and the like. However, there is nothing in the music that is harmful to you or your child, and Baroque music is in fact used in many universities around the world to stimulate learning within their classrooms.

As for brainwaves, well we all have them and any scientist would confirm that there is nothing scary about them. Brainwaves are simply the way our brains function.

I have successfully used Baroque music during my home school lessons with my son and have found it to be a very useful tool. So much so that we never have a lesson without it. With the help of this little tool my son, at the age of 4, learnt to count from 0 - 100 in less than 10 days, and at the same time learnt to read a children's book in under 30 days.

Six benefits of Baroque music when played during your child's lessons are:

1. It slows their brainwaves down to the Alpha brainwave level
2. It relaxes their body
3. It stills their mind
4. It opens their mind to learning
5. It keeps them (and you) calm
6. It harmonizes the left and right hemispheres of the brain

There are a number of classical pieces you can choose from that will be suitable for your home school classes.

You may choose from any of the following tracks:

Vivaldi
Largo from "Winter" from The Four Seasons
Largo from Concerto in D Major for guitar and string
Largo from Concerto in C Major for mandolin, strings and harpsichord

Johann Sebastian Bach
Air for the G-string
Largo from Harpsichord Concerto in F Minor, BWV1056
Largo from Harpsichord Concerto in C Major, BWV 97537

Telemann
Largo from Double Fantasia in G Major for harpsichord

Pachelbel
Canon in D

Albinioni
Adagio in G for strings

Caudioso
Largo from Concerto for mandolin and strings

As you can see, this is a wonderful learning tool that you can incorporate into your home school lessons. And not only does Baroque music help improve your child's concentration and opens their mind to learning, you are at the same time teaching your child about music appreciation and the different styles of music.

High School Fundraisers - 6 Fun Ideas

Whether you are a parent of a teen or a teen yourself, you know the importance of having funding for extracurricular activities. Youth groups, sports teams, bands and other high school activities all need to raise money. Fundraisers can be fun if you know how to put a new twist on typical fundraisers.

Successful fundraising is just a few steps away if you follow these ideas.

1. Baked Potato Dinner. A lot of groups do pancake breakfasts or spaghetti dinners, but serving baked potatoes and all of the fixings is a great way to raise money. Potatoes are relatively inexpensive and can be baked in bulk. You can buy cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, broccoli, butter and chili in bulk packages. Find somewhere to hold the dinner, like the school cafeteria, where there is enough room for everyone. The students can sell tickets ahead of time and also at the door.

2. Picnic Basket Auction. This idea works well at another event, like a back to school night or school carnival. It can also be done independently. Provide a picnic basket for each student and then have them decorate and fill it with food with a budget of $10. Each picnic basket is raffled off in a silent auction.

3. Singing or Musical Telegrams. These are perfect for a high school band or chorus and work well around Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. Students can sell telegrams at school and participants fill out the recipient's name, their address (or room number if the telegrams are to students) and then have the students deliver the telegrams on a specific date. Search online for lyrics for a singing telegram, or have band members play a piece of appropriate music.

4. Growing Kit. Buy seeds in bulk for fast growing flowers and then purchase some clay pots from a surplus garden store. Have a meeting with the teen group where you all fill the pots with potting soil, attach the seeds to the outside and then wrap up the pot with cellophane and ribbon. Sell the pots at a flat rate around school and in the community. This fundraiser works well in the spring and before Mother's Day.

5. Candy selling with a twist. Instead of selling the standard bars of candy why not make some candy from scratch and sell it at a premium price? People enjoy homemade candy more than commercially made bars. You can distribute recipes to the group, or if the high school club is small, you can organize a candy making party. The pieces can sell for higher amounts that regular candy and you can keep most of the profits.

6. Group yard sale. This one requires a bit of organization, but it's well worth it. Have all the members bring clothes, toys and household items the week before the sale. One group of students can organize the items and price them, while the other can canvas the neighborhoods with signs. The day of the yard sale you can sell muffins in the morning and chili toward the afternoon as an additional form of fundraising.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons, where you can find the latest office supply coupons, including any current offers for $30 off $150 coupons.