Fostering Frugality; Fun with Lego Duplos -- and Quizzes!
By Heather Idoni
Added Monday, July 11, 2011
========================================================== Vol. 12 No. 29, July 11, 2011, ISSN: 1536-2035 ========================================================== (c) 2011, Heather Idoni - www.FamilyClassroom.net ========================================================== Welcome to The Homeschooler's Notebook! If you enjoy this newsletter, please recommend it to a friend! And please visit our sponsors -- they make our publication possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you heard about the Homeschool Learning Network?! HLN offers a K-12 Online Curriculum Service! Simply log in and learn using YOUR learning style... browse hundreds of Unit studies, follow a structured learning program, or download worksheets as you need them! Join in the forums, contests, and activities available 24/7!. The cost is only $19.95 per month for the WHOLE family... whether you have one child or more, you have access to ALL grades, worksheets, lessons and themes! Learn More... NEW for 2011... Take Math Courses for Grades 6-9... 36 weeks of structured math learning, with tests, quizzes, worksheets and more! Learn More... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ================= IN THIS ISSUE: ================= Guest Article -- Fostering Frugality Helpful Tip -- Fun with Lego "Duplo" Bricks! Winning Website -- Nation's Report Card Quizzes Reader Question -- Send Your Questions! Additional Notes -- Newsletter Archives -- Sponsorship Information -- Reprint Information -- Subscriber Information
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Teaching Children to be Frugal
"The fact is, however, that John Templeton was not poor even then. He had a good income and a solid investment portfolio that was steadily growing. Some acquaintances might have regarded his approach to money, housing and the conveniences of life as somewhat eccentric, if not socially unacceptable. After all, the circles that Templeton, the investment counselor, frequented were characterized by big money, big houses, big cars, and big consumer spending in general. But Templeton was not one to live by society's more superficial values. He followed his own inner dictates and his developing religious beliefs." And so a radical philosophy of thrift became a deeply rooted part of Templeton's way of life. He became convinced that success was closely connected to saving, a belief that he has never stopped practicing. Templeton was not the only wealthy person whose fortune was due in part to thrift. In his ground-breaking books based on his study of American millionaires, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley wrote that despite the stereotype of the free-spending, luxurious millionaire lifestyle we see portrayed in movies and television shows, many millionaires are actually very careful about how they spend money. They also use strategies such as clipping coupons, refinishing and repairing possessions instead of buying everything new, and buying in bulk. In The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Stanley noted: "People in my audiences often ask why a millionaire would clip coupons. It's not just to save fifty cents today -- it's how much can be saved and invested over a lifetime. The typical affluent family in America spends over $200 a week for food and household supplies. That's more than $10,000 per year. During an adult lifetime in current dollars, it translates to between $400,000 and $600,000. If you cut off just 5 percent of this amount, between $20,000 and $30,000, and invest it in a top-ranked equity fund, given the rate of return during the past few years the amount earned would have been $500,000." I'm not suggesting that all or even many of our children will become wealthy by being frugal (though if you teach your child to be frugal and he grows up to be a millionaire, he'll handle the money better than most would). But the frugal millionaires Stanley studied illustrate the wisdom of being frugal and investing the money saved by being that way. Teaching frugality to our children will benefit them once they're grown up and making their way in the global economy. They'll learn to live simply, thus experiencing less financial stress in the future. In a world where they'll often be between jobs, frugality could make the difference between financial stability and financial trouble. As writer Charles Jaffe once said, "It's not your salary that makes you rich, it's your spending habits". ---
Copyright 2011 Barbara Frank/ Cardamom Publishers
--- Your feedback is always welcome! -- mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net ============ Helpful Tip ============
Fun with Lego Duplo Blocks
================ The Nation's Report Card - Evaluation Quizzes Explore sample questions from the U.S. history assessment, and see how the NAEP U.S. history questions relate to student performance.
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Starting a Local Homeschool Social Group
--- And for our next High School Issue... "Hi -- Has anyone used College Plus and would you recommend it? It sounds like guidance to CLEP credits, but is there more to it? Thank you." -- O.P. ---
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