When you’re in class and you’re asked to write an essay, or even a normal test paper, the first thing you must do is to read the question carefully.

Each question will have a clue, direction words, as to the kind of response you need to give in order to answer the question correctly – and even if you manage to get the answer right without having it in the right format, you won’t get as high a grade as you could have, simply because you didn’t take the time to read the question properly before you started.

The most common words you are likely to encounter on an essay or test paper are:

Compare – take a look at something against something else (the paper will tell you what you’re comparing, apples and oranges for example) and talk about how they are different, and how they are alike. You compare one against another.

Contrast – in this situation, you only look at how the items are different and what their contrasts are.

Describe – here you need to go into great detail about whatever you’re asked to describe. Break it down into its component parts, and give as much information for each part as you can.

Explain – write about something in a way that’s easy to understand, as if you were telling someone else how to do something.

Define – very similar to “explain” except you should keep it as much to the point as possible.

Diagram – this isn’t writing; this is illustrating your point without sentences. You can use words to label your diagram but your answer should be clear from looking at the illustration without needing a paragraph to explain it.

Justify – give reasons that support an issue or statement.

List – it’s what it says, it’s a list – not an essay, not flowing on paragraphs, just a list.

Outline – this is just the salient points of something set out in a well organized format.

Summarize – take what you know about the subject and write about it in a concise manner. It should contain as much relevant important information as possible, but should still be relatively short.

Trace – this is like a written time-line.Take the subject area back as far as you can, and then write about it up until the event or present day (depending on the topic). Some of the above words are very similar but they have subtle differences so be sure to learn exactly what each one means. Identifying the right word in your next essay or test could make the difference between an excellent, or average, grade!

Attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADHA) is characterized by poor ability to attend to a task, motoric overactivity and impulsivity.

ADHD-afflicted people display different behaviors indicative of problems associated with the disorder.  Being inattentive can be seen when a child or adolescent:

• Often does not follow through on tasks.
• Often has difficulty getting organized.
• Often makes careless mistakes, failing to give close attention.
• Often has difficulty sustaining attention.l
• Often does not seem to listen.
• Often dislikes or avoids sustained mental efforts.
• Often loses things.
• Often is easily distracted.
• Often is forgetful.

Having your child diagnosed with ADD/ADHD is best accomplished by a licensed medical professional specializing in AD/ADHA and similar medical conditions.  The most comprehensive testing for ADD/ADHD is performed by a psychologist or neurophysiologist.  Psychological testing provides important data in the process of diagnosing ADD/ADHD as well as other possible diagnoses. 

For many families, talking about money is taboo. The adults make it, the kids ask for it, end of story. Yet financial experts agree that understanding cash, credit, and consumerism is possible, and important, for building a sense of financial responsibility in children. How can you teach your kids about money? What kind of message should you teach them? Let’s talk about money.

It’s a Good Idea!

Ask your child about what a credit card is and how it works. Tell her it’s a way to borrow money, and teach her that, unless you pay it back every month, everything you buy with a credit card is far more expensive than it would be if you paid cash. Model a cash economy yourself. Teach her the discipline of credit cards and you’ll be doing her a very big financial favor.

The ABCs of Do-Re-Me

Kids need to know how the economy works. No, not stocks, interest rates, and world markets! I mean the basic ins and outs of a family economy. You can start when your kids are very young by helping them understand the difference between needs and wants, that money comes from working, what money looks like, and that everybody has a job (a kid’s job is to learn things, to play, and to participate in the family). As they get older (once they know that a nickel is worth less than a dime, even though it’s larger), you can talk with them about credit cards, bank interest, and so on. Kids can learn about budgeting from the time they are about seven. Remember that a solid money education is one of the best tools you can give your kids—it will aid them the rest of their lives.

Ethics Through Sharing

Part of a solid money education includes teaching your kids that, as a member of a community, as a responsible person, and as a world citizen, they have a responsibility to other people outside themselves and their family. That means sharing. We all live on a small planet together, and we are all linked. Teaching your kids a sense of social ethics includes a sense of charity or giving.

It’s a Good Idea!

Steve Otfinoski’s book The Kid’s Guide to Money: Earning It, Saving It, Spending It, Growing It, Sharing It is unusual for a book on finances for kids in that it stresses the importance of both financial and social responsibility (that’s the “sharing it” part of the subtitle). Most similar books have nothing about giving. A loss, if you ask me!

You can help your child develop a sense of social responsibility by:

• Setting an example, modeling charity. Some families tithe to a church or temple, others put aside a certain amount of money every year to give to charity or service organization.
• Sharing your work specialty with others who can’t afford it is another option for people who are knowledge or service “rich” but cash “poor.” Donate your services to a worthy cause of your choice, and bring your kids along with you. They’ll learn a valuable lesson as you participate in improving the world.
• Volunteer work. People participate in giving programs during the holidays, but don’t forget the rest of the year. The nursing homes are filled with amateur entertainers in December, and empty from January through November.
• Individual participation. Stress to your child that it’s not enough that the family give, that every individual needs to participate, too.
• Giving. It’s not how much you give. Every little bit helps.
• Donating. Kids can donate old clothes, toys, time, or a percentage of their allowance.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to a Well-Behaved Child © 1999 by Ericka Lutz.

Children learn in many different ways, although each child may have a preference for one or two particular ways of learning. These preferences are called learning styles. Some children learn most easily when ideas, concepts, and information are first presented visually, through pictures or videos. Others gain understanding only after firsthand work, such as writing, experimenting, problem solving, or playacting. Some children need to have ideas presented in a very precise and sequential order; for others, close attention to sequence complicates learning rather than promotes it. Teachers are most effective when they know children well enough to understand their individual learning styles. This lets them individualize each child’s learning experiences.

Kids need to show and receive affection from the time they’re born. As they grow older, they learn to demonstrate their affection in different ways. From a toddler’s sudden hug to a teen’s proposal of marriage to his first love - learn about the stages of emotions your children go through at different ages.

Preschoolers

Preschoolers love to imitate their parents. They are quick to hug and kiss a friend or preschool classmate — just like Mommy hugs and kisses Daddy.

Playing doctor is popular and natural at this age. Kids like to peek at and explore each other’s sexual differences.

During these years, many kids become very attached to their opposite-sex parent. So, don’t be surprised if you get a “romantic” marriage proposal from your four-year-old!

Elementary

When kids head off to elementary school, they start to form deeper friendships. They replace their best-friend-of-the-week for friendships based on similar likes and dislikes.

Girls take refuge in groups of girls, while boys seek out boys. This helps them learn the “male” and “female” roles society expects them to play.

Kids start to choose favorites. This leads to ganging up, and hurt feelings. To make things easier for your child, here are two tips:

–Keep your eyes peeled for bullying. Put a stop to it, and do some problem-solving with both sides.
–Be aware that the way you discipline your kids affects how your kids will fare among his peers. Parents who reason with their kids instead of punishing them tend to raise likeable children. But when parents act like dictators, they tend to encourage bullying in their kids.
Upper Elementary

Girls still tend to be friends with girls and boys with boys. Boys will have fewer friends, but their friendships last. Girls have more friends but they change more often.

Boys and girls are starting to notice each other and unsupervised boy-girl parties begin. Mostly these parties don’t work out because the kids are not ready for the group anxiety. Don’t push these parties on your kids. Wait until they are past sixth grade, and even then, chaperone! Go ahead and be obstinate about this. Kids don’t have the maturity to deal with these situations.

Middle School

And they call it puppy love… Kids this age are in transition. They’re feeling the pressure to move beyond their all-boy or all-girl social circles and start dating.

Young teenagers are concerned with being attractive to the opposite sex — how to talk and how to dress. They’re also figuring out whether they should date in groups or individually. Sex becomes a major issue at this age. Sex drives are increasing, and teens are now experiencing a new interest in satisfying them. They’ll have to decide how much sexual behavior, if any, to engage in. This is a tough time for teens, and their natural fears and anxieties are multiplied by peer pressure.

High School

During these years, teens need discussions with their parents about sex and sexuality more than ever. Romantic love gives birth to many more intense, confusing, and conflicting sexual feelings and behaviors. Older teen couples often view sexual intercourse as the best way to prove their devotion to each other.

Teen couples can become so consumed with one another that they neglect or abandon their families, friends, schoolwork, and extracurricular activities. They talk of loving each other forever and severe emotional crises occur when one or both leave for college. To make things easier for your child, here are two tips:

Love at this teenage stage is very serious at every level. Don’t belittle or condemn your teen’s romantic love. Such insensitivity may critically damage your relationship.
Broken hearts at this stage can lead to deep depression and self-destructive behavior. Be there to empathize, to catch them when they fall, and to help them heal.