What Would Happen If We Held Christmas Traditions Throughtout The Year

What would happen if we did Christmas traditions throughtout the entire year? I know, I know. You're saying "What are you talking about? Christmas only come once a year. Are you saying give gifts, the entire year?" I'm not talking about gift giving, I'm talking about doing things you traditionally only do during Christmas. What would happen if we spread cheer, joy, and goodwill to all, throughout the entire year?

What would happen if we gave toys, clothing, and food (continually gave) throughout the entire year to those less fortunate than us (they do need food and clothing for more than one day)? What would happen if we visited Nursing Homes and  hospitals, singing and spreading joy for one day every month, throughout the entire year? What would happen if we sat down with our children and watched a favorite movie, two or three nights, every month, for an entire year?  What would happen if we baked cookies and sang songs with our families one night a month for the entire year? What would happen if we jumped in our cars with our family and friends driving through neighborhoods sipping hot chocolate?  Hmmm . On second thought we might not be able to do that one year 'round. Someone might call the police. lol. But you get my drift.

I'm not saying that the world would be a kinder and gentlier nation nor would we be sitting around holding hands singing kumbaya. But I am saying it's a start. A start for us to begin caring about someone besides ourselves and our families. A start for families to begin genuinely feeling "together".

As one of the famous Jackson 5 songs says:
 Taking time to be kind to one and all
It's that time of year
When good friends are dear
And you wish you could give more
Than just presents from a store
Why don't you give love on Christmas day
Oh, even the man who has everything
Would be so happy if you would bring
Him love on Christmas day
No greater gift is there than love

People you don't know
Smile and nod hello
Everywhere there's an air of Christmas joy
It's that once a year
When the world's sincere

Give love on Christmas day.
No greater gift is there than love
What the world needs is love
Yes, the world needs your love.

What would happen if we held Christmas traditions throughout the entire year? I think, more love.

That's my two cents let me know yours. 

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Live Homework Math Help Atlanta

I talk to many different parents and I hear the same thing. My child brings math homework home and I can't help them with it. Many parents say " This math seems different than when I was in school". Although some kids take notes during class many don't understand the notes they took. After finally arriving home from school and settling in to do their homework they often find they need help; their notes just don't make sense.
Since we live in the 21st century where most parents work, mom or dad is not home to help or even if they were home may not be able to help. Good news folks, since we do live in the 21st century (lol), we have amazing technology available right at our finger tips.  Access to live homework help is available for your son or daughter even when you are not home.
Having access to a live math tutor online is like having a personalized tutoring program with your very own private tutor to help you right there in the comfort of your living room. I know some parents aren't so sure if this will work for their child, but think about it. Our children talk on their cell phones, use their laptops or tablets for almost everything (sometimes even homework). After all they are 21st century children and technology for them, is just like you and I sitting down with an old friend. Technology, in some form or fashion, has weaved itselves into our everday living. Many international countries are out performing our kids in math. Do you think they would use technology to help their child with math? Math help is available right here, right now. for your child whether you live in Atlanta or not.    

I am Denise Smith and that's my 2 cents.


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COMMUNICATING BETTER: IS IT AS SIMPLE AS SITTING DOWN TO DINNER

Well It's Sunday and most people like to sit down to a good home cooked meal on Sunday or at least go to a restaurant that has some good home cooking.Well I decided to have a  good home cooked meal the "new fangled way", I brought stouffer's frozen family size mac-n- cheese, stoufer's frozen family size meatloaf and added my own veggies. Lo and behold when I opened up the Stouffer's box the top had writing on it, so I read it. AND guess what it said? It said "kids who have family dinners may get better grades". hummm And it also said "teens who eat family dinners confide in their parents".

With all the technology we have today to help us communicate, have we forgotten about one of the simpliest of all? A good old fashion sit down dinner. Apparently Stouffer's recognizes this. I think that's one of the reasons we like Thanksgiving so much. We get to sit down with family and friends, have good food and good conversation. You know your grandma or your aunt or maybe your uncle is going to question the young teenaged boy/girl about their date (or friend that brought to dinner). You know sooner or later there's going to be a conversation about who did what, when they were growing up. The dinner table is where we often connect with one another. When we sit down and eat together we tend to talk to each other, about our lives. OR at least that was the ole' school way of doing things. Now on Sundays we eat but not together. One child may be in his/her room eating, mom may be talking on her cell phone while eating and dad may be in the family room watching TV while eating.  I know I may sound a little old fashioned but I really think there was merit to sitting down eating together and actually talking to one another.

Not everything in the good ole' days was good but I think this one thing is. Like Stouffer's says " Let's Fix Dinner". Let's take the time to sit down, talk with one another over a good meal. I think it makes a difference or at least it's a start.

That's my two cents.

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Back To School Are You Ready Atlanta?

Most students and parents wait until they've failed a test or gotten a bad report before they seek help from a Tutor. Don't wait. Getting help from a Math Tutor now can save time later. Math seems to be the subject Middle School and High School students struggle with the most. Although teachers often give daily math homework it appears that some do not actually check the homework. In fact some teachers only check to ensure your child has turned in completed homework. Yes, this is true for many different schools and for many different counties. Additionally teachers only have a limited amount of time to cover each Math topic.

SO if your child is completing their math homework but is not sure if it is right or not and the teacher does not have enough time to answer their question...your child could begin to fall behind in Math before you've received the first progress report card.

There is a solution for you. Click here Back To School Are You Ready?

That's my two cents...What's yours?

P.Denise Smith

You can Talk With Denise "Live" on www.blogtalkradio.com/thetutorwizard or click here every Friday at 6:30pm ET

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Seriously Who Would Have Thought Many Georgia Public Libraries Would Be Closing

Technology has changed the way we do alot of things. When I was I kid (yes I said it) we always went to the library to read a book or join in some fun activity that the library had. Well technology has even changed that. Could we be responsible for many Georgia public libraries closing?

Now our kids have Wii Sports, Nooks, Kindles, Cell Phones and Laptops. Our kids have far more interesting things to do to stimulate them (ha ha) like playing Wii Sports, videos, texting or chatting on the computer. If by chance they do want to read a book they don't physically have to have the book to read it. We can read a book on our Kindle, Nook or we can read an e-book. Even the public libraries joined the internet bandwagon, all their books are available via internet. Our coffee houses now partner with many of our bookstores i.e. Borders, Barnes and Noble, and they offer story reading time. We often say "bigger is better". SO why not build a mega-library and close some of the community libraries? It's no wonder the government thought that they could help reduce the state budget by closing some of our libraries (in some counties more than others).

So who or what is to blame for the closing of some of our public libraries? Our libraries offer a valuable service to our communities. Libraries offer free classes (i.e. Spanish and  French), free internet, reading of magazines, free resources for research, oh and lest I forget, books that we can actually hold while reading.
But maybe the Governor of Georgia thought we wouldn't notice when he proposed to cut funding to our public libraries. In order to help balance the state budget he put many of our public libraries on the chopping block. I'm not talking pennies here, I'm talking millions of dollars being cut.  Some libraries do show increased attendance. In fact the citizens of Cobb, Dekalb and Gwinnett counties stood up and said "Our libraries won't be closed down".  AND GUESS WHAT right now they aren't. Instead the county has chosen to reduce some of  the services offered by the libraries and reduce library hours.

Umm sounds like either way "we the people" help determine if our public libraries stay open or not.  That's my two cents what's yours?

P.Denise Smith is an independent tutor who specializes in tutoring math and reading.

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Pre algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Multiplication Tables - Why Don't Our Kids Know Their Multiplications (atlanta)

Pre algebra, algebra 1, algebra 2 and multiplication tables... Why don't our kids know their multiplications?





I tutor math for several middle school and high school aged kids and it amazes me when they don't know their multiplication tables. These students are 7th, 8th and 9th graders. Now I'm not going to start finger pointing because that never solves anything but I will start talking about responsibility and accountability.

I talked with several math teachers and they also noticed quite a few students in their algebra classes don't know their multiplications. Some of these teachers think that kids are just passed on from grade to grade without really getting a good grasp of the basics (reading,writing and arithmetic). While others think that kids are distracted by so many gadgets (video games, music videos, MP3, cell phones, etc). I talked with several parents and they think that most kids use calculators (so there is no need to know how to multiply when you can just use your calculator) . I talked with some of the students and they just don't think it's that "big of a deal".

When I was young (okay I won't go into a long story about the good ole' days) the major focus in elementary was the 3r's; reading, writing and arithmetic. Now-a-days that doesn't seem to be the case. There are many factors that may suggest why are kids don't know their multiplication tables. But we as parents, teachers, tutor, mentors, and adults who care, have to take some responsibility. It is our duty to ensure that all kids understand the importance of the simple things like multiplication. It is our duty to show them the correlation between multiplication and algebra. It is our duty to show them how algebra relates to our everyday life i.e.items on sale, loaning people money, getting change back. In this age of technology it is our duty to make it interesting and fun to learn. Let's not turn our backs and watch some of our kids grow up to be adults who come up short.



That's my two cents what's yours?

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Are cell phones in school a tool or distraction (atlanta)

I was watching Good Day Atlanta this morning and the question was posed are cell phones in school a tool or a distraction for kids? I thought this was a fairly easy question with a straightforward answer, guess again.

Apparently there are people (not sure if they are parents or not) who feel that kids are going to have cell phones in school whether we like or not. Sooo we might as well let them have the phones and incorporate it in their learning. I understand trying to make use of new technology but are we going too far? I understand that we want to make sure kids stay interested in school but does that mean that everything goes?

How much learning can a child get from using a cell phone during class? We have books, the internet and sometimes virtual classrooms let's make use of those tools. Let's engage our kids in conversation, debates, hands on applications that will encourage them to grow and actually become thinking productive adults.

Let me know what you think.


P. Denise Smith is a tutor who specializes in tutoring math and reading for kids k-12th.
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