Mission Statement:

Strong Communities are Built on Strong Families.
Strong Families are Built on True Principles.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Finding Balance Between "Vacation" and "Education" During Summer Break

Looking for a way to keep your kids from losing the last 9 months of education over their summer vacation?  Want to ACT prep help for your new junior over the summer, or increase your new senior's previous ACT score?  Keep reading!

FIRST:  For parents who have high schoolers who want to score 5 -10 points higher on their future ACT/SAT test, or have middle schoolers who want to increase their reading comprehension skills and math skills, here's what I learned at the State Board of Education meeting last November:

The "March2Success" program is sponsored by the US Army and is available to the public on-line for FREE.  Parents, teachers, mentors and KIDS as young as 8th graders can log-in to the March2Success program whenever they have free time on their home computer.  March2Success is designed to first assess a student's math, science and English skills and discover the student's weaknesses.  Next it will kick out lesson plans for your student based on their weaknesses.  Reading comprehension is a big focus.  March2Success has a 70% success rate getting kids out of remediation and back into regular English classes.


March2Success also has on-line ACT/SAT practice tests / flash cards available for your student; the questions come right off the ACT/SAT tests themselves.  There is also a computer game in the March2Success program called "Zero Hour Threat" that tests your students' knowledge in a fun and engaging way.  The best part is that if the student does not get the question right, the game immediately gives him/her feedback as to why he/she got the question wrong.  83.6% of the students using March2Success increased their math general purpose test scores using this program.

Here's how to access this awesome tool:  http://www.march2success.com/.  A registration site will pop up to get your student registered for the program.


SECOND:  For parents who have elementary school kids, below is a list of educational on-line sites that you can log into for your child to review skills and to learn new ones in preparation for the 2012-2013 school year.  

www.ixl.com
www.mrnussbaum.com
www.funbrain.com
www.janbrett.com
www.nationalgeographic.com/kids
www.kidport.com
www.teachingtables.com
www.theholidayzone.com
www.nasa.gov/kidsclub.com
www.starfall.com
www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/activities.html
www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
www.mathisfun.com
www.coolmath4kids.com
www.mathplayground.com
www.disney.go.com
www.pbskids.org
www.abcya.com
www.brainpop.com (This one costs $ but is very educational - you can try a "trial" period)

That's it!  Enjoy your summer with your kids!

Friday, May 11, 2012

New "Forgotten American Family Night Story" Available

A new Forgotten American Family Night Stories re:  "What if America did not have freedom of religion?" is available for you and your family on Morgan City's website www.morgancityut.com .  Check out the picture of the Mayflower covered in ice when it arrived in America, and read about William Bradford and the persecution he and the "Separatists" suffered in England because they did not have freedom of religion.

Also, did you miss the Brad Barton family event at MHS on May 1st?  You may have missed his magic, but included below is his important message he gave to families in attendance regarding how we can help our kids stay free from alcohol and other drugs.  Just read below...
MORGAN EMPOWERED Brings
Brad Barton to Morgan Families


(The following was written by members of Morgan Empowered and submitted to The Morgan County News for the Friday, May 11th paper.)

"Alcohol is a drug; it's the second most dangerous drug next to nicotine!" emphasized Brad Barton to an audience of approximately 400 in the Morgan High School auditorium on Tuesday, May 1st while levitating spinning cards in the air, shooting mini fire balls, and magically making a newspaper "whole" after shredding it in pieces.

Brad Barton has worked in the past with Weber Human Services educating youth about the dangers associated with substance abuse.  Now he is a Certified Speaking Professional with the National Speaker’s Association and speaks to youth all over Utah and the nation empowering them to be their best, to treat others and their differences with respect, and to stay clear of alcohol and other drugs.


There are several key elements Mr. Barton wanted every parent to understand when talking about underage drinking.


First, the best deterrent for alcohol use/abuse is for parents and adults to monitor teen activities. Sometimes parents think it is ok to allow and provide alcohol in their home under their supervision.
·         The illusion is: Parents think this will create responsible drinking.
·         The reality is: Parents drinking with a teen inherently teaches disregard for the law and gives youth permission to drink in other settings.  This leads to disrespect for parental authority and rules established within the home as well as school settings.  In addition, family relationships are actually harmed when teens are allowed to consume alcohol with adult permission.  Parents are not viewed as important supports when they provide their teens with alcohol. (Tapert, Tate, and Brown, 1999) (NAS report).

Don’t underestimate the real “magic” parents have!   Strong parental disapproval and consequences is the top deterrent for youth from becoming involved in alcohol.  “If we keep kids away from the gateway drugs of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, we will keep kids away from the other drugs,” emphasized Brad.  Know where your teens are, who they are with, and what they are doing is something every parent can do.

Second, a teenager’s brain is still developing.
·         The illusion is: Teens think alcohol is different from drugs.
·         The reality is:  Alcohol is a type of drug causing similar addictions and physical harm.  From the ages of 10-25 the brain goes through dramatic change and refinement.  (Huttenlocker, 1979; Silveri and Spear, 2002).  Researcher Aaron White at Duke Univeristy states, “Alcohol use in teens severely disrupts brain cells’ ability to establish long-lasting, heightened responsiveness to signals from other cells.”  (Bliss and Collinridge 1993).

Following Brad’s presentation, families participated in “What Will I Do On My Summer Break?”  The youth in particular had a blast visiting various booths and hands-on displays in the MHS commons area sponsored by local businesses and organizations which provide summer-time activities, camps, classes, and events for kids and families in our Morgan County community.  Parents were able to visit each booth and sign up their kids for summer-time fun.

It is the mission of Morgan Empowered to coordinate family and community resources to empower our youth to become responsible and upright adults.   We are grateful for outstanding community support and hope you will keep an eye out for additional activities sponsored by Morgan Empowered.  A special thanks to Brad Barton for helping Morgan Empowered make Morgan a place where parents and youth can influence one another in a positive way.

THAT' S  IT!
The Morgan Community Network
--Lydia Nuttall --