Couch is No Longer Safe

 First Wesley could be left laying at the back of the couch. Then he was dissatisfied unless he was sitting up and he would be safe and content sitting in the back corner. He has gotten so good at sitting that he can reach clear to the edge from the back, so we put pillows across the edge to prevent him from falling off.

Today I caught him reaching clear up and over the pillows and quite capable of

going right off despite the barrier. Well, no more safe zone there! I tried to get a picture of him doing it but couldn't catch it.

But he is so unhappy because he wants to be higher.

Financial Life Lessons for Kids

One of the major areas that kids need to be ready to handle by the time they are adults is money management. At various ages, children can understand more and more about personal finances.  Here are some ideas to help your children prepare for handling their money wisely.

1.  Pay commission not allowance.
    Assign age-appropriate chores. Pay if the chore is done, no money if it is not.
    This helps teach that money comes from work.

2.  Require a certain percentage to be given and to be saved.
     For example, five chores per week for $5. Save fifty cents, give fifty cents, or save $1, give $1.

3.  Have the offering be from their own money. This makes them a giver not just a courier.

4.  Have a spend day every so often to use money that has been saved. This rewards sacrifice.

5.  Involve the children in portions of the household budget so they learn how that works.
     Give control of one category of the household budget, ie. clothing, or restaurant (not grocery).
     This will soon convey that some stores will provide only one garment, and some restaurants can          be visited more often for the same dollar amount.

Fun Times in Science Class

Finally sharing the photos I took while teaching about DNA and doing this experiment where we extracted DNA from plant matter.