Wednesday, October 28, 2009
This post was originally published in early 2008 on my old website called Homeschooling for the Real World.
My kids know what their dad does for a living — he's the music minister at our church — but they don't fully comprehend what it means to have a job, nor do they understand a lot of the terminology that goes with it. I would imagine that this is true for many families.
Since job-related words are frequently used in the news, on TV shows, and in our everyday lives, an education in work place terminology can be very helpful for kids.
Now I'm not suggesting you sit down with your five-year-old to explain stock options and 401Ks; this workplace lesson is better suited for kids in the upper elementary grades and above. And of course, the older your children are, the more in-depth you can go with your explanation.
Here's a list of some basic job-related questions you might want to answer for your kids.
- What's the difference between a full-time and part-time job? It might also be helpful to explain to your kids how the modern 8-hour workday came into being.
- What is vacation time and does everyone who works get it?
- What is sick time?
- What's the difference between hourly pay and a yearly salary?
- What does minimum wage mean?
- What is a resume? You can browse through some sample resumes with your kids.
- What's a job interview? You could even do an actual job interview with your kids. For example, if your son likes Legos, interview him for an imaginary job at the Lego factory. Make it fun! Check here for interview question inspiration.
- What's payday, and how often can people be paid? per diem, per contract, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.
- What are benefits and who gets them? insurance, retirement, etc.
- What kinds of breaks do people get, and how long do they last? the lunch break, 15-minute breaks, etc.
- What is unemployment?
Once you start the conversation, I'd wager your kids will come up with a lot more questions than I've listed here. Do you have any questions you'd like to add to the list?
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Image by auer1816
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I'm a grammar junkie. I enjoy leafing through English handbooks and diagramming sentences. Yes, I know. Pathetic.
But even as a total English language geek, there are some grammar concepts that I have had a tough time keeping straight in my head. And the difference between verb forms and verb tenses is one of those tricky concepts. So I'm thinking that if I have a tough time with it, it's pretty likely my kids will have a tough time too.
When we come across the concept of verb forms — also known as the principal parts of verbs — and verb tenses in their Rod & Staff English curriculum (which is a fabulous curriculum by the way), I explain that verb forms can be thought of as the tools in a toolbox.
Illustrations always help solidify the concept, so when I explain the concept to my kids, I draw something similar to the graphic below.
I then explain that the verb forms in the toolbox (the ones highlighted in yellow above) are the tools we use to make the various verb tenses. The verb forms aren't really the exact words we use in sentences, but we use those tools — those verb forms — to create the verb tenses that we do use in sentences, such as past tense, present tense, and future tense.
For example, if I wanted to use the verb to know in the present tense, it's simple. I'd just take the present form of the verb out of the toolbox and use it as is. Nothing else would be needed. I'd end up with something like: I know how to play the piano.
To make a past tense verb, I'd take the past verb form directly from the toolbox and use it like this: I knew we were in trouble when I heard the sirens.
To make a future tense verb, I would also take the present form of the verb, but I'd need to put the word will in front of it. That would make something like: You will know it when you see it.
To make the past perfect tense, I'd need to take the past participle verb form and put a had in front of it. I'd end up with something like: She had known about the surprise party for at least a week.
So you see, it's the 'recipe' for the particular verb tense I'm trying to make which determines what verb form I take from the toolbox; and most all the tenses can be made from those three forms in the toolbox. As real-life application then, it's helpful to learn the three 'toolbox' verb forms for irregular words, like the infamous lie and lay.
So there you have it. Probably not the most exciting blog post in the word, but for the those of you who struggle with teaching grammar — or even understanding it yourself — I hope this simple illustration helps.
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