There is a great article on suite 101.com on what you can do to contribute to your child’s success in school. The article outlines ways to offer your assistance to your child’s teacher as a way to ensure success. What a great idea!

As we all know, teachers are quite busy with keeping up with our students during a normal day. If you are able, drop by (call ahead and schedule time, of course) and offer to read to the kids while the teacher grades papers or takes care of school business. Talk with your child’s teacher to determine in what other ways you can help. He or she may even give you homework to help them!

Anytime you are able to provide a thoughtful note or gift, it is always welcome. Let’s face it: teachers are underappreciated. Sometimes a note from a parent who truly appreciates their hard work is enough to add to their motivation to continue to do their job every day. Another way to help is to drop by the principal’s office and commend your child’s teacher. If you believe that your child’s teacher is great, tell them! Then go and tell the principal. Don’t wait until something bad happens to go to the school. Be a constant presence so that your child, your child’s teachers, and the principal know that you are interested in your child’s education.

It takes a village to raise a child. Be a contributing force and add to your child’s success by doing whatever you can to help your child’s teacher. It will pay off!

Visit the article here.

Happy learning!

Best known for his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. His father was a salesperson and an engineer. Even though Einstein was born Jewish, the Einstein’s did not practice Jewish customs and Albert actually attended a Catholic elementary school. Needless to say, he was a very good student.

Einstein taught himself calculus and geometry with the help of a school pamphlet and a copy of Euclid he received from a family friend. His first published paper dealt with capillarity—the ability of an object to draw a substance upwards despite the pull of gravity, such as plants taking water from the soil and the use of drinking straws. Even though his work was quality, Einstein found it hard to secure a teaching job. Instead, he took a job at the patent office in Bern, where he studied electromagnetic patent applications while pursuing his scientific studies after hours.

Several years into his job, Einstein published four papers which would define modern physics. The paper, “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend upon Its Energy Content?” contained the famous E=mc² equation; his paper on Brownian motion supported the existence of atoms; the paper on photoelectric effect would influence the entire field of quantum mechanics; and most famously; Einstein’s paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” proposed his theory of special relativity.

Einstein lived a quiet life and died of an aneurysm in 1955. Mathematicians all over the world celebrate his birthday on the “Pi Day” (3/14). The date is also traditionally the day that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sends out its acceptance letters.

There is so much more to learn about Einstein. Click on the Simply Einstein caricature to visit Einstein’s site to learn more…don’t forget to ask the expert if you have questions. Also, take the Einstein poll!

Happy learning!

Its time to begin thinking about college applications…are you prepared? Well, Simply Charly is here to give you some tips on preparing your college applications and ensuring that you are putting your best foot forward.

Grades

So you’ve taken all of your requisite courses and you are thinking that senior year is going to be a breeze? Not so fast…Don’t skimp on your senior year courses; instead, step it up a notch. You want to maintain your GPA, but you also want to ensure that your course list looks good. Make sure you take your admissions tests too; SAT and/or ACT test scores count big toward your college admissions. Take the tests early enough so that if you are not happy with your score, you can take the test again in an attempt to raise your score. Unfortunately, your class rank is mostly out of your hand. Even with a 4.0 GPA, you still may end up as third in your class, depending on the mean grade point average, how many are in your class, and other factors.

The Extras

If you are a wordsmith, this will be a way for you to dazzle the admissions panel with your talent. Your admissions essay is important, but not critical, so don’t sweat it too much if you are not an English major. However, do put forth the effort; check the grammar and spelling and make sure it is readable. Make sure that you include all of your extracurricular activities and any related work experience. If you spent the summer counseling at summer camp, include the experience. If you spent the winter flipping burgers at the local burger joint, exclude that, unless you learned some valuable lesson from it. Just remember that your essay has to be relevant to your education. Always, always, always include recommendations from your teachers, church counselors, camp counselors; anyone that you believe can give a testimony to your hard work and tenacity.

Finally

This is also the time to begin to think about how you are going to pay for college. Search online for scholarship opportunities, grants, and loan information. Be persistent and start early. The earlier you begin the better chance you have of qualifying.

Happy learning!

Fabulous and famous, Salvador Dalí was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia in 1904. Perhaps well known for his compelling and bizarre images in his paintings, Dalí’s repertoire included collaborations with Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as other films, sculpture, and photography.

Dalí’s mother encouraged his artistic ambitions; however, she died when he was sixteen. After her death, Dalí moved to Madrid to study art, and adopted his eccentric lifestyle. He dabbled in Dada and Cubism and was expelled from school after declaring that no one on the faculty was qualified to judge his work. It was then that Dalí began to grow the famous mustache. He also would then become acquaintances with Pablo Picasso.

Dalí was eccentric, often doing strange things to draw attention to himself. This gained him public recognition and people from all lifestyles began to purchase his paintings. His most famous work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.

Throughout the 1930s, Dalí’s eccentricities were welcomed in artistic circles, such as in New York City and London. He alienated most of the surrealistic community by supporting the fascist regime of Francisco Franco. He was expelled completely when he announced that without him, there was no surrealism. He and his wife, Gala, moved to the United States when World War II began in Europe. They moved back to Spain in the 40s.

Although it is rumored that Dalí attempted suicide several times during his life, he died of heart failure at the age of 84. There is so much more information to learn about Dalí: his art, his sculptures, his eccentric behavior…treat yourself and visit Simply Dalí! You are in for quite an adventure! While you are at it, check out the Multimedia link for some awesome videos about Dalí…and do not forget to take the Simply Dalí poll!

Happy learning!

The beauty of the sounds coming from the piano played by Miss Jennifer Lin is magical. Jennifer was 14-years old in this video, and she speaks of how she is able to compose music in her mind and play it instantly…this is profoundly amazing! Jennifer has been Oprah and ABC World News Tonight and her virtuoso performances have been known to reduce audiences to tears.

Click on the link to enjoy Jennifer and her Simply Amazing skills!

Happy listening!

Jennifer Lin

The great German philosopher Karl Marx once said, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Marx, often referred to as the father of Communism, was also a political economist and a revolutionary. Born in 1818, Marx was home-schooled until his teen years. He was set to study law but his law studies went astray when Marx developed a drinking problem. Marx did go on to earn his doctorate in 1841 in philosophy and joined the Young Hegelians, an atheistic group of journalists and philosophers who were prominent in Berlin at the time.

Toward the end of 1843, Marx moved to Paris, France where he wrote for the most radical of German newspapers, the Vorwärts, run by a secret society called League of the Just. Marx also met and began to collaborate with Friedrich Engels. Engels sparked Marx’s interest in the situation of the working class and in economics. Engels was a committed communist and converted Marx, who then documented his views in a series of writings known as the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, which remained unpublished until the 1930s. When the Vorwärts celebrated the attempted assassination of the King of Prussia, all of the writing staff fled the country. Engels and Marx moved to Brussels.

Both the Marxes and the von Westphalens opposed Marx’s engagement and subsequent marriage to Jenny von Westphalen. Jenny was from a wealthy family, yet she and Marx lived in poverty and constant fear of creditors. Living this way helped Marx truly understand social classes and made him see classes in truly objective terms. Marx died in 1883 after an illness he developed after his wife passed away. He would never know how his thinking would affect the 20th century and how great his legacy truly is.

Are you looking for more information on the great Karl Marx? Click on Simply Marx to learn more about the great thinker! And don’t forget the free downloads available…if you run into any questions…ask the expert!

Happy learning!

There are some new sites for you to check out on Simply Charly! Check out Simply Hitchcock for information on the man behind some of the best psychological thrillers ever filmed. Be sure to visit Simply Hemingway to learn more about the Pulitzer Prize winning author. What makes a great mathematician? Visit Simply Godel to find out…

Simply Charly is growing! Make sure you keep up on the latest additions by signing up for the Simply Charly newsletter. Make sure your friends and family members keep up too by sending them an e-card with the caricature of the newly added historical icons.

Happy learning!

It is important to realize that arts in education is very critical to children’s development. It teaches very important behavioral functions, and opens them up to skills that they can use later on in life.

The National Arts in Education Public Awareness Campaign has a Web site that contains numerous facts and statistics that detail why arts in education is needed. For example, check out these facts:

• The arts teach kids to be more tolerant and open.
• The arts allow kids to express themselves creatively.
• The arts promote individuality, bolster self-confidence, and improve overall academic performance.
• The arts can help troubled youth, providing an alternative to delinquent behavior and truancy while providing an improved attitude towards school.

There are very simple ways that parents can get involved with introducing arts into their children’s lives, such as introducing them to different forms of music, practicing photography, and reading and writing poetry. Parents can also make sure to introduce their children to art by going to local museums, singing in local choirs, or enrolling in theatre groups through community organizations. There are many other ways to ensure that children are well rounded and have arts ingrained in their lives. The National Arts in Education Public Awareness Web site has a great list of 10 simple ways that parents can use as a start to becoming involved.

Simply Charly is one other way to get involved. Visiting this site is a terrific way to study historical figures and learn about how they have affected modern day culture.

To get involved in the National Arts in Education Public Awareness Campaign, visit the Web site at www.artsusa.org/public_awareness.

Happy learning!