Written by: Wood Creek Academy

When parents hear the words “juvenile boot camp”, the idea can be unsettling. One might imagine drill instructors screaming as children try and struggle their way through barbed wire obstacle courses. Reality is very different.

The debate over how to use a boot camp for teenagers has heated up in recent years as more state governments look for methods to reduce spending on reform and discipline. It’s been shown that these boot camps are typically cheaper than the alternative of juvenile incarceration.

The primary goal of wilderness therapy programs involves modifying the behavior of all participants with the goal of reducing repeat offenses. The theory is that children who learn team building in the wild will have a greater sense of self, and understand how to work with others. The cost-effectiveness of treatment is secondary to the primary goal of reducing recidivism.

These camps also serve as detox centers for kids who find themselves addicted to alcohol or narcotics. The camps take them away from their usual element, where they can’t find their drug of choice, and give them positive tasks to channel their frustrations toward. Most of these schools are expressly for the purposes of correction, but some help troubled youth who can’t adjust well to their communities.

Camps place an emphasis on self reliance, teamwork and cooperation. Those who leave feel better prepared to deal with others. They leave with greater confidence, and a deeper understanding of themselves. Most of these kids have also never experienced nature at that level, so camps provide a method to mentally recharge.

Making learning fun and interactive is a great way to teach children to improve their awareness outside the classroom. Your child should be taught that learning is a lifelong process of questioning and discussion. Creating new learning environments for your child will expose your child to new experiences that cannot be taught in a classroom. Here are 5 easy learning techniques to foster your child’s learning and curiosity.

Explore the World

Build your child’s curiosity by travelling with your child. Whether it’s a short day trip or a weeklong stay, make sure you expose your child to different cultures, traditions, food and history. To make the most of your travel, plan ahead by researching a few sights that would interest your child.

Everyday Education

Include learning in everyday mundane tasks. For example include your child in making his or her own lunch or when watching a basket ball game, explain to your child how the game is played.

Take Every Opportunity to Answer “Why?”

Make sure everyday learning opportunities are not missed by always taking the time to answer your child questions. For example looking at the night sky can inspire your child to question about the universe.

Include religion

If religion is part of your family, get your child involved in religious classes, youth groups and camps. Children will learn about religious concepts as well as its context to history.

Visit your local Public Library

Your local public library will provide you with free collections of books, magazines and archives. Reading programs in libraries will encourage your child to read with other children all the while sharing knowledge and making new friends.

No matter how you see it, there is no simple answer to what makes successful teaching.

Since every student is unique, different methods need to be used in order to help them learn. There are times when moms with no experience can teach their children better than experienced educators.

So, there’s no doubt that the art of teaching can be mastered. Here are 3 tips to help one learn the rudiments of teaching:

1: Set clear objectives

Much like a driver needs GPS and SIRI to help them, a teacher’s objectives will work as road maps for bot her and the students. In fact, the lesson plans are nothing but road maps themselves. When you create this type of play, you are building a creative framework within which you can flourish.

2: Use Online Resources

There are so many online resources available for both students and teachers. One example is iPracticeMath which has grade-wise lessons for math and which are also categorized into a number of topics too. Apart from this, teachers can also avail of digital learning resources that can help improve their teaching abilities and effectiveness in providing instruction.

3: Praise and use humor

Being witty and humorous will go a long way in teaching your child. For starters, you’ll be able to bring down stress and frustration levels. If you make them laugh, they will feel about the teaching experience too. Also, encouragement and appreciation are a must. Everyone needs some at any given point. One good reason to do this is because praising the smallest success will lead to greater ones.

There’s no doubt that a focus on STEM education is vital for the future of the United States. Apart from the conventional benefits offered by STEM education, being curious, innovative and utilizing critical thinking is important too.

Here’s 3 ways you can raise a child to love STEM:

1: Start them young

You have to find fun ways to inculcate STEM concepts into their lifestyle or daily routine. For example, you can prepare an activity that takes a STEM-based activity and use it as a theme for your child’s birthday party. One excellent example of this was getting children to find dinosaur bones at a party complete with their own paleontology kit and all. Simple chemistry experiments are wonderful too.

2: Make it a Family Affair

There are times when children have to work on scientific projects for school – let’s say, for a science fair. Spend time with your children brainstorming ideas for these projects without it being too expensive. Of course, ensure that he or she does all the work but be there to support them when they truly need it. In the end, winning a competition isn’t everything – they should have fun working on such projects as a result.

3: Work on Simple STEM Project For Fun

It doesn’t matter how silly the project might seem. Work on it with your children even if it won’t bring recognition, acclaim or prizes for the idea. Not will they learn something new such as soldering and mechanical skills, they will also be able to have a few laughs (given how silly the project might be!). Best part: they will also get a chance to give thought to how they can apply simple electronics in different ways.

Article by Wood Creek Academy

If your child is showing signs that they may be headed down a bad path, it can be easy to think that this sort of thing is nothing roe than what you should expect from all teenagers.

Unfortunately, some parents learn the hard way that this isn’t actually the case. Instead, their child goes too far and ends up in very serious trouble. At the very least, they may not graduate on time. However, they could end up in jail or even worse.

This is why programs for troubled youth have become so popular in recent years. They are absolutely vital for helping young people get the help they need before their lives veer off too far in the wrong direction.

There are all kinds of behavior modification schools for you to choose from as well, so you can get the specific kind of aid you’re looking for. The one thing they all have in common, though, is that they remove your teenager from the environment where these problems are happening. Often times, this is enough. Getting rid of peer pressure and other triggers can help your child reform, get their education and fix themselves once and for all.

So if your teenager is making mistake after mistake, look into getting them help from a different type of school.

If you’re in the market for boot camp for teenagers, look no further than Wood Creek Academy. There, you’ll find an environment that nurtures their abilities while helping them through any rough patches.

By Samuel Phineas Upham

Groomed to become an educator or a clergyman, Joshua Chamberlain nervously bounced between many professions throughout his adolescence and early adulthood. He was the oldest of five children, and thought to have been his mother’s favorite while his father ruled with an iron fist. The boy was encouraged to join the military from a young age, but never felt himself quite up to the task.

When America went to war with itself, Chamberlain felt passionately that he owed the Union forces and that they needed men like him. He is noted for proclaiming: “I fear, this war, so costly of blood and treasure, will not cease until men of the North are willing to leave good positions, and sacrifice the dearest personal interests, to rescue our country from desolation, and defend the national existence against treachery.”

A teacher at the time, Chamberlain would frequently hold tangential discussions in class where he openly expressed his pro-Union beliefs and encouraged his students to follow their hearts for guidance in the Civil War.

The University, though, did not share his passionate beliefs and he was given a leave of absence where he was supposed to go to Europe and study various languages. Instead, he joined the war effort unbeknownst to his family and colleagues.

Chamberlain rose quickly through the ranks, and was recognized mostly for his strategic defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. Chamberlain was awarded the Medal of Honor for recognizing the strategic importance of the hill to Union forces that day.

Chamberlain’s feats are dramatized in the film Gettysburg, although the account is somewhat inaccurate.

About the Author: Samuel Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Samuel Phineas Upham website or Facebook.

Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is not considered a learning disorder by the Learning Disabilities Association of America. Yet the truth is that many students still suffer with this disorder or associated issues.

While the traditional education plan is difficult enough for normal students, it becomes twice as difficult for teachers to make learning easier for those with ADD or ADHD.

Here are 3 strategies for teachers who have students with these learning disorders:

1: Easily Frustrated

Since they don’t like repetitive, reading or writing lessons, these students tend to get easily frustrated. Yet it’s true that since they learn quickly they don’t like going over these lessons over and over again. Also, both reading and writing are activities that can be too slow and carried out one at a time. So, it seems like a waste of time to these students. How you can deal with these issues is to get them to listen to an audiobook while they’re doing something else. For writing, get them to use a keyboard instead of writing with a pen or pencil.

2: Quickly Distracted

Students with ADHD find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time. For this reason, it’s important to keep lessons shorts. Also, you can help them breaks down their tasks into smaller parts too. Math is one area where this is applicable. Instead, set a short-term goal of completing a set of problems along with a break once it is complete.

3: Hyperactivity

These students need to be in constant motion. While this can be simple to handle in a home settings, it can be very difficult in a traditional setting. You can allow them to move around the room or even use an exercise ball as a seat that will help them burn off excess energy while studying. Moving and learning can be an excellent tool as these students are capable of doing a couple of things at a time. Another important tip involves keeping your student’s hands busy.

By Wood Creek Academy

Everyone remembers how difficult it was being a teenager and all the problems that went along with it. Even those of us who look back on this time fondly can recall that there were at least a few trials and tribulation along the way.

While this may be a natural part of growing up, it can also be sufficient for affecting the rest of our lives. This is why you may want to consider behavior modification schools for your child if they’re exhibiting troubles at this time. Sure, every teenager lacks discipline from time to time, but if yours is really beginning to worry you and nothing else seems to be working, troubled youth programs have been proven to get results.

Nowadays, these schools have impressive success rates and offer a combination of classes in things like will power and self-discipline with more traditional offerings so that your child can still graduate on time with the rest of their peers.

Don’t let your child continue to make the same mistakes. Instead, send them to a school that will help them get on a better path toward a better future. It’s never too late to get them the help they so desperately need.

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Sometimes, programs for troubled youth are exactly what your child needs to get back on the path to success. At Wood Creek Academy, you’ll find a staff of teachers and mentors armed with a proven program for helping your child succeed.

Only biochemists and astronauts studied advanced sciences in the past. Now, it is definitely necessary to pursue this discipline in secondary school to improve your chances of a college admission.

This is because of a number of students applying to be accepted into college even if they aren’t interested in becoming a scientist.

Your next question might be: how many years of science do you need?

For example, the University of California and Duke University require student to take three years of laboratory science.

If you’re planning to apply to the most selective college after school, then taking basic or advanced classes in Physics, Chemistry and Biology is necessary.

Of course, schools offer a number of sciences. Yet not all of them should be considered apart from the ones mentioned above. Some of these courses are anthropology, astronomy, geology and psychology.

There are universities that are alright with non-lab sciences such as astronomy and geology. A couple of these are the University of Oregon as well as the University of Florida.

This is why it is best to have a clear understanding of which colleges you or your student prefers. In looking the sciences courses necessary for admission, you can then decide which science courses should be taken beforehand.

As for what admission panels look for, they recommend that students take the most rigorous courses offered by their school. Of course, if their school does not offer certain courses, that does work against them. Yet if they do not take classes offered by their school, then this might come to the panel’s attention.

Of course, if science isn’t your favorite subject, academics aren’t the sole focus of admissions. Look to building strength in other areas apart from focusing on real-world interests.

Online learning is an excellent way to balance both studies and work. Without a doubt, it’s an excellent way to learn given that innovation is an important element of this type of learning.

Apart from being flexible, facilitators are very encouraging too. An important element of online learning involves discussions that take place in a forum.

This can be thought provoking since there can be a number of points of view that come up in peoples’ responses.

So, here are 3 tips that can help you score an A+ in a discussion posting:

1: Understand the Purpose of Discussion

An online discussion is very different from a regular classroom discussion. Instead of your voice, you will have to use certain keywords to express your opinion. In order to answer appropriately, you have to first understand the purpose of the discussion. For this, read the discussion posting very carefully.

2: Analyze the Direction of the Discussion Posting Carefully

In most cases, you might have to post a formal answer expressing your unique take on a topic. In others, you will have to post a personal one. Knowing when to post either matters greatly. Make sure you read other answers posted and related to the discussion too.

3: Gather References

Since you don’t have to respond to the question immediately, it’s important to gather references and read them carefully. Make sure these references are accurate and relevant. Try and use your own words instead of copying text from these references. Ensure that the response you offer is completely unique by mixing thoughts and the aforementioned references too.