Economics (Less than 101)

KISS Keep it Simple Smarty.

OK, this is my take on kids learning about economics.

First, I should tell you I taught in grade school for 30 years. I am a kid junky. I have become a teacher junky. I believe you can’t micromanage kids; what makes you think you can micromanage teachers?

My homework approach was: Homework should be between 20 and 30 minutes long. A child was excused from doing homework one day a week if they wished (They did not always have control of their time at home.)  Each child would do their work using a pencil and corrected their own homework using a blue pen. Then I would monitor their corrections using a red pen. If a child did a “good job” on their homework, they would receive a point on their paper. Points could be used for the following: For one point they could sharpen two pencils during class. For two points they could use the bathroom during class. For two points they could purchase a pencil. Five points allowed them to buy a small package of writing paper. The students could even purchase Scholastic Books with their points. One of the things this approach did for the children was to put them in control of their own school supplies and bathroom breaks.

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If this sounds complicated, it wasn’t. It was based in the KISS principle. I could tell you more about how the system works.

Hope for Henry is a intensive program for seriously ill children who are facing difficult treatments. It is well worth looking into for any parent who has a seriously ill child.