Board games...the perfect teaching tool

Sometimes running a program that requires reporting and "results" makes me forget some of the best ways of learning. I suppose I didn't realize how much my own mother was teaching me when we played cards and board games at home.

Yesterday I saw some of the kids opening up the Chutes and Ladders game. Because I've always played Chutes and Ladders...and it seems like such an easy and self-explanatory game...I figured at least the older kids probably already knew how to play. As I sat down with them I realized they didn't know...and I realized I needed to re-read the instructions to refresh my own memory! I explained the rules to them and we began to play.

Halfway through the game I realized the squares have pictures...a boy taking out the trash gets to go up, up, up the ladder to a picture of a boy eating ice cream...A girl pulling a cat's tail goes down, down, down the slide...things that allowed us to have a conversation about why they got to advance or why they slid back. Life lessons that we were able to talk about in pretend nature... Me: "Quindalyn...why did you pull the cat's tail??!!" ...to which the other kids responded, "You need to apologize to the cat!" ...and allowed Quindalyn to sheepishly look at the board and say, "I'm sorry" to the cat on the board.

As we played, the kids had to count the squares (which are labeled 1-100). The kids had to gain an understanding of how to wait their turn. They had to work on moving from one space to the next without skipping around the board (which, for some reason, seems to parallel the problems the often have with the way they do their math problems). They also learned about concepts of addition by helping a kid understand that if they are on square 53 and move 5 spaces, they advance to square 58. They had to learn good sportsmanship because I wouldn't allow them to quit the game because they were behind...and when Tyrese won, we each reached across the board to shake his hand and say, "Good game, Tyrese."

Overall, though, it allowed me (an adult) to have personal interaction time with the kids...which a lot of our kids, these days, don't get enough of.

As soon as I was finished, a few kids who saw me playing Chutes and Ladders quickly asked me to show them how to play Monopoly. I knew I was on to something when I explained began explaining how to buy property on the Monopoly board and Eddie, a kindergartener referred to the checkbook system we've been using for discipline...which allows the kids to earn or lose money based on their attendance, participation, and behavior...and then allows them to "buy" activities and field trips. Eddie immediately made the connection of buying the property on the monopoly board to saving and spending money from his checkbook: "It's like our checkbook! It's just like when we can choose to buy a camera or a voice recorder!"

Sometimes I think we try so hard to make sure we have "results" that we forget these natural and fun ways of learning. And we forget how much it means to kids that someone sits down with them, focuses solely on them, and teaches them lessons they can carry with them.

Anyone have any children's board games they would like to donate? If so, call/email me!

note: photos taken by Melvin, 5th grade

Who does "doing good" benefit?

Ever look around and wonder how the people around you have so much and wonder why you have so little?

People always seem to have enough money to eat out, buy name brand clothing, have a cell phone, go to the movies, give their kids everything they ever wanted, and give their friends nice gifts. I can't figure it out. I'm a single person with no children. My frivilous expenses consist of the minimal cable package, Starbucks once or twice a month, and a few books from 1/2 price books. Yet, those "frivilous" expenses and my basic bills pretty much consume my entire paycheck.

So, how do other people do it?

From what I have finally figured out about some of my friends, there's a simple answer...credit and bad debts. Or in the "best" situation, they make credit cards payments each month (to the tune of 19% interest or more) or they have payday loans or buy at places like Rent-a-Center (to the tune of 40-500% interest...don't believe me?? I didn't either until I checked it out myself.)

I admit, sometimes I envy people who go out to eat every night and don't have to cook. I envy people who have someone come clean their house and take care of their yard. I have twinges of jealousy when people get bi-weekly pedicure massages.

The bottom line, though, is that many people are caught up in our culture of keeping up with the Jones's. Unfortunately, as we're trying to keep up with the Jones's, what we don't realize is that the Jones's are buying everything on credit and digging themselves deeper every day by paying sky high interest rates...all the while, their monthly income stays the same.

Our desire to have what everyone else has...to live the life everyone else does...keeps many people from ever getting ahead...and these days I'm feeling like I contributed to it.

Over the years I have a long list of bad loans I've made that were never repaid. In my mind, I was doing the "Christian thing" by lending people money. As I have begun to understand more about sub-prime mortgages, predatory lenders, payday loans, and credit, I'm beginning to think that my "good heart" and "good intentions" actually hurt the people I intended to help. Hmmm...I wonder if "good intentions" are actually un-Christian because they benefit me rather than the recipient??

Perhaps if I would've said "no" to some people over the years the person would've had to think about figuring how to stay within the limits of what they already had. Yes, it's true that many people have jobs that don't pay them a livable wage. Then again, some people don't have jobs (and aren't trying). By lending them money that they don't have, doesn't that create a "rob Peter to pay Paul" situation for them *if* they choose to pay me back?

I am amazed at how some people juggle their bills on the limited money they make. However, I also recognize that within whatever salary we make, we all have "extras" that we could do without--caller ID, cable, Starbucks, iPods, etc.

Finances are tricky. Everyone wants to keep theirs secret. My personal opinion is that we need to get financial literacy and general business classes into the high schools. But, until that happens, maybe the best strategy (rather than loaning people money they can't return) is to work with banks and non-profits to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities available for all kinds of financial literacy classes. Maybe these could be a start:

• Balancing a checkbook and creating a budget


• Saving up instead of paying out (to rent-a-center and payday loans and such)


• Planning for retirement


• Considering purchasing a car or a home?...don’t forget about the extra expenses that go along with it


• Planning for my child’s college education…the best way to save and receive financial aid


• Understanding the college loan process


• Beginning the process of cleaning up my credit