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When a child asks his parents where he came from, this is a great time to begin fostering an interest in history. Begin by talking about previous and current generations of your family.  Everyone becomes part of history the moment they are born. Each individual has a special place in history and knowledge of the history that surrounds them facilitates active involvement in learning history.

Most families keep cherished documents and mementos. A child’s birth certificate begins their official historical record. As the child gets older each birthday marks a milestone in their life’s journey. Graduation marks another point in their personal history. Detail of a child’s family tree trace their genealogy. Tracing a child’s ancestors can be both rewarding and frustrating. Historical records and details are often sketchy and it takes a great deal of persistence. It can be likened to completing a jigsaw and children really enjoy cracking a code and working on their personal historical mystery.

If a child or family member was born on a day when something catastrophic or fabulous happened nationally or internationally then the anniversary of their birth may be designated a national holiday. It is special when a new baby is born on the same birth date as Mom or Dad or another family member because many hours can be spent comparing and contrasting historical events that happened in both years on that date.

History is taught in schools and parents support their children’s learning at home. As early as Kindergarten, children become aware that they hold a special and unique place in history. They begin by asking questions and investigating their family roots and what makes them unique. Parents, by adding personal history details to the historical facts develop a sense of identity and a valued place in the family tree. Some families have members who were actually present when a president made his inaugural speech, others may have seen the astronauts of the fifth human spaceflight walk to Apollo 11.

In the early years children are read stories of how others live in different parts of the world. Teachers often invite guests to visit and talk about past times or share memories and experiences. Parents provide access to a wealth of historical activities and learning experiences throughout their children’s lives. Parents support their child’s acquisition of historical knowledge and ensure that learning about history is enjoyable.

Children are constantly asking questions of their parents. Questions that begin with why, questions to find out information and questions to clarify their thinking. Researching questions together is a fabulous way for parents to teach their children effective ways to access historical information. Learning together is great fun and parents can generate questions too!

History teaching happens at home and at school. Questions asked need clear, explicit answers and the internet is the best place to go when your knowledge base is not robust. Students soon begin to understand how things that happened as recently as yesterday can influence their lives. Meal times are a good time to share and pool knowledge. Play a wondering game where each person asks a wondering question. I wonder why the Great Wall of China was built, I wonder why Hannibal used elephants when he took his army across the Alps.

Thousands of historical events have happened in this world. History is fascinating and developing and supporting a child’s interest in the subject can be extremely rewarding and fulfilling. There are numerous ways to foster a love for or interest in history. Some will be expensive but most will have no cost. A thirst for historical facts and details will most certainly result in a broad general knowledge and proficient information gathering skills.

Warm regards

Columbia Lee

For the Team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com  

Columbia Lee, an educator, asserts that history is a vitally important part of children’s formal and informal education. Parents need to help their children learn history at home. Knowledge of history has far-reaching benefits beyond understanding people, dates and events. Help your child learn history.

While listening to the eulogy delivered at the celebration of my Grandmother’s long life, my mind wandered to my childhood and her stories about family history. I wondered if Grandma’s vivid imagination made our ancestors seem more exciting than they were.

Grandma’s stories were the only family history I knew. My mother was left a widow when I was very small and she died when I was a teenager. Now that I had grown children, I realized how much I could have learnt from relatives.

As my Gran’s funeral service closed, I determined to use this family gathering to begin my maternal family history research. Not having read anything about researching family history I was unaware how many fruitless, meaningless time consuming journeys I would take, resulting in the accumulation of masses of irrelevant information.

 A family friend who lived next door for more than 50 years attended the celebration of my grandmother’s life. His family had grown up with our family and he was still in robust good health for a 95 year old. The two families enjoyed meals together, playing cards and chatting. Family milestones were celebrated. Both families had in depth knowledge of one another so building a family tree could begin there.

To start building up a list of family history resources, I talked with many people. It was relatively easy to gather anecdotal information as we had lived in the district for four generations. The records of births, deaths and marriages seemed a great starting point for documentation.

 I needed an organized system to create my family tree. Oral histories, written records, photographs, documents and artifacts provided an image of my ancestors’ lifestyle. I got copies of birth, death and marriage records.

My story is probably the same as thousands of people throughout the world. Tracing one’s family tree is not just a wonderful hobby; it is a life-affirming pursuit. What I have learned about my family has built in me a strong sense of pride and place. My life is infinitely richer for searching and knowing my ancestor’s stories.

  Warm regards

Columbia Lee

For the Team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com

Columbia Lee is fascinated by genealogy.  Ever wondered about your ancestors? Did Aunt Maud die wealthy – without a will? Explore your family history and create your family tree – learn now! The Genealogy Guide is a complete course in tracing family histories.

 There are some things that just present us with life-long challenges. You can’t do much about bad luck. My feet for example will always be bigger than I want them to be! But losing weight, by boosting my metabolism through exercise and enjoying a healthy diet was possible for me. It’s possible for you too.

 All my life, I only dreamed about looking better and feeling fitter until I finally discovered that the whole long-term ‘healthy body thing’ is tied up with our metabolism! Metabolism’ refers to the amount of energy (calories) we burn to maintain our body functions and activities. Learning how to increase my metabolism and enjoy nutritious and healthy food has been my key to losing weight for good.

I’ve never been healthier than I am now, I’m pounds lighter and I feel great. My friends notice and I tell them that my secret to a better body isn’t mind blowing, it’s just sensible and based on facts. I made these three changes to make sure that I was boosting my metabolism.

To lose weight by burning fat and using energy I wanted everything working in my favor so I did something I’d never done before. I did this by changing my diet, boosting my metabolism through exercise and modifying parts of my lifestyle; all three, carefully, sensibly and together.

Diet

My old friend ‘Diet’ returned but it was accompanied this time by two other metabolism boosters. Calories still counted but they weren’t my enemy any more. I learned that if I could still eat well but if I ate foods containing less calories I forced my body to use my stored body fat in its search for energy. I didn’t starve, in fact I found myself eating generous portions of better food.

Exercise

I decided to create even greater fat-burning by adding exercise to my new routine. The best results for me came from a gentle start (a brisk 30 minute walk daily) to the gradual addition of different aerobic exercises including swimming, jogging and some weights. I recovered from tougher workouts quicker over time and knew I was boosting my metabolism through exercise in a serious way.

Lifestyle

Now I understand the importance of rest, I relax with a good night’s sleep regularly. Without this I find that I can’t exercise as much! I also aim for a balanced amount of stress in my life to avoid the way this slows my metabolism.

My healthier body is no longer a dream and I’m convinced that I’ll keep it for life. The most amazing part of this journey to better health has been the fact that each of my metabolism boosters was always within my grasp. I just needed to learn how the harmony of eating properly and enjoying this, boosting my metabolism through exercise and balancing my lifestyle was the secret to a better, fitter body!

Warm regards

Rowena

from 

The Team

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Rowena French promotes a fit and healthy lifestyle. Working out and eating properly with no weight loss? I shed pounds by boosting my metabolism and eating well. My bonus gift explains how increasing my metabolism allowed me to lose weight quickly. ‘How to Boost Your Metabolism’ reveals all.

A recent vacation provided us relief from work and our busy schedule and another opportunity to reflect again on the connection between our lifestyle and our health.

We’ve made good progress since the start of the year with healthier eating and regular exercise.  We’ve been able to lose weight and our body shape, cholesterol levels and blood pressure have all improved markedly. Not surprisingly though, despite taking some long walks with excellent pedometer readings across the past 10 days we fell into the trap of vacation = more eating and drinking than we needed. 

The result of ‘falling off the wagon’ like this was of course a weight gain for us both! We’ve learned that doesn’t take long to undo our hard earned weight loss but we’re determined not to let this set-back get the better of us and we refuse to return to our old overweight selves! Walking has been good form of exercise but we both know that each of our body type needs more than this to keep the pounds off.

One helpful incentive for us to resume a healthy lifestyle was a letter to the editor of Thursday’s USA TODAY from Dr Steven V. Edelman, Founder and Director of the organization, ‘Taking Control of Your Diabetes’.  The connection that we knew existed between obesity and diabetes was reinforced in this open letter.  Dr Edelman added that both these medical conditions are affecting Americans at ‘epidemic’ levels.

Like increasing numbers of our friends and workmates, we both have a family history of stroke, high cholesterol and lipid levels as well as recently diagnosed diabetes.  We know that to avoid the same medical problems as our parents we must continue to maintain our new and healthy lifestyle .

Dr Edelman’s view about the value of weight management as part of diabetes treatment is important to both the lives of diabetics and to our own.  It prompts us to follow our healthy diet and exercise on a daily basis.  We read with interest his comment ‘Weight loss, even a modest amount, has been found to significantly help diabetes patients control their disease and live healthier, longer and more active lives’. 

We don’t suffer from diabetes and are working to avoid this, however as losing weight helps diabetics to live healthier lives, we feel sure that it assists people like us reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes.  The statistics referred to by Dr Edelman, suggest that weight loss can also improve the health options and the well being of many others suffering from either diabetes or obesity.

So our vacation was fun and a relaxing break, but it was also another reminder to us that our decision to take control of how we eat and keep our bodies in good shape is likely to be one of the most important that we’ll make. It's one that everyone can make!

Warm regards

Rowe and Ash

from 

The Team

http://mightydigitaldownloads.com 

How You Can Fit Exercise Into Your Busy Schedule - A Compete and Practical Guide Burning Calories During the Day shows How Easily You Can Fit Simple, Quick Exercises Into Your Daily Life

Tired of Exercising Without Results?" Is Your Workout Routine Useless For Your Body Type? The Missing Link: The Best Type of Exercise for Your Body Type is a Complete and Practical Guide To Finding the Perfect Exercise Routine For Your Body Type

Our cute-as-a button niece Ally came to live with us this year. She is 18, has just started College and is living away from home for the first time.

She is trim, outgoing and lots of fun.  Her boyfriend is devoted to her. She’s smart, has a great sense of fashion and she’s very conscious of her appearance.  At first glance you think she didn’t have a problem in the world!

We’re all learning more about each other every day. We respect her privacy and want her to enjoy living with us. But we’ve discovered some things she’d rather not discuss have needed airing.

Not long ago her bathroom washing revealed an aspect of her life new to us.  All her towels were covered with white stains. They were ruined and needed replacing.

I asked her what might have caused the discoloring.  She looked embarrassed and vague, had no answer but said ‘I always used white bath towels at home’.  The towels were replaced with the requested white. As I was arranging this, the penny ‘dropped’ – peroxide was the culprit.

Ally was using an acne product containing peroxide to treat her acne.  No wonder she spent more time in her bathroom than any other room in the house! No wonder the towels needed replacing and no wonder white was the only colored towel she had used at home.

At first I was surprised at how hard she’d tried to hide her acne medication from us. Then I recalled how acne leaves adolescents so exposed and vulnerable. Ally’s response to my question mirrored the deep embarrassment that most kids feel as they try to cover up or control the acne in their lives.  Just when they’re feeling most self conscious about their appearance and trying to fit in with others, acne can appear and ruin everything!

It is generally believed that our genes and hormones are the cause of acne.  Sometimes skin care products can impact on acne along with stress.  According to the American Academy of Dermatology, teenage and young adult acne is widespread.  An estimated 80 percent of all people between the ages of 11 and 30 have acne outbreaks at some point.

We’re pleased that Ally has found a reliable guide to help with her acne treatment.  Thankfully she didn’t follow the myriad of myths about remedies for skin blemishes as she searched for answers to how to get rid of acne.

We notice though that while she appears to be well informed, Ally chooses not to discuss her acne solution with us.  We’re OK with this. Our task is to ask no further questions, provide white towels, and allow her to keep doing what she seems to be managing well

Warm regards

Rowe from

The Team

http://mightydigitaldownloads.com 

To discover more about how to get rid of embarrassing acne and blemishes you can find help in The Complete Guide to Acne: Prevention, Treatment and Remedies - click here for further details

Today I went to a new hair stylist.  As you know, there is always a lot of social chitchat when you are having your hair cut and colored.  This was no exception with my new friend Amy. 

We soon found we shared a common interest - exercise, eating a healthy diet and losing weight.  We compared notes about how we were running our programs. 

Amy is overweight and she needs to lose around 20 pounds.  As a mom with two teenage kids she has a busy schedule.  She says that her first goal is to set and maintain a regular exercise routine. 

I was really impressed to hear how she’s rearranged her very full work hours to allow time for workouts because she’s serious about reclaiming her wedding day body and health!

Interestingly she wears a portable heart rate monitor on her wrist when she walks and jogs.  This is something I haven't thought to do.  My faithful pedometer is one way of telling me whether I walk far enough but in order to get cardiac fitness it is essential that I walk at a pace that is approximately 1.3 times my regular heart rate.

If your heart rate is around 70 beats per minute you need to exercise so that you maintain a consistent heart rate of somewhere between 90 and 100 beats per minute. Maintaining an elevated heart rate improves your overall fitness and contributes not only to cardiovascular efficiency but also helps you to lose weight.

The other thing I learned from Amy was how important social support is in her program.  She exercises with a girlfriend and they keep each other motivated. They have built in (non-eating) rewards for reaching goals along their journey and they’ve enlisted friends and family as their ‘support group’ to and encourage them to keep going.

I know that exercise can get a little dreary and you do need to know whether you're making any gains so it is essential that you actually chart your gains.  This can be either for changes in body shape or reduction in the circumference of various parts of your body for example your butt, your waist, or your upper arms, or your chest.

The danger with charting is that some people do it too frequently and become discouraged when they don't make sufficient gains.  Another danger is that some people chart at the wrong time.  Always measure your weight at the same time each morning not in the afternoon or evening when there is greater fluid retention or when you have been eating. 

Set a regular routine for exercise and a regular process for charting the gains that you're making.  I have decided that I am going to have a pedometer and a portable heart rate in my drive for a fitter, healthier body.  I think I’ll build some rewards into my program and find a buddy to exercise with as well!

For more details about how to fit exercise into your busy schedule click here to Download How YOU CAN Fit Exercise into Your Busy Schedule

We continue to boost our metabolism and burn calories through ongoing exercise tailored for us. For more details about how you can do this in How to Boost Your Metabolism, click here.

Rowe from 

The Team

http://mightydigitaldownloads.com 

Pedometers are a very useful tool in your get fit program. When exercising to lose weight, you need to keep track of how far you walk.  Use a good pedometer. I must confess that my husband and I both compete to see how many steps we take during the day.  He is a sore loser  when I beat him. On many occasions he insisted he has taken more steps than I. To verify this, one day while he was at work I checked his pedometer against mine and found that his pedometer scored 30% more than my pedometer.  Obviously, he wins when his pedometer is unreliable.

On a more serious note, though, when you are exercising for a healthier you, you need to have some objective means of keeping track of your daily activity.  Pedometers are extremely cheap and can be bought for less than $10.  You can keep a chart of your daily steps. When you decide on a lifestyle change to lose weight or to reshape your body type, you need some crutches to help you on your journey and to keep your motivation and energy high.

Interestingly, what started us on the use of pedometers was a corporate fitness competition called Global Corporate Challenge. Companies from around the world have registered to see how many steps their teams could make each day. The competition includes a website (http://www.gcc2008.com/login.aspx ) that shows the particular place in the world that the team can 'walk' through that day. You can profile your weight, weight loss, body fat, and steps taken. Drive obesity away! The Global Competition is another way to keep motivation high for fitness and weight loss.

For more ideas, check out some of the resources that can help with your lifestyle changing new exercise program. Change now!

We found suggestions from "101 Everyday Tips for Losing Pounds" very helpful in our weight loss program.  

Kind regards

The Team
http://mightydigitaldownloads.com