Healthy Kids Tip #22

Summer Reading for Parents and Grandparents

This blog shares information which will help students earn more money from scholarships and grants in order to pay for college and graduate debt free. I think college should be tuition free, but I’m not in charge. I can only share information I've gathered that can help reduce or eliminate the cost or college for families. If they do what others do to earn full-ride scholarships, perhaps they too will pay nothing out of pocket for college.

This post title, however, doesn’t look like it applies. That’s an illusion. Anything parents or grandparents do can end up helping students graduate from college debt free. The three books I'm recommending can make a dramatic difference for parents and grandparents, and for the success of students in their lives.

The first book is Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Blue Zones. They're five areas in the world where people routinely live happy, healthy, fit lives well beyond 100. The National Geographic is behind this research into longevity. As the researchers isolated areas in the world where people live the longest lives, they circled them on a map with a blue marker, hence the name the Blue Zones.

I’ve read all of the books published by Dan Buettner in conjunction with the National Geographic. I give them as gifts to loved ones. I’ve signed up for their monthly newsletter and follow them on Twitter. I’m a fan. But the reason I’m suggesting you read Blue Zones Solution over summer is your children will benefit from your doing so. Too many children are eating junk. Too many are sedentary and unhappy. Following the suggestions in this book could reverse these negative trends. You, your children and grandchildren would benefit.

The second book you should check out from the library or buy is Factfulness by Hans Rosling. I don’t know how I ended up on Bill Gates’ email list, but I did. He recommended I read this book. I’m glad I did. It has helped me see the world as it is, and not as the network news tells me it is. I realized years ago that the news can only show a sliver of what happens in the world. It doesn’t show us a balanced view, but only what’s sensational. Good news is boring. Bad news gets our attention. Attention equals ratings. Ratings equal money. But it also makes us carry around a negative view of the world. This book gives us facts, real facts, about the world in which we live.

I think parents should read this book because their fears and negative feelings about the future rub off on their kids. It’s hard to motivate students to do well in school, if they think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I knew some of the information in this book, but not very much. Read Factfulness and you’ll feel better about the world, and so will your children.

The third book I suggest you read this summer is mine, Free College. It contains researched information as do the previous two. But the subject of my book is what parents of successful scholarship winners do while raising their children that results in them winning full-ride scholarships for college. It horrifies me that the cost of college tuition is so high, and that thousands of students end up with huge college loan debt. I know senior citizens who are still paying off college loans. My book provides a step-by-step guide, so your kids and grandkids can develop the habits of the ideal scholarship and grant applicants.

What better way to spend your summer than helping your children get ahead and live happier, healthier lives?

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

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Photo Credit: Google Images

A Lesson in Longevity from Teachers

I grew up in a family where illness was common. My mother suffered from several life threatening illnesses while I was growing up. My father had trouble breathing due to his history of smoking. I vowed to do whatever I could to avoid their fate. I subscribed to Organic Gardening from Rodale Press and planted fruit trees, grapes, berries and a huge vegetable garden. I reduced the amount of red meat I ate and eventually eliminated it entirely, as I did with soda. I’ve eaten healthy my entire adult life.

My next step was to subscribe to Prevention magazine and join a gym. I’ve worked out three to four days a week from the time I was twenty-five until now. I’m at my high school weight (which is appropriate to my height). I’m not working out as much as I did when I was younger, but have never given it up for more than a brief period of time. I walk daily, although to be frank, not as much as I did when I taught high school. Then, sitting down during the day was a rarity.

I’ve bought and read all the Blue Zones books, I even give them as gifts. The Blue Zones® was founded by Dan Buettner, explorer, researcher and fantastic best-selling author. I’ve tweaked my Mediterranean diet to be more like those eaten by the people in the Blue Zones Solution and made a few other changes to my lifestyle. A long healthy, happy life is my goal.

Recently, my copy of the “Retiree Advocate” by CTA/NEA-Retired arrived. There’s an article in the newsletter entitled, “It’s About Us”.  Here I read longevity statistics for retired teachers. Studies show we live longer than any other group of working people in the U.S. This made me curious because I had heard the opposite. I looked online and found my previous belief was a well debunked myth. Teachers who reach 60 can expect to live 30 more years. This was great news.

The longevity of teachers has been credited to our healthy living. We eat the right foods, like those I mentioned earlier. We’re physically active, go to the gym, walk, hike, etc. We sleep enough; probably making up for all those nights we stayed up correcting papers. Finally, we were and still are social creatures. Even in retirement, teachers have a lesson to teach. Live like we do, and you may extend your happy, healthy retirement years too.

In addition to working out, traveling (as you see in the photo above), eating healthy and socializing, I've spent some of my retirement from classroom teaching researching and writing my new book, Free College. It contains lots of helpful tips on how to avoid college loans. It's for families of Pre-K through High School students. If you want to learn the secrets of successful scholarship winners, you'll find them in Free College, (Click Here to Buy). 

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

Photo Credit: Photo taken by me, Elizabeth Wallace