Tag Archives: education

My Kid is Going To College! How Am I Going To Pay For It??

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To hear this broadcast, click HERE.  To listen to any or all of the Mom of Many Hats Radio broadcasts, click HERE , or click PODCAST GAL or the Podcast Gal on the sidebar to download FREE from ITunes!

 

Do you have a child heading off to college in the fall?  Are you stressed over the costs?  Does the idea of finding financial aid overwhelm you? 

Jodi Okun of  College Financial Advisors joined Mom of Many Hats Radio to discuss the daunting and often confusing process funding a college education for your child.  She shared her tips and knowledge of the processes, the resources, and the challenges that families face as they walk through the financial aid maze.

With all of the different types of financial aid and college funding options, understanding what you should apply for and what you may qualify for is not easy.  Jodi shared the difference between needs based, free money, and self help money options for financing college. She also shared the importance of filling out the proper financial aid forms  - the FAFSA  and often times also the CSS profile.

Jodi shared the following tips with our listeners:

  • Parents should include the students in on the college finance conversations
  • Parents and students should understand the terms of the aid ie: if it is a loan, when re-payment is to begin
  • To find grants and scholarship options, do a search in your browser for the type you are looking for. There are all kinds of grants and scholarships out there!
  • Apply, Apply, Apply for scholarships. Prior to college, use summer and winter breaks to fill out applications.  Continue to apply after college starts – there are funds out there for students already in college!
  • Look at sites such as Zinch, FinAid, and FastWeb for financial aid opportunities.
About Jodi Okun

Jodi is the founder of College Financial Aid Consultants where she helps families through the daunting and often confusing process of procuring financial aid. Through her guidance, families and students learn about different types of financial aid such as grants, loans and scholarships. Her assistance helps to ease the process of seeking out assistance, and filling out the multitude of forms required for application. She streamlines and organizes the process by helping families with timelines and meeting deadlines, and by walking them through this milestone step in their child’s and the family’s life.

Jodi is a Financial Aid Consultant at Occidental College and the host of the weekly Twitter Chat #CollegeCash at 10:00 PM EST each Thursday.

Join the conversation LIVE on Friday at 5PM EST! Call in with questions or comments at                                       877-864-4869                  .  Tweet with us at #MMHradio.  Live chat with us through the link at the top of the page.  Or Join the Facebook conversation! We’d love to hear from you and have you be a part of the discussion!

Planet Explorers – Learning Adventure! 4th Friday

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To hear this broadcast, click HERE.  To listen to any or all of the Mom of Many Hats Radio broadcasts, click HERE , or click PODCAST GAL or the Podcast Gal on the sidebar to download FREE from ITunes!

Do you love to travel?  Do you love to travel with your kids?

We travel with our children for a lot of different reasons.  Often times it is out of necessity to visit family or attend a particular event.  Sometimes it is because we are contemplating a move and are getting a feel for the area.  Sometimes, it is just for fun!

For whatever the reason, travel can always be an adventure and time for learning.  Laura Schaefer, author of the Planet Explorers Series joined Mom of Many Hats Radio to share her innovated and creative approach to making travel a fun, educational, and interactive experience.  Through combining today’s mobile technologies with the natural curiosity of kids,  Laura has created a fantastic travel companion that will keep kids engaged and wanting to learn more about the places they are visiting.

The Planet Explorer’s series is a collection of E-Book interactive travel guides that can be downloaded to just about any handheld mobile communication device, or PC.  The books are a great way to learn about a destination before traveling, or while visiting a travel destination.  The guide is geared toward the 3rd to 4th grade audience.  It is an easy to read and interactive way to get kids interested in the sights they are seeing.  The book contains links to local landmarks, points of interest, and information on local culture and icons. Information is at the touch of a screen, engaging the kids in the electronic world they are immersed in, yet enhances the experience of being out in the world as they learn about travel spots, not just by seeing them, but by learning about them too.

Laura began writing professionally in 2001 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.  In addition to ten e-book Planet Explorers Books, Laura is also the author of The Teashop Girls (Simon & Schuster, 2008) and the Secret Ingredient (2011).  She developed a love for travel as a child as she traveled with her family.  She shares that love today through Planet Explorers. Her love of writing, and her creative spirit lead  her to the path that she is on now – creating an educational travel experience.  She is truly drawn to this project and is able to follow her heart, and her creative spirit in bringing destinations and learning adventures to the hands and minds of kids.

Currently there are 10 Planet Explorers guides available.  They include cities, theme parks, and cruise adventures.  She hopes to bring to collection to 25 in the near future and expand the destinations to include more cities, and national parks as well.  To see the available titles visit Planet Explorers on Amazon, or her Planet Explorers Site. To learn about her other writings, visit Teashopgirls.com

Join the conversation LIVE on Friday at 5PM EST! Call in with questions or comments at                           877-864-4869            .  Tweet with us at #MMHradio.  Live chat with us through the link at the top of the page.  Or Join the Facebook conversation! We’d love to hear from you and have you be a part of the discussion

Second Friday Parenting Hat 8/12

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One of the biggest hats we wear is the parenting hat!  It shapes the way we view almost every other aspect or our lives.  At this time of a year it is a particular challenge to get our kids ready to get back to school. On today’s show, we talked with three teachers and a mom, Amy S., Amy D, and Elizabeth Z, and Sharon Girodo.  They gave us some wonderful tips on how to  get our kids ready for school.

From Amy S. we heard about the benefit of using everyday life as learning opportunities – even a trip to the store can be a learning experience by using math to figure out things like how many pieces of fruit are needed. Amy D. Reminded us to be positive about the upcoming year and learning experience.  Elizabeth Z. showed us the importance of having a routine with our kids to help them feel safe and confident. We also heard from the teachers about how we as parents, can prepare ourselves for the return of our kids to school. The teachers are the professionals and heads of the classroom realm.  We need to trust them to take care of our children – they will work with us to make sure our children have the best learning experience possible.Finally, we talked about how we can support our teachers through volunteering, classroom supplies, tax credits, and looking at our children’s teachers as team members in the raising of our kids.

Mom of Many Hats Radio sends  a huge THANK YOU to every teacher out there.  You have our children for a large portion of their lives.  We appreciate all you do and the influence you have on our children!