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Fun, Literature And Children

Fun with a purpose is a real help in educating children. It makes learning so much more attractive. Everyone has a good idea about what is fun and what isn’t. The same cannot be as easily said about literature. How accomplished need writing be to qualify. With regard to children the question may be asked whether there is a category of writing that could be considered literature in the real sense of the word. Are children capable of engaging with an expression of language that meets literary requirements? The answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes!’ But how often is such an engagement actually offered to a child? Far too sporadically, I believe.

Titles like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe come to mind when considering children’s literature. From books to be read and told these now have become movies and DVD’s to be watched. From words that introduce a child to good language that stirs the imagination this fine literature has become a sequence of images and sound effects. It needs no Einstein to conclude that somewhere there is a loss for modern children and their development. How many children these days have the opportunity to listen to a quality story being well told while becoming entranced by what is happening merely through the medium of the spoken word? It will be few and they will be the ones who will more easily express themselves later in life and may find the joys a good book can bring to the soul. They are the lucky ones.

Allow me to quote a sentence from Eloise, the Witch and the Wordsmith, a recently released multimedia story that uses narrative as communication with the occasional illustration in support. The spoken word is central in the two hour presentation which children are able to listen to without any loss of concentration. Here comes the sentence.

‘The Witch was so filled with her thoughts of vanquishing the Wordsmith that she didn’t hear the soft hum of the Fireflies that grew and grew around her, exploding from their hidden places, surrounding her with hot brightness, fire light, scalding her with dazzling, brilliant, blinding brightness, enveloping her in such sparkling radiance that she cringed, folded herself into a desolate parody of greatness, and crumpled to the ground, spent of her power, slack with defeat.’

This, most likely, is the longest sentence in the story. It also introduces the most words in one sequence including a lot of not frequently used ones. It’s not the only place where ‘difficult’ words are to be found in the Eloise adventure. Such words are scattered throughout the text. Overall there are well over a hundred words in the story that children would be less familiar with, or would haven’t come across at all.

The most pertinent question is, whether the occasional use of more adult language in an exciting story creates difficulties for the children, or whether they just take it on board. The latter is the case. If the story is exciting children will happily be exposed to richly descriptive language and will benefit greatly. Their minds and imagination will actively create for them what’s happening. They will experience some of the joys of language that has been so central to education in the history of human learning. If the language used is discussed a little, the benefits will be even greater.

Good fun makes literature accessible to children. That has been known for generations. This fun needs to be inherent in a story, but can be expanded beyond that. A good story usually has bearing on life in some way. That’s a treasure of exceptional wealth. As mentioned, this wealth is becoming less accessible in modern days. The children of this world deserve better, an educational exercise that doesn’t look like one. Isn’t that the best kind of learning?

Tags: Children, Literature

Diversifying Your Ira With Raw Land And Other Real Estate Investments Savvy Americans Are Using Ira Funds To Gobble-up North Carolina Real Estate

Developing wealth with traditional Roth and SEP individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as with all types of investment portfolios, requires diversification and knowledge. With Wall Street activity that is inconsistent to say the least – stocks, bonds, money market funds, savings certificates and mutual funds are all suffering. As a result, more and more financially-savvy Americans are taking advantage of a little known IRS clause that allows you to build wealth in your IRA accounts by purchasing certain types of real estate – all tax deferred. This is a long standing tax advantage versus some of the new programs of today.

Retirees across America are investing their retirement funds in real estate. While there are sure signs of recovery taking place, it’s still a definitive Buyer’s market. Real estate has always been an investment that will bounce back when downturned and retirees know that. Influenced by the effects of low interest rates, IRA owners are those who wish to position themselves to optimally benefit from the imminent market recovery. And they’re buying up everything from raw land, to single family homes to commercial buildings of all types.

Western North Carolina real estate is some of the most sought after in America.

Overlook Brasstown and Overlook Martins Creek are exactly the type of developments that retirement aged real estate investors are looking for today. Located in the beautiful mountainous regions of Western North Carolina, these communities are exceedingly safe and perfect for IRA investments. Western North Carolina real estate is showing signs of recovery far in excess of most of the rest of the country. Intelligent retirees are allocating funds from their IRA accounts to obtain this highly desirable real estate. And with a bit of patience, the returns that they are experiencing are quite significant indeed.

The United States IRS stipulates regulations for real estate investments with IRA funds in section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code. You need to familiarize yourself with the penalties for noncompliance. You should definitely consider the following tips:

How to invest in real estate using your IRA funds:

Choose your top pick from available investment property options. Remember that an investment property is one that you will not be living in – at least not right away.
Select an IRA custodian that permits investments in real estate. While an ever-increasing number of IRA custodians are embracing this technique of investment, most likely, your local lending institution will not accommodate real estate investment IRAs. To find real estate investment-friendly IRA custodians, perform a Google search on “real estate IRAs”.
You must have enough cash left in your IRA to cover all expenses that are related to maintaining the property. That includes taxes, maintenance costs and management fees.
Generated income will flow into your IRA while all expenses for property maintenance will flow out of it.
After retirement age, anytime you choose, you can direct your IRA custodian to turn your investment property over to you as a distribution. Of course, this distribution will be based upon the then-current market value for the property.
Additionally, you are allowed to pool your IRA funds together with those from other investors. Forming such partnerships is a logical and effective way for investors to acquire more substantial properties. Likewise, husband and wife teams may combine their IRA funds.

Soft market conditions present real estate investors with a buyer’s market to benefit from. And using the funds from your IRA accounts to diversify your holdings just makes solid sense. In fact, that’s why upscale communities like Overlook Brasstown and Overlook Martins Creek in Western North Carolina are experiencing such a significant surge in sales. Overlook Properties Developer, Blake Twedt, has further sweetened the investment pot by providing an industry unique Price Guarantee for all Brasstown and Martins Creek properties. Mr. Twedt states, “We are definitely going the extra mile to protect the sustainability of our retirees’ IRA investments. With current market projections and our locked-in pricing guarantee, Overlook buyers cannot lose.”

Tags: Americans, Carolina, Diversifying, Estate, Funds, Gobbleup, Investments, land, North, Real, Savvy, Using