5 Benefits of Earning College Credit in High School
by Christopher E. Nelson
Summer Activity: Time Capsule Ideas for Kids
byConnections Academy
3 min to read
We look forward to summer celebrations each year—no matter our age. And if you have kids, creating a tradition can be even more exciting, especially if it includes revisiting fun memories of the past. A summer time capsule project is a great way to help your kids preserve special moments and celebrate their growth from year to year.
Why Should Kids Make a Time Capsule?
There’s nothing like a time capsule to boost a kid’s curiosity. Time capsule projects for kids demonstrate the importance of memories, inspire creativity, teach lessons on time, and help students look forward to the future. Building a summer time capsule for online students can be an especially creative way to avoid the summer slide and keep your student’s mind engaged throughout the summer.
But if you want a time capsule to have a real impact on your child, create one that makes your student look inward. Time capsules for children should still be about having fun, but they should also prompt such questions as:
“What do I want to be when I grow up?”
“What will the future be like?”
“What will it feel like to be older?”
What is in a Time Capsule?
Creating a time capsule can be a rewarding activity at any time during the summer. First, find your container. It can be a shoe box, cereal box, shipping box, plastic box, large envelope, large jar or bottle, or any similar item you may have.
Here are some time capsule ideas for students:
Favorite photos from the year: Go through your photos from the year and have your child pick several to print and include in the time capsule.
Drawings of friends and memories from the last year: If your child is into drawing, they can also draw pictures of their favorite people and any memories that stand out between the present day and last summer.
Crafts: Gather any crafts your child has created in the last year or create some to mark the occasion and include them in the capsule box.
Newspaper and magazine clippings (or printed screengrabs): Have your child journal their thoughts and experiences about some recent current events. They can also cut out favorite fashion trends or stories from a magazine.
Certificates, trophies, or ribbons: Protect these keepsakes from sports games or club activities by putting them in a time capsule to revisit each year.
“A note to Me, from Me”: Have your child write a letter to their future self. Ask questions to get them thinking about their life so far and what it may hold in the years ahead.
– Where do they see themselves in one year? Two years? Five or ten years?
– A list of their favorite things this year
– A list of goals for the next year
– A list of predictions for the futureFollow our time capsule worksheet for full instructions, guidance, and student time capsule ideas.
More Time Capsule Tips
When your time capsule is finished, you need to put it away somewhere safe and out of mind. This may be under a bed, in a closet, in the attic, or just for fun, underground. Here are some tips to help you protect your time capsule:
If you use a cardboard box, wrap it with newspaper or wrapping paper and tape. This will make it more sturdy and secure and deter early peeking.
Put the box in a plastic bag to protect it from dust, dirt, and moisture. Label it with masking tape and a marker so no one mistakes it for garbage.
Hide the box from curious children—or pets.
Put a reminder on your calendar that names the location of the time capsule and the day it should be opened.
If you hide your time capsule outdoors, you’ll need a container that’s waterproof and airtight. Try a plastic storage container or large glass jar with a lid.
- Time capsules hidden outdoors are safest when they’re buried. Just make sure you approve the spot before your child starts digging.
Looking for more ways to keep your kids active this summer? Check out these fun outdoor PE activities that will get your kids moving!
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10 Computer Keyboard Shortcuts and Other Tips for Kids
by Christopher E. Nelson
Students at every level and in every environment need to learn time-management skills. For online students, technology plays a huge role in managing time for virtual school tasks.
The basics of time management for online students come down to knowing how to navigate computers to access online and technology-based educational resources and how to sort them and the information they’ve gleaned from them. Today’s students must be able to type well, and then, to make their lives easier, they need to learn keyboard shortcuts for the most frequently used computer functions.
Below we offer some computer keyboard shortcuts to help your online or homeschool student get the most out of his or her time spent preparing for and participating in the online classroom.
Typing and Keyboard Practice for Kids
Let’s start with the computer basics for kids. TypingClub offers more than 600 lessons that teach touch-typing with the correct hand posture for every key. Its game structure and animated stories make lessons engaging and fun, and the student’s work is rewarded by stars, badges, and increasing levels of mastery to reach for. TypingClub computer lessons for kids are free, but a premium, ad-free version requires a fee.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Online Learning
Computer keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that execute certain tasks that otherwise require a mouse-click on a menu link or some other type of input. Some are well-known, like Control (Ctrl) + C (Command or Cmd + C on a Mac) to copy highlighted text and save it to be pasted elsewhere with Ctrl + V or Cmd + V.
Shortcuts are timesavers for those who know them well enough to use them by second nature. Here is a printable pdf of 10 PC and Mac keyboard shortcuts every virtual school student should know for streamlining online schoolwork.
Once your student has become comfortable with the basic keyboard shortcuts, there are many more they can learn to save time and impress their friends in Microsoft Windows and for Apple’s Mac operating systems. Below, we’ve gathered 10 of our favorite keyboard shortcuts for staying organized.
10 Computer Keyboard Shortcuts for Better Organization
1. Win (Windows key) + E
Open File Explorer, a window that shows your frequently used folders, recently used files (and their locations), and a search box.
2. Ctrl + W
Close current window or document.
3. Alt + F4
Close current window or document.
4. Win + D
Minimize all windows open on the desktop. Press again to restore.
5. Ctrl + T
Open a new browser tab.
6. Ctrl + Shift + T
Reopen the most recently closed browser tab.
7. Win + T
Cycle through apps pinned to your task bar.
8. Alt + Tab
Show items open on your desktop and cycle through them. Alt + Shift + Tab will cycle backwards.
9. Alt + Esc
Cycle through open items in the order they were opened.
10. Win + Shift + Left/Right Arrow
Move the current window to the other monitor if you have multiple screens.
Sort Online Classes or Projects with Virtual Desktops
The truly busy online student can create one or more virtual desktops on their PC to establish a dedicated space for each class or project. Virtual desktops let you access all the notes, documents, apps, web pages, etc., pertaining to a specific topic or task with one keystroke instead of shuffling through windows to find them. It’s also a good way to separate schoolwork from, say, game or entertainment apps.
Add a virtual desktop to your PC with Win + Ctrl + D. Then switch back and forth between them with Win + Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow. Click the task view icon on your task bar to see your multiple desktops (and hop between them by clicking on them) and what’s open on the one that’s currently active. Here’s how to create virtual desktops on a Mac.
Having the proper tools makes any task easier, but knowing what the proper tools are capable of leads to efficiency. We cited just a few of the many computer keyboard shortcuts available to help make virtual school tasks more efficient. To help your student further increase their computer capabilities and confidence, check out these seven computer skills your child should master by the time he or she starts virtual high school.
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