Interactive kids learning globes can be a fun and engaging way to teach geography to kids. Here we share 5 of the highest rated learning globes for children that are both awesome and affordable!

1) Oregon Scientific Smart Globe

We start our list of kids learning globes with the Oregon Scientific Smart Globe. This learning toy allows kids to learn over 2000 fun facts, listen to national anthems of different countries, history and more.

Included with this smart globe are 19 engaging games that help teach kids about world facts. And recently, Oregon Scientific has built in an augmented reality component to this globe that allows children to use the Oregon Scientific app to bring the globe to life with animals and dinosaurs!

Most reviews for this product are very positive, with a common complaint of this particular learning globe being that the default setting can be too loud.

Oregon Scientific Smart Globe – Sample Amazon Review

“This may be the most wonderful gift I ever bought my grandson!! There are so many functions, ways to quiz yourself, and I’m learning too. He loves world geography and this globe has it all. Languages, money, fun facts,capitols and so much more. I love the USA map on one side, he says the state and the capitol before he touches it just to check himself. It came with the batteries and was ready for play right out of the box. I like that it says goodbye when he turns it off, so no wasted batteries from being left on. He is seven but this is great even for high school kids. The shipping was Amazon Prime fast, and the price was right. I’d recommend this to anyone. What a fun way to learn!”

2) 3-in-1 Illuminated World Globe

The 3-in-1 Illuminated World Globe is not only a kids learning globe, but also a constellation map and nightlight! This globe also features an interactive globe app.

The 3-in-1 Illuminated World Globe – Sample Amazon Review

“This is a wonderful globe! Some of the reviews made me afraid it was going to be cheap or something, but it’s not! It’s bright and colorful, the smaller size is perfect for fitting on a desk or dresser easier, the plug and switch work fine, and the constellations night light feature is just so super cool. At first, when I flipped the switch I thought the light wasn’t working, but then turned off the overhead room light and bam! I realized that the light in the globe lights up the constellations, not the regular globe view. It feels sturdy and solid and it doesn’t feel or look cheap. Great product!”

3) Learning Resources Puzzle Globe

Next on our list of learning globes for children is the The Learning Resources Puzzle Globe.

While not as high tech as the other globes, this fun, engaging 14-piece puzzle globe can teach kids the names of the continents, oceans, famous landmarks and more.

Learning Resources Puzzle Globe – Sample Amazon Review

“This globe is fantastic! I purchased it for my kids 4 and 8 as my husband does quite a bit of international travel and I thought it would be a fun way for them understand where in the world he is and the routes he takes to get there and home. It has been a HUGE HIT with both of my kids- and they have been fighting over it since it arrived a few days ago!”

4) Shifu Orboot: The Educational, Augmented Reality Based Globe

The Shifu Orboot augmented reality globe is among the best kids learning globes for helping to spark imagination and creativity!

Shifu Orboot – Sample Amazon Review

“I was initially in two minds to purchase the Shifu Orboot for my daughter but once I got it, I feel it’s the best Christmas gift I could have given my daughter … she simply loves it … it’s very informative as it tells you details about the different animals in the different countries, culture, maps , inventions and monuments !!! My daughter gets to learn a lot and we happy that she enjoys her gift…. it’s the best gift u can give ur child !!!”

5) Educational Insights GeoSafari Talking Globe

Our final product in our list of the best kids learning globes is the multiple award-winning Educational Insights GeoSafari Talking Globe, which includes more than 10,000 geography questions!

Up to 4 players can play the quiz game and can select various quiz categories, including the U.S.A, Canada, the World or ALL categories.

GeoSafari Talking Globe – Sample Amazon Review

“I got this globe for my 7 year old niece and she absolutely loves it! We were also very happy to see how much her 3 year old brother was interested in learning along with her (admittedly with a much short attention span). The questions were incredibly wide-ranging and they provoked all sorts of discussions and sharing of family travel adventures through the generations which was great! Would recommend.”

Kids Learning Globes – What’s Your Favorite?

I hope you will try some of these games with your children and/or students! If you have your own favorite learning globe for children, please share it in the comments below.

Here are links to the 5 learning globes we feature here as well as some others on Amazon. If you are interested in using games for teaching, please e sure to also check out our list of the best money board games for kids.

Educators have one thing in common, they all face the same productivity challenges that can affect the learning outcomes of their students. If an educator is unproductive, their class will suffer and their overall rating as an educator could fall.

Boosting productivity is, therefore, an important exercise any educator must embrace to be successful and graduate successful students.

1. Organization

To beat the hectic last-minute rush of trying to get things done while students wait, organize everything you need for the class in advance. Plan for your class, organize your teaching materials and print whatever material needs to be printed the night prior to the class.

Go through your checklist to ensure you have everything in place. Once you have this done, the next morning will go easier on you and you will arrive at your class calm and with a grounded mind ready to teach.

2. Freelance VA

Successful educators know they cannot do everything themselves. While hiring a personal assistant may not be financially viable, you can hire a freelance virtual assistant from platforms like Upwork, QuiGig, and Freelancer.

To keep your costs down, you can hire the VA for just a few hours a week. They can help you with minor tasks like inputting your lessons into Planboard, passing your students submissions through CopyScape, or organizing your notes in a PowerPoint slide.

3. Surveys

Surveys help companies understand their employees’ needs better. They can also help you understand your students’ needs better. Google Forms is a free form-building tool that can easily double up as a survey tool.

Create surveys and publish them to your class. Ask them how the lessons are, how the lessons could improve and so on. By understanding their students better, successful educators can achieve above-normal results with their students.

4. Lesson Planning

If you fail to plan you are planning to fail, so goes the old saw. Planning your lessons in advance is one way you can maximize your productivity when teaching. Use tools like Planboard to organize your lessons so you know how everything will play out when you implement the lessons.

When planning, focus on high-impact activities and lessons that can be easily measured. Planning like this will also help you account for your time better and visualize how each week’s lessons will occur.

5. Student Engagement

Engaged students are students better positioned to learn. Successful educators exploit this correlation by introducing engaging activities into normal learning to ignite the learning spark. Using tools like Smore and Socrative, such educators add a different dimension to learning that helps students understand principles better.

Other tools that you can use include learning gamification platforms like Minecraft and Kahoot and quick assessment tools like Unplag and Edmodo Snapshot.

Becoming a successful educator means embracing these productivity hacks and other hacks to have a greater impact on your students. Using learning tools like edX, Udemy and other Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms can also help you learn more productivity hacks, sharpen your skills, and give you an edge over your peers.

Cathy Duffy is the know-all when it comes to homeschooling. She has reviewed hundreds of homeschool resources to help educators and parents shopping for. We reached out to her and asked: “So, what is the best homeschool curriculum?”

Here’s a handful of Cathy-approved homeschooling educational picks available at Educents.com. We hope that these 16 recommended resources will save you from countless hours of shopping around for the best homeschool curriculum.

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary Math & Science

Life of Fred Elementary Math

If you have yet to hear of Life of Fred, you are in for a treat. Developed by math teacher Dr. Stanley F Schmitt, this story-based math learning series has taken the homeschooling world by storm! In this series, learners follow Fred and his pals through life while learning math concepts along the way. Truly, kids often don’t even know they’re learning something until they are told!

Each Life of Fred book has a single topic, like Apples, Ice Cream, or Money. (Yes, our Moneywise Teacher readers will love that one!) Cathy recommends that you supplement your students’ math learning with social studies or science based around the same topic!

Math Lessons for a Living Education

The premise of Math Lessons for a Living Education is that, “content, story, and the ability to show math in real life” is what makes a stellar math curriculum! In real life, there are no barriers between “subjects.” As an example, when cooking or baking, we use reading, logical thinking, and measuring skills. This exceptional series is committed to teaching math in the same organic way!

Math Mammoth Light Blue Series

A favorite of homeschool parents, the Math Mammoth series constitutes a full elementary mathematics curriculum for 1st-7th grades. With this series, kids can learn on their own with the comprehensive student books.  The focus with these book is on conceptual learning.  They are visually engaging, and chapters are organized by topics and themes.

One very happy homeschool parent said about this series: “We have tried three different math curriculum programs but this one seems the best for the teacher and student.”

A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft, Inc.)

This interactive math curriculum can make the homeschool math journey easy.  A+ Interactive Math can do it all–teaching, grading, and tracking! This program allows you to personalize lesson plans in order to target exactly what your student needs. A bonus is that you can choose the best format for you  (and your students) – CD, eBooks or online!

Mathematical Reasoning Level A

This engaging book presents kids with a fun and colorful explanations, examples, and charts. These wonderful lessons are perfect for teaching your kindergartner mathematical foundations.

enVision Math

This visually rich and fun curriculum focuses on one topic at a time, which should allow your child to master a concept before moving on to the next one.

Included with each enVision Math Homeschool Bundle are a Student Edition Worktext and a Teacher Edition CD-ROM.

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary Reading & Writing

Grammaropolis

Grammaropolis can be a wonderful tool for K-3 learners as they seek to perfect their English grammar. This set comes with animated shorts, books, quizzes, and music videos. Lots of learning styles are covered here!

A Reason for Handwriting

A Reason For Handwriting seeks to provide your students with a truly meaningful way to improve their handwriting. Lessons are each built upon a Bible verse which is chosen for encouragement as well as letter combinations.

It’s been proven that when kids retain more and learn more effectively when they are having fun. A Reason for Handwriting definitely brings enjoyment to the task of developing handwriting skills.

Spelling Workout

Spelling Workout will help create a solid foundation of phonics principles. Included are puzzles, riddles, and activities that will keep your students engaged.

Included in each bundle are a Student Edition, Teacher Edition and Parent Guide.

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Middle School Math

Life of Fred Intro to Algebra

Back to Life of Fred! Algebra learners and beyond will love the stories and learn the concepts through holistic learning. It is recommended that if your advanced learner is new to Life of Fred that they start from the beginning. This re-learning of concepts will help them get up to speed and can set them up for success.

Life of Fred Financial Choices

Considering the theme of this website, we would be remiss to not include a recommendation on a homeschool curriculum that instills strong financial decision-making. The Life of Fred Financial Choices book is definitely a great intro and a great resource for helping you teach money skills.  Be sure to supplement this with these 5 Great Board Games that Teach Money Skills.

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Middle School Social Studies

myWorld Social Studies

This sets a foundation for students to become engaged citizens by learning about US politics and history.
Includes a teacher’s guide for every chapter, lesson plans, editable tests and even audio podcasts on each subject!

You Decide! Apply Bill of Rights to Real Cases

With this unique resource, students can learn the first 8 Constitutional Amendments (Bill of Rights). They then have the chance to act as the Supreme Court to make decisions based on those amendments!

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Science for the Family

Magic School Bus Nature Bundle

This set comes with four science kits and covers topics like the weather, “going green” (recycling, composting, etc.), solar energy and “wonders of nature” (fun stuff like ant hill building, dissolving an egg shell and more!).

A Reason for Science

This interactive and inquiry-based science teaches basic life, earth and physical science concepts through super-fun hands on-activities. The whole family can get involved in this engaging series as parents and students are both tasked with problem-solving and engaging in group discussions.

Science Detective A1

With this series, your science detective kids will engage in mind-building exercises! Science Detective prepares students for more advanced science courses and also gives them opportunities to build their reading comprehension and reasoning skills.

Best Homeschool Curriculum – Your Picks?

We hope this selection of 16 recommended homeschool curricula has helped you decide on your own personal best homeschool curriculum. Please let us know in the comments what you think, and also if you have any recommendations for any picks we might have missed!

In the recently published Side Gigs for Teachers: Ways to Actually Make Money  Jackie Bolen and Jennifer Booker Smith seek to show educators how to earn extra money in their spare time. We reached out to co-author Jackie Bolen and asked her some questions about the book and side hustling in general. We hope you enjoy the interview and be sure to grab your copy of Side Gigs for Teachers today!

1) What inspired the two of you to write this book?

Jennifer and I are both “retired” teachers who met while teaching English in South Korea. Of course, we’re not really retired and are still super busy doing a million things! She’s traveling around the world, and I’ve since moved back home to Canada.

We got started with self-publishing books, developing websites, and putting materials on Teacher Pay Teachers while still teaching in Korea. But these days, we’re both making a full-time living off of our side-gigs.

We hope to inspire other teachers out there (ESL and otherwise) to get their own side hustle going on. It’s an excellent way to earn a bit of cash in your spare time, or even make it into a career like we have. If you’re not happy in the classroom, need a break, or just want to have a bit more cash in your bank account at the end of the month, there are options out there!

2) About how many side gigs for teachers does the book cover?

We divide the side-gigs up into two categories: Active, and Passive.

By “active,” we mean things like tutoring, pet sitting, or test evaluating. Basically, you have to work one hour for one hour of pay with these side-gigs. We discuss 14 of the best ones for teachers options in detail. Teachers have a lot of skills like public speaking, writing, and knowledge about certain areas so why not put that to good use to make some extra money?

The second category of side gigs are passive ones. By “passive,” we mean that you have to put a lot of work (or money with investing) in up-front, but that you can earn money for years down the road. Some of the examples are self-published books, affiliate websites, and investing in the stock market. We give you all the details for how to get started with seven of these ones.

3) Can you tell us about two or three of your favorite side gigs for teachers covered in the book?

There are a few that I’m currently using to make a full-time income. Jennifer and I have 20+ self-published books that you can find on Amazon. The first one took a lot of time, effort and frustration! But, we’ve learned so much along the way that the process has gotten much easier over time.

I also develop Amazon affiliate websites. Basically, I review products on Amazon and if people click a product link on my website, and purchase something on Amazon, I get a commission. This side-gig is good for people who have a very, very long-term vision. It can take a year or two of solid work before you ever earn you first dollar. But, there is huge potential to make this into a full-time job for yourself.

Jennifer is the guru of all things Teachers Pay Teachers. You can put your course materials on that website and people pay you to download them. If you already spend a lot of time creating some awesome stuff, why not make a bit of extra money off of it?

4) What kind of teachers do you think can be successful with side hustles?

I really think that just about anyone can start a side hustle. There are a million and one different ones so you’re sure to find a side-gig or two that will work for you. In our book, we talk about 21 of them, and I’d be very, very surprised if you read the book and couldn’t find one that would work!

However, the people that do the best with starting a side-hustle are usually motived, and are also long-term thinkers. It can a while before you start to get some traction in terms of earning serious money. The key is to believe in what you’re doing, work smart, and also be willing to put in some serious effort to get things off the ground. Of course, perseverance helps a lot. You will get some motivation though when you earn your first dollar from your side hustle.

5) For a busy teacher just getting started trying to make money on the side, what kind of general advice would you give them?

The best advice I could give you is to start with one side-gig. It can be tempting to try and get a million things up and running, but in reality, you’ll have more success if you master one thing. Give yourself at least six months before trying another one.

The other thing I would say is to just start NOW! Actually, yesterday was the best time, but it’s not too late today. You can spend months and years researching and thinking and planning, but it’s better to just make some forward progress in terms of action. You WILL make mistakes. Everybody does. Learn from them and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

6) Besides your books, do you have any recommended resources for teachers getting started with side gigs?

I am a huge fan of Pat Flynn over at Smart Passive Income. He interviews the top people in the online business world.

7) Anything else you would like to tell us or share with our readers?

You can find me online at www.jackiebolen.com. I’m happy to help you out by answering a question or two. I also offer consulting via Skype for more detailed advice about getting a side-gig up and running. Get in touch!

Side Gigs for Teachers: Ways to Actually Make Money is available now on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback versions!

As educator wages struggle to keep up with rising costs of living, teacher bankruptcy unfortunately is far too common.

Teacher Bankruptcy – What are the Causes?

While in the past bankruptcy was a means of evading creditors, today the pandemic has a more sinister basis. Ranging from poor money management skills to personal calamities such as divorce and medical emergencies, financial pressures today are pushing many Americans to file for bankruptcy. Here we look at the top 5 most common causes of bankruptcy. How can you avoid a teacher  bankruptcy and becoming a part of the bankruptcy statistics?

Medical Expenses

Medical expenses are the leading cause of bankruptcies in the United States today. Rising medical costs coupled with deteriorating health due to poor lifestyle choices combine to exert extraordinary pressure on individuals and families in the US today.

To avoid going down this road, try the following. Take care of your health. Fewer visits to the doctor mean fewer expenses. Find an insurance plan with low deductibles and other extra payments that fits your needs. Are you eligible for the deductions? Finding out could save you money.

Losing a Job

Whether through downsizing, retirement or resignation, losing a job always comes with a financial shock. The regular paycheck may be gone, but bills keep coming in. If you cannot find a job fast enough, this pressure can exhaust your savings and leave you with few options.

If you are still employed, avoid this bankruptcy trap by building up your emergency fund. Put aside 6 months to a year of living expenses. If you do lose your job, you will be able to survive for this period without the need to touch any of your other investments or savings.

Poor Use of Credit

Excessive use of credit is the third trap that leads many to bankruptcy court. Splurging on expensive things bought using credit is a poor financial choice. Yet many will do this without a second thought. The trap here is the fallacy that credit cards offer free money.

To avoid this, limit your use of credit cards and other forms of credit. In fact, go as far as only having one credit card, which you can easily track. You may also consider using a debit card instead of a credit card, so you know you are only spending what you have.

Separation/Divorce

Divorces and separations come with serious financial ramifications that leave many a divorcee bankrupt. Legal fees coupled with other costs such as child support and alimony may leave one or both partners financially strained.

Considering in some cases the court can decree back payments, this is a common reason for bankruptcies in the US. To avoid this, maintain a good handle of all your assets and obligations so that if this does happen, you are prepared.

Unforeseen Expenses

These occur through loss of property from natural disasters, theft, fraud and a host of other reasons. When this happens, the affected party is usually unable to recoup the loss. If the loss was tied to some form of lien or income, they may find themselves financially overwhelmed. To protect yourself, maintain insurance on all properties that you deem crucial to your financial wellbeing.

While some of these reasons for teacher bankruptcy are unavoidable, in most cases sound planning, judicious fiscal discipline, and adequate preparation can mitigate, if not avert, these financially-ruinous events.

There are different grammar checkers online, free and paid, and Grammarly is one of the best-known ones. The platform offers a free and premium version. The premium version will run you $29.95 a month currently unless you bundle months together to get a discounted rate. Read on for our Grammarly review of both the free and premium versions of this excellent software.

Subscription Plans from Grammarly

After putting the premium version to the test, here are a few insights on whether it is worth going premium with Grammarly.

Grammarly Review – Pros for Teachers

One tool that could cut teacher’s time in half when grading papers is the plagiarism tool. Grammarly claims that the cloud-based software scans over 8 billion websites to look for plagiarized content. With this powerful tool, I can see this being a much-needed shortcut for teachers when grading student’s papers.

Teachers can use this extra time to focus on helping improve their students overall writing and style.

Also, when using the program in Microsoft Word, you can change the type or genre of the article you’re either writing or proofreading. You do have to add Grammarly to Word by following the prompts from your profile on the Grammarly website.

With genres like essay and research papers to choose from in the academic section, you can move through papers using the grammatical styles associated with each kind of writing. Adding the Grammarly tool to Word and the plagiarism tool are both only available through the premium membership.

Grammarly Review – Helpful Tools for Writing

Another perk of going premium is being able to look at advanced issues in your writing. When using the free version, Grammarly lets you know there are “X” amount of advanced issues that you can see IF you upgrade to premium.

If you tend to write more than the average person and are interested in improving your writing skills and grammar, being able to look at the advanced issues is one of the best tools the software provides.

Personally, I tend to write in the passive voice more than I want in my writing. The premium version of the grammar checker has helped me work towards breaking this habit. Also, it breaks the habit of using any repetitive words and even suggests synonyms that may fit better with your wording.

Also, the ease of use of the software is great. Adding extensions to your browser and Word are simple and using the grammar checker is self-explanatory.

Grammarly checks over 250 types of grammatical issues, spelling mistakes, and enhances the vocabulary of the user in the premium version. What I found using the tool is that they do deliver well on all of these categories.

The Drawbacks

Grammarly does have a few drawbacks.

It’s grammar suggestions may not always make sense regarding what you’re trying to write and get across to the reader. At this point, you have to use your best judgment in going with the suggestion or sticking with your original writing.

An example of this is when the passive voice is necessary, and it wouldn’t make sense to use the active voice in the context of your writing. Grammarly tends to do this in different style tips and suggestions. Just check the context and decide on what sounds better to you.

Also, when using the browser extension, Grammarly hasn’t picked up on how writing may differ on your personal social media. Sometimes when you add new statuses on different platforms, it’ll pick up multiple errors on abbreviations and social lexicon.

Just clicking through these and being able to post can be time-consuming as well as irritating.

Grammarly Review 2018 – The Verdict

Grammarly has a lot to offer to anyone who takes their writing seriously or grades any papers in an educational setting.

With only a few drawbacks, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. The writing enhancing tool, whether in the free or premium version, does help writers create better content and helps break any old writing habits.

If cost isn’t a factor for you and you enjoy improving your writing skills, the premium version may be a tool you’ll find useful.

Overall, if you plan on writing more than the average person or you’re an educator who does need to proofread constantly, I would recommend the premium tool. If you don’t grade papers often or need to write much, trying the free version out would probably cut it for you.  Start with the free version of Grammarly here.

We hope you have found this grammarly review helpful. Have you tried Grammarly’s premium version? What did you think of the grammar checker’s tools?

Great board games are fun, engaging and can be wonderful learning tools! Here we share 5 of the top rated board games that teach money skills to young children.

1) Cashflow for Kids

We start our list of board games that teach money skills to kids withCashflow for Kids. This game was developed by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the #1 selling personal finance book of all time, Rich Dad Poor Dad. He considers the game the realization of his vision for an interactive tool for financial education for children.

This highly engaging board game simulates real life situations and financial strategies in ways that both children and adults love. Through this game, your kids/students will gain insight into how money and investing work.

Cashflow for Kids – Sample Amazon Review

“Cannot rate this game highly enough. Kids love it, adults learn from it, and the kids get a real concept of return on investment and “doodad” spending (the latter to be avoided…). Have enough now for children, grand/great children(future). As long as I don’t keep giving it away to every child who plays it at my home and wants to take it back to THEIR home…”

2) The Allowance Game

The Allowance Game is an involving, skill-building game where players race around the board while doing “chores” to earn their “allowance”. After earning money, they can then spend it on things they want or save it. As children play, they learn to make change, handle money and more!

The Allowance Game – Sample Amazon Review

“We’ve been playing this game from when kids were 4 and still playing it regularly now that youngest is 8. Very fun. Teaches money in ways kids can understand (ie: allowance, buying ice cream vs buying houses, losing your money vs. taking out mortgages). The coins are the real shape and color of coins, so kids really learn the difference between them. And the paper money is real money colored so the same applies there. Parents enjoy playing it too.”

2) Money Bags – A Crazy Coin Counting Game

As the name suggests, Money Bags – A Crazy Coin Counting Game offers a fun way to teach children money-counting and combining skills.

The object of this game is to earn money while winding along a cartoon path. Money is earned by landing on “chore” square, labeled with a practical task, such as setting the table or an entrepreneurial endeavor such as opening a lemonade stand.

To collect money, the spinner determines which coins can or cannot be used, an excellent element to the game that encourages problem-solving and critical thinking.

Money Bags – A Crazy Coin Counting Game – Sample Amazon Review

“I use this game in the classroom as a math support teacher and at home with my kids. All of the kids love it and it moves at a good pace. I appreciate how the game doesn’t just let the kids always decide what combination of coins they’ll use to represent a certain value. When they spin the spinner, it will sometimes land on no dimes or no nickels, and so on. So they need to figure out how to make a certain amount without those coins.”

4) Exact Change

Exact Change is similar to UNO in that the goal of the game is to play all of your cards first. You can discard cards by matching the color of the last card, its value, ($1.00 on $1.00, etc.), or by making EXACT CHANGE.

For example, if the last card played was a quarter, and you had two dime cards and a nickel card, you would be able to combine and discard all three of them at once!

This game is among the best board games that teach money skills to young kids.

Exact Change – Sample Amazon Review

“I bought this a few months ago when our middle daughter was having trouble learning about money in school. The UNO-like color/card match aspect of the game has reinforced that for her, while the plays to count out exact change is helping my older daughter with adding up larger numbers (up to $1 and beyond). I think this would be a fun game to play even without kids. The only thing that seems to discourage the kids is the “keep drawing until you play” rule. Sometimes they have drawn 10 or more cards in a row and gotten upset that they would have no way of winning the game. Some reassurance and skillful play of larger denominations has helped them get rid of several cards at once, but if you have a sensitive child, it is something to be aware of.”

5) ThriveTime for Teens – The Money and Life Reality Game

Our final game in our list of the best board games that teach money skills is ThriveTime for Teens, which can give teens a real look at finances.

During the course of the game, players have to navigate major life decisions such as paying for college, deciding whether to utilize credit cards, starting a business, investing and more. This game even gives teens the option to give back financially to the community.

ThriveTime for Teens – Sample Amazon Review

“Just received my ThriveTime game yesterday! ThriveTime is a great educational tool for your family. As a parent you want your teenager(s) to be ready to thrive in life. This will help to get them thinking & moving in the right direction in a language (Fun Play) they will enjoy. Buy into their future today!.”

Other Great Board Games to Teach Money Skills?

I hope you will try some of these games with your children and/or students!

Have you downloaded our huge list of 112 teacher freebies yet? Among the freebies are some great games you can download and print for free! If you know of any other great board games that teach money skills to children or would like to comment on the games above, please leave your comments below!

We admit, the title of this post about teacher freebies is a bit misleading.  In truth, this list includes links to THOUSANDS of teacher freebies.

These 13 freebies are either individual freebies you can claim today, or links to online resources with hundreds (or thousands!) more freebies – worksheets, activities, lesson plans, you name it.

We tried to select a variety of teacher freebies that would suit most, if not all educators.  Besides some great stuff for your class, your students and/or your school, there are some freebies here for YOU too.  You deserve to be rewarded too, right?

That said, on to the free stuff!

1) Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft is offering all qualifying teachers (and students!) Microsoft Office 365 for free! You will also get 1TB of online storage. This one’s a no-brainer if you qualify.

2) ClassCentral

Thousands of free online courses from top universities like Harvard, MIT and others. Great for your own professional development or for ideas/inspiration for your own classes!

3)Swagbucks – Free Gift Cards for Teachers

On Swagbucks you can earn points for answering surveys, watching videos, shopping online, and more. After that, you can redeem your points for free gift cards at 100s of online retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart and more.

Educators get $5 just for signing up to Swagbucks for free!

4) Educents Teacher Freebies

Educents currently offers over 7000 printable teacher freebies, including lesson plans, worksheets, activities and more! Spans pre-K to 12th grade.

5) TeacherVision Free Trial

TeacherVision offers thousands of classroom management tools, lessons plans, whiteboard-compatible books, games, worksheets and a whole lot more.  Currently, they are offering a free 7-day all-access pass.  After that, it’s only $7.95/month for complete access.

6) Switch DVD & More

The “Energy Film & Education Project.” Educators can get a free copy of the award-winning documentary on DVD plus access to a curriculum and study guide, as well as access to more online resources.

7) Free Book – Expert Secrets

Expert Secrets is a book that could change your life. The goal of the book is to teach you how to leverage your teaching expertise to create a side income by creating a mass movement of people who will pay you for your advice. If this sounds complicated or unbelievable, all we can say is watch this video, be inspired and grab your free copy of “Expert Secrets” today!

8) United for Human Rights Info Kit

Get a free DVD, The Story of Human Rights booklet, and a guide you can use to help bring about awareness and understanding of human rights and to start making a difference!

9) Audible

Get a free 30 Day trial + Two free premium audiobooks. Great for professional development or entertainment purposes.

Choose from over 180,000 audiobook titles to help make your commute to and from school more bearable! Audible, an Amazon company, offers the world’s largest selection of digital audiobooks and spoken word content. “With Audible, customers can listen anytime and anywhere to professionally-narrated audiobooks across a wide range of genres.”

10) Free Technology for Teachers

A regularly updated and massively popular blog that features hundreds if not thousands of the newest free
technologies, apps, etc. that teachers can use in their classrooms.

11) Help Prevent Underage Drinking Kit

SAMHSA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) is offering a free underage drinking prevention kit that includes a teaching guide, poster, worksheets and a family guide.

12) IdentityForce

Identity thieves are everywhere. Last year over 12 million individuals were victims of this faceless crime. Get protected today with a free two week trial of this top identity protection service.

13) Grammarly

Great for educators and students alike. This free, must-have tool corrects more than 250 types of grammatical mistakes, while also catching contextual spelling errors and poor vocabulary usage.

You’ve Got 99 Problems and Teacher Freebies Ain’t One!

This is just a small sample of teacher freebies we were able to find, there are 99 more in our Ultimate list of 112 Teacher Freebies! You can download the full list via the “Get the Ultimate List” box below.

Save yourself and/or your school some money and grab that list today. There’s truly something (or a lot of things!) for everyone there.

If you are a teacher looking to buy a home and need help with financing, please consider some of the special mortgage programs that cater specifically to educators. Here we cover three of the top programs that offer teacher home loans.

Why Should you Explore Teacher Home Loans?

First off, these programs were created with educators in mind.  They may offer some perks and/or discounts that you may not get from traditional financing options.  Whether it’s a donation to your school, discounted closing costs or lower interest rates, teacher home loans might very well be what you are looking for when you wish to finance the purchase of a home.

Here are 3 of the best teacher mortgage programs for professional educators:

Educator Mortgage Program

This is a really interesting program from Supreme Lending that anyone in the education industry is eligible to apply for.  The highlights of the Educator Mortgage Program include:

• Discounted Closing Costs – Supreme Lending is offering up to $800 in reduced closing costs to educators.  If you qualify, you will receive a credit on your HUD-1 settlement statement for up to $800.
• Discounted Real Estate Agent Fees – The Educator Mortgage Program looks to work with real estate agents who want to give back. As an educator, you will receive a credit on your HUD-1 settlement statement up to $800 from participating Real Estate Agents. These funds can be used for any fees, prepaids, seller fees, or new escrow account set up for your new loan.
• Fast Loan Process – Supreme Lending emphasizes that educator clients are given highest priority. Educator loans are handled expeditiously so as to ensure “a smoother and more enjoyable experience.”
• Donation to Your School – With the Educator Mortgage Program, a donation of to $200 will be made to the school program of your choice. If you work with a participating real estate agent, an additional $200 will be donated, for a total of $400, to the school program of your choice!

Visit the Educator Mortgage Program’s website for more info on their teacher home loans.  They offer various home buyer mortgage programs for educators, including FHA loans, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, USDA, Jumbo and many more (see descriptions of some these programs below).

Teacher Home Advantage

The Teacher Home Advantage program by Pacific Home Mortgage offers various options for teacher home loans.   These range from:

• FHA Loans – Federally backed loans with a low fixed rate, great for the educator who is a first time home buyer.
• Conventional Loans – These are not backed by the government and usually  require a larger down payment.  However, one advantage of these loans for teachers is that monthly mortgage insurance is not generally required.
• USDA Loans – 0% down loans that are insured by the government.  These loans are only offered in “rural” areas.  The fact that these loans require no down payment puts home ownership within the reach of many teachers and other educators.
• VA Loans – If you are a veteran, this could be a great option for you.  Like the USDA loan, it does not require a down payment.
• Home Path Program – This program is only available for the purchase of Fannie Mae owned homes.  It offers educator borrowers low down payment options, flexible terms, no mortgage insurance and no appraisal fees.
• “Making Home Affordable” Program – Teacher Home Advantage works directly with this program.  Basically, it includes opportunities to help borrowers make their monthly payments more affordable.  In other words, it allows homeowners the chance to decrease their current mortgage payments, even if they’re “upside down” in their home.
• Teacher Next Door – This program (more specifically HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program) offers Pre-K through 12th grade teachers the opportunity to make a contribution to community revitalization while receiving a substantial 50% discount on the list price of a home.  The limitations of this program include that you must commit to live in the property for 3 years, and the qualifying homes are located in HUD-designated revitalization areas only.

Learn more about these different programs and what the Teacher Home Advantage offers educator clients here.

NEA Home Financing Program®

Offered through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the The NEA Home Financing Program® is offered as a benefit of the NEA Member Benefits program.

Some of the features of this program include:

• Competitive interest rates & fees
• Low down payment options
• A wide variety of home financing choices
• Conventional and jumbo loans, with both purchase and refinance programs available
• As an NEA Member bonus, you’ll receive a $500 award card when you close a purchase or refinance

Learn more about the NEA Home Financing Program® here.

Field trips are an integral part of a student’s education. Whether it’s a day outing or an educational getaway, field trips should be fun, engaging, and safe. With the current climate surrounding safety within the educational system in the United States, it’s especially important to plan field trips meticulously. New teachers and experienced veterans alike can benefit from checking these boxes when planning their next field trip.

Decide Where You’re Going

This may seem like common sense, but to justify your field trip to the school district, parents, and students, your trip must be educational in some way. If you’re a history teacher, consider all the local historic landmarks you could take your students to. Science teachers can take theirclasses to museums, economic teachers can take their students to local businesses – the options are limitless, as long as the trip and activities align with what you’re teaching your class.

Plan Accordingly

Depending on the scope of your trip, you may need to start planning as far as a year in advance. For example, if you’re planning a trip to another country, you’ll need to notify parents and orchestrate a way for students to obtain travel visas and passports. Conversely, if you’re heading to a local museum, you’ll need to send out permission slips and book a bus for your field trip. You’ll also need to make sure the trip aligns with your academic calendar.

Be Wary Of Cost

As you’re working through the logistics of your field trip, including transportation and admission, be mindful of the total cost you’re expecting students and their families to cover. This is especially true if you’re working within a budget provided by the school. If the trip is going to be costly, consider hosting a fundraiser or two to generate excitement and money to help cut the total cost.

Seek Approval

You can’t take your students anywhere without the proper permissions. This includes approval from your administrator. To do so, draft a proposal that provides all the information about the trip, including how it will be educational to students and relate back to the curriculum you’re teaching.

Prep Your Students

As a teacher, it’s important to ensure your trip aligns with your lesson plans. Just like you would a lesson, set objectives for the trip. Plan activities around the things you’ve taught in the classroom so that your students connect their experiences with their education.

Prep The Parents, Too

Notifying the parents of your students about everything from the logistics of the trip to what to pack and the lessons to be learned is of paramount importance. Hold an assembly to keep parents informed. Allow plenty of time to field questions and concerns they may have. Create an itinerary. Regardless of the length of your trip, you’ll need to plan a schedule for the take. Take your curriculum, student interest, and time into consideration when doing so. If your trip takes place over a long period of time (a weekend, two weeks, etc.), budget time accordingly, leaving room for free time.

Set Guidelines

Typically, students must meet educational requirements to attend a field trip. This means they’re in good standing with the school academically, have all the required permission forms
signed, and completed any kind of activities you outlined must be completed prior to the trip.

The whole point of working this hard to orchestrate a trip is to have fun with your students. Watch all of your hard work pay off – take your students on an educational field trip!

With a variety of products and low startup costs, Direct Sales can seem appealing as an extra source of income for educators. With stints of “time off” throughout the year, a teacher may have more time to invest than other working adults, but is the time really worth it?

What exactly is Direct Sales?

Direct Sales companies use independent consultants to market a product directly to the consumer. Direct Sales goes by many names: network marketing, direct marketing, at home party planning, and, although incorrect, pyramid schemes. According to the Direct Sales website, there are over 18 million consultants of various products worldwide. These companies sell everything from make-up, jewelry, artificial nails, and health products, to athletic training supplements, romantic attire, and kitchen supplies. If there is a product a person likes, a Direct Sales company for that product most likely exists.

To become a representative of a company, one signs up under another representative and purchases a start-up kit that generally costs $100-$150. This pays for company products that one can have potential customers try at “parties” that are held at a host home to generate sales. These companies also have a monthly or yearly amount that one must sell to remain an active consultant.

What makes Direct Sales appealing is the “be your own boss” and “make great friends” mantra as well as the potential earnings. Also, if one truly uses and likes the company’s products, it can be appealing to become a representative and receive discounted products.

A true Direct Sales company is not a pyramid scheme. In a pyramid scheme, the money is made off the representatives buying large quantities of inventory. Also, in these schemes, a representative generally cannot make more than the person above them. In Direct Sales, the person one signs up under does receive a commission on their downline sales, but people in their downline can make more money than people in their up-line, so there is no “scheme”.

The Upside

As mentioned previously, if one truly likes the product a Direct Sales company offers, it may be worth it in the long run to become a consultant to receive a product discount. If one knows a few other people who like the product, the minimum requirement to remain active can be easily maintained. Along with product discounts, representatives can earn anywhere from 25%-50% commission depending on the company.

If one is a social person and does not have many other obligations outside of teaching, parties will be an appealing idea. These types of people can fulfill their social needs and get paid to do so. Also, the amount of money that can be made in Direct Sales can exceed a teacher’s salary if one works at building a strong customer base and has other representatives in their downline.

With breaks and summers “off”, a teacher may have more time than most working individuals to make a Direct Sales opportunity a legitimate side income. Also, being a teacher provides a larger network of individuals to host parties and tell about the product.

The Downside

Direct Sales is an easy business to start, but takes a significant amount of time and stamina to truly grow. What makes more money in these companies is recruiting other individuals to join the team. Once a person joins, he/she may not stay forever. The average time a direct sales recruit stays in on average is three months.

Direct Sales also adds another item to a teacher’s proverbial, already overflowing plate. Also, one month, one may not need anything and have to spend money simply to remain active. Speaking of money, one may have to spend more on items other than the starter kit to have a successful party.

The Bottom Line

If one decides to join a Direct Sales company, he/she needs to consider the cost and his/her individual goals. If one knows a few people who will buy the product beside themselves, it can be worth it to receive the discount. If one thinks that everyone will want to buy it immediately and he/she will make thousands of dollars in the first year, this person will likely quit due to frustration.

Direct Sales can be a legitimate side job if a person signs up knowing that it will take time to grow and find customers. However, if one builds a customer base and signs up a few other individuals, it can definitely be a legitimate side business that can pay for a nicer summer vacation or pay off more debt.

For a list of companies check out the Direct Sales Association website.

[P.S. Shameless Self-Promotion]

With rising real estate prices across the board, not to mention in locations with a high cost of living already, buying your first home can seem daunting. You may be planning on buying your first home in a few years, but using these tips today will help you slowly start to save for that first down payment.

Originally, most mortgage companies requested a 20% down payment, which in today’s world can seem a little out of reach. However, with a few years of planning, you may be able to grasp this goal with a teacher’s salary.

Anything under 20% for your down payment may require you to pay PMI – or private mortgage insurance – on top of your mortgage payment, home insurance, and property taxes. Also, with this down payment, you can build up enough equity so that when you do go to sell your home, the closing costs and fees don’t eat up all of your investment.

However, there are a few ways to get a lower down payment as well if the 20% isn’t feasible when you’re ready to buy.

Check out Teacher home loan programs

There are many different teacher home loan programs out there, that allow you to buy a house without a 20% down payment.
Most of them do require some sort of initial investment. FHA, for example, only requires 3%. Even if you plan on investing 20% at the start, you can get some neat perks like discounted closing costs and even donations to your school.

If you do decide on a lower down payment, you may want to continue using some of these tips to ensure you hit 20% equity before you go to sell your home. Be sure to check your mortgage loan for prepayment penalties if you do plan on making any extra principal payments.

Figure out your monthly goal

First, you’ll want to decide the price range of homes you’ll plan on looking at. Next, you’ll want to get prequalified with a lender to see what interest rates and programs you qualify for. Also, this is a good time to see if you need to do any work on your credit as well.
You can also use sites like Karl’s Mortgage Calculator to help you figure out future monthly payments depending on what you pay for your home and the down payment.

Set up an emergency fund

Even while you’re saving for a down payment, emergencies still happen. If you start out with savings that will cover three to six months of expenses, it’ll help you stay on track for your down payment when you need a sudden car repair or have a medical expense.

Planning for emergencies in advance helps you stay focused on your other goals.

Get a savings account

Open up a savings account with your bank or find one online. Make sure it’s an account that you can easily pull the money out of when needed.

You can set up an automatic deposit from your paycheck each month if your employer uses direct deposit. This is the best way because your money never touches your main spending account and eventually you’ll get used to seeing the net amount in your checking each month.

Adjust your budget

You’ll want to set your budget up so that you can reach your goal each month. You may have to change some of your spending habits or even give up some extravagances for the luxury of buying your home. Some ways to cut spending is checking with credit card companies on lowering interest rates. If you pay on time each month with the required amount, you can call in and tell them you want a lower rate.

Also, you may look at renting a moderately nice apartment instead of the three-bedroom house with a huge backyard, or you may want to trade in your car for a lower car payment if that saves you money. Anything that you can cut, even barely, will add up over time.

Use extra income wisely

Anytime you receive any large income outside of your regular salary, consider putting all or most towards your down payment savings. Tax returns are great opportunities to build up your nest egg. If you do any side jobs or summer jobs, try budgeting some of that income into the mix as well.

Your main goal is to funnel any kind of extra income into reaching your goal faster. Saving for a down payment can take a couple of years, but the equity you create will be worth it.

Many teachers desire to not only effect positive changes in the lives that they touch by delivering in the classroom, but by also moving up to administrative positions where they can contribute to impactful changes such as school system planning and curriculum development. Here are 6 Master’s Degree Scholarships to help you meet your professional development goals.

1) James Madison Graduate Fellowships

Interested in becoming an outstanding teacher of the American Constitution at the secondary school level? The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation offers to such individuals $24,000 through their James Madison Graduate Fellowships program. The Foundation offers both Junior and Senior Fellowships, and aims to offer one fellowship per year in each state – as long as there is sufficient funding. Candidates compete only against applicants from the states where they are a legal resident. The Junior fellowship aspirant must be an outstanding college senior/college graduate with no teaching experience, but who intends to become a secondary school teacher of American history, American government, or social studies (grades 7–12). Junior fellowship awardees are expected to complete their graduate study within 2 academic years of full-time study. Senior fellowship aspirants must be outstanding current teachers, and are required to complete their graduate study within 5 calendar years part-time study. All fellowship applicants must already have or plan to receive a bachelor’s degree before August 31 of the year they apply. Applicants must be a US citizen.

2) Education Pioneers’ Graduate School Fellowship

Education Pioneers, through their Graduate School Fellowship program, targets and provides talented education, law, policy and business graduate students with a great opportunity to make an impact and become project consultants for top tier education organizations. The fellowship values between $50,000 and $80,000. Candidates participate in a 10-week summer program that provides them with the perfect opportunity to take their career to the next level, the opportunity to elevate to high-level education leadership careers. Graduate School Fellows interested in education leadership careers will attend workshops that examine complex urban education issues within a school district, charter school network, nonprofit or other leading education organization. This program presents participants with invaluable access to a network of industry experts from all over the nation and education pioneers alumni.

3) Learn.org Master’s Degree Scholarship in Education and Teaching

Learn.org, through their Master’s Degree Scholarship in Education and Teaching program, offers an annual scholarship of $500 to students interested in pursuing a master’s degree in Teaching. Areas of specification include Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Education Administration, Education Technology, and Early Childhood Education. Applicants must be pursuing their Education and Teaching master’s degree and must be full time students during the year the scholarship is awarded. Undergraduates are ineligible. Applicants are selected based on their academic history, employment history, and extracurricular activities. Financial need is not given consideration.

4) Program of Mathematics Study & Active Professionalism Grants

Overseen by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the Program of Mathematics Study & Active Professionalism Grants provides financial support for teachers interested in improving their understanding and appreciation of mathematics, and who will do so by completing course work in school mathematics content and pedagogy, which will lead to an advanced degree. Funding totaling $24,000 is available for up to three years for graduate study and professional development. Eligible applicants must be teaching mathematics for a minimum of 3 years, with 50% of that teaching taking place in classrooms at the Pre-K-6 level.

5) The JCCs of North America Graduate Education Scholarship Program

The Jewish Community Centers of North America Graduate Education Scholarship Program benefits up to five eligible full-time graduate students who are awarded up to $10,000 per year for a one- or two-year period. To be eligible, teachers must be pursuing MA degrees that will allow them to teach in the JCC Movement in the areas of early childhood education as well as health and physical education. Applicants who are not already employed at a JCC must be willing to relocate for employment after graduating. Aspirants must excel in academics and community leadership and have a keen understanding of the JCC Movement’s values and mission.

6) The Journalism Education Association’s Future Teacher Scholarships

The Journalism Education Association’s Future Teacher Scholarships is awarded to up to five education majors at a value of $1,000 each. To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled in an upper-division or master’s degree education program that will lead to them teaching scholastic journalism at the secondary school level. Also eligible for the program are current secondary school journalism teachers who are enrolled in a degree program to improve their journalism-teaching skills. Application deadline is July 15 and scholarships are awarded by early September.

If your town is anything like mine, you will see advertisements for multiple children’s consignment sales, especially when the seasons change. After seeing the droves of vehicles at one of these sales year after year, I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. After experiencing this sale first hand, I realized that there were ways to save and earn money at these events, and as a teacher extra funds are always welcome.

How the Sales Operate

What I did not realize about these sales is that they sell so much more than children’s clothes. They sell toys, books, electronics, bedding, cribs, car seats, strollers, shoes (all sizes), maternity clothes, and junior sized clothes.

To sell, one signs up as a consigner and labels all of the items to be sold; each sale has a specific way. There is generally a small entry fee and they take 20-30% commission. When the sale is over, just pick up the items that did not sell and the money earned. It is that simple.

Ways to Save

These sales rely almost solely on volunteers. Volunteers sign up for a two to four hour shift and can choose to work before, during, or after the sale. The trade-off for these hours is that the volunteers can shop before the public. If you want to save as much as you can, sign up to volunteer. Also, some of these sales have a “First Time Mom’s Club” where if one is expecting or has a child under one year of age, the mother can shop first without having to volunteer.

Another way to save is to make a list. Since these items sell for at least 50-90% off the retail price, it may be hard to not fill your bag full of all the adorable clothes. However, since there is no return policy, beware not to over buy, or you will not get the most “bang for your buck”.

Generally, on the last day of the sale, many items are marked 50% off or more. After buying all of the essentials, it may be worth your time to return and see what is left. If you have a little money left to splurge, getting items at an even deeper discount is completely worth it.

Ways to Earn

If you have children, selling their clothing items and toys will earn money; one simply needs to make sure they have the potential to earn enough to make it worth the time. If you only have a few items to sell that will barely cover the entry fee, it may not be worth the time. So what if you only have a few items, or do not have children?

Being a teacher can give one an advantage to earn more at these sales. When a sale approaches, ask students if they have any gently used clothes that they, or their siblings, have outgrown; this is especially helpful if one teaches elementary school. If at the high school level, it is still beneficial to ask because many of these sales accept clothing through junior sizes. Also ask if they have toys, books, or anything else the sale may take.

If you are involved in any other social group whether through a church or civic organization, ask them as well. The more items you have, the more potential there is to earn.

Going All Out?

This may be a stretch, but if you do not have any sales like this in your area, it may be worth looking into starting one. In my town, the individual that runs the sale keeps all of the profit since the entire staff is volunteers. This may be unrealistic with the time frame a teacher would have to work in, but it may be something to consider.

In Closing

These children’s consignment sales can be a great way to save an earn money. Below is a list of sales in the Tennessee/Georgia region and a website that has multiple cities to search. If you do have one in your town, but have never been, it is worth the time to check it out.

Chattanooga, TN:

https://chattanooga.jbfsale.com/sellView.jsp

https://dkdkgoose.com/chattanooga/

Ringgold, GA:

https://www.theboutiqueforaweek.com/

Cleveland, TN:

https://alc4kids.wordpress.com/

This website has multiple cities listed:

https://consignmentmommies.com/

Happy Savings!