In a few weeks, thousands of children in our community will be beginning a new school year. We are all aware of the financial challenges that face the mosdos of our community and others. Yet most of us feel helpless to alleviate the situation, for there are so many worthy organizations competing for our limited tzedaka funds. Yet there are many ways individuals can help support our schools and their PTAs without spending any extra money. Whether you are single or married, and whether or not you currently have school-age children, you can benefit the children of our community by spending just a few minutes of your time to take advantage of programs that donate money to schools. The following fundraising initiatives have raised thousands of dollars for local schools and have tremendous potential to help the schools much more, with your participation.

Given the ever increasing cost of college and the high unemployment (or underemployment) rate of new grads – not to mention the anti-Israel and anti-free speech activities occurring on college campuses – young people and their parents are beginning to ask, is college really necessary?

The days of a college degree as an automatic ticket to a good job are over. The job potential of the liberal arts – the soft majors like sociology, psychology, history, and philosophy – is mostly a thing of the past (at least for now). Rather, the 21st century economy is one where burgeoning industries like healthcare and energy are changing at a pace we haven’t yet absorbed, and fields such as engineering, business, and technology are the new ticket to vocational success.

The question young people should be asking themselves as they plan their careers is not whether to go to college but, rather, what does our economy look like, and how am I making myself marketable to enter it?

A new scam is floating around, sprung from the ever-fertile minds of crooks, swindlers, and scam artists. The IRS itself is warning the public about this one, so you know it’s serious – and clever. I was going to write on a different topic this month, but when I heard that the married son of a friend of mine fell for this scam and lost $5,000 in one phone call, I thought I had better cover it.

Reading is one of the most important academic skills you can teach your early elementary-age child. As the school year comes to a close, here are some helpful tips to help your child grow and develop over the summer.

Fluency

Let your child read easy books to you: Many people think that children develop fluency solely by reading things above their reading level. This is not so! In fact, fluency is the art of building automaticity, and is significantly aided when a child reads the same material over and over again.

“You read to me, I’ll read to you”: Alternating reading with your child is a great way for the child to learn from your expression and tone of voice, and can motivate him to read. A great strategy is for you to read one page and for your child to read the next. In listening to your child, you’ll learn a lot about the way he reads.

You’ve heard the pitch countless times – in magazines, on the radio, in books, or over the internet. It’s the wisdom of the experts, and it goes like this: Invest in the stock market. Invest for the long term, because the market always goes up over time. Make sure you have a diversified portfolio, meaning a mix of stocks and bonds. In fact, hold these stocks and bonds in funds, known as mutual funds, which are collections of stocks and/or bonds that lower risk by having a range of holdings. These funds have important-sounding names, like Strategic Small-Cap Equity Fund (Vanguard) and Emerging Europe and Mediterranean Fund (T. Rowe Price), and they do better than you would do on your own, because they are managed by the top talent in the industry, smart people with years of experience, who have keen insight into the markets. Finally, invest in risky funds (stocks) when you are young, and switch to more conservative bond funds, for income production, as you approach retirement.

Last month, I described what a computer network is and explained how one can make a career of computer network engineering, without going to college, by obtaining Cisco certifications. The next step is getting a job.
Let’s say you have studied hard, taken the requisite tests, and obtained your CCNA. Now, how are you going to get yourself employed? Surely you have heard that you need experience to get hired, but need to get hired to get experience. That is true, but if you go about it properly, you can break in