Speakaboos Blog » 2009 » July

Summer Reading List and activity ideas

Andrew — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:36:31 +0000

Encourage your young ones to read this summer with Speakaboos storybook videos—use our handy summer reading list to make sure you get the most out of the summer hours!Family activities (PDF file downloads):• Arts and Crafts: Build a Birdhouse, Make Your Own Guitar, Cotton Ball Hare• Recipes: Mediterranean Fruit Kebobs, Banana Hot Dogs, Chicken Fingers• Coloring Pages: Jack and the Beanstalk, The Ugly Duckling, Cinderella• And much more at our Activities Page

10 obvious ways to prevent swine flu

Andrew — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:00:12 +0000

Fox News is running a “no, duh” photo essay of ways to avoid swine flu that is so obvious, it almost feels exploitative. Still, it’s definitely important to remember these basic health tenets that, swine flu or no swine flu, will help you avoid illness:- Wash hands often for at least 20 seconds- Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing- Avoid touching your face or eyes unless your hands have been washed- Clean household and office surfaces often- Eat a balanced diet and foods with vitamin C- Stay home and contact your doctor if you are feeling ill- Remind your children to maintain healthy habitsSimple, right? If you still feel compelled to see the photo essay click here.

RECALL: 1 million play yards from Kolcraft and others

Andrew — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:48:05 +0000

Kolcraft is recalling their Travelin’ Tot play yard series, as well as yards sold under the brands Carter’s, Sesame Beginnings, Jeep, Care Bear, Contours and Eric Carle. The play yard’s side rail can fail to latch properly, causing the yard to collapse unexpectedly. See the recall notice here to check if your model is affected, and contact Kolcraft at www.kolcraft.com for a free repair kit.

New student loan repayment plan may help borrowers

Andrew — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:44:14 +0000

A new student loan repayment plan for federal student loans called Income Based Repayment (IBR) went into effect this month. To sum up, the plan, instituted by the federal government, will help some borrowers by reducing their required monthly payments to under 15% of their income.So if you currently have a student loan payment that is higher than you can afford to pay with your income, this plan will help you. However, IBR doesn’t reduce the amount of interest you owe, so the longer you take to repay your loan, the more interest you will accrue. If you are already comfortably able to make your loan payments, it is probably a good idea to continue paying as much as you can–the faster you pay off your loan, the less interest you will be charged.One interesting part about IBR is if you make IBR payments for 25 years, your remaining debt (most of which would be due to interest at this point) will be forgiven. And if you work in a public service or non-profit job, you only have to pay for 10 years. However, this plan only applies to federal loans and you’ll have to do extra paperwork, not to mention it’s still a LONG time to be making payments.For more details and information see this website, and contact your lender to sign up for the plan.