People have a tendency to start feeling frantic when their wallet is empty and some sudden crisis comes along. It could be a minor thing like a flat tire and you have no spare or something more serious like a sick child that needs to go to the doctor. It’s unfortunate that living on such a tight budget that can’t allow for mishaps is so common these days for so many people. Even if you could apply for a small bank loan, which you wouldn’t anyway for the kinds of incidents mentioned, could you even pass a credit check? People who could easily pass a credit check a few years ago find that standards are much higher now and it’s very possible that they may not have a high enough credit score to get a loan today.One of the most popular ways right now for people in a bind to get fast money is by applying for a loan from a cash advance or payday loan company. Many people use these establishments now because they don’t conduct a credit check at all and your credit history or credit score is no determining factor as to whether or not you get approved for a loan. The application process is so easy and fast and if you use an online payday loan company, you can get your money sometimes in as little as an hour! That’s fast and very convenient as the loan is typically deposited straight into your checking account.To be realistic, you can’t expect anyone to loan you money with absolutely no qualifications required and there is some information they will need to know. Having a regular job or other consistent form of income and a checking account that is in good standing are the main requirements. The amount of the loan you can get could depend on your income or the policy of the company. Not all companies operate the same way when it comes to loan limits. You could qualify for a big loan or maybe just a smaller one. Typically these online payday loan providers will offer you a smaller loan in the range of $300 – $750 on your first loan and as long as it is paid back on time, they will offer you much more if you need their services again.These loans are a great option for those that have few other borrowing options. The standard fee is usually between 14% – 30%, but when you consider the consequences of using a credit card for cash or the overdraft on your checking account, the differences aren’t all that great. If you pay the loan on the due date, you can be finished with it all at once. When you establish your reputation of paying on time when the loan is due, you will likely have no problem getting other loans in the future. Paying on time is the smartest way to use these loans.Provisions are usually made available if for some reason you cannot repay your loan on time. Most companies do offer loan renewals, but these can become costly very quickly and you want to avoid renewing your loan if at all possible. This will cause your small cash loan to end up costing you a lot more than you anticipated and it can cause you even further financial detriment if you let it snowball out of control. Just like using a credit card, cash advance or payday loans must be managed correctly for it to be beneficial to you. Put the worry of a credit check out of your mind and apply for an easy online loan if you are in need of an instant cash loan with no hassles.
Unit Studies: The Solution for Homeschooling Multiple Children
The Problem: New homeschooling families are often overwhelmed with just the idea of homeschooling all of their children at the same time. Some will begin homeschooling one child one year and add another the following year. That, in itself, can add the problem of having to plan your schedule around the school’s schedule because at least one family member goes to school. One of the big benefits of homeschooling is to be together as a family and to schedule life around the home and the education of the children. If the family “brings school” home and sets up a school schedule with textbooks for each subject for each child, teaching multiple children in a family would be very tedious and overwhelming.The Solution: Unit studies — This is a method of study that allows most of the curriculum to center on a topic of interest to one or more members of the family.For example, in the state of Washington, the homeschool law delineates eleven required subjects for students K-8: Math, Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, History, Social Studies, Health, Science, Occupational Education, Art/Music. If your state does not specify subjects or classifies them differently just modify your list. Most of these subjects can be covered well by using this method. Exceptions include math, grammar, and early reading skills. In those cases, you would need a curriculum that follows a “scope and sequence” – a list or chart that shows what will be covered and in what order. Since math builds on skills, order and practice are important. I would include these subjects in a unit study so that your children understand that knowledge and skills are not separate, but unified.Steps in Forming a Unit Study:1. Choose a subject. Keep in mind the longer you want to stay on a subject, the broader the topic.2. Use a “Mind Map” or “Web’ to brainstorm the different parts of the unit.3. Based on # 2, decide how long to study this topic. For beginners and younger children, I would begin with a two-week unit study. Later, larger topics / longer studies may be planned. Older students could use this method and follow the scope and sequence of an American History book to “complete” this required high school subject with a series of unit studies.4. Make a list of subjects and plan activities to cover each of the subjects.5. Gather materials – personal library, public library, Internet, local attractions etc.6. Evaluate – during longer studies, you should periodically evaluate what has been learned and what remains to learn. You may decide to shorten or lengthen the unit study.7. End the Study with a Culminating Activity – this could be a notebook, video documentary, display or a play for Dad and other family or friends.Homeschooling parents can use the unit study method to keep everyone learning about the same topic using age-appropriate materials you own or you can get from the library. While there are many products available that have ready-made unit studies, I personally like the flexibility of planning my own unit studies. In my opinion, aside from academic excellence, the greatest benefit of the unit study is building family unity.
The Great Barrier of Communication
You might speak for a minute or one to two hours, yet in the end you find that your audiences don’t understand the word you just said. Do you have a bad communication skill or your audiences are just dumb? Lots of you must have felt the expression above. From my personal experience, the fault is neither in the speaker nor the audiences. The fault lies in the process. It is called The Great Barrier of Communication.
The results of communication’s barrier are miscommunication, undelivered messages, and meaning diminution. The barrier itself is an integral part of communication process, it can be found both on verbal and non-verbal communication.
There are several reasons why either verbal or non-verbal communication becomes ineffective.
Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is a communication conveyed through words. The example of verbal communication are speech, lecture, meeting, chants, and so on. Verbal communication is used by the majority of human population as the main method to deliver a message. The barrier of verbal communication can be divided into 4 points:
- What has been said, can’t be heard
The first phase of verbal communication process is to deliver a message in words to the audiences. However, what has been said, isn’t always been heard by the audiences. There are several reasons why it happen.
- Holding communication in the middle of busy environment is not effective. The message may be cut off by the noisy sound of engines, people’s shouting, explosions, etc..
- The audiences’ lack of concentration will affect their ability to perceive what has been said by the speaker. This can happen if the audiences’ focus are side-tracked by the background noises or simply their mind goes off wandering.
- Communication through media such as telephone, microphone, video conference, radio, or television are susceptible to distortion in the transmission process. Especially where the network is still weak. The message sent and received may be incomplete.
- Some health problems that affect mental state,concentration, and hearing is another point of verbal communication’s barrier. Elderly and hyperactive children may need special attention. Raise your voice or get their attention while holding communication, or else they might not hear what you say.
Solution: Hold communications in the proper place. Usually inside a room, the silent atmosphere will make each communicator able to focus their mind into the communication process.
- What has been heard, can’t be understood
Hearing something doesn’t mean your audiences will understand what it means. It is closely related to the education level and technical knowledge your audiences have about the topic. Know your audiences more before holding a communication.
- Using an exclusive word (words with meaning only known to some people) or uncommon word toward wrong audiences is a perfect example of how they heard what you said, but don’t understand the meaning. Difference in language and culture may also pose a barrier between communicators.
- Different knowledge over word meaning. Ex: For me a cup is a container that is used for drinking no matter the size and its form, while for you a cup is a container that is used for drinking which has a handle and small in size. Although this looks insignificant, the meaning perceived by each other is different, thus leading to the miscommunication.
- Even a simple sentences can lead to ambiguousness, depends on the word structures and audiences understanding. Make sure you have a clear spelling and correct verbal punctuations so the audiences can hear clearly and understood the true meaning.
Solution: Know your audience well. Check their background first (education, family, career, age, country, culture, etc) so you can hold the communication effectively. Use a translator or professional spokesman if a situation demands it.
- What has been understood, can’t be accepted
This is a matter of mental states. When your audiences are filled with distrust, rage, or anxiety towards the topic, yourself, your organization, or your products, all the words coming from you will meet a thick wall of self-protection. They will reject everything you said no matter how good you deliver the message. They might don’t like the idea of standing on the wrong side all this time.
To sum it up, there are 3 factors why they can’t accept your words:
- Distrust over other party
- Their feelings about the topic
- Their past experience about you or your products
Solution: Build a good relationship and reputation towards other people and your own audience. The success of communication depends on the feeling each communicator has.
- Physical Factors
People think about physical appearance a lot. A speaker with presentable appearance has more chance of getting audiences’ attention instead of a shabby looking speaker.
Audiences’ past experience with specific people also hold responsibility over the success of communication process.
Ex: Those who have traumatic experiences with “men wearing glasses” might make a judgment that all “men wearing glasses” can’t be trusted. It is because human sometimes think that “one part represent a whole”. A very shallow paradigm.
Solution: Dress up properly depending on the communication’s intention. If your communication is business oriented, you should dress up like a businessman. Mind your attitude in front of your audiences.
Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication is a communication conveyed through other methods aside from verbally. The examples of non-verbal communication are journal, diary, letter, newspaper, sign language, morse code, smoke sign, and so on. Like verbal communication, non verbal communication also has barriers that will hinder the true meaning of the message from the audiences, such as:
- Usage of complicated words, image, and code that can only be understood by yourself or some people.
- Usage of imperfect grammar, misspelling, and wrong expression on the word structures might confuse some people to perceive the meaning.
- Different words understanding or ambiguous.
- The words size is too small. Normally, people eyesight is not designed to read something so small. The strain from doing so will affects reader eyesight badly in a long term.
- Different knowledge of sentences structure. Ex: English use Subject-Predicate-Object structure, while korean use Subject-Object-Predicate. Raw translation to each other will confuse the true meaning.
By knowing what communication’s barrier are, hopefully you can deliver your message perfectly to the audiences.
Writer’s Note:
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