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Why independent learning is key to your child's long-term educational goals
One skill essential to children’s academic success is the ability to learn on their own. While teachers and parents play a key role in a child’s development, educational activities that encourage self-learning are equally important. Learning independently inspires children to become more confident and nurtures critical thinking and analytical skills. Giving children time to learn on their own taps into their natural curiosity and allows them to explore new ideas in a way that more structure...
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Tips for new Mother's Day and Father's Day traditions
(BPT) - Families have many special traditions to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Starting new traditions around these days is also common. If your family is looking for some new ways to enjoy Mother’s Day or Father’s Day this year, check out these tips and gift ideas that will help make your celebrations special: * Shop, dine or donate – Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are when we recognize parents for starting their families. This year, March of Dimes is launching the imbornto campa...
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Tips for motorcycle riders: Hit the road and ride responsibly
(BPT) - Freedom. The open road. There’s nothing quite like the big sky ahead of you and feeling the rumble of your motorcycle. It’s motorcycle season across the United States and Canada. Warm weather accompanied by clear roads means it’s time to seek adventure, even if that means ditching your car for your daily commute...
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Going the extra mile: Secrets to keeping cars running longer on the roads
(BPT) - Hitting 100,000 miles on the odometer for most people means it’s time to start car shopping. But for others it’s a personal challenge to go the extra mile, save a little cash and take their cars another 100,000 miles. Racking up miles can evoke pride in some, but it is more than just bragging rights. Many peopl...
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The Modern Mom: Redefining Perfect [infographic]
What is the definition of a perfect mom? According to a survey by The Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., more than 90 percent of moms say there is not one definition of the perfect mom or that it means different things to different moms. Whether it’s balancing work and family life or deciding what to serve during mealtime, today’s mom creates her own kind of “perfect.” And now Quaker is providing a new option to help her customize the perfect breakfast for everyone in the fa...
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Tips for baby boomers seeking divorce
(BPT) - Baby boomer couples that have been married 25 years or more are divorcing at record rates, according to a recent study by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green University in Ohio. While overall divorce rates peaked in the 1980s at around 50 percent, divorce among baby boomer coupl...
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Advice for choosing a financial advisor
(BPT) - Saving for retirement is an essential task, but one that can be complex and demand a lot of attention. With the arrival of April – Financial Literacy Month – focusing on your existing saving strategies should be a priority. It’s also an ideal time to talk to a financial professional who can help you shoulder the...
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Where your tax refund will go [Infographic]
More Americans will use their 2013 tax refund just to pay basic necessities. This tax season, nearly two-thirds of Americans report paying bills as the highest priority for spending their refunds, according to a recent Cricket Wireless survey, a sharp increase from 2012 (50 percent).
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Listen up: For better hearing, work with an audiologist
(BPT) - When it comes to startling health statistics, here are several you may not have heard: 36 million American have a hearing loss, yet only one out of every four people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one, according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Information Center on Deafness a...
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Rattling down the highway? What those common car noises mean
(BPT) - “What is that rattling? Is it serious?” We all can get a little paranoid about a new sound our car is making. Those sounds can certainly be annoying, but what people don’t realize is sometimes those sounds may be linked to something more serious. About 7 percent of car crashes are caused by some kind of vehicle...
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For a fit that flatters, color matters
Nothing is black and white about fashion trends, unless the trend is black and white fashion. From the streets of SoHo to the fast lanes of Los Angeles, to the downtown in every hometown in between, fashion stories are currently being told on polar ends of the gray scale: black and white blocks, herringbones, checks, pr...
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Help your landscape defeat the heat and thrive this season
(BPT) - Most of us have heard the rhyme “April showers bring May flowers." While April has traditionally been a rainy period, giving way to the start of spring growth and colors, this coming season also could bring stifling heat that scorches landscapes or results in on-going water shortages. After more than two-thirds ...
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national news
Accused Cleveland kidnapper to appear at pre-trial hearing

Ariel Castro appears in court with public defender Kathleen DeMetz in ClevelandBy Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school-bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home and torturing them for a decade is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday. Ariel Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty last week to more than 300 charges and was scheduled for an initial hearing before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo. He is being held in a county jail on an $8 million bail. ...


2013-06-19 05:03:26 -0500
After court rules, California gay marriage fight may go on

A man carries flags at a rally in support of same-sex marriage at the State of California Supreme Court in San FranciscoBy Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The fight over legalizing gay marriage in the most populous U.S. state may go back to the ballot box in 2014 with California voters asked once again to settle the matter even after the Supreme Court's expected ruling this month on the issue. Experts believe the top court is unlikely to proclaim a national right to same-sex marriage in its decisions. The court is set to rule on a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage and on a provision of federal law denying certain benefits for married same-sex couples. ...


2013-06-19 00:11:14 -0500
Analysis: Hospital investors sold on U.S. health reform despite bumps

A Tea Party member reaches for a pamphlet at a "Food for Free Minds Tea Party Rally" in LittletonBy Susan Kelly CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. hospital operators have been on a tear this year, on average posting triple the gains of the broader stock market, as investors tallied up the benefits of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform. While some on Wall Street have held back amid signs of trouble as U.S. states prepare to implement the reform law, long-term investors still see more reward than risk on the horizon for hospital stocks. They expect company earnings to strengthen as more Americans gain insurance coverage and hospitals lose less money treating the uninsured. ...


2013-06-19 00:05:37 -0500
Journalist Michael Hastings dies in car crash at 33
Michael Hastings, the award-winning journalist whose explosive 2010 Rolling Stone profile of U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal ("The Runaway General") led to McChrystal's resignation, died Tuesday in an early morning car accident in Los Angeles, the magazine said. He was 33. "Hard-charging, unabashedly opinionated, Hastings was original and at times abrasive," Rolling Stone, where he [...]
2013-06-18 19:23:00 -0500