When gift-giving time comes around, either Christmas or a birthday, give a thought to buying a present that will last a long time and boost the learning process for child or children in your life. Educational toys take advantage of a child’s natural inclination to learn and encourages them to explore their world and develop new skills.Play is a natural part of the learning process for children, especially very young ones. When they are born, children have a natural intelligence to process incoming data, but they don’t have the facts or information to compare what is coming in with what they have experienced before.Toys may just seem like fun for the child (we hope so as this is what we want for them), but they are really educational because the child can learn while they enjoy the time spent with the toy. Play time is learning time for children; learning about the world around them and how things work, what seems to bring good results and what seems to be not so good.It will start with basics like the sounds they hear from family, pets, household noises like speech, water running, saucepans rattling and outside noises like other animals, traffic and weather. Then there is tactile learning, the feel of objects in the home, a fluffy blanket, the smooth surface of their plate and the grass or bricks outside. Let them smell a scented flower, smell their food and drink or any other scent in the home. This helps them to develop and appreciate all their senses.Infant educational toys will incorporate some of these experiences to help the child relate their play learning with the world around them. You can help by exposing your little one to real life situations that they learn about in their books or games. For example, for a toddler, let them help you make the bed and feel the different textures in the bedding. Have them with you when you are washing so they can see soap suds (kids love these), if you don’t have a lawn or a garden, take them to the park and spend some time there.If you are wanting to develop attitudes or traits in your child, you can do two things that will help, give them educational toys and let them see that you do those same actions yourself. For example, if you want your child to read more, you need to have books in your home and you have to actually read them so that your child sees you reading them. The old “do what I say, not what I do” will not work for little children. They will do whatever it is that they see the people around them doing. That is how they learn.When children are exposed to educational toys and games, it expands their world and they will embrace learning more readily and feel comfortable with it. There are many good quality learning games and systems available, so it is worth investing in one of them to help your child’s development.
Diamond Education: The 4 C’s
Carat, Cut, Color, ClarityI am a diamond wholesaler. I supply retail stores across the country with diamonds for their stock and special customers. What I have noticed most is that there is a lack of education regarding diamonds when the consumer is looking to purchase. The blog category will focus on education and diamond knowledge. We will start with the 4 c’s.When it comes to diamonds they are all different and they all get graded and priced according to these 4 topics. When choosing a diamond you must have a price in mind and be willing to compromise on some of these 4 categories in order to fit your budget.First C: Cut: This is the shape of the diamonds. There are many to choose from the most popular are Round diamonds and Princess cut diamonds. Some others to choose from are, Pear Shape, Marquise, Cushion, Emerald Cut, Ascher Cut, Oval cut and others that are not as important.Second C: Carat: This is the size and weight of the diamond. The is one of the biggest factors when it comes to price. The majority of diamonds sold for wedding rings are 3/4 of a carat up to 1 carat. As the carat weight increases the price increases exponentially.Third C: Color: Diamond are made naturally in the ground so they will not all be crystal clear. They are graded by Letters: D being the whitest with least amount of color all the way down to Z which is yellow. The majority of diamonds bought are G or H color because they are white enough with very little hint of yellow that can be hardly seen. This brings the price down instead of trying to get a D, E, or F color.Fourth C: Clarity: Every diamond will have natural inclusions which are bits of carbon that are present from the natural process that diamonds are formed in the ground. Many people want the best clarity where there are no inclusions but prepare to spend a pretty penny for it. When it comes to clarity my suggestion is to not worry about what grade its gets, anywhere from Flawless to I3 which is tons of black in the diamond. I suggest to go by the look of the diamond. If it is eye clean, meaning from about 6 inches away you cannot see any inclusions than that is clean enough for a ring.Go to your local jeweler. Take your time and have a clear budget for your diamond. Look at the diamonds and buy it because it looks great not because it has great grades. Too many people today buy diamonds online without ever seeing it because it graded well. Understand your 4 C’s and the 5th C which is most important is Choose.Brian “BP” Plante