Single Dads

Over at How To Change The World, Guy Kawasaki (you know, the Mac guy) tossed out a post about a tool called Website Grader.  This free tool gives your website a SEO “grade”

I entered in this site’s information and was given, within minutes, a score and a few items where I can improve my site reach to my audience.

based on a few criteria that you enter into the site.  Being that I’m always interested in the reach that my website has, I entered in this site’s information and was given, within minutes, a score and a few items where I can improve my site reach to my audience. 

It would seem that I have a lot of room for search engine optimization improvement.  In other words, my scores were…lacking. I definitely will be working on that presently behind the scenes.  Successful networking is certainly something that I am all about these days.

How are you working on SEO? Feel free to email me, or drop me a note in the comments.

Tuesday is Finance and Family Day over at Zen Habits, and yesterday they did not disappoint with the article 10 Lessons to Teach Your Kids About Money.

I’m only now learning habits that I wish I had when I was entering adulthood. I think I’m not alone here, but if I had these habits when I was young, I’d be pretty well off now.

Because of that, I plan to teach my kids about money, to give them the value of money, to teach them skills and habits that will get them off to a good start, and to have them learn by doing, and from my example.

As I’m late in learning some of these things myself, I’m also starting late in teaching my kids these habits and skills. However, it’s better late than never. What follows are some of the things I’m trying or have planned.

The included list is pretty decent and covers most of the basics.  I would argue that some topics do require their own category, however.  For instance:

College loans must be paid back.  In high school, it seems like a good idea to go to the best possible school that you can and if you have to take out loans to do it, well, fine.  After college is over and those loans start coming due, that thinking gets turned on it’s head.  Had I the opportunity to do it again, I would have spent four years at a less expensive university instead of two, and wouldn’t have had those loans to pay.

College loans have a cost.  You just don’t see it until later.

Relish the power of compound interest.  Smaller children might not get this, but a little bit now goes a LONG way later.  Money in that cute piggy bank that your child loves adds up in the hands of the proper account.  Compound interest will (hopefully) pay my child’s college tuition.  Teach them that early.

Credit cards, while ubiquitous, can be evil.  The credit card companies really start the credit carousel in college.  Credit cards are everywhere, and to do a lot of things, they are absolutely necessary.  They represent power - and with great power comes great responsibility.  Teach your children to recognize this, and realize that the iPod that they so desperately want but can’t afford without a credit card really is NOT AN IPOD THAT THEY CAN AFFORD. 

I’m sure that I can think of more examples, but those little tidbits come to mind.

9news, which is out of Denver and one of the bettter television news websites that I’ve seen, had a couple of features late last evening that caught my eye.

Bad news first.  Apparently, Denver Public Schools has decided to close a bunch of schools in the district.  Again. 

DENVER – Monday, the superintendent of the Denver Public School District unveiled his list of eight schools the district plans to close.

Says the superintendent of Denver Public Schools later in the article:

“We believe these proposals are a difficult, but an absolutely necessary step towards making DPS the best it can be,” said Bennet in a statement. “We are very excited about the new opportunities that we are creating and believe that our students will benefit greatly from these opportunities. At the same time, we deeply understand how painful school closures will be for the students and families at these schools, and we will work closely with them during the transition.”

Bennet says closing the schools will save $3.5 million.

Several years ago, I attended a well known high school in the Denver suburbs.  The DPS high schools, with their high educational levels, numerous students, and well coached athletic teams, were some of our fiercest competitors in both sports and academics. 

Now, a little over twenty years later, DPS has been reduced to using mid-90’s doublespeak - where the closing of low achieving schools and low enrollment is now called creating “opportunities”.  How tremendously disappointing.

But in better local news, Colorado has received a multi-million dollar grant for fathers and kids that might be seen as high risk.

DENVER – Men who need help with fatherhood now have access to dozens of free programs throughout the state.

Governor Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) and representatives with the Colorado Department of Human Services kicked off the “Be There for Your Kids” campaign on the steps of the State Capitol Monday afternoon.

The initiative is geared towards providing programs and resources for dads in a wide variety of circumstances, including single parenting, incarceration and children with disabilities.

This is the good news.  The website that contains the grant and program information is www.coloradodads.com.  Go out there and take a look.

Free programs for single fathers.  Educational resources taken from kids in minority areas.

One step up and two steps back.