Many of us think that putting our money in the bank is a secure and wise way of saving. Yes, this is true if we are wise in dealing with banks. Banks are not charitable institutions, these are profit-driven entities which charge different kinds of fees and do all sorts of schemes to take away some of your money. The savings that you can get in being wise in making bank transactions can add up after some time and let you use your money where you want to.
Here are some tips on how to effectively save money in the bank:
Mind the Opportunity Cost
Think about the factors that are affecting your money in the bank. Are there fees that the bank is asking you to pay for keeping and using your own money? How much? Are they requiring a minimum balance for holding an account? You might be interested in other alternatives that are available out there, waiting for your investment. You should always factor in the opportunities that you are deprived of because you are putting your money in the bank. You might also be interested in taking a look into the terms of other banks. Probably the bank that can best suit your needs is out there waiting for you.
Book Balancing
Always bear in mind to have your checkbooks balanced at the end of every month. Issuing bounced checks can cost you a lot. The average fee for issuing checks with insufficient funds is $20. If you are not aware of the problem, you can easily issue several bounced checks in a certain period of time and this is very costly indeed.
Tame the ATM Machines
The best practice in using ATM machines is to avoid using ATM machines of other banks. This way, you will save on ATM fees. However, it wouldn't hurt if you also knew the ATM machines of other banks which do not charge fees.
E-banking
With the advent of globalization, everything is becoming electronic. This is also true in the banking world and technology is quickly becoming a benchmark of competition. E-banking can save you some money from transportation costs and more importantly, it will save you time. The time you spend waiting at the bank can be used for some other productive activities.
Truly, putting your money in the bank is a wise way of saving money, but only if you are wise enough to prevent the bank from chipping away your wealth. In saving, it is not only the benefits such as annual returns which you should consider, you should always think about the costs involved in the process.
Summary:
How many times have you heard a child reading aloud and it sounded like they were counting instead of reading? This is a problem that many teachers and parents face. It is caused by a lack of reading fluency. While it has long been recognized that fluency needs to be developed, teachers have been reluctant to teach it over the years. Fluency has been one of those skills that have been left to chance. However, fluency need not be left to chance, it can be taught. Here are some...
Keywords:
teaching reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension, reading strategies
Article Body:
How many times have you heard a child reading aloud and it sounded like they were counting instead of reading? This is a problem that many teachers and parents face. It is caused by a lack of reading fluency. While it has long been recognized that fluency needs to be developed, teachers have been reluctant to teach it over the years. Fluency has been one of those skills that have been left to chance. However, fluency need not be left to chance, it can be taught. Here are some strategies to develop fluency in children:
1. Echo reading is modeled reading. An adult shows how a passage should be read taking care to show proper pronunciation and intonation. The adult reads a sentence or part of a sentence from the text and then the child follows trying to imitate the pattern shown by the adult. This strategy is effective because children have a model. They have a set guideline for how the passage or particular paragraph should sound.
2. Choral reading is another good way to develop reading fluency. During choral reading the teacher or adult reads along with a group of students. Choral reading is a traditional strategy that has been used by teachers for years. It is a good method. However teachers should watch out for those students who simply cannot keep up with choral reading. This strategy usually intimidates them and they will pretend to be reading but may simply be moving their lips. These children will usually succeed with other reading fluency strategies mentioned in this article.
3. Tape assisted reading is a tried and true method of developing reading fluency. Students read aloud from their books while listening to someone reading the same book on tape. There are many books that now come with tapes so tape assisted reading shouldn't be hard to do even if you don't want to record yourself modeling fluency. It is tedious to make tapes of yourself modeling reading, children however tend to appreciate the personal touch, be it from a teacher or a parent so before going out and buying tapes consider the do-it-yourself approach.
4. Peer reading is a strategy that partners a weak reader with a strong reader. This creates a support framework for the weaker reader and has often proven to be highly effective as the strong reader usually models fluency for the weaker reader. The personality of the partners selected for peer reading should be taken into consideration as some people get along together better than others. If the level of friction between the two partners becomes too high you might have to find each a new partner.
5. Children enjoy drama and they like it even better when they get to be the players in that drama. Let them act out scenes from a book using the dialogue from the story. This activity is good for developing reading fluency and it is also fun. While they are having fun they will be learning how to express themselves and learning drama skills at the same time. Playing a character from a book requires them to focus more on the details of the characters personality. Acting it out is not just good for reading fluency it is good for reading comprehension as well.
