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Summer Reading Programs for Children

joeking10 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:11:39 +0000

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Summer is a great time for teaching your child about the wide world of books available to them at a place like the local library. Many parents are good about bringing their children to the zoo or the local swimming pool, but few are as good about sending their children to the library to do a little catch-up work with their books. When school comes around, they are less prepared than their classmates, and may lose some of the skills they worked so hard to improve the year previous.

Some libraries are even offering reading programs for all ages of students, from teens to kindergartners. These are often totally free of charge, and can provide an hour or two of free babysitting, as well as some entertainment or some study and life skills. If you’re the lucky parent of some children who bring home a few books now and again, then all the better – your children will spend a little quiet time reading throughout the week, giving you some stress-free hours at home where you can feel good about what they’re doing.

In the workshops for younger children, librarians will read to them, or help them get through some famous picture books. They may do a little bit of vocabulary work, and will always give some time for the kids to explore the children’s section of the library for some books to bring home. Particularly for younger children, this is a great program because it will engage their curiosity and make them feel good about the library as a place of education.

For the middle aged children, anywhere between 3^rd and 8^th grade, these reading programs will focus on mysteries and other longer books that appeal to the imagination of the students. Often times, they will tackle a classic novel, and other times they will be programs where small groups will choose which novels they want to read. In either case, the groups will provide motivation for children to enjoy reading their titles week in and week out so that they have something to contribute to the group discussion.

Older students will likely spend time learning study strategies like speed reading or spend their time learning about things that are related to, yet beyond the scope of their high school classes – reading biographies of the historical figures they learned about in world history, or reading the great works of the twentieth centuries most prolific authors.

No matter what the rationality is of signing your students up for these reading programs, you should make sure to do it quickly. These programs are usually open for the duration of the summer, but do not often admit new participants midway through the school year, so it’s important to get involved as quickly as you can.

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Summer Reading Programs for Children

How to Speed Read Effectively when Studying Difficult Material

joeking10 — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:50:27 +0000

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Every student is required to learn difficult study material at some point or another during school or college. Speed reading has advantages in these areas as well as disadvantages. The student must learn how to incorporate his speed reading skills in a way that facilitates reading complicated information. He should also know when speed reading will not be of any help.

There are various ways to tackle work that you do not understand very well. I am going to highlight the ways where speed reading will be advantageous. Just for general advice, always handle difficult work in smaller sections than you would normally read with easier work. This makes it appear more manageable and will be easier to understand.

First, use your speed reading skills to scan the section of work that you have chosen

Focus on the title, headings, subheadings and first sentences of each paragraph. Notice, as well, any words printed in bold or italics and pay attention to graphs, charts and illustrations. Do this in order to get a feel for how the information is organized within the writing. The student can also read the introductory and conclusive paragraphs in full. This initial reading will determine what you do know and exactly how difficult it is.

To help with understanding this work it is important that you do read it to the end. Do not get discouraged – ideas can become clearer as you read on. You may do this reading at a reasonable speed.

Next you will need to apply methods that will aid your understanding of the work

For these methods, speed reading is not so helpful as they require a slower analysis of the information. As you read difficult sections, look away from the text now and then and ask yourself questions. Try to respond to the questions in your own words. This will assist you in determining if you understand the work or not, as well as to make connections between the various concepts within the writing.

Any vocabulary that you do not know should be looked up. Understanding the meaning of a word could shed some light on parts of the information that you have not understood.

Try to organize your notes by connecting the ideas in a mind map or concept map. Use colors, pictures or symbols – not only words – and try to visualize the information as you summarize it. At this point, if you are still unsure of the information, it would be best to give it a rest and re-look at it again the next day. Your brain may need some time to process the material. For any ideas that are still unclear, seek additional advice from your teacher or academic counselor.

It is fairly obvious when speed reading will not assist the student, but in most circumstances, speed reading is a vital part of the learning process. Remember that it is fine to slow your reading pace when it is required. Not all information needs to be read with the same rate of speed.

If you want to improve your reading speed, you might want to take a look at some speed reading software, or take a speed reading test to determine if you are reading at your approximate age or grade level.

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How to Speed Read Effectively when Studying Difficult Material

4 Summer Learning Tips for Children

joeking10 — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:01:54 +0000

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While it may not seem like it, the summer is an excellent opportunity for you to teach your children how to become a much better student when the school year rolls around again. Let’s take a look at some of the very simple things you can do to make sure your students, of any age, can do during the summer to help improve their grades.

Keep them reading – The first, and probably easiest thing, is to make frequent visits to your local library and get your child involved in the Summer Reading Program. Most libraries offer some simple games for children to play based on the number of books they’ve read, or a group of children that meet once a month to have a “book club” style meeting where they discuss books they’ve all read together. If they are not available to you, Barnes and Noble offers something similar. Middle and High school students may feel a little old for this kind of group, but you can find more “grown up” versions of these clubs for them, or you can enroll them in a study skills program where they will teach essential skills like time management and speed reading. While the initial idea of taking a class like this may not appeal to them, by focusing on the idea of teaching them a really useful skill like speed reading, you may be able to get them excited.
Teach them about managing money and taking responsibility – Let your children make good use of budgeting and money management skills by giving them a “checkbook” that they can use to purchase groceries and other essentials over the course of a month or a summer. This can essentially be the same amount of money you’d normally spend on them during the same time period, but by letting them manage a small part of it themselves, you are teaching good decision making skills, money-management, basic accounting, nutrition, and planning for the future. To manage this, simply let your child fill his or her own basket at the supermarket and check out twice, and give them a small supply of cash. During this time, they pay for everything they do themselves. You’ll still want to go with them through the store so that they don’t come home with nothing more than a basket full of ice cream, but if managed well, this can turn into a very valuable learning experience for young children of any age, and gives you lots of opportunities to teach them about things like coupons, bank accounts, and how to manage money. Sometimes, you’ll even end up saving money since they’ll do such a good job!
Get them involved with a garden – If you have a yard, involve your children in planting a small vegetable garden. Simply spending a few hours a week doing this will give them an opportunity to take ownership over some aspect of the household chores. You can also use this time to teach them more about measurement (weighing in and measuring the fruits and veggies), nutrition (how healthy are these vegetables?), cooking (if you plan a “pasta garden” or a “pizza garden,” you can make a whole meal of it!), and of course, biology (these are plants after all). If you have a small area in the backyard, then this is ideal, but if not, there are some park districts or village halls that will rent out small plots of land for a very small price (less than $50 for the whole summer in some areas), on which you will be allowed to plant whatever you’d like. Even a simple window planter can give you some freedom and flexibility. For some basic ideas, try this site.
Develop a rainy day strategy – The ideal time for students to be exposed to “lessons” during the summer time is when it’s raining, and many of their favorite activities are gone for the day. If you are home with them, you could supervise them while experimenting with a new recipe for lunch, or when baking cookies. Alternatively, there are lots of great educational and cultural videos you can show to your children including symphony performances, old movies, and documentaries which may interest them. Having your children practice a play, skit or musical performance is also an idea – it can be performed in front of the whole family on your annual Labor Day barbeque!

No matter what you choose to do with your children during the summer, remember, it should be fun, and educational. The fun aspect will get them excited and interested, but it is the educational aspect that makes it truly beneficial for them, and will give you an opportunity to teach them some of those essential life lessons that they never get to experience in school. Overall, these activities make for a great summer experience that’s fun for you, and for them.

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4 Summer Learning Tips for Children