Impact of Too Much TV Time

We’ve all heard to limit TV time for our kids. Here’s a link to a great article about why this is important. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/27/exercise-doesnt-make-up-for-kids-screen-time.aspx

Reading is such a great alternative.  So is exercise.

How to you help your children limit their TV time?

Hello Again!

It’s been a LONG time since I last added a post to my blog.  Our family has been through many tough times this past year.  Our boys are again home schooled, my husband is looking for a job, we’re trying to get our home ready to go on the market. It’s amazing how much we’ve learned through it all to rely on God!

It is my hope to again start writing more about raising lifelong learners.

Do you have a child who can’t get enough Science?  My youngest is like that!  We found a really great supplemental science program called Quick Study Labs.  It teaches electronics using Snap Circuits.  Here’s the website:  www.quickstudylabs.com.  Mr. Phillips is a wonderful instructor and is a fantastic encourager.  Fall sign-ups are starting now and classes are only $55 per eight weeks with a discount for additional quarters purchased at the same time.  Tim has completed through Edison Project 4 and is anxious to get started again.  I hope your family will enjoy this as much as ours has!

Have a wonderful school year!

Debbie

Homework Central – Link Fixed! :)

One of the ways to help your children become lifelong learners is to help them develop good study and homework skills.  A friend passed along a link from Family Fun for a fold-up workstation.  My boys will love this!

Oops – the other link didn’t work…

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/organizing-ideas/feature/ff0909-homework-central-workstation/

What is your favorite way to help your children organize to do their homework?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Why Is Literacy So Important?

http://www.theliteracysite.com/clickToGive/aboutthecause.faces?siteId=6&link=ctg_lit_aboutthecause_from_news_sidetabs

There are some eye opening statistics in this article!

What do you think?  Post your comments below.

Book Encourages Reading Aloug to Children

A friend emailed me this link to an article in her local newpaper.  You might want to check it out!

http://www.reflector.com/features/book-news-book-encourages-reading-aloud-to-children-751912.html

Have a great day!

Debbie

It’s Summer – Why Can’t My Kids Take a Break from Reading?

“Research shows the most damage to reading skills occurs outside school – during the summer months. But not for all kids,” says Jim Trelease, author of “The Read Aloud Handbook.”

Our children spend 9 months a year in school, but if they don’t read at all during the summer they will lose two to three months of learning from the previous school year. That makes lots of sense. Do you remember when you were in school that the text books spent the first few months of school in review?

You can help your children avoid this knowledge loss by filling your home with lots of good reading material – books your children own, books from the public library, newspapers, magazines, comic books, etc. When watching TV, turn down the volume and turn on the Closed Caption. It forces children to read and learn to read quickly.

Model good reading habits for your children. Let them see you reading for pleasure regularly.

What do you think? How are your kids doing with reading this summer?

For more information about the importance of summer reading for your children, visit Jim Trelease’s website – http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/summer-reading.pdf

What is a Lifelong Learner?

Children who are read to from an early age often become lifelong learners. They are continually on a quest to learn more. Here are a couple ideas to think about.

Studies show that the most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. The same studies also show that reading aloud is a practice that should continue throughout the grades. As parents stop reading aloud to children the children stop reading for pleasure.

Reading aloud has so many benefits. Just a few are helping the child associate reading with pleasure, building vocabulary, and providing a reading role model.

Drew and Timmy have been read to since they were infants. By two years old Timmy would sit on the couch “reading” his favorite book. It was so cute! By three and a half they were read some typical preschool books but also a number of non-fiction books. I’ll never forget the day that three year old Drew pointed out an Air Traffic Control Tower to my parents as we drove to the airport! They couldn’t believe what they heard! We’d been reading through the book, “First Thousand Words”, and they were building their vocabulary.

At ten years old daddy still reads to the boys every night before bed. It’s no surprise that they also still love to read for their own pleasure and always want to learn more.

How about you? Do you read aloud to your children? If not, give it a try today!

What do you think helps encourage lifelong learning? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

For more information from Jim Trelease about reading aloud, visit http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/read-aloud-brochure.pdf