1. Start when they are non-readers. Toddlers love colorful picture books and can learn vocabulary, colors, shapes, turning pages, and other pre-reading skills by talking about pictures.
2. Read poetry and finger plays. Not only are they funny and interactive, but the rhythm makes them easy to learn.
3. Listen to books on tape and follow along with the printed version. These tapes should engage youngsters through different voices for different characters. Use them on long rides, vacations, rainy days, or when you are too busy to sit with your children.
4. Buy books for presents, especially personalized books which have your children's names in them. They will want to read these books over and over again!
5. Have many kinds of books available in the house. Try to organize them in tubs. For example, have separate tubs for books about animals, places, biographies, sports, and so on. Label the tubs with pictures for non-readers and words for readers.
6. Read to your children DAILY. Have a special time to read together in a comfortable setting and let them choose the book. You will notice their interests and have a special bonding experience.
7. Read with intonation and different voices for all the characters. By sounding happy, sad, or angry, the words will come to life and the story will become more meaningful. As your children become older, let them read the words of a character so you can read together.
8. Let your children ask questions and discuss pictures. When they are older, discuss characters and plot. If your children feel comfortable asking questions, that will carry over to the classroom.
9. Subscribe to a magazine of your children's choice. This will let them practice making decisions and affirm that their interests matter.
10. Write positive notes to each other and leave them around the house. A personalized note at breakfast will set the tone for a great day!
11. Get your children a library card and make sure they use it!
12. Be a role model for your children by reading all kinds of printed material yourself, such as cereal boxes, newspapers, mysteries, cartoons, word puzzles, billboards...whatever you want. The more variety your children see you read, the more variety they are likely to read, too.
13. Show your youngsters that reading is a part of daily life. Do you watch television? Read a TV schedule. Do you cook? Read a recipe. Do you like sports? Read the newspaper's sports section. Do you need to assemble something? Read the directions. Do you want to go to a restaurant? Read the menu. Your children need to see that reading is relevant to their lives!
14. Write a family book and add to it once a month. Each person could be responsible for his own chapter. After three months, for instance, sit altogether and read the book. At the end of the year, reread the entire book!
15. Instead of giving sweet treats for a job well done, reward your children with extra reading time before going to sleep, a trip to the bookstore, a trip to the library, a bookmark, or something else to do with reading.
16. Have a Reading Theme Party where guests dress up like their favorite book characters. They can play Musical Chairs with a twist. Under each chair, place a book. When the music stops, the guests read part of that book. Take note of one child and make sure to stop the music when he is at different places. In that way, everyone gets to read several books. As a party treat, try giving a gift certificate to a bookstore where children may want to find a particular book and finish reading the whole thing!
17. If your children are struggling, start with their interests and have them choose books they will enjoy. Have them write their own books around a theme they like and read it to everyone they know. Let them create a word puzzle focusing on one of their interests and give it to people to fill in. Your children could also write a book or make a word puzzle about someone else and give it as a present.
I hope these ideas are useful and inspire your own creative thinking.
And remember...Reading is FUNdamental!
There are so many competing distractions for our children's attention, video games, endless channels to watch and these can all lead to sedentary lifestyle if they're not kept in check.
Soccer is the beautiful game, played by millions of young girls and boys (aged 6 to 18) across many continents; whether it's on the beaches of Rio, the back alleys of a major city or the local park you'll find someone kicking a football around.
In today's society there has been a shift to more organised soccer practice for our youth players. In days gone by any piece of grass or street corner provided a pitch and clothing or a school bag served as goal posts; however, today cars rule many streets and the building boom has lead to houses or apartments being built on those same grass areas.
Having a more structured approach is both a good and a bad thing.
On one hand young players get structured development and education through willing volunteers who show them how to warm up correctly, develop their technical ability with the ball and progress this into skill development where decision making and skill execution are required. Plus, organised small sided games wrap everything up together to provide a total learning experience.
However structured training sessions are often time restricted to a couple of hours a week so what do the children do when practice has finished?
Getting your child to participate in an organised soccer school or club can bring tremendous benefits to you and your child. Soccer can help increase your child's self esteem that feeds their self talk which ultimately drives their performance.
Soccer isn't the only winner, quite often academic performance can increase too!
Studies have shown that getting young children involved in soccer at an early stage promotes a real healthy attitude towards the game and this attitude continues with them into adult life.
The number one reason why children play soccer is to have fun; if soccer is fun and enjoyable then players will want to continue playing. This benefits their overall fitness and reduces their health risks considerably.
In today's world, Soccer is made fun by coaches worldwide who willingly give up their time to organise youth soccer practice and coach teams.
Gone are the days when soccer was an 11 a side game for the really young players with offside rules and no touches of the ball for massive periods of the game. Youth soccer from the age of 6 to 11 is typically about having fun, playing small sided matches such as 4 v 4 with no goal keepers, promoting lots of touches of the ball and player interaction on the pitch.
Through playing soccer, and encouraging children to take regular exercise, many of the risk factors that are associated with heart disease such as obesity and diabetes can be reduced significantly. Since 1976 research undertaken has shown that obesity in our children has increased by more than fifty percent, a frightening statistic.
Getting your child involved in soccer doesn't just improve their health.
Social benefits, such as mixing with others, having to work as a team, contributing through individual effort to a collective goal, experiencing the highs and lows, picking each other up, competition, striving to be the best, aiming to win, supporting and helping others are all by products of playing soccer.
Many of the life skills that the players learn through soccer are beneficial in later life such as how to form and build relationships, developing a sense of co-operation, how to lead people, how to handle adversity, what commitment means and punctuality all of which are key qualities and will benefit the players in adult life.
All youngsters no mater what their skill level should be encouraged to play any sport, not just soccer, as this will stand them in good stead later on in life
Both Freda J. Glatt, Ms & Neil Stafford are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Freda J. Glatt, Ms has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, K 13 and Culture. Freda J. Glatt, MS, retired from teaching after a 34-year career in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Her focus, now, is to reach out and help others reinforce reading comprehension and develop a love for reading. Visit her site at. Freda J. Glatt, Ms's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Neil Stafford has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Investments and Soccer. For Youth Soccer hints, tips and techniques claim your free copy of our new book 'Secrets To Creating a Winning Team'. Visit the site today