Thursday, May 27, 2010

Increasing Reading Skills In For Your Child

It’s so very important for the child to know that reading activities and learning to read is fun. Early on, for instance, if you haven’t yet, set aside an area of your home where your child can have their very own reading area and little person library. This will get most all your reading activities off to a great start. Having their own special place for reading activities will encourage the child to spend time reading.

Support them to begin to look for their favorite spot within their area for their reading activities. Find yourself a comfy chair and join them and you’ll be amazed how much your child will want go into their reading area and have you with them for a reading session. And an added bonus to the reading area is a great place and time for you to spend with your child reading to them and vise versa. Reading is nothing more than a practiced skill. Practicing being the operative word. Instilling good reading habits in your child early on with consistent and daily reading and practice sessions is laying the bricks to a solid learning foundation no matter what the subject matter.

Any books from bookstores, flea markets and such are a great way to begin building your child’s reading library content. If you already have bookcases, then clear of one of the shelves and make that special place for your child’s books. It’s fun to do and your kids will have fun too. Build momentum early with how much fun reading and exploring books can be.

A good reading activity can involve very little actual reading. Use picture books with very few or no words and ask your child to describe the picture or tell a story about what the picture is about. This will allow you to monitor the child’s vocabulary and the use of the words they have been learning. Don’t overlook the importance of vocabulary building along with building reading skills. A strong vocabulary goes well with understanding what you’re reading which, in turn, keeps the frustration level down, and the fun factor up.
 
Make good use of your public library. Teaching reading skills begins with developing in your child an interest and love for reading. As your child’s library grows along with their reading skill they will understand that books are important, enjoyable, and always filled with new things to learn.

Support your child to verbalize to you a story or even a couple pages of something they have read about gives them great pride (while you listen for accuracy) and makes them feel like a reader!  And when kids feel good about their reading skills they naturally strive to learn more.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

some building that inspired, an architecture school

Untuk some people, it was all about some building that inspired them
as a child. Perhaps they went to one of the great museums of the world
as a kid and were completely captivated by it. Whatever it was, a
single building got them interested in the process of designing and
building others.

You wouldn't believe how many visionaries there are at an average
architectural school. At the one I go to, they probably make up half
the class. Some of them want to design buildings with the idea of
providing beautiful and affordable housing to the poor, others to
change the way we see space as a society.

For me, going to architecture school was part of a much more down to
earth experience. As a matter of fact, you could say that I always had
an interest in buildings. I grew up on a farm, in one of the last
communities in this country that still practices barn raising. For me,
architecture school was not the realization of a lifelong abstract
dream, but rather a way to build on my early, hands on experiences
with communal buildings.

Your typical architecture school student has his or her head in the
clouds. In some ways, this is a good thing. It is good to have a
vision to unify your buildings. There are many things that buildings
have to be. They have to be functional, structurally sound, and
comfortable to occupy. They don't necessarily have to be beautiful.
When they are beautiful, however, it is like a wonderful luxury for
the city around. Although not everyone understands an architect's
vision, they can tell whether or not he has one.

In other side, if you enroll in a school of architecture without any
hands-on experience, you can lose track of the purpose behind what you
are doing. Architecture is, after all, about providing spaces for
people to live and work. Architecture school can teach you many
things, but unless you go in with this understanding, you will never
build with both elegance and practicality. Cheers.

6 reason to have a homeschooling

1.  It's not boring as all get out.

I spent the first 5 and a half years of my education in public schools. There were, of course, times when I enjoyed learning things and talking to my friends. I vaguely remember a class I took in 6th grade before I began to be homeschooled. "Conflict resolution" they called it. It was an entire class we had to sit through for 50 minutes a day on how not to get in a fight. Instead of teaching us something useful like math, history or science, we had to sit and learn that getting in a fistfight wasn't good for anybody.

I think it goes without saying that homeschooling was far more interesting. I was either doing something and learning, or I was enjoying my free time. I never had to sit through extended periods of monotonous lectures or stare at a chalkboard while a teacher catered to the slowest student in the classroom. I was able to learn at my own pace and enjoy it.

2.  No one gives you wedgies.

Unless, of course, you have an older sibling and then you might get more wedgies than you can handle. One of the fantastic things about being homeschooled is that there is no awkward social structure that you have to fit yourself into. Unless you live in a very complicated family, there are no bullies, no drug addicts and so forth.

I found that when I got to college I was able to comfortably communicate with everyone from the older students (some who were even grandparents, coming back for their education) to the younger students and even the professors and staff. None of these people ever gave me a wedgy.

3.  Odds are your teacher will probably like you.

I didn't personally ever have issues with a teacher that didn't seem to like me or treat me well, but I do know that those experiences are out there. The odds increase, I think, as you get into high school that you might run into a teacher that you either don't like or who doesn't like you for some reason. I wouldn't say that it's anything personal, just sometimes there are personality clashes.

4. Flexible Schedule

Homeschooling enables a flexible schedule. For example, the child does not need to wake up at 7 every morning. With homeschooling, your child can start homeschooling at 9am or later depending on your preferred schedule. You can schedule your child’s homeschooling education as you see fit with materials or subjects that may be not available in a traditional school.

5 Individual attention

In a traditional school setting, thirty to forty students are assigned to a teacher in class. Therefore usually, the teacher cannot devote 100 percent attention to any child since it will not be fair to the other children. Plus, it is quite impossible to provide individual attention to all students.

Your child’s homeschooling schedule can be adjusted to crater for that. For example, if your child is better at science than at mathematics, simple devote more homeschooling hours to mathematics and cut back on science. With homeschooling, the choice is yours. Traditional schools can’t do that.

6. Family Activity

The schooling of the child can become an extended family activity. Examples are field trips and experiments. Plus, the child also receives more quality time with his/her parents. There is more time for family bonding. The child is also free of any negative peer pressure or influences.