Great games to promote reading in your kid

Reading is an important skill that each child needs to master to be able to gather a wealth of information. It does not come naturally for many kids, so do not let your child miss on the joys with reading though entertaining and enjoyable reading games.

A few reading games that help improve literary skills of a kid:

a)Find an item:

The game meant for beginners keeps a child that is just learning to read to focus on the sound that each letter makes. Play this game in a playroom where your child has plenty of items to choose from; say the sound of a letter like “r” and challenge your child to find something that starts with it. The child should be able to say rag or roll; give her/him one point for each item one finds and then congratulate him/her for the points he/she earned.

Practice would make your child better in sounds and will lay the groundwork for him/her to sound words out as he/she begins to actually read words.b) Find a word:

This game is meant for beginner readers; this game is a powerful way to allow your child to focus on content to practice reading and teach important concepts at the same time. This game can be played by a group of children or you and your child, if there are no other children.

Cut a piece of paper into squares and write a letter and category of words like animal or a food on each ensuring you skip uncommon letters, such as "q" and "x. Put the letters into a bowl and let each child draw one out a slip by turn. Tell your child what the letter and category is and let him/her write one word for each category; for example if the letter is “e” then elephant could be an animal and egg a food. Give your child 5 minutes to  write down the answers; do not insist on the correct spelling as spelling can be tricky for beginning readers.

Award a point for each correct answer; the child with the most points is the winner. You could promote the reading skills further by having your child write a sentence using as many of the words he came up with.

c) Pick a Stick

An ideal game for intermediate readers; place wooden craft sticks on which commands like "hop on your left foot 10 times" or "turn in 4 circles" is written in a plastic cup. Each child draws a stick out of the cup, reads it and performs the action; he/she gets a point if successful. This game continues till all the sticks are exhausted; the winner is the one with the most points.

      This game not only boosts reading skills, but also  reinforces reading skills already learned, such as recognizing sight words and number words. It also engages both sides of the brain as the whole body is engaged that proves to be helpful in improving reading skills and becoming a more advanced reader.

d) Cover a passage

 This is a game for advanced readers; it involves asking the child to read a passage from his/her favorite book/magazine, covering the passage   and then reciting what he/she just read.  Reading skills are best improved by  choosing material that will engage and interest your child. Award a point for each passage she recites correctly, and award yourself a point if she leaves out words or forgets portions.

Gradually make the passages longer as you play and ask questions to jog your child's memory. Through this game you would not only provide your child with an opportunity to read content, but also to learn new things as he/she reads.

To conclude reading games are fun and build reading skills, but they cannot be a replacement for reading to your child; make time to read to your child even if your child can read independently.

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How to find if your babysitter is a tutor material?

With a baby sitter taking up the complete responsibility of the kids in their care, it would be advisable to look at all the qualities he/she should possess to act as a good tutor to the kid. An effective tutor can make the world’s difference to how well the child does (or does not do) in the future!

Qualities that make a babysitter a good tutor:

Do not make your private life public- professionalism is all about setting certain social boundaries. It is best to avoid discussing deeply personal topics unless it is relevant to your subject matter. Choose a tutor who does develop friendship with kids as kids may start to slack off and  take an advantage of the friendship. It is also best to avoid creating social media relationships as it could blur the professional lines of your relationship.

A babysitter could be a good tutor when he/she does not arrive unprepared as it would create the impression that he/she is uninterested in the job. He/she should first go over the current assignments and try to inspire the student to be prepared as well;- this will facilitate easy learning.

It is best to find out if your babysitter is less physical- tickling, wrestling and other overt physical expressions should be avoided while on the job. It is best to sit next to the child instead of standing over him/her as this would avoid a situation that is uncomfortable, weird and intimidating.

A babysitter who is tutoring your kid should be able to adopt a flexible approach-  it is wrong to create a one-size-fits-all lesson plan or approach to teaching as each person learns in a different way. Being inflexible could hinder a babysitter’s ability to recognize the specific learning challenges of individual kids. Children really notice when you personalize your lessons for them, with it being important to consider learning styles, progress speed, specific priorities and interests.

A babysitter who is not too fast is good tutoring material. Trying to be on schedule by rushing through the material would only  confuse the pupils further and create feelings of shame when concepts are not sufficiently absorbed. A patient and kind tutor can make kids comfortable and make them do better work.

A babysitter who can keep emotions under control and avoid expressions of anger or frustration is a good tutor; he/she should avoid undermining the learning process by talking down to the child. Let the child take advantage of the one-on-one environment in which students can engage adults in real conversation.

A babysitter who makes a good tutor should not over promise regarding the improvement of low grades ; in case of poor performance the kid may feel potentially cheated or hopeless. If the kid is successful, he/she may start expecting the same improvement in other subjects also.

To conclude, good tutors have the ability to truly enrich the lives of the people they serve by building confidence and igniting curiosity and passion. A good babysitter with all these qualities would be able to tutor and bring out the best in his/her pupils. 

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Fresh ideas to break boredom in a kid

Kids get bored easily; the reasons could be many with some being lack of interest in doing something because it is too easy or challenging. Also some kids say they are bored because they just want to attract attention. Parents, babysitters as well as nannies are puzzled about how to help children overcome boredom; it means brainstorming activities with the right level of difficulty.  

Keep kids occupied and happy with some of these fresh ideas:

• Exercise those finger-painting skills by engaging kids in finger painting.

• Teach and practice kids to say the 50 states in alphabetical order.

• Teach and let kids bake cookies for family and friends.

• Let your kids go green by planting a tree.

• Younger kids could build an indoor tent or fort with couches and some bed sheets.

• You could head to a local library and get the kids some interesting and informative books to read.

• Children who are fond of acting can act out their favorite book.

You could take children for a nature walk especially in summer to explore nature or go Geo-caching.

• Children could learn a lot if taken for a visit to interactive museums being a part of it.

•  Children could dress up in the previous year’s Halloween costumes and have a costume parade.

• Plan a scavenger hunt outdoors.

•  Children could play DIY bowling pins with a soccer ball as a bowling ball.

• Parents/nannies could host a picnic lunch, indoors in winter or outdoors in summer.

• Parents could host a movie night, planning for it by drawing tickets, making popcorn and setting up the room like a theater.

• Kids could turn on the radio or stereo and dance to the tune. They could also choreograph a dance routine. This would encourage physical and mental activity and could also act as a stress buster.

Kids could pull out a dress box, dress in funny clothes and have a photo shoot.  

• Kids could head outdoors in summer for bird watching.

• Children could head outdoors to play Frisbee or balloon volleyball or have a potato sack race.

• Children could spin in a circle by turn and count how many times one can spin in a circle without getting dizzy.

Children could do experiments with science; they could make a paper Mache volcano and mix baking soda and vinegar for an explosive reaction!

• Children could get creative by create paper Mache, stringing together macaroni for jewelry or learn how to tie-dye T-shirts.

• Children could play lily-pad leap with small rugs and towels strategically placed throughout the playroom or living room. They could construct an indoor obstacle course.

These are some of the activities that children can engage in when they are bored. Do add some of your fresh ideas. Many child care centers in houston  are doing many fun activities .

Homework tips for Babysitters and Nannies

Are you a parent, babysitter or nanny struggling to make children do their homework? Is your child finding it difficult with a specific subject and you're working to help them thrive? You can easily tackle these homework challenges with tips and strategies that have been given by professional tutors.

Tips to success in tackling homework:

a. Create a study zone that is easy to focus: Making a comfortable and easy to focus study zone means having comfortable seating with all materials the child requires.  This avoids distractions and sets an environment for the kid to concentrate.

b. Make a game of the homework: This tip requires hiding the homework books; you could hide homework of various subjects like science and math in different areas of the house. Whenever the kid finds it he/she needs to do it. A fun element with studies helps kids focus much better.

c. Help your kid to develop skills to tackle problems: Some kids avoid doing their homework to avoid the pain of struggling through the material. Don't just focus on the kid to develop skills to assignment; but give them the skills to make homework a fun challenge.

d. Give kids a chance to track their progress and take pride in their accomplishments:Homework should be meaningfully aimed at improving a child’s abilities and at giving that child measurable success. Once a kid has a graph of improvement, he/she will become aware of ways to improve their skills.

e. Improve organization by using technology: When you optimize scheduling programs or homework applications to keep track of  specific assignments, teacher's recommendations and resources it would make a big difference in terms of how kids perform.

f. Set up a reasonable schedule with plenty of breaks: It would help tremendously to allow your kids some time to play and decompress after school and before starting homework.  Short breaks for snacks and short walks between assignments also helps.

g. Don't hesitate to ask for help in the form of a tutor or some part-time assistance:They could help kids to focus during homework time; if your kid is really struggling then you could also talk to teachers and know the resources available in school.

h. Break up bigger projects into smaller pieces: Most kids do their homework better when they know what and why the homework is to done; teachers, parents and tutors can help kids break down assignments.

i. Teach kids all about wise time management: Encourage kids to utilize their free time wisely; if he/she finishes an assignment early in class, one should start the homework with the teacher’s permission. They could perhaps get away with doing homework in class.

All this goes to make doing homework less stressful for parents, caretakers, or kids; you will soon pave your way to productive, engaging and stress-free homework sessions.

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All about kids’ exercise-3

How to get my kids to exercise’ – this is one concern shared by a lot pf parents today.  According to studies, only 1 out of 3 children are active, with 1 out of 3 children being either overweight or obese in the United States. Also, less than 50% of the time is spent in sports practice, games, and physical education class. Children, especially teens, spend more than 7 hours per day on an average using TVs, computers, phones, and other electronic devices for entertainment.  Overweight teens have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.

Here are a few activities that could get kids to exercise: 

Have a dance party: Turn on some music and dance with the kids; it would not only help you all to burn calories in a fun way, but is also a good way to remain fit. Dancing also improves muscle tone, strength, endurance and fitness. Also, dancing is a great social activity as it provides a ground to meet new friends.
 Set up an obstacle course: It could be set up in your backyard, garage or basement; you could use hula hoops and buckets as obstacles. An obstacle course helps keep your children stay in shape and helps them (and you) to lose weight within a short duration of time. Also, an obstacle course is fun and the best way to get kids off the couch.

Do a scavenger hunt: You could make a list of the items in your neighborhood and then go out and look for them. It helps to get a dose of exercise in order to lose calories and maintain weight  Also it helps advance breathing and enhances stamina. It helps improve the mood and is best suited for anyone who’s stressed to feel rejuvenated and refreshed.

Make a family exercise video: Make a production of your family exercise video; it would not only be fun, but would help in  exercising regularly. So it’s time to take out your camera and some cool gear to begin the production.

Build a snowman or go sledging: Kids would love this activity especially when it is snowing or raining; besides, it is a good form of exercise. If it's raining, dress them in old clothes and let them splash in the puddles; kids love to get dirty!

Last but most important - be a role model for your children when it comes to being active and exercising; put down the remote control and go for a walk, play hide-and-seek or set up a game of hopscotch in the driveway. Make time in your daily routine for exercise for it will not only help you but your child as well!.

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