Posts Tagged ‘books’

Speed Reading – The Early Stages

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

No one actually knows when speed reading was first used, but it could have been a long while in the past. For hundreds of years, reading was the privilege of a minority of the most highly-educated people in the world, the vast majority of whom were monks and priests. This small, select group of men guarded their privilege and were loathe to train the general public to read. Furthermore, throughout those centuries there were relatively few books to read compared with nowadays. Books were also very dear as they all had to be copied out by hand. Possibly the only fact that has not changed is that the Bible was the most widespread book in existence and even now the Bible is the most prevalent book.

The world is fast devolving into a place where individuals are slowly but surely turning their backs on books and becoming fixed in front of monitors or television screens. In such a world, parents should not fail to notice the importance of developing a passion for reading in themselves and their children. Reading is a habit that should be established when the child is relatively young, so what can you do to foster this habit?

Well, there are a number of strategies you can make use of, although one of the best to lead by example. Read with your child every day, even if its only for 10-15 minutes. Allow your child to see you reading. By this I mean, don’t only read in bed before you go to sleep, but in place of watching television from time to time and read your children a bed-time story. Encourage them to read too. You could also:

Register your child for reading classes, if you really don’t have much time or your child is a little slow at reading. There are many well-structured after school reading classes that aim to make books more attractive to children. They help children with articulation, sayings and metaphors. These classes can be fun with animated characters and pictures, especially for young children,. They often make use of picture books, nursery rhymes, comical songs and short stories to fire up the imagination of younger children.

You will have to learn how to arouse your child’s interest. If your child has a favorite character, pick a series of books that include this character. Endeavor to encourage your children to read proper books not comics. The style in comics frequently leaves a great deal to be desired with its sloppy English and street slang. As an alternative, go for series of books like Harry Potter or Tarzan.

You should build yourself a library of your own books. This may sound a little impressive, but after all, a library is only a collection of books. Begin with a good-looking bookshelf that you can easily build on. A talent like reading cannot be learned in only one place, so you cannot afford to leave all the hard work to the day-school or even the after school curricula. You have to collect books that you imagine your child will enjoy too. Use the Internet as a source for learning about the contemporary reading games that will attract little children to the superior and ancient art of reading,

Once you child is interested in reading for its own sake, you might read up on speed reading. Speed reading is best suited for educational revision and background reading. It’s greatly suited to cramming or studying for examinations. It is ideal for school and university. Nevertheless, the first job, before you can think about speed reading, is to get your child reading in the first place.

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Home Schooling and Computer Learning

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

There is access to a computer in almost every household in the West nowadays and the rest of the world is catching up very quickly. So, it is extremely important for you to have one at home too, because of the many benefits it can bring, especially if you have an Internet connection. Nowadays, you need to have have some computer experience, if you want even a reasonably-paid job, so learning how to use a computer must start at school. You and your children can have a interesting educational experience with a computer at home. Children of today must learn about this extremely important device from the very earliest age possible and one of the best ways to do that is through home schooling computer programs.

These days, even kindergarten children are being taught how to use computers and their associated peripherals. If you opt for home schooling, you and your child will also spend a lot of your time making use of a computer and the Internet. Teaching your children will be a lot more efficient when done online, because of the diverse resources available online. You and your child will have available exceptional educational resources, from which you will benefit hugely not least because job market trends today overwhelmingly involve the Internet.

One of the largest minority groups who prefers to make use of home schooling is the African Americans because some see some society issues and they can keep themselves abreast of their own heritage by home schooling. The parents of children from minority groups can assist their offspring learn more effectively by having an Internet connection at home. Children’s education can be more strongly encouraged by parents and they can also assist in strengthening the psyche of their children too. Parents can teach their children about their own particular history through the various online resources.

It is important to bear in mind that home schooling will only work well, if the parents are prepared to give their children their full support. They must also be steadfast and ready for the challenges that they will come across. The parents ought to look for a rally good computer program or book to assist their children to learn about using computers. Often, the lessons are divided into several sections or series in order that the children can learn them more easily. Children have different learning abilities and since sometimes traditional schools cannot cope with that, the use of computers is an ideal opportunity for you to bring out the best in them.

Home schooling is no longer new, so if you think that your child is not doing well in school, talk to his teachers and get some feedback about your child. The guidance counsellor can also assist you to determine the best education for you child. Home schooling is already accepted and maybe it can help your child to learn more in the safety of your own home.

If you are will to commit yourself to home schooling, you will need to talk over the matter with your child. You could begin by asking your child about his experience in school and then bring up the subject of home schooling. See what your child thinks about the idea. Explain its advantages. You could say that computer learning will be more beneficial. It’s better if you and your child both agree on home schooling, since you will have to work closely together. It might not be easy to persuade your child to give up traditional schooling, where he has all his friends, so you will have to spend time with him and get to know his/her interests. Explain that computer programs can help a lot in home schooling. Tell your child that he can learn more about his particular interest, if he knows how to use the computer.

So why not start looking for the most suitable home schooling computer program now? You could talk to your friends, ask at the library or / and go online and do your research. There are plenty of home schooling programs to choose from and it could take some weeks before you can find the appropriate one.

If you are into home schooling then please visit our site at http://home-schooling.the-real-way.com

Home Schooling and Young Kids

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

In recent years, home schooling has become extremely popular especially among middle and upper-middle class families. There have been lots of arguments before about home schooling. Pedagogues claim that there are advantages as well as disadvantages in home schooling but it appears that the former outweigh the latter and so, a lot of families are now choosing home schooling over the traditional schools.

Cultures vary enormously and relationships within families are strongly affected by culture too. In some cultures, family bonds are fairly strong, but there are also those who don’t have very good relationships with other family members at all. However, through home schooling, family ties are enhanced. Parents have to spend enough time with their kids because of the home schooling program and the children will have to listen to their parents too. Communication is much improved and both parties will learn about the importance of both speaking and listening.

A lot of families opt for home schooling because of its diversity. However, since the cost of home education is a bit higher than traditional schools, the financial situation of the household is quite important. However, even without thinking about the financial factor, many parents would still go for home schooling, because it can guarantee their children’s safety. Public schools often have dangerous environments that can affect children terribly, however if they are in a home schooling program, they can stay away from these predicaments and their parents will be there to supervise them.

Instead of enrolling the kids at a public school, many parents would prefer home schooling because the learning environment in public schools is not that good. In public schools, very young pupils can experience problems that can affect them socially, mentally, and academically for a long time. Experts that have conducted studies, claim that children learn better in a safe environment surrounded by loved ones. Another advantage of home schooling is that children can learn according to their capacity. You can’t just give a new lesson, if the previous one hasn’t been learned yet. It may take longer, but the results are better.

As stated previously, home schooling is a tad more expensive. However, if you think that you might be able to cut down on your child’s educational expenses, you’re almost certainly wrong. Home schooling costs are just about the same as those of traditional schools. However, if you join in the forums of the parents of home-schoolers, you will find that there are ways to cut down costs. Naturally, you will need to spend on the resource materials, computer, and internet, but you can also use external resources like cultural do’s, public libraries, etc..

You will get even more cost-cutting ideas, if you get in touch with other parents. The Internet provides numerable possibilities and with a bit of research and homework, you can surely come up with a way to ease the costs. If you don’t want to hire tutors, then you will have to learn the lessons too. You have already learned the various subjects in your kids’ educational program, so you only need to review them. You can get further learning material online or the bookshop and later on, teach your kids.

So, it is plain to see, that home schooling is far and away the best choice, particularly if your child is still quite young. So, it all depends on you and your kid, whether they continue this type of schooling until they graduate for college.

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Home Schooling Learning History

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Do you consider that spending time in traditional classrooms is a waste of time? For many people, that is probably true. For example, an exam is due and the pupils are asked to memorize a lot of dates and names. However, after taking the exam, they will definitely forget 90% of those dates and names. That’s what most students do every time they have tests. If you are one of these people, you will find traditional history lessons boring, so home schooling, which focuses more on the history of the world, will probably interest you more.

Simple memorization by rote is just not enough to know the importance of historically famous people and fateful events. However, through home schooling in history, you can learn about the different cultures of the past in a unique, but interesting way – that is your own way! Through the study of history, you will also realize the situation of the world today.

If you think that home schooling is the most effective option for your child’s education, you must also be prepared to take on some responsibilities. Since there will be no teacher physically present, you will have to oversee your child’s educational progress yourself.

Let’s say your kid is interested in a particular sport. You could combine history and home schooling by simply putting a map on the wall of your child’s bedroom and mark the location of his favourite sports team. Make sure that you track all the team’s games, scores, activities and schedules. Then, you could return to history lessons by reading biographies of the various athletes, who had been famous in the particular sport that your child enjoys. Apart from that, you can also study the history of that particular sport and discover where it originated, its inventor, and the other things happening in that particular time in history.

For instance, if your child follows baseball, you could teach your child about the history of Negro Leagues, government hearings on the use of steroids, and other favourite hobbies during that time. But remember that you can apply this concept to any interest like dances and inventions. You can also have conversations with your child concerning current events or read interesting historical works and other books. Aside from that, you can also watch documentaries together with the rest of the family. There are various resources that you can use while home schooling, like TV, maps, books, a globe, an atlas, and encyclopedias. Because of the exciting adventures that you and your child will read about and see on film, your child will find it easier to remember the names and dates of the history lessons. After all, learning is better when it is done in an interesting way.

These ways are advisable if the child is still young, however once your child gets older, you must choose a home schooling program that is suitable for his/her age group. The programs are available at the elementary, high school, and even college levels. You simply have to search the Internet for these various programs. One advantage of these programs is that you can adapt them to fit the requirements of your child. However, you must ensure that all the modules are learned by your child.

Once you and your child have decided to go for home schooling, you must be prepared for some changes to take place in your life. The learning environment will now be your home not a school and through the various resources that you can use including the computer and Internet.

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Learning Speed Reading

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

What have you been reading lately? In a gathering, you can soon tell who the frequent readers are, since wide readers often think and speak well too. They win the admiration, respect, and fellowship of others. After all, reading expands the mind and many people consider it one of the most satisfying pleasures known to mankind, combining, as it does, mental agility and physical relaxation way above the scale offered by television.

The act of reading is primarily a mental activity. After all, you read with your mind and use your imagination to paint the setting of the action thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pleasure that the main characters are experiencing as the story unfolds; or you bring into play the different arguments and ideas brought up by the author of that self-help book you are studying.

Learning how to read properly helps you to develop (an extensive|a wide by reading various kinds of books. A skillful reader recognizes a wide range of vocabulary. The reader may not understand exactly what every word means, but he/she will have a general idea of what the sentence is trying to convey.

The act of reading makes you more alert and more interested in new words. Some readers even like to employ ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that whenever they find a new word, they attempt to figure out what it means in the context. If they are stumped, they refer to a dictionary.

In the same way, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of subjects. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. Just as in other forms of education, you are learning by actually doing and while you are reading you are automatically learning about the subject matter of the book too – like free by-product!

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Just grasping the writers idea is not really good enough, you must have a response to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Try to develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the writer. Always keep your mind open; understand and consider the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the development of one’s own conclusions.

Now let me tell you to the concept of speed reading. All of the above applies between three and ten times over, because speed readers can read that much faster than the average reader! Consider that! – Being able to read, understand and remember all those books. You would certainly become well-read in your subject far more quickly than others. Just think how that could help you at work or in school or college …

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1) Try to read more and more every month. Remember that practice makes perfect. 2) Learn the habit of reading the main ideas, ie look for the subject and predicate – the principal ideas 3) Learn to read with focus and concentration. Good readers read with understanding. 4) Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try to read faster. Give yourself a time limit for the specific text that you are reading.

Reading is a fantastically stimulating mental activity. It expands your understanding and capability. You really have so much to gain by learning the joy of reading. So, go on and get down a book right today.

About the Author:

Homeschooling and the Family

Friday, June 12th, 2009

If a survey by the National Center For Education Statistics is to be believed, almost 1.1 million children took home schooling in 2005 alone. That’s a lot of children. Not so long ago, homeschooling used to be a radical statement – something like a declaration of independence.

It was the (right-wing|conservative Christians who advocated homeschooling in the ’80s and legalized it in every State. But the typical homeschooler of today is not religiously motivated.

Later surveys indicate that parents are actually fed up with the public school system where a lot of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about the negative environment in school, ranging from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure.

As a result, we have a surprising mix of people who form the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious creeds and all regional borders. Their main aim is providing meaningful and productive education through a method that strengthens the bond between the various members of the family.

All these families have one main thing in common – a long standing commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children of these families are accorded a primary position. Many believe, and, probably, rightly so, that home schooling allows parents to bring up their kids in a more natural and nurturing environment.

Public schools can make a child nervous, diffident and downright mean. Children who get their education at home are protected from these damaging, negative influences until they reach an age where they can deal with them.

Home-schooling draws the whole family into the quasi religious task of teaching. Everyone is put to work. Both the parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into an educational experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going into their child’s education.

Parents also have a greater control over the type of religious and moral values that the child is learning. Even watching a movie together can become a learning experience. Trips to the libraries, zoos, museums and other places become educational as well as recreational.

A home-schooling family is usually dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that often outgoings have to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is necessary. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody gets involved in the task of saving money.

Merely having a parent at home to look after, to nurture and to care for the children brings with it a great deal of love and caring. Even the husband chips in and there is just no room for complacency.

Yes, problems still do crop up, and there will be many misgivings in your mind, but when you know that your children can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a very rewarding experience.

About the Author:

The Advantages of Speed Reading

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

What have you been reading lately? At a meeting, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers often think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others. After all, reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it one of the most satisfying pleasures of mankind, combining, as it does, mental agility and physical relaxation way above the scale of television.

The act of reading is primarily a mental activity, as you read with your mind and use your imagination to paint the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pleasure that the main characters in the story are experiencing as the plot unfolds; or you contemplate the different arguments and ideas introduced by the author of that self-help book you are studying.

Being able to read effectively helps you to develop (an extensive|a wide vocabulary through reading different styles of books. A skillful reader recognizes a wide range of vocabulary. The reader may not know exactly what every word means, but he/she will have a good idea of what the sentence means.

The act of reading makes you more aware and more interested in hitherto unknown words. Some readers even develop ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that whenever they come across a strange word, they try to figure out what it possibly means by the context. If they cannot do this, they refer to a dictionary.

In the same way, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of subjects. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. Just as in other kinds of education, you are learning by actually doing and while you are reading you are automatically learning about the subject matter of the book too – like free by-product!

Basically, reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Only grasping the writers point of view is not really good enough, you have to have a reply to what you have read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Try to develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the author. Always keep your mind open; understand and consider the ideas that you have read. A practical part of active reading is the development of one’s own opinions.

Now let me introduce you to the concept known as speed reading. All of the above applies three, four, eight, nine, even ten times over, because speed readers can read that much faster than the average reader! Imagine that … being able to read, comprehend and remember all those books. You would certainly become well-read in your subject far more quickly than others. Just think how that could help you at work or in school or college …

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1) Try to read more and more every month. Remember that practice makes perfect. 2) Learn the habit of reading the main ideas, ie look for the subject and predicate – the principal ideas 3) Learn to read with focus and concentration. Good readers read with understanding. 4) Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try to read faster. Give yourself a time limit on the specific piece that you are reading.

Reading is a wonderfully stimulating mental activity. It expands your reality and capability. You have so much to gain in discovering the joys of reading. So, go ahead and get down a book right now.

About the Author:

How to Avoid Burnout in Home Schooling

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

It does not matter whether you are learning in a traditional school or in a home schooling environment, there will come a time when you will experience burnout. This is something that you have to avoid so that your learning progress is not adversely affected.

Here are a few useful tips that you can make use of to prevent possible home schooling burnout:

Understand your limitations. From the very start, you should already know your limitations and your child’s limitations. You must be capable of taking things slowly sometimes, especially if your child is still young since you have to bear in mind your child’s learning capacity. Most students are average learners, obviously, so you have to take the lessons based on your child’s learning pace. Never expect your small child to read complicated reading selections nor your teen to ace SAT exams.

Don’t adopt rigid schedules, as this can put undue pressure on your child. You should just set an interesting routine for your child to follow. Children spend most of their time doing routine activities like getting up, eating hearty breakfasts, reading books, practising writing, doing light jobs about the place, etc. You must ensure that they finish their routine activities before they can play outside or with the computer. Even these routine activities change from day to day, but you must make sure that your child follows these routine activities. You can add in occasional incentives or fun activities if they finish their routine tasks early.

You should try to enjoy home schooling with your child. This is a good method of developing a strong relationship with your child and if you and your child can relate to each other, you will find it very much easier to handle curriculum struggles and motivation issues later on. Aside from motivating and guiding your child, you can also follow some of your own hobbies like gardening or cooking. If your child sees you pursuing your own interests, then he or she will also be inclined to do the same.

As your child is in a home schooling program, you should not try to copy a traditional schools environment. Try to use unusual ways when teaching your child. Home schooling is also about flexibility and creativity, and if you can create a light-hearted but firm atmosphere, you can probably avoid burnout.

Always try to remember that with home schooling, you don’t have to structure your teaching methods in the traditional way. You can just do things in a fun way especially with very young children so that they learn easily. Just ensure you keep the day in the right perspective to avoid burnout. Although your children may forget some of the day’s lessons, that’s all right too because somehow they grow in intelligence as well as in physique.

For sure, your children will always look back on your moments together and remember fondly how well you treated them. The old song goes: “… there’s no place like home” and for little pupils, home is the best place to learn the first lessons of life. If your teenagers are already in high school or in college, they can still pursue home schooling if they want to. That would also a good decision because you’d get to monitor your offsprings’ performance.

Parents always try to look after their children’s best interests, so, if after careful thought, you still think that home schooling is the right option for your family, then run with it. Just follow the advice stated above in order to avoid burnout. Make time for enjoyable activities from time to time in order to avoid monotony, which may lead to burnout.

About the Author:

Home Schooling and the Family

Monday, April 27th, 2009

According to the National Center For Education Statistics, almost 1.1 million children underwent home schooling in 2005 alone. That’s a lot of children. Once upon a time, homeschooling used to be a radical statement – something like a declaration of independence.

It was the (right-wing|conservative Christians who pushed for homeschooling in the ’80s and legalized it in every State. But the typical homeschooler of today is not religiously motivated.

More recent surveys show that parents are actually fed up with the public school system where a lot of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about the negative environment in school, which ranges from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure.

Because of this, we have a surprising mix of people who make up the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious creeds and all regional borders. Their main aim is providing meaningful and productive learning through a method that strengthens the bond between the various members of the family.

These families all have one major thing in common – a long enduring commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children of these families are given a primary position. Many believe, and, probably, rightly so, that home schooling allows parents to bring up their kids in a more natural and nurturing environment.

Public schools can make a child nervous, diffident and thoroughly nasty. Children who receive their education at home are protected from these damaging, negative influences until they attain an age where they can withstand them.

Home-schooling draws the whole family into the almost religious task of teaching. Everyone has a role to play. The parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into an learning experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going into their child’s head.

Parents also have a greater say over the kind of religious and moral values that the child is learning. Even watching a film together can become a learning experience. Visits to the libraries, zoos, museums and other places become educational experiences as well as recreational ones.

A home-schooling family is usually dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that often outgoings have to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is necessary. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody becomes involved in the task of saving money.

Just having a parent at home to supervise, to nurture and to care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Even the husband takes part and there is just no room for complacency.

Yes, problems still do crop up, and there will be many misgivings in your mind, but when you know that your kids can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a very rewarding experience.

About the Author: