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The Laid Back Parent’s Guide to Teaching Your Child to Read
At first I thought of titling this article “The Lazy Parent’s Guide” but then I realized that most parents aren’t lazy, but they may have a slightly different philosophy about children and learning.
If you’re a big reader yourself or if you’re homeschooling, you’re probably concerned about how to teach your child to read. Reading is one of the most important skills a person can learn, and a great joy in life.
My laid-back methods of teaching a child to read:
1) Be a reader yourself
Children naturally want to copy adult behavior. If your kids see you often with your nose in a book, they will probably begin to wonder what is so interesting about this activity.
2) Read to your kids
This is probably a huge no-brainer. Read to your kids early and often. And don’t read in order to “teach your child how to read”. I believe that the best way to teach your child to read is to NOT teach your child to read!
Read to your child because you enjoy it and it’s fun. Some forward-thinking education experts believe that the teaching of reading is mostly what prevents reading. After all, don’t adults read as a means to an end? Because they want to learn something or because they enjoy the act of reading?
3) Don’t worry so much
Don’t worry about a right or wrong way of reading to your child.
If your preschool-age child isn’t interested in books yet, or won’t sit still for more than 30 seconds to finish a story, don’t fret.
If your 3 year old wants to point at pictures or turn to favorite pages and ask a million questions, don’t fuss.
Children learn in different ways than adults do and I don’t think anyone knows enough about the human mind to figure it all out. Make reading together pleasant, not stressful.
And don’t worry about how old your child is when they learn to read. If they’re reading at 3 or at 8, studies show that it makes little difference in their intelligence or ability by the time they reach middle school.
4) Pick topics that interest your child
My oldest son’s interest in reading really skyrocketed when we started the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket. We would sit for hours and read aloud together when he was only 5 or 6.
These books were technically above his age level, but I advise you to forget all that.
John Holt, the legendary educator and author, has been quoted as saying:
“It’s nice to have children’s books, but far too many of them have too much in the way of pictures. When children see books, as they do in the family where the adults read, with pages and pages and pages of print, it becomes pretty clear that if you’re going to find out what’s in those books, you’re going to have to read from that print. I don’t think there’s any way to make reading interesting to children in a family in which it isn’t interesting to adults.”
So let your child pick books from the library or bookstore and don’t concern yourself about whether the titles are “age appropriate”.
Above all, have fun snuggling up with your child and enjoy reading together!
Article by: Are you a Mom who likes doing things the natural way? Come visit Natural-Moms for articles, resources and products that complement your natural mothering style.
5 Simple Summer Suppers
Summer is nearly here and so is an increase in the temperature. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen on a hot day with the oven going. No, you can’t hand them a pop tart or a box of cereal and tell them to get out of your hair, even when that is really what you would rather do. I invested in a George Foreman Grill, so in the summer, I spend a lot of time preparing food on that or using the gas grill outside. So take a look at these tips and see if you can manage to get out of the kitchen sooner and still give the kids a cheap and fast supper while you beat the heat.
1. Eggbeater Omelet – Pour some southwestern eggbeaters into a pan. Once it is done, add some cream cheese and fold it over. Serve with some fresh fruit for a fantastic quick and easy meal that can be enjoyed anytime of the day.
2. Salads are not only a great way to beat the summer heat but they are cheap and fast to make. You can do a basic lettuce and tomato if you want. Or you can dress it put some cheese, boiled eggs, and a pack of sandwich meat. Serve with half an avocado stuffed with sour cream or cream cheese. Chill some fresh fruit and mix it for a nice cool fruit salad for desert.
3. Chicken salad. Great for left over chicken, or I buy a precooked chicken at the store to save time, de-bone it, toss in some grapes and pecans, mix with low-fat-mayonnaise and a little honey mustard. You can serve this on a bed of lettuce, as a sandwich, a wrap, or it makes a great panini as well.
4. BLT with a Twist. I keep cooked bacon on hand at all times. Mix together tomatoes, cucumbers and mayonnaise and spread onto a whole-wheat wrap then layer some lettuce and bacon evenly over the wrap and roll up. Cut diagonally and serve with some fresh raw broccoli that you have sprinkled with lemon juice…yummy!
5. Pea salad. I hate peas…really I do, however there is nothing better than a good pea salad. I take a can of early peas (English peas), drain them, and add 2 boiled eggs, a small Vidalia onion finely chopped and ¾ cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Mix it all together with some mayonnaise or ranch dressing and a hint of mustard and chill. Serve on a bed of lettuce with some boiled eggs and ham slices. This make a great side dish as well.
Just follow these tips and you’ll be out of the kitchen in no time. Your wallet and your air conditioning will thank you now that you have taken the heat out of supper. Now you have fed them a nice cheap and fast supper every day and they aren’t complaining about it either. You will find that you feel better during the summer after a lighter meal as well as not being exhausted from the heat of the kitchen.
About the Author: Angela Billings is founder of Home and Family Ezine where you can download your free June issue of Home and Family Ezine, packed with 16 pages of homemaking tips and recipes!
Stop Dragging Your Past into Present Relationships – Part Two of Two
The rapture phase of love gives each partner a feeling that is buoyant, lively, and fulfilling. You project onto your partner images of beauty, goodness, and love as if your partner were a canvas waiting to be painted on. The energy of this consciousness shines a bright light across the world, obliterating all the differences in your characters, lifting you and your partner to a higher state of being. You are atop the summit, and you sparkle to one another like diamonds with many facets of light.
This is as it should be. Robert Johnson observed that falling in love is meant to be an initiation into a world much greater than the individual: an introduction to the ideals of love, truth, and beauty that transcend the personal ego and ordinary life.
Problems arise when we do not learn how to manage the powerful energies that are released by love, when, months or years later, couples begin to become aware of their differences and begin finding fault with each other. They fall into the valley, and the intense energy they had felt becomes soulless and rigid as they engage in “right-wrong” games.
Their energies are channeled into a power struggle that can last for years as they stumble about through thickets and the “forests of the night.” They lose sight of the partner they had loved so much and turn them into a threatening figure from their past—a stalking “tiger.”
Their potential for transcendence and a relationship that is greater than the sum of its parts is squandered, and they lose themselves in the jungle of faultfinding and blaming. If this describes your situation, before you can free yourself, you must identify the forces at work in the shadowy realm that surrounds you. Keeping a journal and especially a 5 year journal, is a wonderful tool that can easily support you during this process.
The good news is, you are no longer held fast by fairy tales, and transformation can begin. One of the most important lessons you must learn is that you cannot have transformation without experience, even heartbreak, for it’s the lived experience that allows you to create the transformation. You do not have to lose romance and passion in your relationship after giving up the fairy tales. Love gets better once you achieve transformation, and it’s well worth the effort.
Article by: Dr. Linda Miles is deeply committed to helping individuals and couples achieve rewarding relationships. She is an expert with a doctorate in Counseling Psychology, and has worked in the mental health field for over thirty years. Find more relationship ideas and relaxation techniques on her web site and in the award-winning book she co-authored, The New Marriage: Transcending the Happily-Ever-After Myth, and Train Your Brain: For Successful Relationships, CD.
