FamilyOnTheRun

Starting a Reading Club may seem to be an overwhelming task. Yes, it is overwhelming and yet rewarding. This is an excellent opportunity to spark an interest in reading and have a life-long love for it. The key to have a successful Reading Club is to make it interesting, fun and rewarding. This will give your fellow children opportunity for learning and imagination, to think, reflect and share their ideas within the group. Guides and tips will be provided on this article which can be very beneficial for you over the years. So kids, let's keep reading!

Here's a guide on how to set up a Reading Club:

Making sure the Reading Club is Successful

The very first and most important thing that you need to ensure that your reading club will be successful is the cooperation of the participants. Joiners must be willing and interested to participate and support every activity that the club will be launching. You also need to decide you can participate on your Reading Club. It will be best if the members will be on the same age range as yours so you are on the similar reading level and interest. You also need to decide on the size of your Club. Not too few that the discussion might be boring or it may not be as lively as what you are aiming. Not too many that you can give each and everyone a chance to provide their insight. Advertise your plan on setting up a reading club. You can make a phone call or send an email to the people whom you think will be interested to join or if you can ask permission to post a little advertisement on your School Library, that will be an option. That way, you only need to contact those who respond to your invitation. Select a location where everyone will fit and will be comfortable for your meet ups and other activities.

Launching your Reading Club

Set up an organizational meeting where you and fellow kids will have a chance to know each other, start friendship with other members and encourage each other to read and share their ideas. This is also the best time for you to explain the rules of your club. You must set a date and time for your next meeting so you can discuss the books that you read. You can meet once or twice a month. You must decide on the frequency of your meetings as well. This aims to give ample time to the readers. The goals of your Reading Club must be clear for everyone and all of you must know how to achieve that goal.

Making sure all members are involved

You can select a theme, a central topic or idea for each month. You can also gather suggestions on which books to read and then let the other kids decide on what book to pick as long as the concept of the book will revolve on the same theme. Or if everyone will agree, you can just pick one of those books to read so that you will have one common book to discuss on your next meeting. Discussions must be structured as well. There should be a facilitator at least two of your members to lead the discussion by being a moderator. They must determine who can talk alternately. Facilitators or moderators have to make sure they are not dominating the discussion and they are giving fair share of time to everyone. Leading questions must be prepared prior to the meeting to ensure that the discussion will be productive and thought-provoking to make it more meaningful. Encourage everyone to participate. If you perceive some kids to be reluctant, you can reach out to them and know their interest and encourage them to give suggestions. Other kids on your club might have the same interest as well. Don't be too formal on your meetings. The atmosphere must be light and fun and yet informative and meaningful. After the discussion you can also do other fun activities like play games or create some crafts. But the focus should remain on your monthly theme, the book that you read and your discussion.

Now you're all set! You now have the guide on how to start a Reading club and some tips how to make sure it will be successful. I bet you are already thinking of your friends, classmates and cousins. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, plan and start your Reading club now!

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Hustle, hit and never quit! This is a how Field Hockey is played. Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. This game can be played outdoor, on a grass field or turf field as well as an indoor board surface.

We love to see our kids playing some sports. But there are times when we are also calculating the time, the effort and the cost these sports are causing us!! As they get busy in their sports, we also get busy supporting them. More so, it's also adding cost to our budget. Whether we like it or not, it's the truth. But is it really worth it?

One of kids is very much into field hockey. I sometimes ask myself, is she going to be olympian? probably not! I did a little research on the cost of gears and equipments for field hockey. I also check on how much will be the cost for the preparation. Heres what I got. Now, I'll leave the judgement in your hand if it's worth the cost.

Field Hockey Stick cost ranges from $84.95 to as much as $420.00

Tennis Shoes for teenage girls cost ranges from $69.99 to $99.99

Field Hockey Ball (single) ranges from $5.99 to 9.99

* You can also purchase by pack (six balls per pack) costs 19.99 to $29.99

Field Hockey uniform is $45.00 per set

I also looked into the preparation as I've mentioned and part of it will be getting a private coach and any other possibilities like enrolling in a Field Hockey Academy. I found private coaches within Los Angeles California and the professional fee is ranging from $50 to $80 per session plus a one time fee (probably a registration fee or enrollment fee-amount is never mentioned).

On the other hand, the registration fee for a private or small group session is $395 per person per session if you want to enroll your child to a Field Hockey Academy.

Now let's ask the same question again, is it really worth to spend time, effort and money for our kids' sports. I believe it is. The kids as they grow are investing good memories. Not just from their school, their sports, friends but most of all with us parents. Whatever memories they have in their mind about their parents is the very same kind of person they will be in the future. She is learning dedication, commitment, team work and many other important life skills on the field. And these can be priceless.

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Singing. Why do people loves to sing? Is it true that music is the strongest form of magic? It's like pouring the your heart out. It is also known to be one of the best medicine for any kind of feeling. This is the best way to connect to people.

Yes! We sing! Despite our very busy life, we find time to sing. And, for the kids, we had been spending time, money and effort with private lessons for the experience of it! This year, however, we have changed to a school with an outstanding choir program. There are a lot of programs offered to children in school. A solid music program is above-and-beyond.

So, why? Well, there are some of the health benefits of singing are physical, emotional, social and psychological.

They say that singing is the quickest way from flab to gaining that great abs?! It also improves your posture and strengthens your immune system. Singing through breathing is a muscle work out. Not just your abs but it also strengthen your throat and palate muscles so you can have a good night sleep. So if you have problems with snoring, start singing now!

Music in any form is very relaxing. Singing a natural antidepressant. It decreases the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone in your bloodstream and improves mental alertness. Aside from the feel-good factor, singing also boost your confidence and widen your circle of friends. I also increases your ability to appreciate your own self and the other people's accomplishments.

Knowing the benefits singing can provide, isn't it beneficial to encourage our little ones into this amazing magic?

Our son sings at school every day. This is his first class that lasts for an hour. We clearly see in him growing in the benefits of singing. He is growing to be so focused, confidant and joyful. The best part is, he now loves going to school and we are certain that everyday, after his singing lessons, the entire day is set up well.

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We made our son take a High School sport. Why? We see a lot of benefits from being a High School Athlete. From interpersonal, social to physical benefit which we believed to be a lifetime benefit for him.

Our son is a bookworm and excels academically. He can spend he evenings reading, studying and researching on his computer. As a result, he is less active physically, however. Being a freshman, we see High School Sports to be one of the best avenue for him be social, be a part of the school community and stay physically active. tIn addition, through High School Sports, he can learn the importance of teamwork, self discipline, responsibility, commitment, perseverance, time management and endurance. That way, we know he will develop his personal, physical and emotional health.

Participation in High School Sports also drives an athlete to focus on his studies. As observed by experts, they say team sports players and active students consistency achieve high grades. This is the result of the discipline, time management and concentration that they learn from their practice. Therefore performance is elevated both with their chosen sport and classroom performance.

Our son chose Beach Volleyball. It is a team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court or beach divided by a net. Beach volleyball first appeared in the early 1920s in Santa Monica, California which started out as family fun before it spread rapidly across the world as a sport.

Interestingly, Beach volleyball is recognized by NCAA Division I and II schools. College admission counselors and college coaches welcome students into collegiate athletics if they performed well both academically and athletically during High School. We all know that NCAA sets high standards on collegiate athletics for them to maintain their eligibility to be on a team.

We are lucky enough to live by the water so that my son can practice and play Beach Volleyball more often. This sport is not as competitive as football, soccer, basketball and other sports, but what's important is, he loves it. (And part is because it is less competitive AND they run less!). As long as our son enjoys what he is doing and we are seeing good impact on him as an team sport athlete in school, as a student and as a person, we are also into it! We went from saying he needed to do this, to enjoying him excelling and enjoying this so much himself!

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Summer break is longed for by most of the children because it is their time of freedom to do fun things with friends and family or play their favorite video games. It may sound fun and all but this can cause children of all level to lose their academic skills over the summer -Especially if they are unsupervised.

Summer learning loss could be avoided if parents would also be involved academically on their summer activities. Now, if you are not aware of this here are some key points to what summer learning loss is.

1. Loss of academic skills over the summer

2. Achievement gap is the strongest contributor for high school dropout rate.

3. Loss of 2-3 months of reading.

4. Reading and spelling abilities are affected

5. Reading scores are affected.

6. 2 months of Math skills

7. By grade 5^th learning loss can leave students 21/2 to 3 years behind their peers.

8. Summer Learning loss can follow students through high school, college and beyond

9. Lot of kids get bored over the summer and spend a lot of time unsupervised and with limited resources for any unconstructive activity

10. Students score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation that they do at the beginning of summer vacation

No, I am not saying that you should force your children in to studying but you can make them learn in a fun way. There are lots of things you can do over the summer and even with just thirty minutes or an hour could really help your child cope up with their learning loss.

1. Encourage your child to read

You should set a time for your children to read – a 30 minute per day is all it takes! Take the opportunity of their summer break for them to strengthen their reading skills. Studies shows that reading four to five books over the summer has a positive impact comparable to summer school enrolment. Plus, this gives your child a chance to choose books that he or she is interested in, keeping the activity fun and interesting too!

Now some kids are really hard to encourage to read more often and get bored easily. For a change of view, how about bringing them to your local library instead. This could help them to refresh their minds and motivate them to read. If you are planning to have a family outing be it on the beach or park don’t forget to bring a book that your child can read on if he or she has a spare time.

2. Word Games

Word games are the most popular way to boost your child`s vocabulary skills and as the same time a fun way to learn. You can make your own games such as spelling, word match, puzzles or if you don’t have a time to do the games by yourself you can also make use of board games or the amazing system of SuperSkillsBox. They will surely love the SuperSkillsBox word games and puzzles that you can solve along with them. With SuperSkillsBox system they get to learn new word everyday in just four minutes a day. A short daily study in the summer will help your child to get ahead of their studies.

3. Go for a field trip!

Kids love field trips! Its fun and they get to know new things from the place that they are visiting. Like art/science/history museums that have amazing activities that your children will love. You can also visit historical places and bring a reference book with you so you can explain things to them. Have a simple quiz or a guessing game about the historical place that you`ll visit.

4. Travel the world

You can travel the world without spending a penny! With the use of a globe/map and an atlas you can have games with geography. You can ask your children to point out in the map a certain country and read from the atlas of what amazing things you can find on that country. A very great thing to do in the summer that helps your child to enhance their memory skills.

5. Get techy

The use of technology offers many opportunities to encourage summer learning. Through promoting vital skills like problem solving and critical thinking, educational games are a valuable way to allow technology to your summer learner. Start a tech project together such as robotics kit or you can make use of the educational apps that are available on any tablet that you have. Just make sure you`ll limit their time exposure on gadgets because it may cause them to lure around the internet instead of using it for educational purposes.

6. Off to camps!

You can also send them to camps that focuses on their interests. Like science camps, writing camps, or sports camps.

Summer is not only about fun but can also be an enriching learning experience for children to get a head start for the next school year. There are so many things that you could do with your children this summer aside from the list that we have here. Just do what you think that you and your family can enjoy while the kids learn at the same time.

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