Fun Stuff to Do for February: Valentine's Day Ideas and Microwave Fudge

Valentine's Day Ideas



It’s February and time to think about Valentine’s Day! Here are a few activities to create some special family time, spur on some creativity and mark the day:

1. As a family, think about people in your neighborhood or community that might be especially lonely, then create ideas that you can do that might brighten their day. Maybe make Valentine’s cards and bake heart-shaped cookies and deliver these gifts to them.

2. If grandparents are in town, have each family member create cards or notes and deliver them along with a small gift like a colorful balloon or maybe some of those heart-shaped cookies they’ve baked. Grandparents live out-of-town? Mail them their cards ahead of the special day and on the 14th, give them a phone call and let everyone take their turn chatting with their far-away loved ones.

3. Consider making a keepsake book for grandparents. Have everyone create handwritten notes of appreciation or love, coupons for service (washing the car, cooking dinner, weeding the garden, etc), drawings, family photos and put them all in a pretty binder or blank book. They’ll love it!

4. Make special family time with a trip to the pizza parlor, a night at the bowling alley, or a hike at a local park and then end your evening with a home-made fudgey treat. Recipe below!


Seriously Simple Microwave Fudge

Microwave 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips and a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk for 5 minutes. Stir vigorously. Add 1 ½ cups of chopped nuts or raisins (or a combination of both) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir again to mix well. Spread this delicious mixture into an 8-inch square pan lined with buttered parchment paper. Refrigerate and when sufficiently cooled and hardened, cut into bite-sized squares. Enjoy!

 

Letter from Betty for January 2017

Hello Friends,

Welcome to 2017 and a whole new year of possibilities and adventures stretched out in front of us!

This is the perfect time of year to take stock of what you and your children want to accomplish in the coming weeks and months. With this in mind, read our feature article for January: "Family Resolutions for a Happy New Year".

On the lighter side of your plans for 2017, we also have a double-fun set of recommendations in "Fun Stuff To Do for January: No-Sew Fleece Scarf Project, Hot Cocoa Tasting Party."

As always, please remember that whatever your educational needs, Foundation for Learning is ready to assist you with caring, one-on-one, individualized tutoring, SAT/ACT test prep, and educational evaluations. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at 973-425-1774 for a free consultation.


Best regards,

Betty

Betty Bodenweiser
Director
Foundation for Learning


 

Family Resolutions for a Happy New Year



We’ve written before about goal setting and January is the perfect time to revisit this topic. It’s a great time to make New Year’s Resolutions! These resolutions are goals that we set for ourselves.  But we must also help our children set reasonable goals and achieve success. :

Set resolutions as a family and make it a part of a holiday event. On January 1st, gather at the table for a New Year’s meal, whether it’s a special breakfast or a dinner, make it an event and bring with you your own personal resolutions. Tell your children what your goals are and why, and then ask them what they might like to shoot for in the new year. After all, it’s a fresh start, a new beginning, and the perfect time to focus on picking a healthy new habit. Should you as a parent pick the goal for them? No. The way to success is to let your children pick their own goal, but you can certainly guide them in their choice.

That said, it’s important that you are a good resolution role-model. Let them see you working on your own goal. You can’t lead them to resolution success if you’re not willing to stick with your own goal.



Make sure to keep the process positive! Don’t make suggestion in a negative or preachy way. Focus on success and ask them “What do you want to improve on this year? What can make your life healthier, happier, better? Are there things you can do to help other people?” Now listen, really listen to what they say. Don’t lead them to make a decision that you want them to make. Listen and hear what they are saying. It’s important that your children choose the resolution themselves in order to have real ownership over the project. It’s a great lesson in goal-setting and helps them to learn to plan as well. Your task is to help them narrow down their ideas, to make sure that it’s age-appropriate, to guide them.

The next step is to help your children to select just one or two goals. There’s a much higher chance of success if they focus on just a few projects rather than being overwhelmed by too many areas of focus. Once one or two are chosen, get out a fresh sheet of paper and write down each goal in specific terms, nothing too general.  Then underneath each, write out concrete steps or ideas to make the resolution work. Breaking down the process into steps will make the resolution more achievable.
 
Finally, let your children decorate their goal sheet and hang it on the fridge or on a common bulletin board where they can see it every day. Make sure your resolutions are on the fridge as well. Remember, you are a role model!
 
As a family, revisit the resolutions from time to time. Help everyone to stay excited about their new year’s goal. If progress is slow, don't worry, encourage forward movement. Talk about what might be getting in the way, or maybe look at making smaller tasks to achieve the final goal.


  
Another suggestion is to make a family goal. Consider doing acts of kindness together. Performing acts of kindness makes the doer a happier person and what a great way to experience positive family bonding and memories! Once a week or once a month, whatever works best for your family schedule, think of the groups or people in your life and pick one to focus on. What can you as a family  do to help this group or person? Consider picking up trash at your neighborhood park, going through closets and donating unused toys or outgrown clothes to a shelter, or baking cookies for an elderly neighbor and then paying a short visit? While there, why not ask if you can rake leaves, weed the garden, or complete another task the person may not be able to do for himself?
 
Make this a new family ritual: have a family talk, let everyone decide on their goal for the new year and then celebrate with your special New Year’s meal. It’s a perfect family bonding exercise, a great way to kick off 2017, an easy self-improvement exercise, and an excellent way to create special family memories.

 
 

Fun Stuff to Do for January 2017: No-Sew Fleece Scarf Project, Hot Cocoa Tasting Party

Have your friends over or gather your family together to make scarves and have a hot cocoa tasting party!



To make No-Sew Fleece Scarves: 

  • This is a craft that requires only the fleece fabric and a good pair of scissors! 
  • Make warm scarves by buying lengths of micro-fleece from your favorite craft or fabric store (available in many different colors and prints) and simply cutting them into strips approximately 8-10 inches wide and 3-5 feet in length, depending on how long you want your scarf. The ends are then cut into fringe. The fleece does not unravel so it does not need any sewing. 
  • If desired, slide beads onto the fringe and tie knots, for added embellishment. 


Hot Cocoa recipes

Do a taste test to see which is your favorite, or set up a hot chocolate bar with special add-ons!

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE (serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cocoa, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, dash of salt. 1 quart milk (4 cups), divided 1/4 cup half-and-half, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a small bowl, combine cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Heat 1 cup of milk in a saucepan until bubbling. Stir in cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. 

PUMPKIN SPICE HOT COCOA (serves 6) 
Ingredients:
6 cups of milk, 6 packets of powdered hot chocolate OR 1/2 lb. of dark chocolate bits,  1 1/2 tbsp, pumpkin pie spice, whipped cream, cinnamon
Heat milk to almost boiling. Place hot chocolate mix into mugs and thoroughly mix in 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in each cup. Pour in hot milk and stir well. Load on the whip cream. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. 

A FAVORITE HOT COCOA (serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup hot water, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 4 cups milk, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Mix cocoa, sugar, water and salt in a saucepan.
Over medium heat, stir constantly until mixture boils. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the milk and heat, but do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla; blend well. Serve immediately.

NUTELLA HOT COCOA
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of Nutella for 'each cup' of milk (whole milk tastes best), whipped cream or marshmallows, optional: sprinkle of cinnamon
Heat milk in sauce pan or microwave. When hot, stir/whisk in the Nutella until all is combined. Pour into cups and top with mini-marshmallows or whipped cream.  Optional: Sprinkle with a little cinnamon

Other goodies to add to your hot chocolate bar (best with the standard hot cocoa):

Garnish your cocoa with a candy cane which can double as a stirrer.
Top hot cocoa with whipped cream and:
       cinnamon.
       colored sprinkles
       cherry and chocolate sauce.
Make a "Milky Way" drink by adding caramel topping.
Place chocolate chips in the bottom of a clear glass mug. Add steaming hot milk and stir the melted chocolate.
Drop a scoop of peppermint ice cream into a mug of hot chocolate.
Put two large marshmallows in the bottom of an empty cup and pour hot chocolate on top so that the marshmallows melt. Serve with graham crackers to make s'mores in a cup. 

 

Letter from Betty for December 2016

Hello Friends,

Welcome to December and the busy holiday season. All of us at Foundation for Learning wish you a restorative and festive time with family and friends! 

Most of you will be planning for gift-giving, so we have a new crop of stimulating gift ideas in our feature article for December: "Game and Book Gift Ideas For Your Student."

We also have a month's-worth of happy activity suggestions in our "Fun Stuff To Do: Random Acts of Kindness for December."

As always, please remember that whatever your educational needs, Foundation for Learning is ready to assist you with caring, one-on-one, individualized tutoring, SAT/ACT test prep, and educational evaluations. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at 973-425-1774 for a free consultation.


Best regards,

Betty

Betty Bodenweiser
Director
Foundation for Learning


 

Game and Book Gift Ideas For Your Student



It’s time to start building your holiday gift list so we’ve got some suggested book and game offerings for you, all Parent’s Choice Award winners and all sure to be a hit this holiday.

Tell-A-Tale (Barnyard Edition)
Ages: 3 & Up 

Tell-A-Tale Barnyard Edition is a cooperative storytelling game for children ages 3 and up. The game includes a two piece sturdy wooden base with grooves, a double sided backdrop, 10 prop pieces, 11 character pieces, three wooden dice with pictures of people, critters and things found on a farm, and a die with action words including feed, work, and run. 

The setup is simple: connect the two-part base, choose the sunrise or rainbow side of the backdrop and place it in the groove. Then place at least two of the larger props (barn, tree, tractor, pumpkin) in any groove on the board. The object of the game is clear: players take turns as they work together to tell the best story of all time. The game play is delightful: the roll of the dice prompts the story and the placement of the corresponding game pieces adds dimension and context. The player who rolls first is the one who starts and finishes the story. Or not. There are only a few rules, but the hours of playful learning are many. 

Imhotep
Ages: 10 & Up 

Imhotep, named after the master builder of ancient Egypt, is a fascinating board game for ages 10 and up. Two to four players compete over six rounds to build pyramids, obelisks, a burial chamber, and a temple. In a turn, a player can perform one of four actions: (1) load stones from the quarry to their sled, (2) add a stone to an available ship, (3) move a ship to a game location, or (4) play a collected card. It's extremely well-made, beautifully decorated. A clever feature is the two-sided game board (A and B). Each side offers different game play, but the difficulty level remains the same. 

The game consists of wood blocks (stones) which are off-loaded and used to build structures as follows: PYRAMID - Stones are placed on the next free space on the pyramid square, forming a 3x3 block base, 2x2 block second level and single block top. Points are assigned immediately according to the grid diagrams on the pyramid board. TEMPLE - Stones are placed on the next free space of the five designated squares. Points are earned at the end of each round based on the number of colored stones visible from above. BURIAL CHAMBER - Stones delivered here are placed in the next available space in columns. Points are scored at the end of the game based on the number of contiguous stones of each color represented. OBELISKS - Stones are stacked by color to create individual obelisks. The tallest obelisk at the end of the game earns the most points.

Ships can also sail to the MARKET. Here, players exchange stones for cards that provide immediate benefit or result in higher scores at the end of the game. Players can load ships to score big points at the pyramid, but another player may take the ship to the burial chamber. Sometimes a player must decide whether to compromise her advancement to thwart her opponent's progress. Strategy is in full play. Do I go for the sure thing and take a few points now, or do I take a chance and hope for long term gain?

Tapple® 10 The Flip It, Name It, Word Game!
Ages: 8 & Up 

Tapple 10 is a 10-in-one word-game package, complete with plastic travel case, a sand timer and 80 round, double-sided cards with a large letter on one side and color-coded categories on the other. 

The basic "Tapple 10 Alpha" game starts by drawing a card to show the letter side, then matching the letter's color to a color-coded category on the next card. First player to yell out a word that starts with that letter and fits the category wins that card. So, a red "E" card is drawn and the red category on the next card is "On the Internet." First one to say "email," or "emoji," or another "e" word related to the internet takes that card. Play immediately continues with new card, and so on and so on, until the player who collects 10 cards wins. 

The nine other games are variations. In "Four in a Row," for instance, players take turns lining up four drawn category cards, turning on the timer, flipping a letter card and shouting out words starting with that letter to match the color category on each of the four cards. In "Last Man Standing," cards are stacked with category side up. First player turns a letter card and must shout out a correct word; then the next player must say a different correct word, and on and on, until the player who blanks is out. Games continue with new cards until only one player remains.

You get the idea. Tapple 10 is a bunch of rapid-fire, fun word teasing games that require think-fast skills. Small package; big payoff. 

Wish
Ages: 8 - 12 yrs.
Author: Barbara O’Connor 

Charlie, who despises her real name of Charlemagne, has a dysfunctional family. Her mother is immobilized by depression, and her father is imprisoned. Social Services steps in and ships Charlie off to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with an unknown Aunt Bertha and her husband Gus. Charlie finds herself in a new fifth grade near the end of the school year, living with strangers in a house with a back porch on stilts that hang off the steep side of a mountain. Charlie's defenses against the world consisted of two things - offenses in myriad forms and a ritual of making daily wishes, such as finding pennies or wishing on the first star. 
Charlie falls head over heels for a stray dog named Wishbone, and despite a bumpy start, Charlie and her neighbor Howard become genuine friends. 

Charlie is a likeable, contrary character whose defenses gradually crumble in a believable manner. The author knows her characters, her milieu and her wishes. 

Tupelo Honey
Ages: 12 - 18 yrs. 
Author: Lis Anna Langston

From the delicious title (the spunky 11-year-old narrator was named after Elvis' birthplace) to every last unconventional character and careful detail, Tupelo Honey is a delight. 

Set in rural Mississippi, with a cast of colorful southerners, it stars one pretty dysfunctional family at the center of which is Tupelo Honey. Author Lis Anna-Langston gets into the head of her title girl completely, taking readers on a ride of a sort of haunted but beautiful mess. To paraphrase Tolstoy, it's the unhappy families that are unique -- and by definition, often more interesting. 

Tupelo Honey does not have an easy life, on the surface. Her mother is a drug addict, and mental illness lingers in her grandmother Marmalade's house like a hot humid August cloud. Yet Anna-Langston still fills it with gems. 

It's certainly not a dull life, one full of heartbreaks big and small, but this tough sweet girl pulls it off with aplomb. It's a treat from start to end. 

Langston has written rich, vivid characters, and painted a vibrant mosaic of a year in one young southern girl's life. It's a hard book to put down, and one you won't want to end. 

Oyster War
Ages: 13 & Up 
Author: Ben Towle

Oyster War is Ben Towle's captivating fictional illustration of a real-life saga that began in the mid-19th century and lasted almost 100 years. Shortly after the Civil War, watermen on the Chesapeake Bay discovered a financial treasure trove in their front yard: oysters. For almost three decades, the legal watermen supplied almost half of the oysters in the world, and built a thriving economy from it. Then the pirates came. They dredged and ruined the beds, operated illegally, and the Oyster War began -- violent clashes between midnight marauders and the honest-working townspeople. 

In an effort to boost his popularity, William Cameron, the governor of Virginia at the time, took on the pirates and vowed to shut them down, and that is where Towle's Oyster War begins. It kicks off with the governor assigning a curmudgeonly Commander Bulloch to pull together a unit from a ragtag group of aging and out-of-shape locals that will hopefully put an end to Treacher Fink and his nefarious oyster-looting gang. 

As historically interesting as the story is, Towle's graphic depiction makes it fascinating and lively for today's readers. The aesthetic presentation - from the big, bold beautiful cover, to the quirky characters themselves, right down to each scowl and wayward hair on their chins - is superb. 

The book's panels zoom in and out as the scene demands -- close-ups on emotions, long-shots on action. Towle's subtle touches, such as his strategic use of white and canny changes to size and placement of panels - are sweet on the eyes, and synchronize perfectly with the pace and action of the story. 

A visual and narrative treat from cover to cover. 

Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White
Ages: 7 - 10 yrs. 
Author: Melissa Sweet

Born Elwin Brooks White, the youngest in a large family, E. B. White was called "En" while growing up in a leafy suburb of New York City - with summers spent on a lake in Maine. White described his childhood as "lacking for nothing except confidence." 

While at Cornell, "En's" classmates nicknamed "Andy" after the university's founder, Andrew White; the name served him throughout his personal life, spent both in New York City and, as he greatly preferred, on a farm he and his wife Katherine bought in Maine. However, in his prolific, lauded writings - books for children, articles, and poems - he was known as E. B. White. 

Beautiful in design and in content, author/illustrator Melissa Sweet has carefully composed each double-page spread with collages of her cheerful, sketchy, finely outlined watercolors, and bits and pieces of paper - handwritten letters, sketches, photographs, typed snippets - from the life of a respected and celebrated logophile. 

The Music in George's Head
Ages: 9 - 11 yrs. 
Author: Suzanne Slade

The "George" in the title is George Gershwin, and author Suzanne Slade, whose specialty is smart and engaging non-fiction for young people, relates with tale-spinning verve how the iconic composer's The Rhapsody in Blue came to be. Rooting the creation of the masterwork in Gershwin's sensitivity to the rhythms of bustling New York where he grew up, Slade launches the story with a Gershwin quote-"I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise." It begins with Gershwin's self-guided, childhood introduction to the piano and ends with The Rhapsody in Blue's ground-breaking premiere, a composition fueled by Gershwin's absorption of classical music, the popular music of his time (ragtime, Harlem jazz, and the blues), and the sounds and tempos of the city. Illustrator Stacy Innerst frames and complements the lively tempo of Slade's prose with visually rhythmic hand-lettering and acrylic paintings done in deep blue, white and umber. Slade includes a lively end-of-book description of Gershwin's life that encompasses his collaboration with his lyricist brother, Ira; as well as a timeline of Gershwin's life, and a bibliography of source material. Innerst offers an explanatory note about his use of archival photographs for the book's settings and how he depicted Gershwin's inspirations and influences. 
 

Fun Stuff To Do: Random Acts of Kindness for December



Doing random acts of kindness is a good thing to do anytime of year and making this a project for yourself or your family in the month of December is extra special. After all, who couldn’t use a little extra kindness? Here is a plan that you allows for month-long giving:

December 1 – Make a card for a senior citizen who is living in a nursing home or rehabilitation center. You don’t have to know the person. Just deliver it or mail it to the facility and ask them to give it to someone who could use an extra smile.

December 2 – Anonymously pay for a stranger’s coffee.

December 3 – Create a hug coupon for someone to use when they could use some extra love.

December 4 – Go to the library and slip a happy note such as “Hope you are having a great day!”  into a book for someone to find.

December 5 – Tape change to the front of a vending machine.

December 6 – Pick up litter in your neighborhood.

December 7 – Take supplies to the animal shelter. 

December 8 – Deliver a small Teddy Bear to the children’s wing of your local hospital, and ask the nurse to deliver it to a child that could use the extra love.

December 9 – Offer to help in the kitchen.

December 10 – Do a chore for someone.

December 11 – Leave a treat for your mail carrier.

December 12 – Smile at everyone you see today.

December 13 – Give a compliment to a friend.

December 14 – Bring your teacher a yummy treat.

December 15 – Feed the birds.

December 16 – Tell someone a silly joke to make them laugh.

December 17 – Donate toys to your favorite charity.

December 18 – Let someone go ahead of you in line.

December 19 -  Pass out stickers to kids who are in a check-out line at the store. 

December 20 – Donate food to the local food pantry.

December 21 – Make cookies for a neighbor.

December 22 – Leave candy canes on cars in a parking lot or on your neighbor’s door knobs.

December 23 – Take treats to the fire station or police station.

December 24 – Sing a carol in front of your neighbor’s house or your grandma’s house.

December 25 – Call a faraway friend to say hello.

December 26 – Offer to sit for a friend’s young child to give his or her parents a bit of rest.

December 27 – Leave a bag of popcorn on a DVD rental machine as a special surprise movie-night treat.

December 28 – Hug your mom, your dad, your sibling.

December 29 – Spend some extra time playing with your dog or cat today. A long walk with your dog would be nice. 

December 30 – Call or video chat with a faraway family members to wish them a Happy New Year!

December 31 – Make a special snack for your family to enjoy and suggest a fun movie night at home.

 

 

Letter from Betty for November 2016

Hello Friends,

It's November, and Thanksgiving is on the way! It is not unusual students to come home for the holiday with homework. How can you turn this into a positive experience? We have great ideas for you in our feature article for November, "Homework for the Holidays: Turning a Sore Subject into Success."  

Learn more about the month of November in history from a colorful painting of Parisian nightlife to the Gettysburg Address to the Erie Canal and a great Bruce Springsteen song in our bonus article: "Did You Know? Fun Facts About November."

Also, for you home crafters, make your own holiday decoration in our second bonus article: "Fun Stuff to Do: Log Cabin Place Cards."

As always, please remember that whatever your educational needs, Foundation for Learning is ready to assist you with caring, one-on-one, individualized tutoring, SAT/ACT test prep, and educational evaluations. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at 973-425-1774 for a free consultation.


Best regards,

Betty

Betty Bodenweiser
Director
Foundation for Learning


 

November 2016 Update for Chess Club and Math League



Chess Club
 
Saturdays, 2:30-3:30, November 5, 2016 and November 12, 2016
• Students entering 3rd - 8th grade are welcome to attend.
• Club size limited to 6! 
• Cost: $90


Competitive Math League Lessons

Saturdays (times below), November 5, 2016 to December 3, 2016
(6 sessions-no session Nov. 26) 
Cost: $120 for 6 sessions 

Saturdays (times below), November 5, 2016 to January 28, 2017
(12 sessions, no sessions on Nov. 26 or Dec.24 or 31) 
Cost:$ 200 for 12 sessions

3rd/4th Graders 3:30-4:30
5th/6th Graders 4:30-5:30        
If interested in grades 7-12, see Betty.

• Class size limited to 6!

Students strengthen math skills by working through problems and by preparing for math competitions like Math Kangaroo and American Math Competitions (AMC)!                                      


For more information and to sign up for any or all of these sessions, contact Betty at (973) 425-1774 or Betty@foundationforlearning.com                                                                            
 
Foundation for Learning
914 Mt. Kemble Avenue, Morristown, NJ
 

Homework for the Holidays: Turning a Sore Subject into Success




Homework over the holidays? Ugh! Here are thoughts and ideas that may help. 

The holidays are quickly approaching. The family calendar is filling up with seasonal chores, community activities, holiday prep and what may now seem like a luxurious amount of time off from school to spend with the family. You’ve been yearning for this time since the end of summer when school re-opened. But homework over the break is getting in the way. This is a sore subject for many families. How can a family reconnect and spend precious time together over the holidays if school assignments are looming? And why would a teacher give projects and other homework assignments  when you are ready to dive into the holidays with family? Continue reading to find out:

1- These assignments often offer opportunities to boost grades, allowing for make-up work and extra credit.

2- Having homework over the holidays help teens develop time-management skills which they’ll need to rely on during college.

3- Holiday work may allow the teacher time to catch up if the class is behind in their curriculum because of extra time spent working on other lessons, rather than trying to race through the second half of the year squeezing in the work that needs to be covered before school lets out for the summer.

4- Continuing to keep the brain in school-mode while at home, limits learning regression. New information taken in before the break remains fresh in your child’s mind. 



How can you build homework time into the holiday break without disrupting family time?

1- Make good use of travel time. Is your family traveling to a vacation spot to mark the holidays or traveling to see family? Have your child bring her school materials along and use the time in the car or the wait time in the airport or train station to complete her work. Hidden downtime can be spent completing some, if not all assignments and it  allows for break-time to be spent with friends or relatives on that special day.

2- Get the work done and out of the way, first thing! Don’t allow for procrastination. Encourage your child to jump on her assignment and get it done at the beginning of the break rather than trying to cram it all in just before heading back to school. Get it done and then enjoy the rest of the break.

3- We all have a time of day when we’re most productive. Is your child a late-night person? Morning person? Use that knowledge to schedule time to complete her work.

4- Bear in mind that while you may be busy with our holiday preparation, your child likely has a lot of downtime. Encourage her to use that downtime to complete assignments. Once done, she can be in full holiday-break mode.

Helping your child to understand the reasons why her teachers give homework over break and come up with a plan for getting those assignments done, will help to make your family holiday time more enjoyable, and there’s nothing more special than family over the holidays!  
 
 
 

Did You Know? Fun Facts About November

1- The French painter, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born on November 24, 1864. He is most famous for his very colorful paintings of Parisian nightlife.



2- Australian men have the long standing tradition of growing mustaches in November. And they are not alone in this curious custom. Canada observes No Shave Month and the US designates November as National Beard Month. Curiouser and curiouser! 

3- Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift were both born in November. Are you familiar with their works? You might enjoy Gulliver’s Travels by Swift and The Prince and the Pauper by Twain.

4- In November of 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address, one of the best-known speeches in American history. 



5- Everyone has heard of Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” celebration, but  in Finland, November is marked as “Marraskuu”, which means “Month of the Dead.” Here in the US, November 1st is celebrated as “All Saints Day”, a day to celebrate all saints both known and unknown. People also mark the day to warmly remember deceased friends and family members.

6- On November 18, 1963, the Bell Telephone Company introduced the push button phone. It was quite the new and hip invention of the time and replaced the rotary dial phone in most homes. My, how things have changed!

7- On November 4, 1825, The Erie Canal opened for the first time in New York. The canal crosses east to west and originally ran about 363 miles from Albany, on to the Hudson River, to Buffalo and Lake Erie. In 1905, Thomas Allen wrote a song about the Erie Canal called “Low Bridge”. In recent years, New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen recorded a version of the song and you can hear it here.

 

Fun Stuff to Do: Log Cabin Place Cards

Thanksgiving is coming up this month and a fun activity to do ahead of time is to make cute log cabin place cards for each setting. All you need are popsicle sticks, white glue, card stock and cotton fluff. Look at the photo here and go! It’s easy-peasy!

Another fun activity for Thanksgiving Day is Mad Libs. Pick a “leader” for each game. The leader goes around the table and asks for different words from each guest and uses those words to fill in the blanks in the story. When all the blanks are filled in, the leader reads off the final tale. It’s hilarious! Here’s a Mad Lib to get you started.



 

How to Change Their Minds When Your Children Say They Don't Like to Read



Your Child Says He Doesn’t Like to Read. What’s a Parent to Do?

 Despite our best efforts, there will be children who will try to convince us that they do not like books, and that they dislike reading. What’s a parent to do?

Here are a few ideas:
  • Take a trip to the library or book store with your child and let him choose a few books by himself. 
  • Keep books on hand at home and in the car. Make books available! 
  • Consider graphic novels. This type of book is popular today and the illustrated volumes just might get those juices going!
  • Snuggle up on the couch and read aloud together. 
  • Talk about the book that you are reading together. Ask questions, explain new vocabulary words, develop alternate endings.
  • Consider keeping an audio book in the car so you both can listen to stories while you’re traveling or even just running errands.
  • Let your child see you enjoy reading! Be a role model and let your child see how excited you get when picking out books for yourself!
  • Designate a cold, rainy day as lazy pj day! Keep the TV off, have everyone remain in their pj’s and spend a lazy day with a book or a pile of books and magazines. Even you, Mom and Dad!
  • Create a book nook or comfortable space in your home, set aside just for reading.
How do you create a book nook?

 Any space can be transformed into a cozy spot to curl up with a good book. An awkward corner, a window seat, or an outdoor area can become a comfortable spot for peaceful reading. Even the space under the stairs or an unused top bunk can turn into a reading area!



While designing your space, keep in mind::

To start, you’ll need to plan for comfortable seating and good lighting. Natural streaming (but filtered) sunlight is best, but a nice reading lamp works too. Seating can be a comfy stuffed chair, a cushioned bench or even a stack of fabulous pillows. Anything that your young reader can sink into.

Add shelving or baskets for book storage and maybe a side table to hold a drink, if space allows.
A fun idea is to create a reading cave!

 Remember making a tent out of sheets and blankets when you were a kid? Fun, right? A reading cave will be super inviting for young children. Just drape a bed canopy or lacy white curtains from the ceiling, add a hanging lantern and presto – you’ve got a reading cave! Set it up in the corner of a little used room and leave it for the readers to enjoy.

The only rules here are that the space must be used for reading only, and all electronics (including phones) have to be left outside of the nook.

Do you need recommendations for good books? Find them here and here and here!
Have you tried the above suggestions and your child  continues to show a lack of interest?

 There may be underlying issues that need to be addressed. Your child might have trouble understanding what he is reading because of basic decoding or word recognition issues. Troubles with reading fluency, or the ability to recognize words quickly rather than having to sound them out, may make reading slow and frustrating. Focus and attention issues may be another reason that reading is not the fun activity we hope your child will have. Distractions can effect memory and make it difficult to comprehend what is being read. Or it could be a problem of reading level. If your child is trying to read books too far above his current reading level, introduce books that are more appropriate.

We can help with evaluations to see if there are specific areas that need attention and we can develop different strategies to help your child become an effective and life-long reader. Just give us a call!