Revving up the reading .....

  Do your children really lose their brains during the summer vacation?  I think not.  But you can facilitate their learning by providing them with fun reading material and many opportunities to grow that brain in different directions.

    Find different ways to fire up grey matter.  Do you know book learning is not the only means of
"intelligence learning".  Your child can excel in music, art, dance, photography, athletics and much more.  We tend in the academic world to think that books are the be all and end all of education.  When I was teaching in the classroom I would let my students express their projects through the natural gifts that were inside of them.  Some kids wrote poetry,  some composed and performed a song with their musical skills,  some put on a CD and danced their interpretation.  I found all of these ways of "producing" the end product very creative and inspiring.  The other "book smart" kids did not become the elite ones in the class either.  They came to appreciate the fact that yes indeed they could read and ace the tests but could not dance or sing or write the poems.  This gives every child a chance to use their talents and gifts to express their learning skills.
 
  I heard one story where a little girl in primary school could not sit still and be quiet to learn in her classroom if her life depended on it.  Her teacher was very upset and kept trying to make her focus and calm down.  She finally talked to the parents and said she thought this little girl needed to be medicated to help her be still.  Reluctantly the mother took the girl to her doctor to solve this fidgeting problem.  The doctor examined the girl and then wanted the mom to leave the room with him so he could observe the girl alone for while while they were outside looking through a window.  When he left he switched on the radio so the girl could have some musical accompaniment while they were out of the room.  As soon as the they left the girl jumped to her feet and began to dance.....ah ha said the doctor....that is her problem....she is a dancer....enrol her in dance school.   The mother did what the doctor suggested and the little girl's life changed forever.  She become calm, more focused and able to study better.  The fun part about this true tale is that the little girl grew into an adult and she is the very one who does all the choreography for such Broadway hits as Catz in New York.  Yeah to her!

   If you want smart kids give them opportunities and experiences to make them...

  We all want to raise smart, creative, inspiring kids.  We all need to sew into that learning.  Read on, dance on, paint on, play on.  Whatever your gift is....use it!  Blessings.