To raise a reader, you dont need to schedule specific times.

Reading skills are built moment by

moment and day to day. Work reading into many easy daily activities.
1. Let your child see you read.
2. hare information from your o!n reading !ith your child.
". Read aloud.
#. Read the ne!spaper as a family.
$. %ncourage intergenerational reading&siblings, grandparents, other relatives.
'. %ncourage intra(generational reading )let your child read to you*.
+. ,s a family, act out favorite scenes from a book.
-. Take books !ith you !herever you go.
.. /ffer books )or time to read* as a re!ard for achievement or chores.
10. 1nvent reading(related 2obs, such as !riting or reading the grocery list.
11. ubscribe to childrens maga3ines.
12. Tell your child stories aloud about your o!n life or your family.
1". 4ake library visits a family routine.
1#. Watch for special bookstore presentations.
1$. Tie movies or television into the books that theyre based on.
1'. 5se car trips as reading fun !ith games like finding licenses from different states.
1+. Try books on tape.
1-. ,llo! pre(readers to 6tell the story7 from pictures.
1.. 8ave children retell favorite stories.
20. 8ave children evaluate stories&favorite character, plot.
21. 9onnect stories to childrens lives.
22. 9reate silly rhymes and poems together.
2". 4ake connections bet!een books of similar topics.
2#. :rovide an inviting environment for reading.
2$. 5se T; sparingly and !isely.
2'. 8ave children find !hat they need on a store directory.
2+. :oint out names of grocery items in the market, street signs on !alks.
2-. When cooking, ask your child to read the ingredients list or the recipe.
2.. 1n a restaurant, have your child read the childrens menu aloud.
"0. 5se cereal or pasta letters to spell out !ords during meals.
"1. Rela< and have fun !ith your children and books=
hort essay on %nvironmental :ollution
%nvironmental pollution is the biggest menace to the human race on this planet today. 1t means
adding impurity to environment. The environment consists of earth, !ater, air, plants and
animals. 1f !e pollute them, then the e<istence of man and nature !ill be hampered.
1t is true that trees are being cut do!n rapidly. /ur earth is becoming !armer. 1f pollution
continues, the day is not far !hen our earth !ill be a boiling pan and become a desert. /r it !ill
be covered !ith sea !ater causing destruction of mankind.
:ure air is al!ays needed for inhaling. 1f !e take pure air, our health improves. /n the other
hand impure air causes diseases and impairs our health and causes our death. moke pollutes
the air. 1t is the root of air pollution. The smoke !hich is discharged from industries, automobiles
and kitchens is the mi<ture of carbon mono<ide, carbon dio<ide, methane etc. These are all
poisonous gases. These cause lung(cancer, tuberculosis etc. !hich take a heavy toll of life. The
glaring incident is the >hopal gas leak in ?ecember 1.-#. Thousands of the residents of >hopal
died due to lungs problem !hich !as caused by methylamine gas from the 5nion 9arbide :lant.
The garbage emitting foul smell, the decaying plants and animals also cause air pollution.
8ence the doctors advise the patients having lungs trouble to settle in some rural places
because the air of villages is pure and free from population.
Then comes sound pollution. The harsh sounds of buses, its, mopeds etc. affect our po!er of
hearing and causes fart trouble. 1t has been reported that there are t!o villages named
>iraspalli and ?evadas :alli near ?um ?um airport m 9alcutta !here a large number of people
have lost their po!er of hearing. This is because of the fre@uent sounds of planes coming in and
going out of ?um ?um ,irport. The evils of sound pollution can be imagined from this e<ample.
The !ater of rivers and seas is being constantly polluted all over the !orld by various
dangerous chemical and biological !astes. 4ills and factories discharge very harmful !aste
!aters into many rivers and sea. The !ater of the Aanges flo!ing by the side of both ;aranashi
and 9alcutta is e<tremely polluted and contains all sorts of dangerous bacteria. 1t is really very
strange and laughable that large number of the 1ndians regard this !ater as holy. They even
drink this !ater for salvation. There is no doubt that the fish that gro! in such !aters are
poisonous too.
Reckless application of chemical fertili3ers, insecticides and pesticides pollutes the soil.
;egetables and fruits are @uite in2urious today, because they contain the poison of insecticides
and pesticides.
1f the air !e breathe, the !ater !e drink and the soil !hich produces our crops, vegetables and
fruits, all become more and more impure, then our chances of good health and longevity !ill be
very less and less. %nvironment pollution is a serious menace to our e<istence. Realising the
danger, !e must plant trees in large number to absorb impure air. 1mpure !ater from industries
can be sent back for purification and then it can be used for irrigation purpose. /ur government
is !ell a!are of the fact and is taking steps to save environment from pollution. We have also 1
minister to look after the environment.
Bine of the >est Ways to >oost 9reative Thinking
When it comes to creativity, one of our biggest concerns is usually ho! !e can be more
creative, or ho! to come up !ith better ideas. Research in this area is all over the place, but 1Cve
gathered some of the most practical studies out there to help you utili3e specific techni@ues that
can boost your creativity.
,ll of these studies are useful for everyday creativity in daily life, so try a fe! out for yourself and
see !hich ones !ork best for you.
Restrict Dourself
The research sho!s an insidious problem that many people have is that they !ill often take the
path of Eleast mental resistance,E building on ideas they already have or trying to use every
resource at hand. The thing is, the research also suggests that placing self(imposed limitations
can boost creativity because it forces even creative people to !ork outside of their comfort
3ones )!hich they still have, even if they are a bit E!eirderE than most*.
/ne of the most famous e<amples is !hen ?r. euss produced Areen %ggs F 8am after a bet
!here he !as challenged by his editor to produce an entire book in under $0 different !ords.
1Cm no ?r. euss, but 1Cve found )and 1Cm sure other !riters can relate* that !hen 1Cm suddenly
restricted to !riting something in $00 !ords !hen 1 had planned to !rite it in -00 !ords, it can
lead to some pretty creative !orkarounds.
Try limiting your !ork in some !ay and you may see the benefits of your brain coming up !ith
creative solutions to finish a pro2ect around the parameters youCve set.
Bine of the >est Ways to >oost 9reative Thinking%<pand
Re(9onceptuali3e the :roblem
/ne thing that researchers have noticed !ith especially creative people is that they tend to re(
conceptuali3e the problem more often than their less creative counterparts. That means, instead
of thinking of a cut(and(dry end goal to certain situations, they sit back and e<amine the problem
in different !ays before beginning to !ork.
8ereCs a candid e<ample&as a !riter !ho handles content strategy for startups, my Ecookie
cutterE end goal is something like E!rite popular articles.E The problem is, if 1 approach an article
!ith the mindset of, EWhat can 1 !rite that !ill get a lot of t!eetsGE, 1 !onCt come up !ith
something very good. 8o!ever, if 1 step back and e<amine the problem from another angle,
such asH EWhat sort of articles really resonate !ith people and capture their interestGE, 1Cm
focusing on a far better fundamental part of the problem, and 1Cll achieve my other goals by
coming up !ith something more original.
o, if you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems )EWhat !ould be something
cool to paintGE*, try to re(conceptuali3e the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle
)EWhat sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that !e all encounter after a break(upGE*.
9reate :sychological ?istance
While itCs long been kno!n that abstaining from a task is useful for breaking through a creative
block, it also seems that creating EpsychologicalE distance may also be useful. ub2ects in this
study !ere able to solve t!ice as many insight problems !hen asked to think about the source
of the task as distant, rather than it being close in pro<imity.
Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current
positionIlocation. ,ccording to this research, this may make the problem more accessible and
can encourage higher level thinking.
?aydreamJ and Then Aet >ack to Work=
,lthough study after study confirms that daydreaming and napping can help !ith the creative
thought process, there is one piece of research that everybody seems to leave out.
/ne study in particular sho!s that the less !ork youCve done on a problem, the less
daydreaming !ill help you. That is, daydreaming and incubation are most effective on a pro2ect
youCve already invested a lot of creative effort into. o before you try to use naps and
daydreams as an e<cuse for not !orking, be honest !ith yourself and donCt forget to hustle first=
Bine of the >est Ways to >oost 9reative Thinking%<pand
%mbrace omething ,bsurd
Research suggests that readingIe<periencing something absurd or surreal can help boost
pattern recognition and creative thinking. )ub2ects in the study read Kran3 Lafka, but even
stories like ,lice in Wonderland have been suggested by psychologists.*
The conclusion !as that the mind is al!ays seeking to make sense of the things that it sees,
and surrealIabsurd art puts the mind in EoverdriveE for a short period !hile it tries to !ork out
2ust e<actly !hat it is looking at or reading. 1 like reading interesting short stories like The Last
Muestion or bro!sing absurdist art at places like rI8eavy4ind !hen 1Cm looking for some
inspiration.
eparate Work from 9onsumption
,lso kno!n as the Eabsorb state,E this techni@ue has been sho!n to help !ith the incubation
process and is far more effective than trying to combine !ork !ith creative thinking. 1t makes
sense too&!e are often in t!o very different states of mind !hen absorbing an activity and
!hen !e are trying to create something.
1Cve found that my !riting breaks do!n !hen 1 try to handle research N !riting at the same time,
and 1Cm much better off !hen 1 2ust turn off my E!ork modeE and consume more inspiration in the
form of reading, !atching, and observing.
9reate ?uring a :o!erful 4ood
Kor a long time, the research has pointed to happiness as being the ideal state to create in.
Recently though, a relatively ne! study )200+* on creativity in the !orkplace made this bold
conclusionH 9reativity increased !hen both positive and negative emotions !ere running high.
The implication seems to be that !hile certain negative moods can be creativity killers, they
arenCt as universal as positive moods )2oy, being e<cited, love, etc* in that sometimes they may
spur creative thinking rather than hinder it. 1 donCt !ant you to put yourself in a bad mood to
create something, but ne<t time youCre in a strong emotional state, try to sit do!n and focus that
energy on creating something, the end result could be !orth!hile.
Bine of the >est Ways to >oost 9reative Thinking%<pand
Aet 4oving
1s there any !onder that Oe<ercising moreE is one of the most desired good habits in the entire
!orldG ome research even suggests that e<ercise can actually boost creative thinking as !ell,
due to itCs ability to get the heart pumping and put people in a positive mood. 1tCs similar to ho!
other research sho!s that thinking about love can produce more creative thoughtsP itCs not
necessarily the act, itCs the change in mood.
1f youCre stuck in a creative rut and !ant to take a break, try including e<ercise !hile your brain
is subconsciously at !ork, it may help to speed up your E,ha=E moment.
,sk, EWhat 4ight 8ave >eenGE
,ccording to the research surrounding the process of counterfactual thinking, looking at a
situation that has already occurred and asking yourself, EWhat could have happenedGE can
boost creativity for short periods of time.
,ccording to an analysis by Qeremy ?eanH
,nalytical problems are best tackled !ith a subtractive mind(setH thinking about !hat could
have been taken a!ay from the situation.
%<pansive problems benefited most from an additive counterfactual mind(setH thinking about
!hat could have been added to the situation.
Time management: Tips to reduce stress and
improve productivity
Effective time management is a primary means to a less
stressful life. These practices can help you reduce your stress
and reclaim your personal life.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the number and complexity of projects that need to be
completed at work each day? As the day flies by, do you often feel as if you havent paid enou!h
attention to each task because other tasks keep landin! on your desk, co"workers interrupt you
with #uestions or you cant !et it all or!ani$ed?
%ou probably know that mana!in! your time effectively will help you !et more done each day&
But it has important health benefits, too& By mana!in! your time more wisely, you can minimi$e
stress and improve your #uality of life&
But how do you !et back on track when or!ani$ational skills dont come naturally? 'o !et
started, choose one of these strate!ies, try it for two to four weeks and see if it helps& (f it does,
consider addin! another one& (f not, try a different one&
Plan each day. )lannin! your day can help you accomplish more and feel more in
control of your life& *rite a to"do list, puttin! the most important tasks at the top& +eep a
schedule of your daily activities to minimi$e conflicts and last"minute rushes&
Prioritize your tasks. 'ime"consumin! but relatively unimportant tasks can consume a
lot of your day& )rioriti$in! tasks will ensure that you spend your time and ener!y on
those that are truly important to you&
Say no to nonessential tasks. Consider your !oals and schedule before a!reein! to take
on additional work&
Delegate. 'ake a look at your to"do list and consider what you can pass on to someone
else&
Take the time you need to do a quality jo. Doin! work ri!ht the first time may take
more time upfront, but errors usually result in time spent makin! corrections, which takes
more time overall&
!reak large" time#consuming tasks into smaller tasks. *ork on them a few minutes at
a time until you !et them all done&
Practice the $%#minute rule. *ork on a dreaded task for ,- minutes each day& .nce you
!et started, you may find you can finish it&
Evaluate ho& you're spending your time. +eep a diary of everythin! you do for three
days to determine how youre spendin! your time& /ook for time that can be used more
wisely& 0or example, could you take a bus or train to work and use the commute to catch
up on readin!? (f so, you could free up some time to exercise or spend with family or
friends&
(imit distractions. Block out time on your calendar for bi! projects& Durin! that time,
close your door and turn off your phone, pa!er and email&
)et plenty of sleep" eat a healthy diet and e*ercise regularly. A healthy lifestyle can
improve your focus and concentration, which will help improve your efficiency so that
you can complete your work in less time&
Take a time management course. (f your employer offers continuin! education, take a
time mana!ement class& (f your workplace doesnt have one, find out if a local
community colle!e, university or community education pro!ram does&
Take a reak &hen needed. 'oo much stress can derail your attempts at !ettin!
or!ani$ed& *hen you need a break, take one& 'ake a walk& Do some #uick stretches at
your workstation& 'ake a day of vacation to rest and re"ener!i$e
+sk for professional help
(f youre too fra$$led to think about tryin! any of these tips, its time to ask for help& Does your
life feel totally out of control? (f so, contact your employee assistance pro!ram 12A)3 at your
workplace for assistance, or discuss your situation with your doctor&
!enefits of (earning a Second (anguage
4ample )a!e
5ncate!ori$ed 6 7 comments
,,
Apr ,8
+ ,ase for Emphasizing Secondary (anguage Education in
the -nited States
(n an increasin!ly !lobali$ed world, where technolo!y is increasin!ly makin!
communication faster and more efficient, it becomes even more pressin! for citi$ens to be
competent in other lan!ua!es& %et the 5nited 4tates remains the only industriali$ed country that
allows students to !raduate from hi!h school without credits in a forei!n lan!ua!e& By the time
most students be!in a second lan!ua!e in middle school at the a!e of ,9, it is often too late for
them to become truly proficient in another lan!ua!e& .n top of that, only ,- states re#uire some
type of second lan!ua!e credits to !raduate from hi!h school whereas in many 2uropean
countries children be!in to learn a second lan!ua!e from :"; years old, or in some cases 8 years
old& 'his stark difference in the a!e of when a lan!ua!e is tau!ht may account for the fact that in
the 5nited 4tates about ;< of the population is multilin!ual, whereas in 2urope =7&>< of the
population is multilin!ual 1*orld /an!ua!es and Cultures3& ( believe there needs to be an
incorporation of a stron!er forei!n lan!ua!e pro!ram in the 5nited 4tates education system
because learnin! a second lan!ua!e is and will continue to become increasin!ly important in our
connected world& (n total, the 5nited 4tates would benefit from emphasi$in! learnin! forei!n
lan!ua!e throu!h economic and job possibilities, creatin! cosmopolitan citi$ens, and providin!
co!nitive and personal benefits to the individual&
(n our !lobali$ed world, it has become even more essential in the job market to know another
lan!ua!e& Companies and businesses have a natural desire to expand their existin! networks&
?avin! fluency in another lan!ua!e !ives an ed!e on any resume by showin! employers
potential to converse with an entirely different !roup of people& 2mployers would be more apt to
send a prospective employee abroad if he or she shows proficiency in another lan!ua!e& An
experience abroad has the ability to enhance careers, often leadin! to promotions and valuable
skills dealin! with forei!n customers& 'ravelin! to another country for a job not only allows for
tremendous opportunities for oneself, but also allows a company to broaden its network& %et
businesses are not the only types of employment where learnin! another lan!ua!e would be
beneficial& 2ducators will often have students from many different lan!ua!e back!rounds,
scientists will need to converse with others in their field from different countries, and those in the
entertainment industry can open un their career aspects tenfold if they can effectively learn a
second lan!ua!e& 4pecifically, in jobs dealin! with marketin!, sales, or technical support,
knowin! a second lan!ua!e can add between ,-< and ,=< to your wa!e 1?a$lehurst, 7-,-3&
Moreover, learnin! a second lan!ua!e allows students to explore and better understand another
culture& 'he overwhelmin! access to networks of communities all over the world is cut short
without a back!round in the lan!ua!e of the culture itself& /earnin! a forei!n lan!ua!e allows us
to better understand a culture by providin! a way to interact with locals and break the initial
lan!ua!e barrier that holds two people back from fully en!a!in! with each other& 'he benefits of
havin! more culturally aware students are numerous, and the effects are immeasurable& /earnin!
a second lan!ua!e allows cross"cultural communication, and opens the door to an entire network
of people that a person mi!ht not have had contact with before& (t allows for an exchan!e for
cultural norms and practices, furtherin! one@s education in respect to life different than their
own& (t is important to have cosmopolitan citi$ens, especially in the 5nited 4tates, in order to
create a true meltin! pot society& *hen travelin! to forei!n countries, knowin! or attemptin! to
learn the local lan!ua!e shows a respect towards another culture&
(n addition to the benefits economically and culturally, there is an apt amount of research
showin! the exponential co!nitive and personal benefits of learnin! another lan!ua!e& *ithin the
standardi$ed test culture, it was found that 2lementary students who studied a forei!n lan!ua!e
scored hi!her on tests in readin!, math, and lan!ua!e arts& 'his fact alone should motivate
proponents of Ao Child /eft Behind, and similar test enthusiasts, to further fund secondary
lan!ua!es in earlier years of education& 0urthermore, people who have learned a forei!n
lan!ua!e show !reater co!nitive development in mental flexibility, creativity, problem"solvin!,
conceptuali$in!, and reasonin! 1Co!nitive Benefits of /earnin! a 4econd /an!ua!e3& Be#uirin!
students to learn a second lan!ua!e at an earlier a!e will allow many of these skills, skills that
are often ne!lected, to be emphasi$ed in our education system& (n my experience, learnin! a
second lan!ua!e re#uires an entirely different way of learnin! that fosters creativity in the
classroom& 0or example, learnin! a second lan!ua!e involves activities such as writin! short
stories, talkin! with classmates, watchin! movies from another culture, and interactin! in !ames&
/earnin! a second lan!ua!e can be done throu!h many different avenues as opposed to math,
which must be done in procedures, workin! out a problem& 'his freedom to learn in a variety of
ways creates an environment in a classroom that teaches multiple ways of learnin! and skills&
.nce a lan!ua!e is ac#uired, many personal benefits become clear& (n comparison to
monolin!uals, forei!n lan!ua!e learners have been shown to have sharper memories and better
listenin! skills 1'he Benefits of 4econd /an!ua!e 4tudy 7-->3& .verall, learnin! an additional
lan!ua!e can si!nificantly improve co!nitive abilities and brin! added personal benefits&
All of the research and data points to the continued benefits of learnin! a second lan!ua!e, which
( have seen personally reinforced in my experience with other lan!ua!es& Durin! my junior year,
( spent time abroad teachin! 2n!lish to students in 4pain at an 2n!lish (mmersion camp called
)ueblo (n!les& Durin! my time there, ( saw the numerous examples of the advanta!es of
knowin! a second lan!ua!e& A couple of the students at the camp knew multiple lan!ua!es, and
it was much easier for them to pick up 2n!lish& 'heir pervious knowled!e of a variety of
lan!ua!es showed in their abilities to understand new !rammar concepts and vocabulary as they
were much more used to these co!nitive processes& 0or students learnin! 2n!lish as their second
lan!ua!e, the process was much more difficult as the concepts of a new lan!ua!e weren@t as
easily understood and they stru!!led with the new structure& Beflectin! on these differences, it
was evident that knowin! another lan!ua!e provided advanta!es in further learnin!&
Additionally, ( help tutor 2n!lish lan!ua!e learners at )enn 4tate 5niversity to help with their
conversational fluency, alon! with their !rammar concepts& .ne of the many thin!s ( have found
while workin! with these international students, is that many of them find it easier to immerse
themselves and learn more about the culture in the 5nited 4tates with a better understandin! of
2n!lish& .ne of the !raduate students ( work with has found that learnin! and improvin! her
2n!lish has made her more confident in speakin! to students here& (t has allowed her to branch
out and become immersed in the culture& /earnin! a second lan!ua!e provides uni#ue
opportunities to understand and immerse oneself another culture, that couldn@t be done
otherwise&
(t becomes even more clear to me the benefits of a second lan!ua!e when considerin! the
influence learnin! a second lan!ua!e has had on me& ( be!an learnin! 4panish durin! middle
school, which was noticeably a disadvanta!e seein! how much easier it would have been to
ac#uire the lan!ua!e at a youn!er a!e& Be!ardless, 4panish has come to offer me a whole new
array of possibilities for the future& *hen workin! for a local restaurant, ( was noticeably better
at my job then other waiters because ( could communicate with my 4panish"speakin! co"
workers& My effectiveness as waitress and co"worker was increased, and eventually led to my
pay raise& Additionally, internships abroad are now options for me, that wouldn@t be possible
without my back!round in 4panish& ( am currently able to travel to Costa Bica to teach 2n!lish,
in part because of my fluency in another lan!ua!e&
(n such an interconnected world, it can only be a disadvanta!e not to learn a second lan!ua!e& (n
the aspect of employment, a second lan!ua!e allows for new opportunities, experiences, and an
ed!e when applyin! for jobs& Additionally, a second lan!ua!e allows for citi$ens to become
more culturally aware, reapin! benefits in terms of more cosmopolitan citi$enship& Moreover,
learnin! a second lan!ua!e can benefit a person in various co!nitive aspects and improve ones
life& (@ve personally seen and experienced the many benefits of learnin! a second lan!ua!e, and
continue to find the employment, citi$enship, and co!nitive benefits to be numerous& (n total, (
believe that learnin! a second lan!ua!e should be more emphasi$ed in the 5nited 4tates
education system&