If you seriously believe that anything you put on Facebook is private, you’re living on a different planet.  Facebook and any other form of social media communication and even e-mails are not private.  Just ask all those CEOs whose e-mails have been subpoenaed for court cases or the teens who threatened to harm someone at school – their computers were seized.  (Or their cell phones! Watch those text messages.)  You may not be doing anything...

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School is out and summer vacation can be a time when skills slip a little.  If you focus on activities that are fun and fit a more relaxed schedule, you can keep your blossoming readers reading without burn out. Two of the most important things that you can do to keep reading skills sharp during the summer are read to your child and have your child read aloud to you or other family members.  Make...

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 I read an article recently which reported that when given a choice between playing inside or outside, a young boy explained that he chose inside, “because that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”  How sad that videogames have won our kids’ attention over activities in which they interact with other children in an active setting (what used to be called “play”).  Our kids can operate gaming controls like fighter pilots, but they are deficient in...

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My daughter’s teacher recently sent home a note listing some of the things the children will be tested on before the end of the school year.  One of the items was retelling a story that she has read.  Any suggestions for how we can start working at home to make sure that she understands the task?     Your question does not say what grade your child is completing or at what level she is reading....

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If you’ve been out of school for a while, you may have forgotten the definitions of antonym, synonym and homonym.  As children develop their vocabulary and learn to read, an understanding of those terms will be helpful.  I’ve set out the definitions for you below as well as some games that will help your child master these terms and increase and improve their vocabulary.  I often use the term game to stress the importance of...

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