Tips on How to Read with Your Child

ATMOSPHERE:
Find a quiet, comfortable place to read.
Keep reading time enjoyable and relaxed.
Choose a time when your child is not tired, hungry, or really eager to do something else.

RESPONDING TO ERRORS:

Give your child wait time of 5 to 10 seconds to see what he can do.

IF YOUR CHILD IS HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE BOOK:

Read it to the child, and talk about it or leave it, and try another story.
Read every second page or chapter to the child then he/she reads a page or chapter to you, then you read one, and so on.

PROVIDE ENCOURAGEMENT:

Accept your child's efforts.
Avoid criticism, threats, and comparisons with other children

COMPREHENSION:

Talk about the story and pictures. This will help your child to gain interest and get more meaning from the story.
Have your child retell all or portions of the story.

DID YOU KNOW?

I got it from the email that my husband's cousin sent us. I just want to share it with you, guys :-). I find it very interesting and can be use in our day to day living. I will definitely try these tips to see if they are really worth following.

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.


Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.


Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!
Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.
It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.
The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose.
Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! .. static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out..
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

IMORTANT INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us
that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit.
You can't see the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free .... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen.. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with
hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!
Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that.
So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all!

That repairman knew what he was talking about!

5 Money-Saving Food Swap

Swap credit for cash. This tip can really save you money better when using cash rather than credit cards. Have you noticed how chinese people uses cash when shopping? Yes, they are saving a lot. Hubby and I started using cash now and use credit cards only during emergency. And the truth is, when you use plastic, you pay more.

Swap brand name products for generic. This is so true! Generic can also sometimes healthier than brnad names products. We have been using generic name products to save money. So next time you’re at the supermarket, look to the lower shelves for lower prices.

Swap soda for sparkling water with a splash of juice. Since hubby and I need to take less sugar on the foods we are eating, we atarted using spatkling water. It is not healthy, but also cheaper and have some selections of flavor to choose from.

Swap ground beef for ground turkey. Another health-conscious as well as economically-savvy switch is ground beef for ground turkey. Ground turkey, on average, costs $1.67 per pound while lean ground beef usually clocks in at over $2.00 a pound; plus it has less carolies and more protein opposite beef.

Swap fresh produce for frozen. Few foods are tastier or healthier than a bowl of fresh fruit or some grilled, fresh veggies with your steak. A common misconception about frozen produce is that it is somehow less good for you. Produce is typically frozen at the peak of ripeness when nutrients are abundant. So, while your frozen carrots may not have the crunch you’d like, they’re still just as good for you—while costing you less.

These tips are very true and works for my famly; and if you are in the moods of saving and at the same time trying to eat healthy foods, follow these simple tips. And I assure you, you will save a lot

7 Holiday Stressbusters

Which holiday activities cause you stress? Spending time with your in-laws? Preparing holiday meals? Making sure all the gifts are wrapped in time? If these tasks leave you feeling overwhelmed, follow these tips to make the season more enjoyable.

1. Be realistic. Existing family problems don't magically go away around the holidays. In fact, the pressure to be together can make them seem worse. It's OK to take a step back or spend time with a friend who can calm you down.
2. Write it down. Make a list of things you need to do, and plan your time so you can take care of several errands on one trip.
3. Prioritize. You don’t have to attend every party. Instead, focus on the events that matter the most to you and your family.
4. Eat right. It's tempting to indulge when you're surrounded by treats. Take the time to eat balanced meals, and keep snacks to a minimum. Not only will it prevent you from overeating; healthy meals will also help you maintain your energy level.
5. Don't drink too much. Excessive drinking can make you feel more anxious. When you're intoxicated, you're also more likely to do or say something you may later regret.
6. Set limits. Figure out your gift-buying budget, and stay within it so you don’t stress out when the credit card bills arrive. Or, better yet, pay in cash.
7. Get a head start. If you’re sending gifts, buy those first—and do it early—to make sure they arrive at their destination on time.

I am definitely become very stress when my in-laws are here with us celebrating or spending holiday with us. And surely these tips will be a great help esp. that we might go spend our Christmas at their place. I do not have any idea why, they are very nice people and treats me like their own daughther, but I stilll feel stress and overwhelmed. I hope to overcome this feeling and feel confident that everything will going to be fine!