by Leilani

Winter break is right around the corner!  Most students will be on vacation for two weeks.  Two weeks of non-educational activity can undo all of the great work and study habits that the students have formed.  Here are some fun ways to keep your child motivated:

Different learners respond best to specific methods of studying and research. Depending on the learning style—visual, auditory, and tactile—it may not be surprising that we’re geared towards a particular structure or practice. While many of us invoke all three learning styles, we may also privilege, however tacitly, one over the others. Below are some strategies that will benefit all learners and learning styles.

1. Let your child choose what s/he wants to read.

There’s so much assigned reading that taking a break from it may be the kind of respite your child needs to enjoy the act of reading. You may not always approve of the books/magazines s/he chooses, but at least your child is enjoying the process at her/his leisure.

2. Subscribe to magazines that appeal to your child.

1. Read with your child.

1. Italicizing titles—You must italicize titles of books, plays, films, online databases, operas and other long musical compositions, works of visual art, pamphlets, periodicals, web sites, record albums, CDs, audiocassettes, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft: e.g., Hamlet (play); Moll Flanders (novel); PMLA (journal)

1. Sign up for Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day”!

http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/

This is an easy way to increase your vocabulary on a daily basis. Once you sign up, you will receive a new word every day via email. Along with the definition(s), Merriam-Webster provides examples and interesting facts relating to the word, as well as the etymology.

2. Read every day.

1. Skip to the end of the book!

Use the index, bibliography, and works cited pages to help you find other sources. Writers refer to seminal texts pertinent to their field(s) of study, and an easy way to find out what’s important to your area of study is to look at the works and writers the author references.

2. Scan the table of contents. 

By Leilani 

1. Words, Words, Words, and More Words!

“Use it, or lose it!”

Colleges and universities stress the importance of sophisticated language and rhetoric in their students’ writing and speech, and students are feeling the pressure of such expectations well before they even set eyes on a college application. As students start studying for the PSAT/SAT/ACT exams, they oftentimes feel bombarded with words, words, words, and more words, and the depository of vocabulary they have suddenly feels inadequate.