| How to Start an Online Book Group Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:00 PM PDT Even though there are many online book clubs on the Internet, you can start your own online book club. The best thing about starting your own is that you can design it to reflect your particular reading interests and your own style. It's a very satisfying experience, but you have to be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to your pursuit. You won't just be a participant, you will be setting the stage for others to join your reading community and contribute to the discussion of books. The steps below outline how you can get your own online book club started. - Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Before you even think about the first book you want to offer for discussion, take some time to peruse existing online book clubs and check out what kind of software they are using. You don't have to be a software engineer in order to create a website.
- Think about how you would like the discussions to flow. You might want to use a message board system, an email system or a blog. There are advantages and disadvantage to each option, and your choice should reflect the amount of time you have to devote to interaction. Again, look at a variety of online book club websites and think about which type of discussion forum appeals to you.
- Make your website inviting. Like it or not, first impressions still count. People see the graphics before they start to read the content. Experiment with colors and different fonts. Ask your family and close friends to look at your website, and ask them to navigate through it before it goes live. Listen to the feedback and work on making your online book group site an enticing stop for book lovers.
- Start with what you know. Make your first book choice one that you are passionate about. Be prepared to keep the discussion going. If you can't think of a list of questions, check out some reading group guides on the Internet. Here are some standard discussion questions you might want to use:
- What do you think of the book's title? How deep into the book did you get before you understood the relevance of the title? Did the title reflect the main themes of the book?
- What are the key characteristics of the protagonist? How did the personality and life experience of the protagonist shape the direction of the novel?
- Did the action in the novel parallel important events in history?
- Did reading the book evoke any strong emotion in you? Did you cry? Did you laugh? Why? Was there one event in the novel that resonated with you deeply?
- Offer more to your readers than a book discussion. Do some research on the author or the setting in the book. Add links to book reviews, positive and negative, and ask your members to comment on those reviews.
- Keep it fresh. It takes time to build up a membership, and your members will grow if you keep the content fresh and interesting. Keep all discussions active. Ideally, you will want to check in with your website multiple times during each day. Always provide new information so that your site doesn't appear to be stagnant.
- Market your new online group. Ask your family and friends to drop in and join in the discussion. Invite all your Facebook friends and all of your email contacts. Print your own business cards with the name of your website; ask the local book stores, coffee shops and libraries if you may leave your cards there.
- Make people feel welcome. You can do this by following up on every comment so that your visitors don't feel like they are being ignored. It's up to you to keep the conversation flowing.
- Find the website of a book's publisher; there you will find information about the author, and often the publisher will provide reading guides for some of their books.
- Potential members of your online book club may be more likely to join if you offer a free monthly newsletter via email. The newsletter doesn't have to be lengthy, but it should be provocative enough to entice members to revisit the site. Provide a link to your website in the body of the email to make it even easier for them to reconnect to the site and join in discussions.
- Write to authors and invite them to participate in a discussion about their book. First time authors might be particularly amenable to the idea, it is a way for them to connect with their readers.
[Edit]Warnings - While it is important for you to gather some demographic information, including the email addresses of your members, be sure to make it easy for them. Make joining your online club an easy and painless process.
- Be sure your website is secure and let potential members know why the site is secure.
[Edit]References |
| How to Keep Clothes Smelling Fresh Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT It's frustrating to wash your clothes, dry them, and find that they smell. For clothes that stay fresh smelling even days after you've washed them, make a few simple changes to your laundry routine. Start by removing odors from your clothes and dry them immediately after washing so they don't develop a mildew smell. Improve ventilation in your closet and place odor-absorbing items in your dresser drawers, suitcase, or closet. [Edit]Scenting Your Clothes - Place 5 drops of essential oil on a cloth and add it to your dryer. Take a clean cloth or rag and add about 5 drops of essential oil to it. Then, place the cloth in your dryer along with a load of clean, wet clothes and run a drying cycle. The essential oil adds a very light scent to the clothes.[1]
- Try your favorite essential oil, such as lavender, orange, rosemary, or geranium.
- Tuck scented dryer sheets in your suitcase or dresser draws. Whether you're storing clothes for a few days or for a whole season, adding a new dryer sheet can keep them smelling fresh. Keep the dryer sheet with the clothes until you can no longer smell it and then replace it.[2]
- If you don't want to use dryer sheets, wrap a dry bar of scented soap in tissue paper and place it in your clothes drawer or suitcase.
- Spray cotton balls with perfume and place them in your closet or drawer. Spritz a few large cotton balls with your favorite perfume or place about 5 drops of an essential oil on each cotton ball. Put them in a bowl and place them in your closet or scatter the cotton balls in your dresser drawers.[3]
- You can also place these in your suitcase if you're packing your clothes.
- Tuck a potpourri or lavender sachet in your drawers or suitcase. If you're storing your clothes in a dresser drawer or packing them for a trip, place a small linen sachet filled with dried lavender or your favorite potpourri to add a light scent. To add a light fragrance to your closet, hang the sachet from a hanger.[4]
- You could also place cedar shavings or mothballs in the sachet to protect your clothes from moth damage. Purchase scented mothballs to cover their unpleasant odor.
- Spritz linen spray over clothes to refresh them. To make your own linen spray, fill a clean spray bottle with of water, of rubbing alcohol, and of an essential oil. Screw the lid on and shake the mixture before spraying it lightly over your clothes. For a fresh scent, use any of these essential oils:[5]
- Lavender
- Lemon
- Geranium
- Rose
- Fir or cypress
[Edit]Absorbing Musty Smells - Spray vinegar or vodka on your clothes to neutralize odors. Remove odors by filling a spray bottle with white vinegar or cheap vodka. Then, spritz clothes that need deodorizing. As the vinegar or vodka dries, it will remove smells and will dry odorless.[6]
- Place a bowl of dried coffee grounds in your closet to absorb smells. Coffee is well known for its ability to neutralize odors and strong scents. Take a batch of brewed coffee grounds and spread them on a baking sheet. Let them dry completely and then place them in a bowl. Put the bowl somewhere in your closet so it can absorb lingering smells.[7]
- You could also place whole or freshly ground coffee beans in the closet to absorb odor.
- If you'd like to use coffee grounds in your dresser drawers, fill a linen sachet with the dried grounds. Then, place the sachet in your dresser.
- Use cedar throughout the closet to absorb moisture and odors. Buy cedar hangars, cedar clothes hampers, or sachets filled with cedar shavings and place them in your closet. Cedar naturally repels moths and absorbs moisture from humid spaces.[8]
- You could also place a bowl full of cedar chips in your closet.
- Place an open box of baking soda in the closet to absorb smells. Baking soda is a natural odor absorber so open a fresh box of baking soda and put it on the top shelf or floor of your closet. If the carpet in your closet is smelly, sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for up to 24 hours before vacuuming it up.[9]
- Replace the box of baking soda every 1 to 2 months.
[Edit]Destroying and Preventing Odors - Wash musty or mildewy clothes with vinegar to remove odors. Run a standard washing cycle using of white vinegar instead of laundry detergent. Use the hottest water that you can with your specific clothes. Then, run another cycle using laundry detergent and 1 cup (180 g) of baking soda.[10]
- The vinegar and baking soda kill different strains of mold, which is why it's important to use both.
- Transfer wet clothes to the dryer immediately to prevent mildew smell. If you leave wet clothes in your machine for even a few hours, mold could begin to grow. This makes your clothes and machine begin to smell like mildew. Instead, put the wet clothes into the dryer as soon as the machine stops.[11]
- If you forget your clothes in the machine and they sat for more than 4 hours, wash them again with vinegar and hot water to remove the smell.
- Hang dry your clothes for a natural fresh scent. One of the easiest ways to make your clothes fresh smelling is also one of the cheapest. Instead of tossing the clothes in the dryer with fabric sheets, hang the clothes outside on a clothesline. The fresh air will dry the clothes and the sunlight can even disinfect them.[12]
- Although it may take longer for the clothes to dry, you can hang dry the clothes in winter or on cloudy days.
- Open your closet door to get air circulating between your clothes. If your closet is in a room that has high humidity, keeping the door closed can trap moisture and create an unpleasant smell. Try to keep your closet door open during the day or overnight to encourage air circulation.[13]
- If you're packing clothes in a suitcase or have clothes stored in dresser drawers, place a few silica packets in with the clothes to absorb moisture. You can buy silica packets online.
- Never toss wet towels or clothes on the ground in your room or closet. These can cause mildew to grow on your carpet.
[Edit]Warnings - Limit or avoid using scented laundry products to protect your indoor air quality, since scented products have been linked to indoor air pollution.[14]
[Edit]References |
| How to Teach Math for Kindergarten Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:00 AM PDT Teaching math to kindergarteners is all about introducing the basics and making math fun so they will want to keep practicing and progressing. Start by helping the child to recognize numbers using grouped objects and teaching them how the numbers progress with counting activities. Then, help them to understand the basics of addition, subtraction, and geometry with simple equations and shape activities. There are also several general strategies that may help your kindergartener learn math, such as reading books, playing games, and using manipulatives. [Edit]Recognizing Numbers and Counting - Group and move objects together to demonstrate numbers. To do this with your kindergartener, make dots on a piece of paper or place physical objects into groups, such as checkers, pennies, or blocks. Create different number groups in a sequence, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Then, look at the groups with your kindergarteners and ask them how many are in each group. Help them figure out the number in each group by counting them yourself and saying the number.[1]
- Once a child can look at a group of up to 3 objects or images and immediately recognize the number without counting them, they have mastered this concept.
- Practice writing numbers on a piece of paper or whiteboard. Any time you draw dots on a piece of paper and ask your kindergartener to tell you how many are there, write the number next to the dots. Then, have your kindergartener copy the number you just wrote and say what it is again. Once they learn all of the numbers, ask them to start writing them next to groups of dots.[2]
- You can also get pre-made worksheets that have numbers your kindergartener can trace for practice.
- Count out loud when you touch or point to different objects. Do this as you go about your day, such as while grocery shopping, cooking, or folding laundry. Also, encourage your kindergartener to count any objects that they encounter. For example, give them a pile of toys and ask them to count them out loud, or ask them to tell you how many eggs are left in the carton.[3]
- You can also show the progression of numbers in everyday objects, such as by pointing out the date on a calendar.
- The child is ready to progress in math once they understand how to count objects in a progressive fashion, such as "One, two, three, four, etc."
- Compare everyday objects using words like less, more, and same. Comparisons will help your kindergartener understand the progression of numbers, so start using these words often when you show them different groups of numbers. Say things like, "This group of dots has 1 more than that group," or "This pile of pencils has 1 less than that group," or "These 2 piles of apples have the same amount." Then, ask your kindergartener to tell you how many are in each pile.[4]
- Once your kindergartner can say how many more or less a group of objects has compared to another group, they have mastered this concept.
- Increase the difficulty when your kindergartener is ready by asking them which group has 2, 3, 4, or 5 more than another group. You can also repeat this exercise when you progress to teen numbers.
- Start with small numbers, such as 1, 2, and 3, 4, and 5. Progress to working with larger numbers only after the child has grasped basic concepts using small numbers. Use small number groups of objects, write smaller numbers for practice first, and count out loud to 5 with kindergarteners to start. Don't teach teen numbers, such as 10, 11, 12, 13, etc., until your kindergartener has mastered numbers 1-9.[5]
[Edit]Adding, Subtracting, and Measuring - Tell a story about addition or subtraction. Stories will help to keep your kindergartener's attention and make understanding addition and subtraction easier. [6] Incorporate the child's name and things that interest them into these stories whenever possible to help get their attention.[7]
- For example, you might say something like, "If Lucy has 2 pieces of candy, and Erik gives her 1 more, how many pieces of candy does Lucy have?"
- Write out all the different ways of representing a number. While kindergarteners don't need to know how to solve equations at this point, you can start to introduce the concept of equations. Write out all the ways of representing a number through adding other numbers together.[8]
- For example, to represent the number 4, you could write, "0+4=4, 1+3=4, 2+2=4, 3+1=4, and 4+0=4."
- Have the children measure classroom objects with a ruler. Show kindergarteners the numbers on a ruler and show them how to use it to measure things. Then, encourage them to use it to measure different objects in your classroom.[9]
- Make a scavenger hunt out of measuring things by putting the kids into teams and telling them what to find and measure, such as a crayon, a picture, or a specific toy.
- Teach the kindergarteners to spot patterns by arranging beads and blocks. Use different color beads and arrange them into a color pattern or arrange different shaped blocks into a shape pattern. Ask kindergarteners to identify the pattern and then recreate it using their own beads and blocks.[10]
- Increase the complexity of the patterns gradually. For example, you might start with a colored bead pattern of red, blue, red, blue, etc. Then, increase the complexity to red, green, blue, red, green blue, etc.
[Edit]Teaching Geometry Basics - Use directional terms to describe the world around your kindergartener. Directional terms will help your kindergartener understand the relationships between objects and the physical world, which is an important basic geometry concept. Model this by using spatial terms to describe where items are located, such as above, below, next to, around, and behind. Then, encourage your kindergartener to do the same.[11]
- For example, you might say something like, "Your stuffed animals are on top of your bookshelf," or "The shoes are in the shoe rack," or "The big pot is under the counter."
- Encourage the child to point out 2-D and 3-D shapes that they encounter. This will give the child practice with recognizing specific shapes. Model this for the child first by pointing out shapes that you encounter or draw and saying what they are. Then, ask the child to do the same.[12]
- Try saying something like, "Our refrigerator is the shape of a rectangle," or "This ball is a sphere."
- Start with simple shapes, such as square, rectangle, triangle, and circle, then progress to more advanced ones, such as pentagon, hexagon, star, and heart.
- Count the sides and angles of different shapes. Whenever you encounter a shape, have your kindergartener examine it more closely. Ask them to tell you how many sides and angles the shape has. Model this for them by counting the sides of a new shape out loud and then ask them to do the same when they encounter a similar shape.[13]
- For example, you might say, "This square has 4 sides and 4 angles," or "This circle has no angles and only 1 side because it's round."
- Start by doing this with simple shapes, such as squares, triangles, rectangles, and circles. Then, move on to hexagons, pentagons, octagons, and stars. You can do this with 3-D objects as well, such as by examining a block or cube and counting the sides and angles it has.
- Show the child how to separate and combine shapes to form new ones. Provide the child with examples first, such as by showing them how you can cut a square in half to get 2 rectangles or combine 2 triangles to make a square. Then, give the kindergartener paper cut into different shapes and ask them to separate and combine the shapes to form new ones.[14]
- For example, you might say, "Put the triangles together so they make a square," or "Cut the circle in half to make 2 moon shapes."
[Edit]Choosing Tools for Teaching Math - Read books that feature numbers and other math concepts. Reading books that include counting, addition, subtraction, and shapes is a great way to introduce basic math concepts. Read aloud with your kindergartener and ask them questions about the pictures to help them remember the concepts.[15]
- For example, you might say something like, "Look, there's 5 ducks here, but then this one goes away. How many ducks are there now?"
- Make sure to choose age appropriate counting books to make it easier for your kindergartener to understand.
- Use worksheets and workbooks to practice math concepts. You can find many free math worksheets online or purchase a workbook that includes progressive lessons and worksheets. Have your kindergartener complete 1 or more worksheets daily to solidify concepts they're working on.[16]
- For example, you could use a counting practice worksheet to help your kindergartener recognize numbers and see how they progress.
- Make sure to include a variety of different types of worksheets to keep your kindergartener engaged with the material.
- Do math outside of the classroom as you go about your day. Math is everywhere! You can teach math concepts while shopping for groceries, doing household chores, or during a family outing. Look for ways that you can reinforce and practice math concepts with your kindergartener in your daily activities.[17]
- For example, you could ask your kindergartner to pick out 2 oranges for you at the grocery store, have them count out $3 to pay for a gallon of milk.
- Or, if you go to the zoo, ask your kindergartner to count the number of animals they see in an enclosure.
- Use games to help reinforce concepts and make math fun. Playing games with your kindergartener is another great way to keep them interested in math and associate it with fun. Choose age-appropriate games that you can play with your kindergartener and emphasize math concepts when you play, such as by saying the numbers out loud and encouraging your kindergartener to do the same. Some good games to play with your child include:[18]
- Board games, such as Candyland or Chutes and Ladders.
- Domino games, such as Train.
- Card games, such as Uno and Go Fish.
- Incorporate a variety of manipulatives to make math hands-on. Manipulatives are physical items that you can use to teach your child math concepts. These include items they can hold in their hands, such as checkers, clay, and pennies. Some ways you can incorporate manipulatives include:[19]
- Grouping physical objects to represent numbers.
- Sorting physical objects by color, size, shape, or material.
- Molding clay into different shapes.
[Edit]References |
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