When it comes to kids today, it seems to be all about the screen — computer games, handheld games, websites, social media, cell phones, TV, and, of course, text messaging.

But what about reading? Many parents today are concerned because they know that being a good reader remains a crucial skill that kids need in order to be successful in school … and life.

If you’re one of those worried parents, here’s a bit of good news: There are simple things you can do to encourage, entice, and even excite your children about picking up a book. The first is to set aside some family time for reading. Next, try these seven tips to make the experience enjoyable — while developing your child’s skills.

1. Start with an interesting topic, and read out loud together. Ask your children to find newspaper or magazine articles on topics that interest them — or a book or a play or a short story. Then read it to each other, alternating paragraphs. Reading out loud develops children’s ability to read fluidly, encourages them to pronounce unknown words, and challenges them to puzzle out meaning from context clues. When kids read on their own, they’re more likely to skip over unknown words and miss the meaning.
2. Select books using the five-finger method. Unsure if a particular book is the right level for your child? Open it and ask him or her to read aloud, raising a finger each time the reader comes to an unknown word. If five fingers are up before the reader gets to the end of a page, the book is probably too difficult.
3. Predict the future. Before you begin reading anything — article or book — ask your child to predict what it’s about based on the title, cover or illustrations. You may want to jot down your predictions. Afterwards, see how right or wrong those guesses were.
4. Dissect the text. As you read, stop periodically to discuss what the paragraph means. Break it down by element: What is the setting? Who is writing this? Is it fiction or fact? What is the main idea? Can we draw any conclusions from what we’ve read so far? Doing so increases kids’ understanding. It also offers them a smart technique for reading on their own.
5. Pick a pair to pack more power. Have you found a book that excites your child? Find a second one that complements it. If she’s reading a novel about wizards or war or vampires, find a non-fiction take on the topic (or vice versa). That can lead to a discussion of how reality relates to fantasy.
6. Do a “challenge review” of the Five W’s. After reading an article — or during the reading of a book — ask your child to put together a sentence that describes the who, what, when, where, and why of the story. You do it, too! See who can make the shortest sentence that includes all five w’s.
7. Explore the actors. When you’ve finished reading, invite your child to evaluate the characters you’ve met. For a news story, ask what your son or daughter thought about the key individual in the piece. With a book or long story, ask your child to select one character they would like to have as a friend, and ask them to explain why.

Your kids may think that text messages are the most exciting literature around, and that ‘e-mail’s for old people.’ But reading and talking together — no electrical devices necessary — can still provide a thrill.

Georgie Anne Geyer,writer

WASHINGTON - The visit this week of Mexican President Felipe Calderon seems, at first, haunted by memories of the past. The U.S. Marines landing in Veracruz in 1914 and staying for seven months … American troops “relieving” Mexico of Texas in 1848 and taking over what had been one-third of Mexico … President George W. Bush sending troops to the border to stem illegal immigration …

Those are only a few of the events that Mexicans have traditionally carried around like balls and chains in their sacks of memories of El Norte. That they don’t do anything except fertilize resentment on both sides is a repetitious truth.

But what is new here is that the visit is not accompanied by these usual tiresome complaints. Some analysts are saying that there has been a “significant shift in Mexico’s level of nationalism” (Roderic Camp, an expert on the Mexican military who teaches at Claremont McKenna College in California). Others, like the Mexican ambassador to Washington, Arturo Sarukhan, says that his government wants a “modern, objective relationship” between the two military establishments, the kind of military ties that exist between Germany and France.

Surprisingly, President Calderon’s schedule has him paying his respects to American fighting men and women at Arlington Cemetery - in which case, he would be the first Mexican president to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Two interesting items of history here, old and new: Arlington is the last resting place for many U.S. Marines who took part in that 1914 seizure of Veracruz, but … it is also the last resting place for innumerable American Latinos who have fought in the American armed forces.

These public evocations of friendship and respect wouldn’t mean much if the situations of the two countries had not changed, particularly in Mexico - for peoples with injured psyches are incapable of relationships of equals.

But Mexico IS changing. Jorge Castaneda, Mexico’s former foreign secretary and one of her most brilliant sons, wrote this week in The Washington Post that, despite everything, Mexico is slowly evolving into a middle-class country. This, he said, is the moment for the two countries to work to solve immigration problems in a larger context.

The U.S. needs Mexico, he wrote, “and Mexico needs the United States if it aspires to become a consolidated middle-class society, achieve needed economic growth, and provide security and the rule of law for citizens and visitors. … Calderon’s meeting with Obama could be the ‘big idea’ moment that starts us off.”

The major development in pushing these ideas of change has of course been the drug war within Mexico and at the border, and the fact that President Calderon has challenged the drug traffickers so forthrightly. He has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers across the country to aid police forces that have been heavily infiltrated by the organized cartels that moved from Colombia when it got too hot for them there. Calderon’s approach has been praised as both heroic and tragic, with 23,000 people killed by the cartels in the last three years.

President Calderon believes that Mexico is winning this vicious war, which has claimed both personal friends and candidates from his center-right National Action Party (PAN). He has bravely said that “the only battle in which we are not advancing well is the battle of perception.” But the problem of guns for the cartels being supplied from the American side of the border, as well as the historical and ongoing corruption of Mexico’s federal and regular police, leaves the question of winning or losing unresolved.

More and more, the two countries’ militaries are working together and liking one another. Analysts say the drug war has transformed the Mexican military’s perception of its real threat as an external one from the United States, to a threat from the drug cartels, and thus from within. This has led to frequent visits between senior American and Mexican military officials, the exchange of intelligence, and even naval military exercises with the two nations’ forces.

The U.S. has provided $1.3 billion for equipment and training over the last three years for the Mexican military (the Merida Initiative), and more is called for in 2011. Astonishingly, large minorities within Mexico are even expressing support in polls for the presence of U.S. or United Nations troops in their country - something never dreamed of before.

Mexico still has a long way to go, what with the ongoing corruption and the self-isolation of the elites from national problems and national progress, but there is certainly more hope than ever before. Perhaps Mexico really is really growing up.

Georgie Anne Geyer is a syndicated columnist for Universal Press Syndicate. Georgie Anne Geyer is the author of the book “Americans No More: The Death of Citizenship.”

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Andrew Harner

The Gazette

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Title: Art in the Village Location: Legacy Village Link: Click here Description: Legacy Village presents Art in the Village on Saturday and Sunday June 5th and 6th! Don’t miss this free, outdoor art event featuring artists from around the country, and great live music throughout the weekend! See the finest in paintings, jewelry, sculpture and more! Visit www.legacy-village.com [...]