Adding math talk to story time at home is a winning factor forchildren's math achievement, according to a new research from the University ofChicago. The study from psychologists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine shows amarked increase in math achievement among children whose families used Bedtime Math, an iPad app that delivers engaging math story problems for parents and children to solve together.

    Even children who used the app with their parents as little as once a week saw gains in math achievement by the end of the school year. The app's effect was especially strong for children whose parents tend to beanxious or uncomfortable with math.

    Previous research from this group has demonstrated the importance of adults' attitudes about math for children's math success. For example, a recent study found that math-anxious parents who help their children with math homework actually weaken their children's math achievement.

    The new findings demonstrate that structured, positive interactions around math at home can cut the link between parents' uneasiness about math and children's low math achievement.

  “Many Americans experience high levels of anxiety when they haveto solve a math problem, with a majority of adults feeling at least some worries about math,” said Beilock, professor in Psychology andauthor of Choke, a book about stress and performance. “These math-anxiousparents are probably less likely to talk about math at home, which affects how competent their children are in math. Bedtime Math encourages a dialogue between parents and kids about math, and offers a way to engage in high-quality math interactions in a low-effort, high-impact way.”

    Study participants included 587 first-grade students and their parents. Families were given an iPad installed with a version of the Bedtime Math app, with which parents and their children read stories and answer questions involving math, including topics like counting, shapes and problem-solving. A control group received a reading app that had similar stories without the math content and questions related to reading comprehension instead. Children's math achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents completed a questionnaire about their nervousness with math.

    The more times parents and children in the math group used the app, the higher children's achievement on a math assessment at the end of the school year. Indeed, children who frequently used the math app with their parents outperformed similar studentsin the reading group by almost three months in math achievement at year's end.

    Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals.    So animals and man need plants in order to live.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. They grow from spores（孢子）. Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as the seeds, when these spores fall on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.

A. There are about half a million kinds of plants in the world

B. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight

C. But a few fruits have no seeds at all

D. Not all the plants grow from the seeds

E. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us

F. Flowering plants can make seeds

G. Most non-flowering plants don't grow from seeds

    Academic learning is usually in the spotlight at school, but teaching elementary-age students “soft” skills like self-control and how to get along with others might help to keep at-risk kids out of criminal trouble in the future.

    Once a program called Fast Track was started in the early 1990s for more than 7,600 children of 55 schools in America. They were identified by their teachers and parents to be at high risk for developing aggressive behavioral problems. The students were randomly divided into two groups; half took part in the intervention, which included a teacher-led curriculum, parent training groups, academic tutoring and lessons in self-control and social skills. The program, which lasted from first grade through 10th grade, reduced delinquency(少年犯罪), arrests and use of health and mental health services as the students aged through adolescence and young adulthood.

    In another latest study, by looking at the data from nearly 900 students in previous findings, researchers found that about a third of the influence on future crime outcomes was due to the social and self-regulation skills the students learned from ages 6 to 11.

    The academic skills, or hard skills like learning of physics, which were taught as part of Fast Track, turned out to have less of an influence on crime and delinquency rates than did the soft skills, which are associated with emotional(情绪的) intelligence. Soft skills might include teaching kids to work cooperatively in a group or teaching them how to think about the long-term consequences when they make a decision.

    Researchers drew the conclusion that these soft skills should be emphasized even more in our education system and in our system of socializing children. Parents should do all they can to promote these skills with their children as should education policymakers. To the extent we can improve those skills, we can improve outcomes in delinquency.

    Standing in line for the latest iPhone at the Apple store, queueing for tickets to Wimbledon or even just waiting at the post office might just have got a lot easier. Japanese car-maker Nissan （尼桑）claims to have just the thing to relieve the sore(酸痛的) legs of tired queuers.

    The new system of “self-driving” chairs is designed to detect when someone at the front of the queue is called, and automatically move everyone else one step forward in line. The new invention is shown off in a company video, which shows a busy restaurant with customers waiting outside.

    In the video, diners are sitting in a row of chairs, but will not have to stand when the next hungry diner is called to a table. Instead, the chairs, equipped with autonomous technology that detects the seat ahead, move along a path toward the front of the line. When the person at the front of the queue is called, the empty chair at the front can sense it is empty and so moves out of pole position. Cameras on the remaining chairs then sense the movement and follow automatically.

    The system, which is similar to the kind used in Nissan's autonomous vehicle technology, will be tested at selected restaurants in Japan this year. Nissan said. “It appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant: it eliminates the boredom and physical pain of standing in line,” Nissan added.

    Although Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, long queues are not uncommon. Chosen restaurants that meet the criteria will be able to show the chairs outside their restaurant next year. Nissan also released a short video showing the chairs being used in an art gallery, moving slowly in front of the various paintings to let viewers appreciate the art without the need to stand up.

Volunteer Opportunities

    Ring the bells

    The Salvation Army needs bell ringers for its annual Red Kettle Christmas Campaign. Two hour shifts begin on Nov.12 and run Mondays through Saturdays. Volunteers can contact Jim Evers at jimevers@usc.salvationarmy.org or at 764-0962, or sign up online at ringbels.org.

    Read to children

    Join the United Way and Child Care Aware in supporting the development and learning of young children. Volunteers are needed to spend 30 minutes a week reading to children and guiding related activities using literacy kits（识字工具包）provided by Childcare Aware of Eastern Kansas .A two-hour literacy training will be provided. To ensure continuity for the children in the program, we are asking that volunteers make a six-month commitment. Please contact Shelly at 865-5030, ext.301 or at volunteer@unitedwaydgco.org.

    Garden with a neighbor

    Douglas Country Housing Inc. is looking for volunteers to assist a senior man in need of help with an overgrown garden before winter arrives. One to two hours of your time will make a huge difference in someone's quality of life. No previous gardening experience is required. Please e-mail rsovista@ldcha.org or call 842-1533.

    Feed your friends

    Just food fights hunger in our community. Help Just Food kick off the holiday season by packing. Thanksgiving meal boxes for families in need. Every year Just Food provides Thanksgiving meals to families in Douglas Country that will otherwise go without. Your help is needed for distributing these meals in advance of Thanksgiving. Help is needed on the following days and times:

    9 a. m. –7 p. m. Monday, Nov. 21.

    9 a. m. –7 p. m. Tuesday, Nov. 22.

    The maximum number of volunteers is 15 at a time. To sign up, click here.

    Live Every Day Like It's A Holiday

    We feel great on holiday because we let go of everyday stresses and strains. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So whether or not you're going away this summer, there's plenty you can do to make sure you benefit from that holiday feeling.

    Sleep like a holidaymaker

    Sleep like a baby when you're on your holidays but stay awake when you're in your usual routine? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} To reset your sleep pattern, avoid bringing problems to bed. That includes your phone, TV or laptop. Make sure the room is dark and cool. Aim for at least seven hours' —just as you would on holiday.

    Get moving

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Given that exercise is cheap, healthy and reduces stress, it makes absolute sense to build it into your day. A walk will release happy hormones, and eases anxiety and mild depression.

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    Part of the joy of going away is lingering over delicious food with families. Take up the holiday habit of sitting down as a family for at least one meal a day. Families who eat together experience less anxiety, less depression and less obesity, research has found.

    Be a tourist in your own city

    Part of the thrill of a holiday is the novelty of discovering a new place and doing new things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At weekends, check out a new music venue, visit a different museum or have a drink in that interesting-looking pub you're always walking past. It will get you out of routine and make you feel alive. A bit like a holiday, really.