Are you looking for some new and exciting places to take your kids to? Try some of these  places:

    Head to a natural history museum. This is where kids can discover the past from Dinosaur (恐龙) models to rock collections and pictures of stars in the sky. Also, ask what kind of workshops and educational programs are prepared for kids and any special events that are coming up.

    Go to a Youtheater. Look for one in your area offering plays for child and family visitors. Pre-show play shops are conducted by area artists and educators where kids can discover the secret about performing arts. Puppet (木偶) making and stage make-up are just a couple of the special offerings you might find.

    Visit art museums. They offer all kinds of activities to excite your kids' interest. Many offer workshops for making hand-made pieces, traveling exhibits, book signings( 签名) by children's favorite writers, and even musical performances and other arts.

    Try hands-on science. Visit one of the many hands-on science museums around the country. These science play-lands are great fun for kids and grown-ups alike. They'll keep your child mentally and physically active the whole day through while pushing buttons, experimenting, and building. When everyone is tired, enjoy a fun family science show, commonly found in these museums.

    Two men, Alan and Henry, both seriously ill, shared a hospital room. Alan was allowed to sit up in his bed and his bed was next to the room's only window. Henry had to spend all his time flat on his back.

    The men talked for hours, of their wives, families, their homes and their jobs. And every afternoon when Alan, in the bed next to the window, could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm among flowers. Trees and skyline could be seen in the distance. As he described all this, Henry, on the other side of the room, would close his eyes and imagine the scene.

    One warm afternoon Alan described a parade (游行) passing by. Although Henry could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never got to see anything? It doesn't seem fair. Henry felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy grew and soon let him down. He began to find himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window — and that thought now controlled his life.

    Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, Alan began to cough. He was choking. Henry watched in the dim room as the struggling man tried hard to reach for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence — deathly silence.

    As soon as it seemed appropriate, Henry asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he struggled to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He looked out, but faced a blank wall.

    Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.

    For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents' home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest, easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hate confinement and have strong opinions about everything.

    Road trips felt risky, so I would drive fast, stopping only when I had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.

    But then Banner, our lamb was born. He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise. I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.

    That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They'dget back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.

    We explored side roads, catching grasshoppers in waist-high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life and new horizons.

    We eventually arrived at my parents' doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.

    I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.

    Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of journey—and the best part of yourself.

    Hiking is a great way to get active and reduce stress while you are exploring the city. Visit our page to find some of the best free walking tours across New York City.

Greenbelt on the Go

Tuesday, August 14, 2018 10:00a.m.—11:30a.m.

    Join us for relaxing walks through our parks. Enjoy the pretty views of them, as we point out a few of the distinct features that make each park special. The length of each hike will be determined by the pace of the group. Considering the environment, your foods are not allowed. Registration is required. To register, please email naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org before August 14.

    Position: Greenbelt Nature Center in Blood Root Valley, 700 Rockland Avenue at Brielle Avenue Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Staten Island Greenbelt Conservancy, Greenbelt Environmental Education Department

    Phone Number: (718)351-3450

    Contact Email: naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org

    Adult Afternoon Hikes

Wednesday, October 10,2018 1:30p.m.—3:00p.m.

    Get familiar with the Greenbelt and local parks by hiking with other adults! You're encouraged to bring small meals and drinks for the break time.

    Position: Greenbelt Nature Center in Blood Root Valley, 700 Rockland Avenue at Brielle Avenue Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Staten Island Greenbelt Conservancy, Greenbelt Environmental Education Department

    Phone Number: (718)351-3450

    Contact Email: naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org

    The South Pole at Wards Point

Thursday ,November 15,2018 7:00a.m.—7:00p.m.

    The three miles of nearby natural shoreline are a sandy beach. Shells, rocks, and stones of every shape and size can be found here. Not to be missed are the park's other attractions: four galleries, and five historic houses!

    Position: Conference House Park Visitor Center in Conference House Park, 298     Satterlee Street, Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Conference House Park

    Contact  Email: john. kilcullen@parks. nyc.qov

    Community Days at Conference House Park

Wednesda, September 19, 2018 12:00p.m.—2:00p.m.

    Enjoy new gardens at the Visitor Center. Explore and help repair the three self-designed gardens: vegetable, native plant, and sculpture. Experience kids crafts, adult art programs, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Peking Opera and more in this lovely setting.

    Position: Conference House Park, 298 Satterlee Street, Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Conference House Park

    Phone Number: (718)227-1463

    Contact Email: john.kilcullen@parks. nyc.qov

    Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding about black culture in America.

    Her poems described conditions among the poor, racial inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women. But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She was an expert at the language of poetry. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.

    In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is where many back people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was A Street in Bronzeville that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skill and her powerful descriptions of the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.

    In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won the prize for her second book of poems called Annie Allen. Annie Allen is a collection of poetry about the life of a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and being poor. Ms. Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.

    Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called Maud Martha, Maud Martha received little notice when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult life of many women are popular among female writers today.

    In some of her poems, Gwendolyn Brooks described how what people see in life is affected by who they are. One example is this poem, Corners on the Curing Sky.

    By the end of the 1960s, Gwendolyn Brooks' poetry expanded from the everyday experiences of people in Bronzeville. She wrote about a wider world and dealt with important political issues.

    Sports accounts for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract views from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.

    An attraction of sports programs for the major U.S. media company is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons — the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming. Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract male viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.

    Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings(收视率) are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computers, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of "company cars" and computers. With such viewers, these programs don't need high ratings to stay on the air.