The UN has recognized the contributions of volunteers on Dec.5, International Volunteer Day. Here, the four things are offered to consider before taking the leap into overseas volunteering.

    Choose your organization carefully

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. volunteering may be a fundraising mechanism(筹资机制) for a development project. For others, volunteering is fundamental to their programs, and those serving take on professional roles in longer-term development.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Volunteers want to help and make a difference, but most know this isn't a purely selfless act. You will learn new skills, broaden your horizons and come to better understand yourself and the world. You want to help reduce global poverty or protect the natural world, and that's all OK. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}? Have you always wanted to travel, but not as a tourist? Work with kids? When you understand your motivations, you'll be in a better position to choose the option that is right for you.

    Work alongside the local community

    Often times, travelers volunteer in isolation(隔离) from the local community in which they are working in. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. This enables you to ensure you are committing to a project that promotes long term and sustainable change.

    A volunteer trip is just the beginning

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Further ignite(点燃) the global change maker in you by taking your experience one step further when you return home. Spread the message of your transformative experience to others, helping to spark the change within them.

A. But what else

B. Know why you are going

C. Believe you know it all

D. Communities always welcome volunteers

E. Volunteer travel is a life-changing experience

F. Some organizations require you to pay your own way, and often include a fee

G. Make sure to travel with organizations that have strong partnerships with local communities

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Home can be a great place for children to study. It's important to provide a workspace of their own where they can read books or just write a letter to their friends.

    Location (位置)

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Kitchen and dining room are not so well suited for regular study，since books and pens get in the way of the day­to­day uses of those areas. Set up a place where a child can settle in and leave papers and pens at hand without having to clear everything away each night. For a child that likes being alone，set aside a corner of his bedroom，but keep it separate from things like games，music and other hobbies not related to studying.

    Keeping Things in Order

    Parents should encourage their child to spread out，but to leave it neat and orderly when he isn't using his workspace. Ownership is very important for self­respect{#blank#}3{#/blank#}The workplace should be personal，but not another part of the playroom.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Encourage the whole family to help build a supportive environment that children need for success in school. Give them a good example of how to deal with problems，how to manage time and get things done in the right way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Study will be more enjoyable and effective when supported by the whole family.

A．Attitude Is Everything

B．Bring Organization into Your Home

C．Here are several ways to choose a location.

D．Building a Good Home Learning Environment

E．Hold a can-do attitude and your child will follow your example.

F．Setting up a space in a common area of your home can be a good idea for children.

G．A child who learns to organize his space will carry organization into every corner of his life.

    Getting your children to study can be a little like getting them to eat their vegetables.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Make a study time and have it at the same time every day. This will help your kids to learn to schedule their day and will give them a sense of control over how they spend their time.

    Allow them to study in blocks of time，such as for half an hour with a five-minute break in the middle{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ideal (理想的) study times are after dinner or right after school before dinner.

    Never allow your children to study in front of the television，as that will encourage passive activity.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    You'll also need to help your kids find the right place to study. After you've set up a good study time for little learners，set up a good place where they can get those creative juices flowing.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Make sure there is a table or a desk and a comfortable chair.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}This includes helping them out with their homework sometimes and being there for them with the answers to any questions. The input you give your children during study periods will help form a bond and help make studying enjoyable.

A. Pick a place where your children can study properly.

B. Hold them to the schedule they create for themselves.

C. Finally, spend time with your kids when they're studying.

D. Keep the atmosphere light and offer lots of encouragement, too.

E. Instead, use TV as a treat or a reward when the homework is completed.

F. Try to stop this bad habit by offering some sort of reward.

G. One of the best ways to form good study habits for your kids is to design a schedule that they keep to.

How to Help Children Learn From Their Mistakes

    Everyone makes mistakes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} As parents, it's our duty to help our children learn from their mistakes. Turning a mistake into a learning experience will help your child grow. Here are some tips for helping children learn from their mistakes.

    Explain exactly what the mistake is. It's important to make your child accept the fact that he made a mistake. Talk with your child and help him exactly understand what he did is not right.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Never imagine he knows; always talk over the problem early.

    Ask your child to make an apology if his mistakes hurt others. This step takes a mistake that is connected with another person even further.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} By making your child go to see and talk with the person who was hurt, he will more fully understand the results of the mistake and learn from what bad experience.

    Offer suggestion in different ways to lead your child to avoid making the same mistakes again. You can choose to share your personal examples if you had the same problem before.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} He may not want to do exactly the same thing, but it will get him to start in the right direction.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Having your child try to work through the problem and know how to deal with it only by himself will help develop his reasoning skills, which is good for his self - development. In this way, he will know what he should do if a similar situation appears in the future.

A. Tell your child how you deal with the problem.

B. Children need to learn the results of their mistakes.

C. Praise him if he fully understands the mistake he made.

D. Now it's time to help him properly correct mistakes.

E. Encourage your child to find a way to deal with the problem alone.

F. Learning from mistakes is what makes us become better people.

G. Sometimes a child fails to know why the things he did are wrong.

    Life can be a lonely thing without friends. Acquaintances (熟人) are easy to come by but true friends are a whole other story. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Learn these four steps if you'd like to be a true friend that can be relied on.

    ●Be present for their highs and lows.

    If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success.

    （Will Smith）

    It's easy to be there for our friends when they ask us out for fun things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You might not feel comfortable while spending time with an emotionally weak person on the verge of tears, but true friends are always there when they're needed the most.

    ●{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

    （Ernest Hemingway）

    Give your friends the gift of silence so they can drop their baggage and get on with living.

    ●Accept them as they are.

    Happiness can exist only in acceptance.

    （George Orwell）

    If you can't accept people as they are, you will never know the feeling of true friendship. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    ●Forgive the past.

    Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

    （Buddha）

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If so, you should understand that even the best of us suffer from the occasional slip of the tongue. Holding onto anger over a small mistake will make you look petty (小气的), so let it go.

    When I was 16 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.

    Every time I listened to other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break. I couldn't talk about anyone with my problems. And I didn't want my parents to worry about me.

    Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I didn't know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me, with a smile on his face.

    Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I started to talk with other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think it lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

A. At that moment, a boy entered the classroom.

B. He's living in Australia now and he loves it.

C. It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone.

D. It was a smile.

E. That smile changed my life.

F. It's practically impossible to make friends here.

G. As a result, no one knew who I was.