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.

    Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their own unique worth, imitation appears attractive; to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

    In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地）hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture praises and admires celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve you. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and declare victory, and know that they are cheering me on."

    South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. It has 11 official languages. If you want to say hello, it's "sawubona" in Zulu, and "hallo" in Afrikaans. Now, South Africa's school children may start using "ni hao" to say hello.

    The country's education minister says, the nation is adding the Mandarin language teaching in some schools. Mandarin is the official spoken language of China. That country is a major trading power for South Africa.

    A recent agreement between the two nations centers on five areas of cooperation. They include development in basic education, school books and lessons, mathematics and science, teacher training and career education and research.

    South Africa officials have not said how much they teaching Mandarin will cost. Troy Martens is an officials with South Africa's Ministry of Basic Education. She says the new partnership is extremely valuable.

    A public opinion study last year found that South Africans have mixed feelings about China. The survey showed 46 percent of South Africans do not like the spread of Chinese ideas and customs in their country, the results also showed that 60 percent dislike Chinese music, movies and television.

    But Ms Martens said Chinese trade is more important than those feelings. She said it is extremely helpful to learners in South Africa to study Mandarin as well as Chinese culture. And she said not every school will offer Mandarin.

    “Now this will not be compulsory, it will not be for every school, and it will not be for every child. But for schools that feel they have the capacity to offer Mandarin as a subject, we think it is a great opportunity for South African learners to be exposed to this international type of language,” said Martens.

    Lisette Noonan heads the 80-year-old Pretoria Chinese School in South Africa's capital. The school serves about 500 students from kindergarten to grade 12. Every student studies Mandarin.

    Ms Noonan says the school welcomes the new cooperation between South Africa and China. She said it is in the best interests of children to study Mandarin. She said that especially true with China becoming what she called “a huge economic power in the world”

    It was a dark and stormy night. I was about to go to bed when I heard a tapping sound on my window.

"Who's there?" I shouted. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning; I saw a face at the window. It looked like an alien（外星人）— an alien that I had seen on the television show, "the X files".

    I felt very scared. I ran to my bed and pulled my blanket over my head. I started to shout for my parents but there was no reply. Then I remembered that they were at a fancy dress party.

    I looked out of my blanket but it was too dark to see anything. Then I heard footsteps. They were getting louder and louder. I ran to my drawer to take out my camera and started to take pictures in the direction of the window. Soon the footsteps died off.

The grandfather clock struck. It was 12 midnight. I went back to my bed and tried to sleep. But I could not sleep. I felt too frightened. I sat up, and my mind was full of thoughts. Time passed — finally, I fell asleep.

    I woke up only after eight and decided to find out what it had been. I found some footprints outside my bedroom window. I measured them with a ruler and found them to be exactly the same size as my father's shoes. I then went to town to get the film developed. I didn't realize that I did not use the flash until I saw the black photos.

    When I reached home, I told my father the whole incident and he started to laugh. I started laughing too when he told me that he had dressed up as an alien for the party. Today, I am still amused to think I was so afraid of my own father.

    The Shiants, remote, cliff-edged islands off the coast of Scotland are home to 350,000 seabirds. This is the starting point for National Geographic contributor Adam Nicolson's new book, The Seabirds Cry. Celebrating 10 species in detail, he describes the unbelievable recovery of seabirds and the many adaptations that have enabled them to survive and navigate the oceans, while sounding a loud call for their conservation among severely falling numbers.

    Speaking from his home in Sussex, England, Nicolson explains why guillemot (海雀) colonies are information exchange centers: how new research is showing that those long-distance travelers. The shearwaters, "smell" their way across the globe; and what we can do to support seabird populations.

    National Geographic has just kicked off Year of the Bird with a cover story by Jonathan Franzen titled "Why Birds Matter ". The beginning of Year of the Bird is beneficial to birds. Nicolson said, "I'll ask you the same question-why? For me, these seabirds are symbols of uniqueness. There is so much on the land where the rest of the living world seems to be controlled by us, but when you go to seabird colonies, there is this pumping, loud and raging uniqueness. It's a glance of the untouched world. "

    "The reason why it's untouched is that, until recently, we have not controlled the oceans that the seabirds depend on. More of them have survived in greater numbers than most other creatures in the developed world, where huge amounts of the animal kingdom have been removed by us. And so one reason these birds matter is that they are symbols of what the world might be if we hadn't done so much damage to it. "He added.

    "Seabirds also tend to disappear; they're not reliably of our world, due to their migration and habits of life. Very deep in our consciousness is a sense that they are ambassadors from another world. And witnessing and feeling that is, I think, one of the great enlargers of life." Nicolson explained.

    Many children are interested in dinosaurs (恐龙). If you have a child who loves dinosaurs, then here is some good news for you. There is an exhibition of dinosaurs at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Albert A. You can plan a family road trip there. Give your child a surprise and you'll enjoy your time there as a family.

    Sitting just 19 kilometers west of Grande Prairie, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum was opened in 2015 and has collections that include fossils（化石）of sea animals, art works from different dinosaurs, a large family theater, as well as an outdoor discovery fossil walk, a large outdoor playground and the onsite Dine-O-Saur restaurant. Experience the dinosaurs' world like never before as you watch dinosaurs coming alive in movies. Learn about how these animals lived and breathed.

    You can check out Dinosaurs Unearthed and all of the other exciting exhibitions at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum on the following days/ time periods:

    September 1st—May 31st:

    Tuesday—Sunday 10: 00 a. m. — 6: 00 p. m.

    Closed on Mondays

    June 1st—August 31st:

    Saturday—Monday 10: 00 a. m. — 6: 00 p. m.

    Tuesday—Friday 10: 00 a. m. — 8: 00 p. m.

    Admission (门票):

    Adults: $ 14 each

    Seniors (65+): $ 11 each

    Students (with ID) and children (5—17): $7 each

    Children under 5: free

    Family (2 adults and up to 4 children): $40

    If you want to see a National Geographic film or a full-length film during your visit, it is an extra $2— $4.

    For more information, please visit the museum's website at www.dinomuseum.ca.