Human brains begin growing and developing at a very young age. They learn from the simplest experiences, which enable your children to be aware of the world. There's no denying that outdoor play helps a lot!

Times when children have to wait for their turns on playground equipment and following the playground rules by sharing, all these form components of a healthy social-emotional development. Young children develop their social-emotional skills through practice and small steps over time.

As parents or caregivers, it is fairly simple to support your child's social-emotional skills. Acts like holding him, touching him, and speaking to him and giving him loving care and attention are all helping factors. When you allow them freedom to play, it is important to follow their interests in helping build their social-emotional skills.

Difficulties in social-emotional skills can often lead to children having trouble when playing with other children. Becoming easily angry or not empathizing (理解) with other children are all signs that may point in this direction. This can in turn lead to them not empathizing with the needs of other children.

    As for the development of cognitive (认知的) skills, these develop through practice and opportunity over time. And while some cognitive skills may be genetic, most are learned through real life situations. In other words, learning and thinking skills can be improved through experiences.

    To enable them to learn, it is important that we are mindful of what our children are interested in. And this realization is only set in place once the child is given enough room and time to grow and explore.

    Depriving children of such experiences can mean that they might struggle with higher- level thinking skills. And while it is normal to keep them safe, we forget that by rushing them and cutting down on play time, we're actually causing more harm than good.

    Membership

    All you need to do is fill out the order form at the bottom of the page, select your first order from our book list and then post the completed form back to us.

    Special offers for new members

    As a special offer, you may choose any reduced-price books from our new members' book list, to the value of 100 yuan in total. Tick the box on your form to order a free watch. Join before the end of this month and you receive another free book carefully chosen by our staff. Order an audio-book from the many on offer, at half the recommended retail price.

    When you've joined

    As a member you get around 50% off the publisher's price of every book you buy, and what's more, they come straight to your door. Your free club magazine arrives once a month to keep you up to date with the latest best-sellers we've added to our list. On the Internet, you can find all our titles for the year at our exclusive members' website. Our website also has a book swap service where members can request or offer books for exchange.

    Being a member

    All you have to do is order four books during your first year. After that, you can decide on the number of books you wish to take. In each of your monthly club magazines, our experienced staff choose a "Book of the Month" for you, which is offered at an extra-special price. If you do not want this book, just say so in the space provided on the form and send it back to us. We always send the book if we do not receive this form.

    Once we receive your order, your books are delivered within one week. And remember, you have up to a fortnight to decide if you wish to keep the books you have ordered. If they aren't what you expected just end them back!

    Educators across the US are calling for major changes to the admissions process in higher education. The Harvard school of Greduate Education, along with 80 other schools and organizations, released a report called "Turning the Tide Making Caring Common” in January, 2016. The report argues that the process schools use to choose students causes major problems.

    David Hawkins is the Executive Director for Educational Content and Policy at the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. Hawkins told Voice of America that most colleges and universities require many things from students when they apply. Schools usually ask for an essay describing a student's interests or why they want to study at that school. The schools also ask for letters from teachers or other responsible adults describing why a student is a good candidate. But, Hawkins says, the area that schools are most concerned about is a student's high school grades and standardized test results.

    The report suggests that paying attention to academic success over other qualities works well for some students but hurts others. In addition, academic success is not the most important quality a student should have. More attention should be paid to showing whether or not a student wants to do well in the world, according to the report.

    The report goes on to state that the best way to change the admissions process is by changing college applications. It suggests that schools should ask for evidence that students care about other people. But the report does have its critics. Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, said that every few years, someone makes the same argument for changes, but no real change has happed yet. Even many of the schools that agree with the report still make no changes.

    Lloyd Thacker, Executive Director of the Education Conservancy, said that until a majority of schools agree to make the changes, there will still be problems. However, he said, the admissions process was better in the past. If bad changes can affect the process, so can good ones.

    Nanjing and Hangzhou summer camps offered

    We are looking for hard-working and open-minded English teachers to join the Nanjing(Jiangsu Province) and Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province) summer camps!

    Both of the summer camps will run from the beginning of July to the end of August. You will be expected to teach spoken English to Chinese students of different ages. We encourage you to bring your own culture to the classes to make things more interesting.

    The information of the Nanjing camp:

    Working hours: 40 hours per week, 5 working days per week.

    Salary: about 7,000 RMB per month.

    Accommodation (食宿): free (single room).

    The information of the Hangzhou camp:

    Working hours: 5 hours per day (= 50 min. / class × 6 classes), one day rest per week.

    Salary: 20,160 RMB in total (420 RMB per day = 70 RMB / class × 6 classes).

    Accommodation: free (shared room).

    The requirements of the summer camps:

    Native English speakers (US, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand).

    A university degree.

    Teaching experience.

    Please send us your resume (简历), copies of certificates (证书) and passport if you are interested in the camps. E-mail: teacher1324@sina.com.cn

    For more information you can visit our website at http://www.Englishsummercamps.com.cn/

    Look forward to hearing from you soon!

    Sometimes people add to what they say even when they don't talk. Gestures are the "silent language" of every culture. We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say. It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood.

    In the USA, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction. The handshake must be firm. If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness. Friends may place a hand on the other's arm or shoulder. Some people, usually women, greet a friend with a hug.

    Space is important to Americans. When two people talk to each other, they usually stand about two and a half feet away and at an angle (角度), so they are not facing each other directly. Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close. They will move back to have their space. If Americans touch another person by accident, they say, "Pardon me" or "Excuse me". Americans like to look at the other person in the eyes when they are talking. If you don't do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested. But when you stare at someone, it is not polite.

    For Americans, thumbs-up means yes, very good, or well done. Thumbs-down means the opposite. To call a waiter, raise one hand to head level or above. To show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as if you are signing a piece of paper. It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger (食指). Americans shake their index finger at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them.

    Learning a culture's body language is sometimes confusing. If you don't know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile.

What is a boy?

    Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a "boy". Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the belief: to enjoy every second of every minute every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

    Boys are found everywhere—on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to this and that! Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face. BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocolate in its hair, and HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.

    When you are busy, a boy is a trouble­maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly, or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

    A boy is a mixture—he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs (拇指) on each hand.

    He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, companies, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

    Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three­foot rope, six cents and some unknown things.

    A boy is a magical creature—he is your headache but when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, "Hi, Dad!"