Boring after school activities

Why does Lisa grumble when it is time for her to go for her piano lessons?How come Johnny abhors the sight of his skates now? After all, these children were very enthusiastic about the programs when they started off. What happened? Parents are often confused by the disturbing and often incongruous signals they receive from their children. One day the kids are excited about the new theatre class and in just a few short weeks they wail and moan when it's time to go.The first thing a family should do when a child begins resisting a previously loved...

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Benefits of a good after school program

Children grow up in a society that demands expertise in everything. Youreally cannot sit back and decide that learning from textbooks is enough for the overall development of your child. It's the age of specialization and your child cannot afford to miss out on this window of opportunity. So, scour your locality for the most advantageous programs and enroll them for the ones you think are the best.After school programs are basically designed to develop a talent or a skill that is ignored by regular schools. These programs could be educational or...

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Art-based activities

A recent report by several independent researchers concludes that participating in the arts nurtures the development of social, personal and cognitive skills. Programs based on Arts can improve academic achievement and decrease the tendency towards delinquency. It helps youth form positive attitudes about themselves and build self-esteem.Arts programs involve communication, interpretation and understanding of complex symbols, much like mathematics and languages. Thus it fosters higher-order analytical skills and skills of evaluation and synthesis....

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Over-scheduling kids

Several studies are expressing a growing concern that after schoolprograms are pressurizing kids to do too much too soon. They point out that when a child's afternoon is filled with classes, trips, sports and other forms of organized activities, kids do not really get the time to be just kids. They are even being deprived of the cherished family time.Undoubtedly, there are children who are being burdened with a schedule that places too much demand on their time. This leads to increased levels of stress on the child and the family. As regular studies...

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Keeping children motivated

Initial enthusiasm in after school activities tends to wane after the first excitement is over. This is but natural. The trick is to keep up the hard work even after this. How do you keep your child motivated? This is of particular importance when the child goes in for educational after school programs.Make the career-academics connection early on:Let your child understand how important studies are. Let him know that an excellent career is wholly dependent on wholesome learning. To develop his interest in studies, plan family activities that are...

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Need for after school activities

When children are literally up to their gills with the learning and sportactivities in school, it may seem superfluous to enroll them for after school activities. In spite of this, after school programs are sprouting up in large numbers and most of these are booked full. This shows that there is a real need for after school activities.The unavailability of parental supervision is the leading cause for the surge in after school programs. It is seen that many children spend about 20-25 hours a week unsupervised and alone at home. And as the saying...

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Sunday Comics: Might as Well Jump

Feb 24, 2013 10:00 AM   Welcome to your Sunday read of the week's best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic.View the original article h...

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This Japanese Popstar Has Truly Insane Gaming Hours

This story will display in ...Feb 25, 2013 4:30 AM   If someone played a video game, any video game, for a couple hundred hours, you'd say, wow, that person must really like that game. If someone played a video game, any video game, for a couple thousand hours, you'd say, woah, that person is hardcore.How about seven thousand hours?Popstar Maki Goto is taking time off from music, but certainly has enough time to appear in an online Capcom show...

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The Infamy Shows Assassin's Creed III Still Has A Little Room For Experimentation

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The Week in Games: Brütal Retürn

This story will display in ...Feb 24, 2013 1:00 PM   You know it's a slow cycle when Brutal Legend—remember that?—makes its PC debut, nearly five years after it came out on console. Star Wars Pinball, DLC for Borderlands 2 and Skyrim (on PS3) round out the week's highlights.• Dungeonland Dungeon Maestro Grimoire Pack (PC)• Star Wars Pinball (PS3, Vita)• Driftmoon (PC)• Brutal Legend (PC)• Skyrim: Dawnguard (PSN)• Borderlands 2: Add-on Content...

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This Is Not A Borderlands 2 Screenshot. It Is, Somehow, Cosplay.

This story will display in ...And not even that heavily-photoshoped kind, either. I mean, outside of the obvious effects, that is just one absolutely incredible costume, right down to the smallest detail. It's a great photo by Jesús Clares, too.It shares the spotlight this week with a bunch of other cosplayers who, whether it be Zelda, Skyrim, Star Wars or Mass Effect, are all looking like the just stepped straight of a screen.As an added bonus:...

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Voice Actress Invents a Thong That Turns into a Wristband. (No, Really.)

This story will display in ...Feb 25, 2013 7:20 AM   Dubbed the "Wristunder" (geddit? GEDDIT?), the special panties were invented by Chiaki Takahashi, the voice actress who brings life to video characters in The Idolmaster, BlazBlue and many more.Takahashi is dubbed a "sexy voice actress", and it often seems like she tries really hard. Probably too hard. But, hey, she tries. There's always trying.For the launch of her new photobook, she showed...

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What If Sony Hired Leonard Nimoy to Pitch the PlayStation 4—in 1981?

This story will display in ...Feb 24, 2013 2:30 PM   Hats off to IGN for making the past into a prologue with this PlayStation 4 hype video demake starring a pornstached Leonard Nimoy from 30 years ago. My God, I think the last time I heard that opening synthesizer anthem was in a Raycom highlight show before Maryland and Duke played in the 1984 ACC Tournament final.The source of all this hilarity is this promotional video Spock did, in 1981,...

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Trial set to open for Gulf oil spill litigation

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. An oil slick is seen as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in April 2010. (Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP)Trail will determine BP's liability in the oil spillBillions of dollars are on the lineSeveral hours of opening statements by lawyers expected MondayNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly three years after a deadly...

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Will Berlusconi make a comeback? EU quakes at thought

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Media mogul and former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi gestures during a political rally in Rome on Wednesday. (Photo: Mauro Scrobogna, AP)Berlusconi was forced to step down in 2011Monti is credited with stabilizing country's economyBersani likely to get plurality of the vote SundayROME — A scandal-ridden...

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High court's DNA case pits crime solving vs. privacy

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Jayann Sepich stands in front of the Supreme Court holding a photograph of her daughter Katie. (Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)States, feds fight crime by taking DNA upon arrestsMaryland case presents unique Fourth Amendment testNew Mexico couple fights for memory of murdered daughterWASHINGTON —...

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Dramatic helicopter escape from Greek prison foiled

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. A Greek flag flies. (Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)Helicopter passengers fired AK-47s at guards as they tried to whisk away Panagiotis VlastosOfficials say more than 500 rounds were fired from the helicopterVlastos planned the kidnapping of shipping tycoon Pericles Panagopoulos from behind...

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Allied troops in Afghanistan see fewer insider attacks

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Afghan police stand guard Dec. 24 outside of Kabul police headquarters, where an American contractor was killed by a female officer. (Photo: Musadeq Sadeq, AP)Five dozen coalition troops were killed last year by their Afghan counterpartsTaliban claimed credit although U.S. commanders doubt their role...

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Hagel likely to be confirmed this week for Defense

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Chuck Hagel (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)Barring an unforeseen development, Chuck Hagel will be confirmed as Defense secretary this week.So says one of his biggest critics, Republican senator John McCain."I think it will happen, barring some additional revelation concerning his comments about Israel...

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Gun-friendly states woo firearms makers

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, R, has written to at least 13 arms-related manufacturers extolling the virtues of his state as a lace to do business. (Photo: Eric Gay, AP)Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., has been aggressive in trying to lure firmsA Colorado ammunition manufacturer has been targeted by statesTexas...

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N.J. may use private inspectors for Sandy money oversight

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. In Mississippi, state fraud officials uncovered misuse of one of the modular Katrina cottages. A women subleased her cottage to a daughter, who subleased it to a boyfriend operating a meth lab. (Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)First $1.8 million in federal grants is expected to arrive in MarchBalance...

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White House details sequestration cuts by state

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. President Obama (Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)White House lists how looming sequestration cuts would affect all 50 statesThe sequester -- $85 billion in automatic budget cuts -- takes effect FridayObama to discuss budget with the nation's governors on MondayThe White House kicked off a week of warnings...

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Pistorius' brother facing culpable homicide charge

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Carl Pistorius watches as his brother, Olympian Oscar Pistorius, appears in South Africa court on Feb. 22. Oscar faces a premeditated murder charge in the death of his girlfriend. (Photo: Alexander Joe, AFP/Getty Images)Oscar Pistorius is charged with fatally shooting his model-girlfriendCarl Pistorius...

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Prisoner death stokes fear of 3rd Palestinian uprising

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. A tweet has been posted to your Twitter account. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. An Israeli soldier takes aim during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday. (Photo: Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP)The Palestinian gas station attendant died in Israeli custodyAn autopsy showed bruising and broken ribsThe first uprising came in the late 1980s, the second in 2000RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)...

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