Author Archive for marian

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is a classic among children’s literature, a perfect gift for someone this holiday season.

This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room.  Since Milo has absolutely nothing better to do, he dusts off his toy car, pays the toll, and drives through. What ensues is a journey of mythic proportions, during which Milo encounters countless odd characters who are anything but dull.

As Milo heads toward Dictionopolis he meets with the Whether Man (“for after all it’s more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be”), passes through The Doldrums (populated by Lethargarians), and picks up a watchdog named Tock (who has a giant alarm clock for a body). The brilliant satire and double entendre intensifies in the Word Market, where after a brief scuffle with Officer Short Shrift, Milo and Tock set off toward the Mountains of Ignorance to rescue the twin Princesses, Rhyme and Reason.

Norton Juster received (and continues to receive) enormous praise for this original, witty, and oftentimes hilarious novel, first published in 1961. In an introductory “Appreciation” written by Maurice Sendak for the 35th anniversary edition, he states, “The Phantom Tollbooth leaps, soars, and abounds in right notes all over the place, as any proper masterpiece must.”

The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert

Long ago, a brave little girl named Anja wanted to be one of Santa’s elves.  So she leaves a note for her family and helps her elderly neighbor prepare for the holiday, then she straps on her skis, and heads out into the snowy landscape. From a red bird to a polar bear to a reindeer, a menagerie of winter animals help Anja make her way to Santa.

Gratitude before Thanksgiving

With four days before Thanksgiving, it seemed a good time to ponder a famous quote about

Gratitude

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

~William Arthur Ward

A thoughtful quote from Learning Unlimited Tutoring

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one’s
opportunities, and to make the most of one’s resources.

— Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747) French Essayist

Technology information for parents from Learning Unlimited Tutoring

Doctors 2 parents: Limit kids’ tweeting, texting & keep smartphones, laptops out of bedrooms.

 

The recommendations are bound to prompt eye-rolling and LOLs from many teens but an influential pediatricians group says parents need to know that unrestricted media use can have serious consequences.

It’s been linked with violence, cyberbullying, school woes, obesity, lack of sleep and a host of other problems.

The policy is aimed at all kids, including those who use smartphones, computers and other Internet-connected devices. It expands the academy’s longstanding recommendations on banning televisions from children’s and teens’ bedrooms and limiting entertainment screen time to no more than two hours daily.

Under the new policy, those two hours include using the Internet for entertainment, including Facebook, Twitter, TV and movies; online homework is an exception.

“Young people now spend more time with media than they do in school – it is the leading activity for children and teenagers other than sleeping” the policy says. “There needs to be more awareness,” Gorr said. “Kids are getting way too much computer time. It’s bad for their socialization, it’s overstimulating, it’s numbing them.”

From Learning Unlimited Tutoring a question: How do you spell those hard words?

Check out

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/spelling-and-word-lists/misspelled.html

to learn The 100 Most Often Misspelled Words and how to spell them.

A pithy quote from Learning Unlimited Tutoring

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”

 Thomas Jefferson

 

Study with Learning Unlimited Tutoring to improve your vocabulary,

so you can follow Jefferson’s lead.

Did you know—from Learning Unlimited Tutoring

Tests conducted by St. Lawrence University in New York found that there were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than right-handed people. Famous left-handed intellectuals include Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Franklin.

Summer Learning Loss

“All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer (White, 1906; Heyns, 1978; Entwisle & Alexander 1992; Cooper, 1996; Downey et al, 2004).”

 

Prevent this academic setback in your children, contact LEARNING UNLIMITED TUTORING, LONGMONT, CO today.

Left-Handedness & Left-Handed People

Studies have suggested that left-handers are more talented in spatial awareness, math, and architecture. Right-handers tend to be more talented verbally.