Hints from Ruowen Wang

Keep a small basket filled with joke books, magazines, short stories, books of questions and answers, and books like Ripleys Believe It or Not in each bathroom of your house.

Put a map of the solar system, a map of the world, or a map of your local community on the wall. Refer to them often whenever possible, and create map quizzes or games to play with your kids.

Take your children to the bookstores regularly. Make visiting bookstores your family recreation and eventually part of your family culture. Get books on many subjects and make them accessible for your children at all times.

Secondhand bookstores, Salvation Army stores, Value Villages, yard sales and Book Events are the best places to fine inexpensive books.

When it comes to teaching some boring stuff, like Math, Phonics and Grammar, a car is often the best place. Kids in car seats have nothing better to do than to pay attention and work out abstract lessons.

Play with words and letters to explore word formation in the English language. Ask children to identify compound words like playground, bathtub. Or add dis- before some words, and -less after others to show the function of prefixes and suffixes.

Always ask questions on a given subject to raise your childs interest or inspire their curiosity before teaching something new.

If your child declares that he or she does not want to learn, you can play instead. Incorporate your teaching into your play activities or game rules, and let your child win. This will increase their confidence.

Learning involves exploring and risk-taking; it is therefore exciting to a child if presented in the right way. With a good teacher, all children can learn to achieve.