Archive for August 19th, 2007
How To Write Your Family History
“Once upon a time a headless horseman rode up and down the dark country road yelling, “Who’s got my head? Who’s got my head?” Only my Dad knew he was telling us kids a classic story. When we asked for a story he told us to get ready. We ran to the darkest bedroom sat down and got ready. We sat on the floor because at the story end he yelled BOO! We ALL jumped, every time! That’s part of my history. Another lady found out why her husband and daughter liked Oriental fashions, decor, and food. Turns out her husbands’ Grandmother forth removed was Chinese! See you can write your family history.
Make a list of the names of your oldest family member down to the youngest member who makes sense! You want the truth. It may be sad or shocking whatever you hear is as they remember and is the truth to them. You’ll need: 1. A large spiral notebook. 2. Five ballpoint pens, 3. Tape recorder and Kleenex.
Start with questions such as: 1. What is your full name? 2. Where were you born? 3. Describe your wedding dress. 4. Did you work outside the home? 5. Where did you live as a child? 6. Did you have a craft? Ask questions then listen. Give them time to answer. Touch them lightly when their thoughts wonder away from the subject and ask another question. This keeps both of you focused. Be careful about talking or making noise when you are recording. Interview in a quiet place. Nod your head as they talk this will encourage them to keep talking. When you finish thank them go home and write up your story. Schedule the next relative and go on from there. You may choose to publish or not. Your goal is a record of your family’s history. Your are preserving memories.
|
Violet Camp lives with her husband Carl in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. She likes to read, write and have fun with her three married children and five grandchildren. She is the author of two published nonfiction book and two manuscripts with her agent. Please contact her at violetcamp2003@yahoo.com Violet Davis Camp is a writer/author/speaker. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Violet_Camp |
2 comments August 19, 2007
Top 20 Baby Girl Names
It’s a lot more important to name a girl right than to name a boy right, in the eyes of many statisticians and child development specialists. A girl is a lot more sensitive than a boy and having the wrong name would affect her much more than it would affect a boy, hence the above-mentioned theory. Another factor would be her future relationship with men. Whereas a girl won’t really care if she’s dating or marrying a “Dave” or an awkward named boy, men are admittedly more shallow from this point of view, as they tend to give the name of their girlfriend or spouse more importance than they should. For men, these external and seemingly superficial details are important, whereas girls tend to look into much more important and deeper factors and traits of their boyfriend or future husband.
This said, there are a couple of ways you could get inspiration to name your daughter. You could try naming her after someone in the family, the girl’s grand parents or great grand parents being a popular choice. You could also name her after a historical figure or a popular star of our days: Joan or Jeanne (after Joan/Jeanne D’Arc, heroine of the Hundred Years War), Elizabeth (after Queen Elizabeth), Abigail (after Abigail Smith Adams, the wife of the 2nd President of the United States), Josephine (after Josephine Baker, civil rights activist and World War 2 heroine) to name just a few historic figures. Names that would point to popular figures and entertainment stars include Marilyn (Marilyn Monroe), Barbara (Barbara Streisand), Tina (Tina Turner), Shania (Shania Twain) and so forth.
But if you’re still unsure of what name to give to your daughter, or if you don’t want her name to point out at any particular figure in history or entertainment, we prepped up a list of today’s most popular 20 baby girl names. Although you might not want to choose a popular name per say, this list might help you as a starting point, so here’s the top 20 baby girl names we have for you:
1. Emily
2. Mary
3. Grace
4. Sarah
5. Olivia
6. Samantha
7. Anna
8. Julia
9. Claire
10. Katie
11. Rebecca
12. Alexandra
13. Jessica
14. Pam
15. Nicole
16. Janet
17. Angie
18. Jennifer
19. Britney
20. Martha
Naming your daughter with any of the above names from our top 20 baby girl names list should be considered a “safe bet” if you’re thinking about how your daughter’s name will affect her future development. These names are neither unique (or even too uncommon) nor common to the point they could stamp you, as her parent as uninspired. You might not even find something you like in the top 20 baby girl names list above, but it could prove to be a good way to start off your search. Just pick out the few names that you like from the list than go hunting for others. If you don’t find anything you like, you can come back to our suggestions and pick one from here.
|
Because Your Baby Deserves The Best Name Fraser Wheaton is the founder and publisher of The Baby Name Kit website. We aim to be the worlds largest content provider for baby name information on the internet. If you have a baby naming question, chances are, we have the answer. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fraser_Wheaton |
Add comment August 19, 2007
Top 20 Baby Boy Names
As a parent, one of your toughest jobs is naming your child and thinking on how his name will affect him later on. Oftentimes, parents will be undecided on the name and since they have equal rights on naming him, this could lead to a problem.
Sometimes both parents will choose to name their newly born after a celebrity, a historical figure, a famous character or a family member, although this practice is a bit old by now.
You can simply choose a common name that you hear a lot around you, go for the classics like John, Jim, Michael and so forth, or look for a good baby name for your son over the Internet. Although there are hundreds of sites, each having their own “Top Baby Boy Names” list, this is what we consider being the most accurate top 20 of our times:
Top 20 Baby Boy Names
1. Matthew
2. Jack
3. Andrew
4. Michael
5. Ryan
6. Jacob
7. Alexander
8. William
9. James
10. Daniel
11. Anthony
12. Gabriel
13. Lucas
14. Christian
15. John
16. Thomas
17. Sean
18. Robert
19. Jason
20. Adam
As you can see, some of the names are more modern (Ryan, Sean, Jack) while others are classic or have a historical resonance (Lucas, William, Alexander, Robert). Regardless, all of them are very popular baby boy names and they’re considered “safe bets” in how your boy’s name will affect the way he develops.
Names constantly vary in popularity and what might be a cool name today, may be “obsolete” tomorrow so you should consider this factor as well. One thing that statisticians have discovered is that names have a tendency to cycle, every 20-30 years or so, so what is popular now was probably extremely popular in the 80s (just look at all the Mathews, Jacks, Andrews, Johns and Jasons around you). The answer behind this cyclic nature is that parents tend to name their children after themselves or after close relatives and with the average parent having children at 25, the cycle’s interval is explainable.
|
Because Your Baby Deserves The Best Name Fraser Wheaton is the founder and publisher of The Baby Name Kit website. We aim to be the worlds largest content provider for baby name information on the internet. If you have a baby naming question, chances are, we have the answer. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fraser_Wheaton |
Add comment August 19, 2007
Play Word Games to Increase Vocabulary
Most of us recognize that play is an important way to learn all types of skills and knowledge. Play works as a way to learn for a couple of reasons. First, we are more motivated to do an activity if we are having fun doing it. Second, pleasurable activities get repeated and, therefore, give us more chances to practice the skill or recall a piece of knowledge. And as the cliché says – practice makes perfect.
Word games are a great way to pick up new vocabulary and play with vocabulary that is already familiar. Each game focuses on a different set of skills related to learning words, so if enthusiasm wanes for one game, switching to another game can re-energize the learning process. All of the paperless games below can be played anywhere. They require no equipment whatsoever other than your “thinking cap”.
1. The Alphabet Game: (Ages 5 and up) This game can be played while in a house or riding in a car. Start with the first player. The player must find an object he can see that begins with the letter A. He names the object and now the play moves to player number two. This player must name an object she can see that begins with the letter B. Play continues through the alphabet and group of players. To vary the game, work backwards through the alphabet.
2. The Word Guessing Game: (Ages 6 and up) In this game the first player thinks of a word. We suggest starting with a four-lettered word (i.e. hope). She announces to the group of players how many letters the word has (in this example – “I’m thinking of a four letter word.”). Then the next player suggests a four-lettered word (i.e. made). The first player compares the suggested word to her word. She is looking for letters in her word that are exactly matched in position to her word (i.e. “hope” compared to “made” has the letter “e” in the exact position in both words). She announces “One Letter”. Now all players know that the word “made” shared one letter with the guess word. The next player will try to think of a word which will test which letter is an exact match. For example, this player may want to test if the letter “m” in the first position is the matching letter and so she might suggest the word “mint”. The first player will respond “No Letters”. Play continues until the players identify the guess word. The player to correctly identify the guess word thinks of the next guess word. It is important to state how many letters are in the guess word. Games using four- and five-lettered words work best.
3. Find the Letter: (Ages 4 and up) This game can help very young readers learn their alphabet. This is a good game for players riding in a car. Have the players look for the letters in alphabetical order. The letters might be on road signs, license plates, billboards, or shop windows. You may need to prompt them with “Can you find the letter A?” Repetition will build up their command of the alphabet and help them identify each letter. You can also use the alphabet song to jog their memories of the next letter.
4. A is for…: (Ages 6 and up) To begin, name a category for the words that will be used in the game (for example: animals, transportation, general, etc). Now the first player must name an object within the category that begins with the letter A (such as anaconda for the animal category, auto for the transportation category, or apple for the general category). The next player names an object beginning with the letter B and the players proceed in order through the alphabet. For the next game try a new category and allow a different person to start the game.
Playing with words can be a fun and rewarding way for your children to learn new words while reinforcing ones they already know. These games will help cement the alphabet in their minds. They will identify letters, learn the order of the alphabet, and practice spelling – all critical skills for reading. Let the games begin!!
|
Celia Webb ©Celia Webb, 2007 Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all links active, give the author credit, do not edit the article, and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Celia_Webb |
Add comment August 19, 2007
