Being as busy as I am, and I am sure you are too, I have a difficult time actually sitting down and reading a book. I so desperately want to, but by the time I have “time” I am pretty wiped out. Because of this I have taken up the habit of listening to audiobooks and podcasts. This really became a passion of mine when I was rereading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time. I fell in love with Jim Dale, the reader, and all his different voices. Since then I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks. I have read physical books as well, but the convenience of listening to a book on the way to work or on a road trip, or even a trip to the store has been perfect for me. I also have recently joined the myriad of podcast listeners. It has taken me a while to find a few that I really connected with and now I follow them weekly. In TIME magazine article in 2018: “I was a fan of audiobooks, but I always viewed them as cheating,” says Beth Rogowsky, an associate professor of education at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. For a 2016 study, Rogowsky put her assumptions to the test. One group in her study listened to sections of Unbroken, a nonfiction book about World War II by Laura Hillenbrand, while a second group read the same parts on an e-reader. She included a third group that both read and listened at the same time. Afterward, everyone took a quiz designed to measure how well they had absorbed the material. “We found no significant differences in comprehension between reading, listening, or reading and listening simultaneously,” Rogowsky says. Audiobooks are immersive, educational, instructional, entertaining and they’re perfect for the time rich and the time poor. Audiobooks can also change the way we listen, read and learn, improving the literacy of young readers and those for whom English is a second language. There are plenty of benefits to regularly listening to audiobooks, including:
There are some pay to use service like audible and I have used Overdrive and Libby that connect to the king county library and I don’t have to pay! My kids and I have been listening to the Marvels Avengers Novels while we are in the car and we love talking about what we are hearing. Keep your kid engaged in reading by listening to some audiobooks!
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I will confess this post may not be for everyone, but I guess I could say that about every post. Today's post is something that I love and an activity we do as a family. We love to play roleplaying games.
What is a role playing game? A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development This is one of the biggest draws to the RPG for myself and my family. The story telling element of the game. We love to make up new worlds and stories. Sometimes, at bed time, I tell what we call Cornwall adventures. It is mostly the kids in the family going on an adventure to find some great treasure or rescue Harry from the evil wizard that has trapped him in Ice. The dog, Toby, often will accompany us on the adventure as well. The kids favorite part is when I ask them what happens next. They get to choose what their character does in the story. SOmetimes it is odd and even crazy, but wee go with it! THis makes it fun for them and fun for me to see what they choose to do. I have taken one of the adventures and I have typed it up and I am currently working on illustrating it for a christmas present this winter. It just might take me that long! These stories are a kind of Role-playing game - the kids take on a character and get to make a lot of the decisions for the character. There are others that we like to play in our family, one of which is Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Back in the 80's there was a lot of negative hype around D&D, that it was evil and would lead youth down dangerous paths. As a child of the 80's I can tell you this is not true. I have been playing D&D, with my own father and family, since probably 1982.
I perused the internet to complied 7, and I'm sure there are more, benefits of role-playing games:
Using Imagination This is the big one! The world of D&D is played through storytelling. The players, as well as the Dungeon Master (lead storyteller that runs the game) all get to tell part of the story. They each have to pull from their imaginations to explain the details of what their character is doing. Kids with wild imaginations have a place to express it. Kids with limited imaginations can be inspired by all the cool stuff going on and want to participate in it. Teamwork and Social Skills D&D is all about playing with friends and interacting with others. Everyone has a part to play, and must contribute if everyone is to succeed. The Barbarian in the party will be at the forefront of the fight, while the Sorcerer distracts the monsters with her magic, and the Cleric will stay back and help heal everyone. The players have to talk and figure out what to do to succeed. It’s always a cool moment when a big monster goes down and everyone knows they did their part. Math Skills D&D is played with 7 kinds of dice, d4 d6, d8, d10, d10 (percentage), d12, and d20, named by the number of sides they have. In the game, to see if you hit your enemy, you need to roll a d20 and add your strength and proficiency bonuses. If you hit you need to roll for damage, which might be 1d8 plus 2d6 bonus dice plus your strength modifier, and add them up. But the monster is resistant to fire damage, so you have to cut that number in half. How much damage should he get? Life Doesn’t Always Go As Planned Isn’t that the honest truth? During D&D gameplay you roll a d20 dice to see if your actions are successful or not. Rolling a 1 on a 20-sided dice is called a natural 1, and an instant failure. They always seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. Not only is it a fail, but the Dungeon Master usually improvises a hilarious story moment to accent the failure. Crazy Decisions with Minimal Consequences Every parent can relate to these phrases. Our day to day life has become filled with them. Don’t jump on the ice, you could slip and hurt yourself! Be careful riding your bike, be sure to look both ways. What if there were no limits? What if you could try to jump off a cliff, try to grab an exposed tree branch on the way down, do a backflip and land on the ground? What if, the worst that could happen would be you had to wait a few minutes for your friend to “heal” you? I’d do it in a heartbeat just to see what happened! Let kids describe their wildest and craziest actions, and in return give them fun, creative consequences. When else will they be able to “do” things like this? Challenging Rules Life is full of rules. From the laws of your country, and state, down to the employee handbook at work and the rules of your household. We’re told to follow rules, and in many cases, the reason we are told is simply “because I said so.” When you’re an adult, you get to challenge the status quo. State your case, and if make a convincing enough argument you are able to “change the world,” or at very least change your own destiny. Problem Solving Every corner of a D&D adventure has challenges, problems to solve, and mysteries to unravel. Player: "How can we free the prisoners without being detected by the guards?" Combined with their knowledge of their character, their companions, and their resources, I’ve been astonished to see what kinds of absolutely outside the box solutions kids can come up with. Heck, I like to play with kids because they teach *me* how to think more creatively while problem solving. Sometimes my kids want to be the storyteller! It is hard, but they are brave.
You also don't need to only play in a Dungeons and Dragons world. I am listing a few other RPG favorites that we have played and want to play later.
I did start this post saying I was a child of the 80's!!!
LINKS
There are a few resources out there to get started: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/EJB/dungeons-and-dragons-young-adventurers-guides https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/being-dungeon-master-kids https://dnd.wizards.com/ About a year ago my 12 year old daughter came to me and said she had learned to make slime and she now wanted to start a YouTube channel. I told her that in order to make a YouTube video she needed to become an expert first. She accepted the challenge. She spent the next year making slime after slime perfecting her craft. There were many frustrating failures, but she continued on trying and learning. Needless to say we have gone through a lot of glue, borax, shampoo, lotion, and Elmer’s activator. Making slime can be a messy event, but it sure is fun. According to my daughter there are many different types of slime. One of her favorites is her butter slime. Take a look: So, while we are still all at home, try to become an expert at something, even if it is not slime making find something you want to be better at and stick with it!
If you are interested in making slime here are some links from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/11-easy-recipes-for-playdough-gak-and-slime Until Next Time, Shaun Cornwall |
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