Smiley Law January 2018

Want to See Better Report Cards in 2018?

Make Reading a Family Resolution

SET REWARD MILESTONES Positive reinforcement will propel your kids to keep reading long after the calendars have turned. For a certain number of books completed or hours spent reading, offer them a prize. You can even create a big end goal to really cement those reading habits. Better yet, set a combined goal that the entire family can work toward. Don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops. If your kids know that reading one book per week through June means an extra-special summer vacation, their enthusiasm won’t wane come spring. recommendations, share ratings, and create lists of both completed and to-be-read books. Users also create reading lists based on topic, genre, decade, and more. With over 2 billion books added, you’ll never run out of inspiration. Biblionasium offers the same services, but it’s designed specifically for children. Talk to other parents and create a network of friends and classmates. After all, nothing is cooler to a kid than what their friends are doing. Avid readers tend to do better academically from kindergarten through college. In fact, a study from the Journal of Education and Practice found that reading comprehension predicted success in other subjects more than any other factor. If you want to see improved report cards, make a reading resolution for your entire household. USE READING APPS Goodreads is a social network for bibliophiles. You can find

Every parent wants to see their child do well in school, and there’s one fun activity that benefits students of all ages: reading. In a world with so much stimulation, however, it can be difficult to motivate kids to put down a screen and pick up a book. New Year’s resolutions are the perfect opportunity to make reading a priority. Here are a few tips to make 2018 the year your kids become bookworms. MAKE IT A FAMILY RESOLUTION There’s no better motivator than solidarity! Plus, we’re guessing everyone in your household could stand to read a little more. You don’t have to read the same books or set identical goals, but it’s a lot more fun when everyone participates. Schedule weekly reading discussions so everyone can share the cool stories they’ve read. Stack your completed books in your house somewhere as a monument to all the knowledge your family has gained.

The Battle for MLK Day

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Four days later, a legislative bill was proposed to establish a federal holiday in his honor. It would be the first of many. The battle for a day of remembrance for Martin Luther King Jr. was long — too long, considering his life and legacy. But we ultimately got better than we bargained for: America’s first Day of Service, rather than a day of remembrance. That first bill didn’t come to a vote until 1979. It lost by five votes. Opponents claimed that a holiday honoring a private citizen would break the long-standing tradition of honoring politicians. But the campaign continued. The King Center in Atlanta lobbied heavily, and Stevie Wonder released the single “Happy Birthday” a year later, which calls for the holiday. Six million signatures were collected, the most signatures in favor of an issue in the history of America. Many politicians continued to resist. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina led a filibuster against the bill in 1982, claiming Dr. King had ties to communists and wasn’t important enough. Others opposed the bill because it would cost too much for the federal government to implement the holiday.

Finally, on Nov. 3, 1983, President Reagan signed a bill declaring the third Monday of January to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was first observed in 1986. However, several states refused to observe it. Some states preferred to call it Civil Rights Day, while others didn’t observe it at all. The National Football League threatened to move Super Bowl XXVII from Arizona if they voted down a bill to ratify MLK day. It was voted down, and the Super Bowl moved to California. Meanwhile, at the request of Coretta Scott King, President Bill Clinton signed a law in 1994 declaring MLK Day a Day of Service, rather than just remembrance.

On May 2, 2000, South Carolina’s governor signed a bill declaring Dr. King’s birthday an official state holiday. Before that, government employees could choose between observing MLK Day or a confederate holiday. Utah became the last state to change Human Rights Day to Martin Luther King Jr. Day that same year. In the spirit of the holiday, we encourage you to find some way to serve your community this MLK Day, just as Dr. King did years ago.

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