A Quick Guide to Encourage Your Child to Read

A Quick Guide to Encourage Your Child to Read How can you encourage your child, whether a beginning reader or a reluctant reader, to read childrens books on a regular basis? Here are some ideas that may help. Simple Tips to Encourage Reading Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old.When your child is able, have him read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example.Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books.Be aware of your childs interests and direct your child to related books.Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading.Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home.Discuss books with your child.If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high-interest level, low vocabulary).Talk to your childs teacher and ask for suggestions.If your child responds well to incentives and enjoys using the computer, enroll in an online book group (with your supervision).If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books he might enjoy.Chi ldren also often enjoy the opportunity to read childrens magazines. Main Takeaways Basically, you want to stay on the side of encouraging rather than nagging if you want your child to read and love doing it. Nothing puts a child off faster than feeling forced to do something, so be careful. The importance of reading to your child daily cannot be emphasized enough so make it a priority. Also, be consistent with reading aloud together, trips to the library and other encouraging activities. Finally, if your child is in a preteen or entering middle school, the article  Middle School, Reading and Tweens: Motivate Your Preteen to Read  is a useful and informative resource.

Composition and Properties of Bronze

Composition and Properties of Bronze Bronze is one of the earliest metals known to man. It is defined as an alloy made of copper and another metal, usually tin. Compositions vary, but most modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin. Bronze may also contain manganese, aluminum, nickel, phosphorus, silicon, arsenic,  or zinc. Although, at one time, bronze was an alloy consisting of copper with tin and brass was an alloy of copper with zinc, modern usage has blurred the lines between brass and bronze. Now, copper alloys generally are called brass, with bronze sometimes considered a type of brass. To avoid confusion, museums and historical texts typically use the inclusive term copper alloy. In science and engineering, bronze and brass are defined according to their element composition. Bronze Properties Bronze usually is a golden hard, brittle metal. The properties depend on the specific composition of the alloy as well as how it has been processed. Here are some typical characteristics: Highly ductile.Bronze exhibits low friction against other metals.Many bronze alloys display the unusual property of expanding a small amount when solidifying from a liquid into a solid. For sculpture casting, this is desirable, as it helps to fill a mold.Brittle, but less so than cast iron.Upon exposure to air, bronze oxidizes, but only on its outer layer. This patina consists of copper oxide, which eventually becomes copper carbonate. The oxide layer protects the interior metal from further corrosion. However, if chlorides are present (as from seawater), copper chlorides form, which can cause bronze disease a condition in which corrosion works through the metal and destroys it.Unlike steel, striking bronze against a hard surface wont generate sparks. This makes bronze useful for the metal used around flammable or explosive materials. Origin of Bronze The Bronze Age is the name given to the time period when bronze was the hardest metal that was widely used. This was the 4th millennium BC about the time of the city of Sumer in the Near East. The bronze age in China and India occurred at roughly the same time. Even during the Bronze Age, there were a few items crafted from meteoritic iron, but the smelting of iron was uncommon. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, starting around 1300 BC. Even during the Iron Age, bronze was widely used. Uses of Bronze Bronze is used in architecture for structural and design elements, for bearings because of its friction properties, and as phosphor bronze in musical instruments, electrical contacts, and ship propellers. Aluminum bronze is used to make machine tools and some bearings. Bronze wool is used instead of steel wool in woodworking because it doesnt discolor oak. Bronze has been used to make coins. Most copper coins are actually bronze, consisting of copper with 4% tin and 1% zinc. Bronze has been used since ancient times to make sculptures. The Assyrian king Sennacherib (706-681 BC) claimed to be the first person to cast huge bronze sculptures using two-part molds, although the lost-wax method was used to cast sculptures long before this time.