Balloon animals appear at carnivals, children’s birthday parties, circuses and even at some special restaurant events. Children love watching performers make them, fascinated by how a simple long balloon could turn into an animal or object. They also make fun toys afterward, especially if the children get something like swords or hats. One of the best things about twisted balloons is that when they get boring you can have fun popping them. Many one-balloon objects twist up easily and quickly, giving parents a rainy day activity for children and teachers a fun activity for students.

Reading is the key to school success, and like any skill it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. A great athlete practices until he can play quickly, accurately, without thinking. Tennis players call that “being in the zone”. Educators call it “automaticity”.

A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and decoding the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about decoding the words, so he can concentrate on the meaning of the text.

It can begin as early as in the first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found automatic readers in the first grade who were reading almost three times as fast as the other children and scoring twice as high on comprehension tests. In the fifth grade, the automatic readers were reading twice as fast as the others, and still outscoring them on accuracy, comprehension and vocabulary.

“It’s not IQ, but the amount of time a child spends reading that is the key to automaticity,” according to Rossman. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will in all likelihood reach automaticity. At home, where the average child spends 25 hours a week watching television, it can happen by turning off the set just one night in favor of reading.

You can test your child by giving him a paragraph or two to read aloud—something unfamiliar but appropriate to his age. If he reads aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentence, he probably is an automatic reader. If he reads haltingly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, he needs more practice.

Sally and Mary are in the shopping mall. Sally found one of her desired dresses.

Sally: Look! Mary, look at this dress! I do love it so much!

Mary: Wow, it’s really cool! The design is so special! If you wear it, I think it will be hard to find someone else dressed in the same style and color.

Sally: You said it! The only problem is that I just can’t afford it now.

Mary: Why don’t you ask your mom to buy it for you?

Sally: Are you kidding? She will never ever buy me this style. She always says, “You shouldn’t wear this kind of clothes! I don’t think it’s suitable for a student like you!”

Mary: Oh! Poor you! But it’s hard for our parents to have the same taste as we do.

Sally: Absolutely! You can say that again. They are out-dated!

Mary: But how will you get your desired dress?

Sally: Hmm… Maybe I’ll just have to save my pocket money for a long time.

Mary: Or probably you can try to take some part-time jobs?

Sally: Sounds a good idea! I’m a good babysitter! Hopefully I can afford this dress quite soon!

Mary: Good for you! I can’t wait to see you wearing it!

“Bollywood” is the name of the film industry in India. The country is the world’s largest filmmaker. “Nollywood” in Nigeria is now the world’s second-largest filmmaker. It produces 2,000 or more movies every year.

Some of the best Nollywood films are showing at a film festival in Paris. The festival is called “Nollywood Week”. This is the third year the festival has taken place.

Nigeria is an English-speaking country. However, festival organizer Serge Noukoue says holding the festival in the French capital makes sense.

Many different types of movies are part of the festival. They include dramas, comedies and also a film about zombies. Festivalgoers can also see the popular Nigerian TV series called Before Thirty. The show is about how Nigerian women feel forced to get married by the time they are 30 years old.