Rembrandt Charms Las Vegas

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Professional Musician Aspirations and Using Music Theory

One of my favorite topics in learning music is the

Related Posts :

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Using Personalized Books for Children to Educate

From the moment a child becomes aware of things around him, we as parents instinctively want to teach. We surround them with color, point to objects and say their names and generally delight in their growing intelligence.After color comes numbers and then comes their alphabet. Helping them to learn is such a precious part of our relationship with them and so enjoyable too.Personalized books come into their own when it comes to teaching in the early years. These are books where the child is the main character. They are the beautiful princess in an exciting fairy tale. They are a fierce-some pirate in a swashbuckling adventure. They are the center of attention.Because they see their name in print, and depending on the book, perhaps even their siblings and parents names too, children become very engaged with what they are reading. It is the kind of thing that they will be wanting to read again and again.Most of these children's books are hard backed so will last a lifetime. Many of these personalized books become heirlooms and are passed on from them to their own children. What an amazing gift to give!Education-wise these personalized gifts are useful from a young age. Children from very young can be sat on laps and read to. It helps them to learn concentration and to listen (and to sit still!). As they hear a story read and hear their name in it, their attention is immediately taken and questions can be asked after each page on what had happened. Questions can also be asked about what is going on in the pictures. This really helps the child to articulate what they have understood.Then they can be taught to pick out their name as the story is read. Because the story is about them, they will WANT to find their name. It won't seem like a chore, or 'school' but rather will be a fun exercise.Another idea for using these personalized books to educate, is to get the child to narrate the story back to you. This really gets the child thinking and organizing their thoughts and teaches them to articulate their thoughts clearly.The books are mostly simple to read and thus can also be used as early readers. Again, because children can identify with the character in the book, it gives them an incentive to learn to read. These books make wonderful gifts for homeschoolers. All homeschooling mom's love anything that grabs their child's attention and encourages them to read. And all homeschooling mom's love books!Lastly personalized books can be used for copy writing. All children need to learn how to write and need plenty of practice. Most will try to do as little as possible. Having a book written about them, seeing their names in print and the names of their family too is a great incentive to write. The pictures of the story can also be used as story prompts making another exciting story experience.

Sophy Kenyon is an experienced writer who loves to write about many different topics. She has written articles on health issues and more recently on personalized boo

Related Posts :

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Poetry is the Music of the Heart and Individual Poetic Words Are Like Pictures of the Soul

Poetry is the universal language. It can heal the deepest wound, cause the greatest joy and penetrate our very soul.Some poetry is read like a story, some rhymes and others have alliteration when two or more words in a poem begin with the same letter or sound. But the bottom line is that poetry is as individual as the fingerprints on your hand and can draw out emotions from your soul like music of your heart.Poets come in all shapes and all sizes and they choose their words with great care to project their feelings. Words are pictures into the soul. When a poem is written the poet has taken great care to express something; some event; some emotion that has affected or altered their life.For a reader to truly appreciate a poem, it is important to try and understand who the poet is or was. What his life was like? When did he live? Where did he live? It is very helpful to get an understanding of the context in which the poem was written.Some poets can illicit emotion naturally while others have to work at it. Reading and studying the great poets can help a poet learn and feel poetry. All poets are searching for their muse that touches their heart and soul and helps them create the wonderful, sometimes perfect poem. But I note with emphasis here that every poem is perfect in the author's eyes. That is as it should be because all poems are personal.Here are my simple rules I recommend when writing your poetry:
Anything goes as long as it is from the heart
Love is the primary component that will illicit your muse
Make your poetry you, it is your expression of yourself
Above all, enjoy the process of writing it
Today and everyday you should be grateful for another day on the planet. When you look outside and see the clouds above, the trees all around, a face of a friend or one in despair, all can be put into a poem to express and capture the wonder of it all!

Rodney K. Erb is my name but everyone on the world wide web (www) knows me as "rkeinc". I have written hundreds of poems which can be enjoyed by going to "The Second Poetry Passage", the link is provided below. I have been published in "Of Moonlight and Wishes" and "The Sound of Poetry" as part of the National Library of Poetry.If you and your children want to enjoy some wonderful poetry go to Poetry for All Children.You can also go to The Second Poetry Passage.H

Related Posts :

Monday, December 2, 2013

Easy Steps to Installing a Router Extension On Your Table Saw

Several companies sell router table extension wings. Woodpeckers Inc. is one of these companies. Using their versions of the router table extension wings as an example, you can see how easy it is to add this helpful addition to your table saw.In our example, you will install the router extension table on the left side of your table saw. Other models may require a different configuration, but the process will essentially be the same. Made of 1" thick MDF laminated on both sides with a matte white high pressure laminate which brings the final thickness to 1 1/8th inches, the extension table is 21"x28". The router extension table also has a white plastic edging. In this particular model, the mounting package includes four brackets to mount the router extension table wing to the rails, phenolic insert with four aluminum spacer rings, stiffener rails, hardware and instructions. Installing the extension table is easy enough that it should not take you more than an hour to finish.Step 1Remove the left wing of your table saw.Step 2After removing the existing table wing, you are going to mount the router table extension wing brackets to the rails per the instructions using the supplied T-nuts. Use the larger washers provided for this step. Put the T-nuts and washers together and slide four sets into the channel on both the front and back rails. You can then slip the brackets onto the hardware behind the washers.Step 3Line the outer brackets up with the end of the rail and snug the nuts down but do not completely tighten them. The inner brackets should be positioned about 2" from the saw table and also snugged down but not tightened. You do not want them completely tightened since they may have to be moved left or right to avoid interference with the stiffeners or to level the table.Step 4The insert cutout is going to be off-centered in the table. Flip the table upside down on the brackets with the widest part of the insert offset to the left or outside of the saw. Put one stiffener bar about an inch from the left side of the table and drill pilot holes for the screws. A helpful hint is to use blue tape on the drill bit to set the depth of the holes to make sure that you go all the way through. After drilling the pilot holes, you can screw down the stiffener. Repeat this process for the other stiffener placing it about an inch or so to the outside of the left edge of the insert cutout.Step 5If necessary, adjust the bracket or stiffener placements to avoid interference. After this is done, turn the table back over.Step 6
Next, you will attach the brackets to the bottom of the table. Drill a pilot hole first and secure each bracket with just one screw. Before finishing, make sure the brackets and stiffeners don't interfere with each other and then finish the bracket installation.Step 7Now, it is time to position the table and brackets. Using a rule, set the table level front and back to the saw's table. Also check that the router extension table is flush up against the table saw.Step 8If the table is not exactly flat or sags, loosen the middle screw on the stiffener and insert a spacer. The space could be a piece of card stock that is the size of the sag. Once the screw is tightened again. The spacer will make the table flat.Step 9Now, it is time to put in the insert. The 3/8" black phenolic insert sits on a rabbet in the MDF tabletop. To level the insert in the opening, it has 8 leveling setscrews. You can adjust each one a little bit at a time going back and forth between all the screws until the insert is level and stable.Step 10This particular brand, Woodpecker, will pre-drill the mounting holes in the insert according to which router you tell them you will be mounting. Using the screws they provide, you now just mount your router to the insert on the router extension table.This is just one option for a router extension table. You particular table saw may have a specific router extension table sold as an accessory. Whether you buy yours from Woodpecker or as an accessory, attaching the router extension table will offer you convenience in your woodworking shop.

Johnathon is a professional carpenter for over 20 years and has experience in helping customers renovate their homes. Johnathon is woodwork enthusiast who works with jigsaws, table saws, circular saws and many other varieties of saws. Visit his specialty site on delta table saws at http:

Related Posts :