1 . My parents have very different parenting styles. Dad brings out the best in me. He is calm and reasonable and treats me like an adult.     1     She speaks to me as though I were still a child.

My friends and I think that our parents care too much about us. Take me for example.

    2     It was a journey I’d taken with Mum before. Dad was fine with the idea of me going alone, but it took weeks of arguments before Mum agreed. In her eyes, I’m not old enough to go on the trip alone. But I’m sixteen years old!

Parents need to learn to trust us. There is no point in becoming angry, which just makes things worse. A few months ago, Mum went crazy when I told her I’d been receiving e-mails from a stranger I’d met online. Since then she hasn’t allowed me to use the Internet.     3     They use monitoring software (监控软件) to secretly watch what their teenagers are looking at online.

I understand them, but they overreact (反应过激).     4     I think what they should do is keep calm and help us find a way to deal with it.

We love the idea of being really close to our parents.     5     But part of being a teenager is feeling free to take steps down new paths and learning from our own mistakes. Our parents have to let us get on with what is just a natural stage of life.

3 . Encouraging early reading skills can build a path to a lifelong love of reading and can help your child get a head start in school. While reading to your child is still the most important thing you can do to build reading skills, there are many techniques that can help.

Make reading fun. Play games with your child as you read. Many traditional children’s games can be adapted to encourage reading skills. While reading or during play, tell your child, “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the letter ‘b’.” Help the child find something on the page or in the room that begins with that letter. For example, “I see a barn.” This can also be used to teach beginning letter sounds. “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the sound‘s’.” Help the child find a word that begins with the “s” sound.

In this variation(变化) on the popular game, instruct the child that, “Simon says, ‘point to something that starts with the letter ‘n’.’” The child can then find an object in the room or a body part, such as the nose, that starts with the letter presented. This can also be used to teach beginning sounds.

Make a game out of rhyming (押韵) words by making up silly words to rhyme with the child’s name or favorite toys. This sets the stage for rhyming real words by showing the child the similarities of sounds. As the child masters making up the words, begin rhyming real words to one another.

Tips to raise a successful reader:

Put books in places where the child plays. If books are easily accessible, children are more likely to pick them up.

Let children “read to you” by looking at pictures. Making up stories to go along with illustrations helps children discover how words relate to pictures.

Take books along on trips or even short visits to the doctor’s office or grocery store.

Have children help you shop. Reading grocery lists and looking for specific items help build vocabulary.