Recently, I was at the gym taking a group fitness class.  As we were all putting equipment away at the end, a woman approached me and began, “Excuse me…”

Just as my insecurities descended and I thought she was about to tell me I stunk or something (hey—we were all really sweaty!) she continued, “Is that your water bottle?”

I know this seems like a boring, innocent question, but to me, it had a higher meaning.

I had just purchased a SIGG (Swiss made) aluminum water bottle.  Although I paid $20 for my 20 oz. bottle, I felt it was worth every penny, and raved about its uses to anybody who would listen at the gym, which turned out to be several people. My former self would have never paid $20 for a reusable water bottle.  In fact, some of the “gym bunny” women even scoffed at me, saying that was too much money for an aluminum bottle.

Okay I get it—but, let’s use some common sense here.  I wonder how much money they have spent on bottled water in just the past month, let alone the past several years?  That is a far more ridiculous amount to ponder than my $20, especially considering the fact that tap water is often better quality than bottled water– oh and the fact that we are polluting the Earth, with staggering amounts of plastic water bottles piling in landfills!  Get it?!

I am a professor at Southern New Hampshire University, where, I am proud to say, passionate groups of students have begun a One Earth One Bottle campaign.  On their webpage, they remind us all of important facts such as:

• If we drink tap water instead of bottled water, we will save energy and cut down on waste.
• Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles in 2006. With a U.S. recycling rate of only 23 percent, about 38 million bottles were thrown away. It takes about 24 million gallons of oil to produce just one billion water bottles.
• Much of the world lacks access to clean water. Water should not be commoditized.

Thanks, students, for re-emphasizing these critical thoughts, which should be common sense and intuitive to all of us!

Anyway, back to the SIGG bottle.  It is lightweight and attractive.  The bottles come in a variety of styles, from simple, to highly colorful and stylized.  In fact, they even make different bottle sizes and cap styles for a variety of uses, such as sports, or those that are more appropriate for children.

I purchased a SIGG .6-Liter Bottle with Sport Top from Eastern Mountain Sports (www.ems.com)

I carry this bottle with me everywhere.  I love the fact that it’s spill-proof, so it’s perfect for my desk at work, or for throwing into my bag at any time.  I’ve read other online reviews stating that the bottle is difficult to clean.  I don’t really understand what those people are talking about.  Ever heard of warm, soapy water?  It’s not rocket science!  In fact, the bottle is considered dishwasher safe, although it’s not necessarily recommended.  On Amazon, they even sell SIGG Water Bottle Clean Tablets for a closer cleaning, which I think is a great idea for those times you need a more intense cleaning, for example when you are sick.

My only slight gripe with the bottle is that I’ve noticed it dents rather easily, yet they are not significant dents, and they don’t bother me, or compromise the bottle.

So, people—save a dollar, save the planet.  Buy a SIGG water bottle!

The SIGG .6-Liter Water Bottle is available from EMS for $21.99. In addition to a great selection, and outstanding customer service, EMS offers Free Shipping on Orders Over $150.

Shower Gel

Lush sent me The Olive Branch Shower Gel.  The fragrance is the best part. The shower gel leaves a lasting, soft scent that lasts all day for me.  I would describe it as a rich, woodsy aroma, which I’m assuming comes from the bergamot.  The smell isn’t overwhelming, and it reminds me of a pleasant, understated cologne.  Although the container is small, I’m not concerned, because a little bit goes a long way.  Usually, I just squirt a small amount into a wash cloth and the gel lathers and suds surprisingly well.  Since the shower gel is mostly comprised of olive oil, it isn’t shocking that it definitely makes my skin soft.  I would like to remind folks that the shower gel is fresh, and made with natural ingredients, so it’s pricey.  Is it worth it?  Honestly, I’m not sure.  While it certainly has its benefits, I’m not convinced it’s far better than other shower gels I’ve tried.

Deodorant

Please let me preface this entire deodorant review by honestly stating that I am simply not meant to wear natural deodorant.  I’ve read all the reports about how the aluminum contained in the average, mainstream stick of antiperspirant/deodorant can be detrimental to our health.  However, I workout everyday at the gym, and overall try to stay active, and natural deodorant just doesn’t work for me.  I’ve tried a couple of different kinds, Lush included, and I basically offended myself.  Laughing at myself, I realized that I’ve been using regular deodorant for so long (since I was a teenager), that I didn’t even know I could smell that bad!  Plus, it’s summertime!

Lush sent me the T’eo Deodorant.  If you love lemony, citrus aromas, and if you don’t sweat a lot, and just require minimal coverage, this is the deodorant for you.  I was wholeheartedly impressed with the scent, which is bright and fruity.  Unfortunately, when I applied it, it irritated my skin, and did not leave me fruity fresh the rest of the day.  For now, the T’eo rests on a shelf in my bathroom. I will say, though, that my entire bathroom has a beautiful, fresh smell because of the deodorant stick.  It works for the room, and not for me, but that’s okay.  I still reap some benefit, and I was grateful to try it.

Dusting Powder

My grandmother always used dusting powder after bathing, which for some reason, I always thought was so elegant and feminine.  Since childhood, I have enjoyed dusting myself with some powder after bathing, yet when reports came out in recent years about the dangerous side effects of talc, I tried to find good alternatives.  Lush’s Silky Underwear Dusting Powder is by far the absolute best powder I’ve ever used, which is saying  a lot, considering all of the years I’ve used powder, and all of the different brands I’ve tried.

What sets this particular Lush powder apart is how it contains cocoa butter, leaving my skin so soft and silky I couldn’t believe it.  In addition, I am struck by the rich, luxurious, lasting aroma of the cocoa butter, coupled with jasmine and vetivert.  I adore the smell, and I notice its subtlety all day.  Since the powder is made from cornstarch and china clay, it is a safe, natural, preferable alternative to traditional powder.

In conclusion…

For me, only the Silky Underwear Dusting Powder was a sincere winner in this line-up.  As I thought about it all some more, I realized that Lush’s bath products, such as Bubble Bars and Bath Bombs are an occasional luxury for me, whereas shower gel, deodorant and powder are things I use everyday.  I am willing to splurge on the occasional luxury, but not necessarily for expensive, everyday items… unless it’s truly worth it.  The Silky Underwear Dusting Powder is definitely worth it to me.  While I appreciated and enjoyed the other items, I know what I’ll buy again.  In my opinion, the Lush bath products and dusting powder are very special, unique items, made with high quality, fresh, natural ingredients.  Purchase them at the Lush website, or also at Amazon.

Please let me preface this review by stating that I am not a vegan. In fact, I am not a vegetarian.  While I will share with this audience my love and appreciation for these outstanding cookies, I would also like to share the mission of the dedicated Liz Lovely company.  This review isn’t just about cookies—it’s about life and our approach to it.

While wandering our local natural food market with my husband, I stumbled upon Liz Lovely Cookies.  More than anything, I suppose the colorful, clever packaging caught my eye—oh, and the decadent chocolate peeking through the clear wrapping.  Although I noticed that the cookies are certified vegan, I was far more entranced by the sugary coating and dark, rich cacao nibs of the Chocolate Moose Dragons.

Like many 30-something women, I am admittedly a chocoholic.  In a sense, though, I am changing.  After my recent 50 pound weight loss, my views of food have changed, and as a result, so has my perspective on life.  Now, I care more deeply about what I put in my body.  I ask myself: How does this taste?  How was it made?  What are its ingredients?  Similar to so many busy, young, career-minded women, I never used to ask myself such questions.  Rather than mindlessly shoveling junk food into my mouth as I used to do, I now put a lot of thought into my meals and snacks.  To me, it has to be worth it—worth the money, worth the calories, and even worth our impact on the environment.  Liz Lovely Cookies are worth it.

In a culture gone crazy, filled with obese people, and carbon footprints we should all be concerned about, I am wholeheartedly impressed with the mission and devotion of the Liz Lovely company.  They not only make an exceptional impression with their cookies, but also with their dedication to people and to the environment.  On their website, the folks at Liz Lovely state, “Our mission is authenticity from start to finish… That means an uncompromising commitment to perfection, and a relentless approach to social responsibility.”

As an educator, the Liz Lovely mission is striking to me.  As a university professor who prepares our future teachers, I dedicate much of my teaching passion towards promoting social justice, mostly through literacy.  Liz Lovely inspired me to see the ways I need to extend this into my personal life, beyond my teaching. In addition, on their website, Liz Lovely goes on to say, “Every day requires a level of courage and dedication above and beyond anything we’ve ever done before.”  So true!  No matter the cause—how big or small, we owe it to ourselves, to one another, and to the earth to care deeply about our approach to life… to go above and beyond in all we do, and to have the courage to do so, day after day.  Whether we are preparing meals, or educating our youth, we must be mindful of our impact.

The Cookies and Their Impact

Liz Lovely supports sustainable agriculture through Organic, Non-GMO, and Fair Trade products.  They refer to their cookies as artisan products—a name they deserve.  In a world where companies are constantly obtaining products in irresponsible ways, I am proud to support companies such as Liz Lovely because they only acquire the ingredients for their products in a responsible fashion.  The commitment of Liz Lovely is obvious in their extraordinary taste; they outshine mass-produced and co-manufactured products by miles.  I can see, taste, and feel the attention to detail that Liz Lovely brings to their cookies, and you will, too, I guarantee.

It’s difficult to believe delicious Liz Lovely cookies are vegan.  They are made without animal products, which, of course, means no milk, no butter, and no eggs.  In their concerted efforts, they are saving animals, helping the planet, and improving overall health.

Liz Lovely uses green packaging. Most, if not all, of their packaging materials are recycled, reused, recyclable, and/or compostable.

Cookie Flavors

Before I gush about individual cookie flavors, I must remind readers of my chocolate addiction.  As a result, three of the following four cookies I’m reviewing have chocolate in them.  Since I also love coconut and lemon, I was careful to allow a flavor other than chocolate into my review, however!

Perhaps what I love most about Liz Lovely cookies are their lightly baked, doughy texture, which is decadent and moist.  In short, these cookies are qwowi!

1. Out of respect to Liz, I will start with her favorite, the Cowgirl Cookies.  (While I can totally see why this is Liz’s favorite, I’ll get to my favorite next, which I think is far better in the chocolaty qwowi category!)  Cowgirl Cookies are basically chocolate chip cookies with a sharp name, and a taste and texture unlike anything you may have tried before.  As their packaging indicates, Cowgirl Cookies are just like chocolate chip cookie dough.  They are so velvety in their consistency, it is just like picking the cookie dough out of cookie dough ice cream!

2. My absolute favorites are the Chocolate Moose Dragons.  It was the first Liz Lovely Cookie I ever sampled, and I immediately fell in love.  This is decadence at its best, simply because the taste is outstanding in the ways they capture the best attributes of chocolate.  To do so, they use fudgy chocolate chips with cacao nibs.  This combination allows the bitterness of the chocolate to be present, while maintaining a sweetness with the sugary coating.  I have to admit I am moderately obsessed with these cookies, and they are my dessert of choice.  Beyond the extraordinary taste, I love the texture, which is soft and cake-like.

3. I get a special buzz from Mochadamia Mountains, probably because they contain coffee, macadamia nuts, and chocolate.  What a fabulous flavor combination!  Again, the texture is phenomenal– rich and doughy, with the crispness of the nuts, and the tang of the coffee.  Liz Lovely bakers use “Vermont-roasted fair trade organic coffee, organic macadamia nuts, a generous layer of organic dark chocolate on the bottom, and a decorative drizzle of chocolate on top.”   Trust me—this is a unique cookie, unlike anything you’ve ever had.  It’s obvious they put lots of love and attention into these special treats.

4. For you less chocolate-minded people out there, please know that Liz Lovely makes plenty of treats for you, too!  In particular, I was struck by the Macaroonies Sock-It-To-Me! They are made with coconut and lemon essence.  I am willing to forego chocolate every once in a while, especially if there’s coconut and/or lemon involved.  I must admit, I was a little skeptical of the package when I first picked it up a few days ago.  It was my first Liz Lovely voyage without chocolate, after all.  Hey—Liz didn’t disappoint.  For a chocolate lover to say she likes these Macaroonies as much as her chocolaty flavors is… well, saying a lot!  Each cookie is hand-rolled in coconut.  They are buttery without butter!  They are luxuriant and indulgent while feeling light!  Liz, I don’t understand it, but thank you!

Anxiously awaiting…

Trust me, I don’t always indulge in chocolate, although I may have led you to believe otherwise.  Cinnamon is another one of my passions.  For years, I have sought the perfect snickerdoodle, so I am anxious to try Liz Lovely’s new Snicker Dudes. I’ll be sure to let you all know what I think.

What is perhaps even more exciting is that it appears Liz Lovely is getting ready to launch their first Gluten Free (GF) products.  As some of you may know, my husband, Jason also writes reviews for Qwowi.  Jason has gluten sensitivity, and often writes about his favorite GF products.  He was thrilled today when I told him Liz Lovely now has Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge and Gluten Free Ginger Molasses.

So…

Are Liz Lovely Cookies a little expensive?  Sure, but I understand their expense, and they are worth it!  On their website, Liz Lovely offers Seconds and Gift Samplers, which are great values.

Liz Lovely products are available in many natural food markets, and of course online at Liz Lovely’s beautiful and extensive website.

You won’t be disappointed.  You’ll be loving life and loving cookies… all with a social conscience.

On Qwowi.com, I make a concerted effort to only promote items that I feel are sincerely the best of the best.  Considering this, along with my new awareness of living green… oh, and my new, gorgeous bath tub, I would like to heartily recommend Lush bath and body products.  In my 30+ years of relaxing baths, Lush stands out as the most luxurious and fragrant of all the products I’ve ever used.  Not only do I admire Lush for the exceptional quality of their products, but also because they are eco-friendly.

“Honest meaning beyond marketing”

Lush bath and body products are fresh, handmade, eco-friendly, and organic.  At Lush, they are passionate about never testing on animals, nor do they ever use any animal ingredients in their products.  In fact, many of their products are vegan, and are carefully labeled as such.  In a world where companies are constantly obtaining products in irresponsible ways, Lush is proud of the fact that they only acquire the ingredients for their products in a responsible fashion.  On their website, Lush claims that their bath and body products are made from “ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients.”  What I appreciate most about Lush’s mission statement is their contention that words such as organic and natural have “honest meaning beyond marketing.”  That said, I find both their products and their mission to be refreshing… especially in a culture that doesn’t always respect quality and environmentally-friendly business.  Lush stands out for their devotion to fresh, top-notch ingredients.

My Favorites

Lush makes products for: bath, hair, face, body, and fragrance.  Honestly, I have only ever tried their bath products, but I look forward to investing in more of their offerings.  My two favorites, which I use regularly, are their Bubble Bars and their Bath Bombs.

There are two distinct qualities about Lush products that I find to be most striking: their intense, beautiful, lasting fragrances, and the way they leave skin to be so silky smooth.  When placed under warm, running water, Bubble Bars create the best bubble bath you’ll ever experience—plenty of rich, velvety bubbles, while the water also envelopes your skin in a gentle softness.  Bath Bombs have a different effect.  I usually place a Bath Bomb in the water once I’m already in the tub because they fizz like a carbonated drink, emitting light, invigorating bubbles and lovely aromas.  A Bath Bomb can safely be described as an Alka-Seltzer for the bath!  Just as the old Alka-Seltzer jingle goes, “plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.” Bath Bombs effervesce, filling the tub and the room with unique, all natural fragrances, and minerals that coat the skin in sleekness.  All of the Bubble Bars and the Bath Bombs have intoxicating aromas, which fill the room and last for days, and the downy way they leave your skin is unmistakable.  In short, they are luxurious.

For Bubble Bars, I especially enjoy the following varieties: Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds, Creamy Candy, Frosty Glitter, and my all-time favorite—Bathos.

For Bath Bombs, I highly recommend the following choices: Sex Bomb, Softy, Tisty Tosty, and Haagenbath.

I strongly encourage you to try any Lush variety, however.  I have never been disappointed, and I’ve tried many, many of their bath products.

Moving forward with Lush…

Since I have only tried Lush’s bath products, I look forward to checking out some of their other body products.  In particular, two have caught my eye—the deodorant and the dusting powder.  For years, I have read and been told that the aluminum contained in the average stick of typical deodorant/antiperspirant is potentially dangerous.  That makes sense to me, and I have been recently trying all-natural alternatives, and I look forward to sampling Lush’s.  In addition, once I am out of the bath, I do enjoy applying some dusting powder.  However, I have learned over the years how bad it is to use talc, and so I have also recently changed to cornstarch alternatives, and I think Lush’s dusting powders would be perfect.   

Unless you live in a large metropolitan area, such as New York City or Boston, you may have never seen a Lush storefront.  They do exist, yet they are unfortunately still rare.  Lush does have a good partnership with Macys, so Lush counters can sometimes be found in selected Macys stores as well.  Thank goodness for the Internet, though!  Lush has a wonderful website and you can also find Lush products on Amazon.com.
  

How many times have you read an entire paragraph, or even a whole page, and you have no idea what you just read?

It happens all of the time, to the best of us!  Even really accomplished readers suffer from this same problem at times.  That is because our eyes can float over words, and our brains automatically decode the words, yet we are not truly reading because we are not making any meaning from the words.  In order to say we have sincerely read something, we have to have derived meaning from, it. Otherwise, the glossy-eyed “reading” is simply referred to as decoding, and not reading. In other words, when we read, it has to make sense, otherwise we’re not really reading.

Comprehension is NOT natural for many people.

Many children are decoders, not readers.  Children must know that text is supposed to make sense. Similarly, lots of children, unfortunately, simply don’t know how to comprehend, merely because no one has ever showed them how to make meaning from a text.  The connections come easer and quicker for some than others.  Most adults cannot point to a specific time when they learned to comprehend.  It is something we just… did.  The problem is that some youngsters need and deserve explicit instruction in how to comprehend.  When this happens, they can grow up loving to read, and seeing the value in reading!  Not surprisingly, folks who have severe difficulties comprehending hate to read.  It’s a safe bet to assume they would love to read if they had explicit comprehension instruction.

Comprehension is an active, inner conversation

Unlike passive activities such as playing video games or watching TV, reading is an active process in our brains.  Strategic readers address their thinking in an inner conversation that helps them make sense of what they read.  Help to foster these inner (and outer) conversations with your children by discussing their texts with them.

Readers take the written word and construct meaning based on their own thoughts, knowledge, and experiences.  Help your child to make explicit, personal connections to the text they are reading.

Provide structure for your child to think when they read.  Children must develop an awareness of their own thinking, so that they can monitor themselves while they read.

Cognitive Capacity

In our brains, we have what is called a Cognitive Capacity.  I sometimes jokingly refer to this concept as my “cup runneth over!”  In simple terms, when any of us feel frustrated with something, our brain power stops. There is only so much we can focus on at a given time, and the rest understandably turns to mush.  Unfortunately, we have all had what I refer to as a “meltdown,” when the stress of something just gets to be too much.  Typically, and sadly, this is exactly what happens to a reader’s Cognitive Capacity when he/she is trying to comprehend something that is just too difficult.  The child is trying so hard to decode a word– letter by painful letter– that he/she loses track, and can’t make heads or tails of the entire thing.

I know this may seem overly simplistic, but…

Your children need books that they can actually read!  When considering your child’s reading comprehension difficulties, the difficulty level of the text may be more than 90% of the battle.  When a book is too hard, your child is using up all of his/her brain power on decoding the words, that he/she simply cannot make any sense of it. On the other hand, when your child reads books that are comfortable, he/she can have the inner conversations and attempt to make sense of the text in an enjoyable and much less agonizing way.

8 Magical Strategies

When you regularly and thoughtfully work with your child on the following strategies, you will notice an impressive difference in not just the child’s comprehension, but probably in several other aspects of the child’s life as well.  When you teach a child to comprehend, you are also teaching a child to empathize, to infer, and to become a more tolerant, understanding person who can think outside of the box.  That is precisely why so many children struggle with comprehension—developmentally, it is difficult for children to get beyond literal, concrete understandings.  As the child becomes older, especially around 3rd grade and up, it is essential that your child gradually become more aware of others’ feelings and perspectives.  That will help him/her to understand various perspectives in texts, and in life.

Practice these strategies patiently, one at a time, with some favorite books at home, which also happen to be at a comfortable reading level for your child.  Remember, the more explicit you make the strategies, the better your child will comprehend.  Gradually, your child will begin to implement these strategies independently, but please check in with your child consistently to see how he/she is progressing.

1.  Make connections

The first of the strategies also happens to be one of my personal favorites, because it’s fun and straightforward.  Simply encourage your child to make personal connections to the content of the book he/she is reading.  You could even jot the connections on sticky notes in colorful magic markers and stick them in the book, or make a cute chart of the connections.

There are three different kinds of connections we tend to make while reading: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.

Text-to-self connections are easiest.  We merely relate concepts in the book to aspects of our own lives.  For example, “I love the lake in this book.  It reminds me of our summer vacations when we always visited that lake in New York.”

Text-to-text connections are also fun and easy.  Obviously, you just relate the book you’re currently reading to another book you’ve read.  Perhaps the characters in this book remind of the characters in a book you read last week.  Also, don’t feel constricted by the text-to-text label.  I always encourage my students to think of movies and TV shows to which they can relate their books, too!

Text-to-world connections are trickier.  With these connections, you want to relate what you’ve just read to a larger, worldly phenomenon, and not just something specific to your own life.  This is hard for children, for obvious reasons.  Children have little experience beyond their personal existence.  They have yet to truly understand the world.  Likewise, developmentally, it’s challenging for many children to imagine that other people even have different perspectives than the ones to which they are accustomed.  This is where the hard work comes in for both parents and teachers.  Encourage your child to think outside the box.  Show them in compelling ways that other people may think and behave differently.  This will develop over time, so be patient!  There more explicit you are with making text-to-world connections, they better your child will become at it.

2.  Infer

Making inferences is similar to the text-to-world connection strategy.  In order for children to adequately understand, they must be able to make inferences, yet this is a difficult concept even for some adults to grasp!  Gradually work with children on drawing conclusions based on what information they know.  Likewise, show them how to make educated guesses, and to look for hints to back up their reasoning.  You could make lists and pictures together to help this strategy along.  As always, model inferring for your child in an explicit way, so that he/she can see how you derive conclusions. Do you openly empathize with others?  Do you articulate how another may have a different perspective than you?  All of these explicitly modeled behaviors will help your child with the all-too important task of inferring.
3.  Predictions

An uncomplicated strategy to foster comprehension is to simply ask your child to make frequent predictions.  Most parents and teachers make the mistake of only asking children to make predictions at the beginning of a book.  Instead, ask children to make predictions at the onset of a book, as well as at strategic points throughout the book.  This stimulates their thinking in a number of ways.  At the end of the book, discuss with children whether or not they liked the ending.  Would they have ended it differently?  If so, how?

4.  Visualize

One of the best parts of reading is to picture the story or the content in one’s head. Ask children to describe how they picture the characters and the setting in the story. If it’s non-fiction, ask them to draw their own pictures of the content.  Another fun activity is to compare and contrast visualizations between book and movie versions of various stories.

5.  Questions

Asking children questions is the simplest and most old-fashioned way to ensure they have understood material.  Don’t just ask questions at the end of a given passage.  I would suggest stopping at strategic points to see how they are doing throughout a passage.  Furthermore, the quality of the questions themselves can also determine the quality of understanding.  Most people only ask explicit, concrete questions that only pertain to memory.  For example, “what color shirt was he wearing?”  Instead, I encourage people to ask implicit questions, which are open-ended, and to which there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer, but by which you can still determine how well the child understood.  For example, rather than asking what color shirt the character wore, in its place ask “Why was it important that the character wore a blue shirt?”  This causes the child to think in a deeper manner, without having to memorize the color of the shirt, yet you still yield rich insights pertaining to how well the child is comprehending.

6.  Determine importance

When you were in high school or college, did you ever have a textbook that turned a fluorescent color because you couldn’t figure out which passages were important, so you just used a highlighter to highlight the entire text?!  This is a common scenario to which most of us can relate.  Sometimes, whether it is a text, or some other aspect of life, we have a hard time determining what is important.  It often has to do with the difficulty level of the content, and how familiar we are with it.  When a subject is overwhelming, confusing, and foreign, it is much harder to determine what is important, than when we are dealing with familiar territory, which is at a comfortable difficulty level for us.

Practice determining importance with your child.  Explicitly model how you determine what is important.  Show your child how you might look in topic sentences, or at bullet points, titles, or headings to make more sense of a passage.  Practice highlighting a passage together.  Once children know how to extract important information, they can study better, focus better, and provide adequate retellings and/or summaries.

7.  Synthesize

Once children can determine importance, they can begin to synthesize.  The easiest way I can think of to explain synthesis to my students is to use a weaving metaphor.  When we synthesize, we have to take information from different sources, and weave it all together for ourselves.  This is no easy task!  Imagine a weaver who has to select the best spools of thread, based on her knowledge of thread.  Then, she must weave the threads together into one coherent, beautiful piece.  That is precisely what successful readers do when they comprehend.  They weave the information, or synthesize it.  I would suggest putting important facts from a book onto long strips of paper, which could represent threads.  Then, think through how you would weave those important facts together, and you could even physically manipulate the papers until you have your own quilt.  This activity helps a lot when children have to write research papers, or other written responses to text.

8.  Fix-Up Strategies

Last but not least, simply equip your child to have fix-up strategies at his/her fingertips upon which he/she can rely when information breaks down.  When you are reading, won’t you stop and re-read something when you know it’s no longer making sense?  Well, lots of children won’t do that.  They won’t stop!  They just keep going!  Together with your child, brainstorm and make a list of fix-up strategies.  The list could be as simple as “stop, go back, re-read, use a highlighter, predict, ask questions, etc.”  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  The two keys are that your child first recognizes when his/her comprehension breaks down, and second, knows a few things he/she can do to help mend that comprehension.

Having explicit strategies at our fingertips is the secret to success when it comes to comprehension!

For more information, I would highly recommend the book Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis.  It is the best book on the market about comprehension, and it is the source of much of the information I condensed for you into this brief article.

My home office is a sunroom.  It sounds fancy and unique, and I suppose in actuality it is pretty neat, but it is miserably hot in the summertime, and extremely chilly in the winter.  As soon as we installed gorgeous, new windows, which maximize the room’s view and sunlight, it didn’t take a genius to surmise that the room needed its own zone for heating and cooling.  Our plumbing and HVAC consultant recommended a Daikin Inverter.  It is both an air conditioner and a heater, which is permanently mounted to the wall, near the ceiling.  The compressor is a separate component outside on our roof, which could potentially be used for one than one unit.

As the seasons change, it’s as simple as the click of a button on the remote control to change the feature from heating to cooling.  In fact, the Daikin’s remote control is straightforward to use for all of the functions, including the thermostat-controlled temperature, which can easily be set to suit your needs.

What impresses me most about the Daikin Inverter is its overall performance.  On a brutally hot day, our 12 X 12 room is cooled off within minutes of turning on the air conditioner.  Rather than the harsh stream of air that typically comes from air conditioners, the Daikin emits what feels like a pleasant breeze, and the air is filtered throughout the room by swiveling vents.  The immediate results, whether heating or cooling, make for comfortable conditions, unlike anything I’ve experienced before.  Best of all, the Daikin is practically silent, unlike other loud, humming heating and cooling systems to which I’ve been exposed.

Daikin Inverters come in several models.  For our 12 X 12 room, we have the FTXS18DVJU model.  Aesthetically, you couldn’t ask for a more discreet design form, and it sure beats losing window space and light to a clunky window unit.  Since the Daikin is so technologically advanced, it requires no duct work.  In fact, speaking of its impressive technical nature, we barely notice any hike in our electricity bills since installing and using our Daikin.  Not only does it have thermostat-control and variable, constant running speeds, but it also comes with a built-in motion sensor, allowing it to discern whether or not anyone is in the room. When no one is present, the Daikin adjusts its temperature to save energy.  All of these factors make the Daikin incredibly energy efficient, which is obviously unlike any air conditioner or space heater I’ve ever encountered.  To learn more about Daikin Inverters, including their specific features, technologies, and energy benefits, browse the Smarter Way website.  You won’t be disappointed.

So, like any desperate home owner, I exhausted all possibilities—I cleaned like a maniac, I de-cluttered, and I had beautiful curb appeal. I was missing one aspect though… there are these funny, old theories and suggestions to bake cookies or to have scented candles strewn about to leave a pleasant aroma in the air. Well, I’m no Better Crocker, and I’ve always thought that candles are so qwowi! (My husband can’t even walk into a candle shop with me because the odors give him a headache.)

Although I had never previously owned any, I had seen many homes and businesses with diffusers in their rooms. I love the clean, chic look and fragrance of diffusers. For those who may be unfamiliar with diffusers, they are essential oils and perfumes that are often encased in clear glass bottles. Once the bottle is un-corked, people place long reeds or wooden sticks into the bottles, leaving several inches of the stick above the upper rim of the bottle to diffuse the scent of the oils into the room. Diffusers are a great alternative to candles, mostly because the scent is constant, and they’re just as attractive, while being a lot safer, since you don’t have to light them.

Admittedly, I did not do a ton of research before purchasing the Orchard Diffuser Trio Pack by Anthousa from Amazon. However, I have been extremely pleased with this product. While many of my friends also like the diffusers they purchased for their homes, they do have minor complaints about the quality of theirs, which are not by Anthousa. Several friends will commonly say that the diffusers they bought had a pleasant, discernable aroma at first, which quickly diminished. Even though there was still a decent amount of oil left in the bottle, their diffusers no longer emitted a scent. On the other hand, my Anthousa diffusers, which are now several months old, still emanate a perfect fragrance, which is not too strong or too weak. It is honestly the ideal amount of subtle fragrance, which just continues, despite its shelf life of approximately five months. What’s even better—there is still nearly half of the oil present in the bottles, so I know they’ll last about a year.

Since I truly didn’t know what to expect from these Anthousa diffusers, I have been genuinely happy with their quality. What you must realize is that I am generally a frugal person, so I can’t believe I spent $78 on three bottles of home oil fragrance! I must have been desperate to sell my house! Right after the purchase, I beat myself up about it, but it’s honestly been worth it. Their quality is impressive. I’ve been very pleased with the elegant, simple look of the bottles, the numerous reed sticks that accompanied the bottles, the perfect non-qwowi scent they release, and the overall duration of the product.

The Anthousa Orchard Trio Pack comes with the following three scents: Cucumber & Green Grass, Fig Leaf & Bitter Almond, and Nectarine & Red Currant. They are all fresh, clean, natural scents, which aren’t over-bearing. When I walk into the rooms in which I placed them, I notice a lovely, subtle aroma, and plus… they just look cool! The look of the diffusers is a sophisticated touch to a shelf. I appreciate that the fragrances are delicate enough that it doesn’t seem like I’m trying too hard, either!

Hey—the wonderful news is that I did sell my house. Was it all because of the diffusers? Okay, I doubt it. In fact, I’m shocked that I rambled on in the way I did about diffusers. Here’s the thing, though—when I see a product of special quality, I do enjoy sharing it with others. If you are looking for a neat alternative to candles, or if you have a desire to spruce up a shelf with a classy look that also happens to make your room smell fabulous, Anthousa diffusers are worth it!

As previously mentioned, the The Anthousa Orchard Trio Pack is available from Amazon.com.

Whether it’s been a rough day (a tough week, an awful month, or even a horrible year,) we can probably all relate to that feeling of just needing to “veg” on the couch with a good book, or some fun re-runs on TV. Yet, it’s more accurately that “cuddling up” feeling of being there on the couch that is the real medicine.Come on—you need that perfect blanket and pillow for on-the-couch vegging, and in my opinion, they’re incredibly difficult to find. I had been looking for the ideal pillow that hugs my neck in the precise spot, and a blanket that wasn’t too light or too heavy. (Isn’t it also annoying when the blanket is too short and isn’t covering your feet when you snuggle the other end of the blanket under your chin?)

It was these life-altering quandaries that led me down the path of loving n∙a∙p^TM. Now, I must admit that I have never been a huge fan of Brookstone. To me, it always seemed like one of those grown-up boy trinket stores, where men like my husband can “play” with all of the latest gadgets. Well, I apologize, Brookstone (… um, and to my husband.) You out-did yourselves with this one, and taught me new lessons about life and love with these n∙a∙p^TM products.

When I purchased the n∙a∙p^TM Comfort Set from Brookstone last November, my vegging days in front of the TV had changed forever. The n∙a∙p^TM Comfort Set includes what they refer to as a cuddle blanket, a pillow, and a pair of socks. It all comes in a lovely little plastic tote for $75. True—it’s a tad bit on the pricey side for my frugal ways, but it’s worth every cent to me.

What was a little surprising to me is that my new love obsession (the darned material) is just a polyester/nylon blend. That’s it?! Are my tastes that tacky?! It’s all relative, I suppose. But, I love n∙a∙p^TM. I can’t help it. It has a feathery soft texture, and it feels like a unique cross between silk and velvet. The pillow meets my head and neck just in the exact places I expect it to as I’m propped up on the couch. The blanket is sumptuous to the touch, and drapes over my 5 foot 4 inch frame flawlessly as I’m lounging. Then, just when I think I’m perfectly content, I am consistently pushed over the edge by the socks. Oh, the socks. The whole point of the n∙a∙p^TM is to feel the material, which I can always feel on my bare feet nestled inside of the socks. Plus, on the rare occasion I pull the blanket too high, my feet are never exposed to cold air, and are still enveloped in n∙a∙p^TM goodness.

Hey, if you suffer from insomnia, buy some n∙a∙p^TM products, and you’ll be instantly cured—I promise. Gratefully, I tend to sleep well, but without fail, when my head hits that n∙a∙p^TM pillow, and I’m wrapped like an idyllic cocoon in that blanket and those socks, I am out like a light.

OK—of course, I still love my husband far more than a synthetic polyester/nylon blend, but there is a distinct adoration I hold for these amazing n∙a∙p^TM products. Perhaps I should purchase the Cuddle Blanket for Two? I don’t know if I’m ready to share. I am an only child, after all. I did, however, recently buy myself the Women’s Spa Comfort Robe, also made of n∙a∙p^TM. It is hands-down, the best robe known to womankind.

By the way, I even bought the n∙a∙p^TM Dream/Cuddle Bear for my niece, so I could begin to teach her these important life lessons in love, too. Since it’s made with the same luxurious material, I think she’ll get the picture—even at 18 months old.

When referencing my hair, my mother always jokingly said, “That color doesn’t come in a bottle.”  One of the few things I actually like about my physical appearance is my hair.  However, my hair is far from perfect.  Despite its rare golden hue, which I’ve never artificially colored, it’s actually rather fine and limp.  That is– until recently…

About a year ago, my hair stylist turned me onto Bumble & Bumble products.  Specifically, I use the Bumble & Bumble Thickening Conditioner, Tonic Lotion, and Thickening Spray.  These three products all come in 8 oz. bottles.  Obviously, I use the Thickening Conditioner as one would typically use a conditioner, right after shampooing.  The Tonic and the Thickening Spray both come in spray bottles.  I find I get best results when I first apply the Tonic to damp hair, followed by the Thickening Spray, which creates some sort of perfect layer before I blow dry and style my hair.

These products make a noticeable difference in the overall feel and spring of my hair.  On days I don’t use Bumble & Bumble products, my hair is flat and lifeless.  On days I use all three of the Bumble & Bumble products, my hair has distinctly more volume, shine, and dimension.

For a gal who has suffered with fine, limp hair her whole life, yet feels she has a great color to show off, these Bumble & Bumble products are worth promoting.  Likewise, while I find Bumble’s prices a little over-the-top, it’s worth it to me right now.  I figure, I may as well invest in great styling products now, before my hair becomes gray or starts falling out!  For all you gals out there with my fine hair problems– give Bumble & Bumble a try.  I’m confident you’ll be impressed with the volume and bounce they provide.

There are a plethora of Bumble & Bumble products available beyond what I use.  While Bumble & Bumble products are sold in some salons, some of the best prices can be found on Amazon.  You’ll have a wonderful variety in terms of the sizes of bottles offered, in addition to the fact that the products will simply arrive on your doorstep… so you don’t have to venture out with that lifeless hair!

It sounds ridiculous, and to be honest, my husband still chuckles at the thing, but it’s a lovely addition to our living room, and it actually keeps the room and the surrounding area very warm and cozy.  The gel fuel fireplace requires no venting.  It’s not electric, and it’s not gas.  It’s free standing, and it’s easily portable.

For the fire itself, we place 2-3 cans of gel fuel inside of the fireplace, and light it up.  It’s essentially like soup can-sized tins of sterno fuel.  In much the same way sternos emit real flames and keep food warm on a buffet table, the gel fuel can provide a real fire and warmth inside of the fireplace, where it’s safely nestled in a protective case.  The cans of gel fuel sit behind a relatively real-looking stone log, and the designers created the special gel fuel to crackle like a real fire.  Each fire lasts approximately 3- 4 hours.  Trust me—I know it sounds cheesy and down-right funny, but it’s actually pretty sophisticated, and gets the job done in an uncomplicated way.

At the time we bought our fireplace, we searched online for a style of mantle that we felt would complement our living space.  There are lots of varieties.  We decided on a cream colored wood fireplace, with just a simple design.  It arrived on our doorstep just days later.

Not surprisingly, it comes unassembled, but my husband and I had the whole thing together in about an hour, just the same as you would assemble any furniture.  As we need it, we order gel fuel by the case from Amazon and its partners, which also arrives within days on our doorstep.

For us, while it seemed silly at first, it became a fun, no-brainer way for us to have that comfy ambiance of a fireplace.  The best part is that it’s really inexpensive.  Gel fuel fireplaces come in all shapes, sizes, and prices online.  We bought the Patricia model in Antique White, but Amazon offers a huge variety at resonable prices.  We’ve had good luck ordering gel fuel from them as well.  Hands-down, there’s no simpler way to inexpensively have a fireplace in any home, in any room!

In addition to Antique White, the Patricia model we chose is also available in Distressed Black, Mahogany, and, Golden Oak.