Jumping rope, also called rope skipping, is fun and good exercise — a great skill for children to learn.
     A minimal-time, high-calorie-burning exercise, jumping rope teaches coordination, balance, and flexibility and is an all-body workout. Jump ropes are inexpensive, portable, and easy to use.

 •   Learn about the benefits of rope jumping, length of rope, techniques, different ways of jumping, etc. See more tips.

 •   Jump alone using different patterns, or take turns with two other players who turn the rope for you.

 •   Learn new jump rope skills and games.

 •   Chant jump rope rhymes to count how many jumps are made before missing. Make up your own rhymes.

Rebounding
     The health and fitness benefits of rebounding (jumping on a mini-trampoline) is similar to that of rope jumping.
     Rebounding is a good exercise for your children to do between classes this fall.
     Put the rebounder on your porch for fresh air during exercise in any weather.

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#52.  Trace Your Family Tree

     In tracing your family tree, don't get bogged down by going too far back. Start with just three generations: your immediate family, grandparents, and great grandparents on both sides.

     Get all the information you can directly from grandparents. Visit your older relatives and tape record, then write out, information they can give you on themselves and as many other relatives as possible:

 •   Birth dates and places (town, county, state)
 •   Places lived, schools attended, places worked
 •   Marriages: dates, places, copy of certificate
 •   Death: dates, places, names of cemeteries, cause of death
 •   If any family member has done genealogy research
 •   Contact information for their oldest living relatives
 •   What they know about the family: history and stories

     Print an Ancestor Chart and a Family Group Record to help organize your information.

     Gather old photos from your relatives and select a few of each family or era and:
 •   Restore any important photos that are badly damaged.
 •   Put photos into a scrapbook.
 •   Scan photos and compose them (along with any slides or digital photos) into a digital photo album.
 •   Put photos onto a CD and copy for other relatives.

     Picasa is a free software download from Google that helps you edit and share photos. You can type a caption under each photo giving names, locations, dates, and relation.

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#53.  Home Repairs

     Make a list of what needs to be repaired around your home. Then prioritize the list according to damage prevention, money savings, convenience, and affordability of the project.

     As much as possible, involve your children in planning, preparing, buying materials, and doing the repairs.
     Besides improving your home, learning these life skills is valuable for your sons and daughters.

     A good do-it-yourself manual is well worth the investment. The New Fix-It-Yourself Manual by Reader's Digest shows how to repair and maintain almost everything around the house. If you do need to hire a professional, you will be better informed to make decisions on what is needed. You can also find a lot of information online.

     Always work safely and know when to call in an expert!

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#54.  Volunteer To Help

     Everyone can use a little help for a day, a week, or one day a week. All you have to do is ask, "What can I do to help?"

     Some opportunities to serve include your church, support group, rescue mission, retirement homes, meals on wheels, crisis pregnancy center, animal shelter, etc. (Working together as a family ensures that your children are safe.)

     Besides serving others, volunteering offers an opportunity to learn new skills and learn about career possibilities.

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#55.  Weekly Prayer List

     Draw up a weekly prayer list to help your family be regular and faithful in your ministry of prayer.

 •   Make a vertical column for each member of your family.
 •   Draw horizontal rows for each day of the week.
 •   Fill in each square with one to three requests.
     Include political leaders, issues of concern, your family's goals, friends, unsaved people, items of thanksgiving, etc.

     Take turns praying for a different column each week so that each one in your family has a turn to pray for everyone on your list every few weeks.

     In this way, our family of five, praying for three requests each for seven days, can cover 105 requests each week. Even when we miss a day or two, we are still able to pray for many more people and concerns than we would be able to without the aid of our weekly prayer chart.

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#56.  Short Course

     With concentrated daily effort, you can master a lot of material in a 4-week short course this last month of summer. Choose from:

 •   Finishing an unfinished subject
 •   Getting a head start on a future subject
 •   Selecting a topic of interest or an elective
 •   A unit study
 •   Working on basics mastery and/or review

     "Every little bit helps!"

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#57.  Read to Someone

     Use your gift of reading to bless another.

 •   Find someone older to read to as Jo and Amy in Little Women read to their elderly aunt.

 •   Read to a child. One of a child's favorite things is to be read to — and it takes so little time and effort.

 •   If you are not able to read in person, tape record your reading and send it to your grandmother, a shut-in, or even your little cousin that lives across the country.

 •   Learn to read expressively and meaningfully:
     - select something that is easy to read
     - read at an appropriate pace
     - group words in natural phrases
     - enunciate words clearly
     - use appropriate intonations
     - try to sound like the person speaking in the story
     - pre-read your selection while practicing these skills

 •   You can also read together in your own readers' theater.

 •   Don't forget the joy of reading together as a family!

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#58.  Volleyball, Tennis, Badminton

     Learn how to play these games for more outdoor fun and exercise with family, friends, or church groups.

 •   Volleyball
     See complete, general information, rules, courts, skills, glossary, and more.
     Find simplified information and rules for children.
     Check out mini-volleyball, adapted for children 9-13.

 •   Tennis

 •   Badminton
     See animated basic badminton techniques.

     Check local park and recreation districts for available courts, equipment, lessons, etc.

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#59.  Fix Dad's Favorite Meals

     Dad may not be involved in the weekly menu planning and gratefully eats what is set before him. However, you might ask him what some of his favorite foods are. Ask him what his mother used to make that he liked. Maybe you can even get the recipe from her or a relative.

     This can expand your culinary horizons and provide a tangible link to your family's history.

     Looking for a recipe? Try All Recipes and Better Homes and Gardens.

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#60.  Back to School: Your Curriculum

     It's time to gather your resources for the coming school year — right around the calendar corner!

 •   Consider which classes will be taught to more than one of your children (see last issue), so you know what materials you need.

 •   Consider using elements from a variety of approaches including traditional textbooks, worktexts, the classical approach, the principle approach, unit studies, books, and life experiences. See information in Newsletter #82.

 •   Consider using a variety of media to add interest and motivation for all your children and at the same time enhance each child's learning according to his preferred learning style.

 •   Include books, printed materials, videos and DVDs, supervised Internet studies, computer software, educational games, tools, and manipulatives.

 •   Order, borrow, or buy any materials needed in addition to what you already have.

 •   Collect supplemental materials for your family's library such as reference books, time lines, maps, globes, math manipulatives, educational games, and software.