You will hear a beep, and the Siri interface will open. Siri will search the internet, change your settings, and open apps for you without having to search for them yourself. If you would like to see an in-depth breakdown of the possible commands, you can tap the “?” icon and browse through the commands menu. Speak clearly and slowly at first until you get a feel for how well Siri recognizes your voice. If you speak too quickly or quietly, Siri may misinterpret your command. You can use Siri to open apps, play music, start a FaceTime call, send emails, find businesses, and much more. Here are some basic commands to get you started:  “Open Camera” (If you have multiple camera apps installed, you will be prompted to pick one). “Launch Facebook” (You can use any app on your iPad using this command). “Play <song/artist/genre on iPad>” “Play/Skip/Pause” (Affects playback of music) “Play iTunes Radio” “Check email” “New email to <name>” “Find pizza near me” “Find the nearest gas station” You can use Siri to find and adjust most of your iPad’s settings, which will save you from having to search the Settings menu to find that option you need. Some of the more useful commands include:  “Turn on Wi-Fi” “Turn on Do Not Disturb” “Turn up/down brightness” “Turn on flashlight” “Turn on Bluetooth” “Change text size” By default, Siri will perform all web searches using the Bing search engine. If you would rather search with Google, add the word “Google” to your search term. You can also search for images.  “Search the web for -----” “Search Google for -----” “Search for images of -----” Siri can add events to your Calendar app, change them, and provide you information about your events.  “Set up meeting with <name> at ”  ”Reschedule my appointment with <name> to <date> “ “Cancel the meeting with <name>” “When is my next meeting?” When you search Wikipedia using Siri, you will be shown the intro image (if there is one) as well as the first paragraph. To read the whole entry, tap the result.  “Tell me about -----” “Search Wikipedia for -----” You can use Siri to return tweets from a specific user, browse topics, or see what’s trending.  “What’s <username> saying?” “Search Twitter for -----” “What are people saying about -----?” Siri will work with your Maps app to find you directions to places that you specify. You can give a variety of commands related to navigation and ask questions about travel time and locations.  “How do I get home?” “Show directions to <location>” “Take me to the nearest ATM” Siri has a huge list of commands, and with each iOS update more become available. Try asking questions to Siri to see what results you get. Oftentimes, you won’t even need to say an entire phrase, just the keywords for your query. Siri is especially useful when it comes to automating everyday tasks on your iPad, such as messaging, web browsing, and emailing, so you will find the most functionality there.

Summary: Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri. Ask Siri a question or give it a command. Use Siri for general iPad navigation. Use Siri to change your settings and preferences. Use Siri to search the web. Manage your calendar with Siri. Access Wikipedia using Siri. Use Siri to browse Twitter. Get directions with Siri. Experiment with commands.


Odds are, your child will be in school by the time they are able to read and will be given their own reading material by their teachers. Help them to read these whole stories by encouraging explicit phonics use, and recognizing vocabulary. As their word recognition increases, they’ll be able to more fully understand story plots and meanings. Allow your child to look at the pictures - it doesn’t count as cheating if they do. Image and word association is a helpful aspect of building vocabulary. After every reading session, have your child describe what the story was about to you. Try to get them to be detailed, but don’t expect an elaborate response. An easy and fun way to help encourage this is to use puppets who represent characters in the story, so your child can describe it to you through them. Similar to when you were reading stories to your child, every time your child reads ask them questions about what they’ve just read. At first it will be difficult for them to think critically about meanings of words and the buildup of character development and plot (or the semblance of those things in the most basic of stories), but over time they will develop the necessary skills to answer questions.  Make a questions list that your child can read; their ability to read and understand the provided questions is nearly as helpful as answering the questions themselves. Start with direct questions, such as ‘who was the main character in the book?,’ instead of more abstract questions like ‘why was the main character upset?’ Reading is a necessary precursor to writing, but as your child develops reading skills have them practice their writing in conjunction. Children learn to read faster and easier if they learn to write at the same time. The motor memory of the letters, listening to their sounds and seeing them in writing will reinforce new learning. So, teach your child to write letters and words. You’ll notice an enhanced reading ability as your child learns to spell by decoding and sounding out words. Work slowly though, and don’t expect perfection. Just as you taught your child the joy of reading before they knew how, you should continue to promote reading by reading to/with them on a daily basis. They’ll develop a stronger phonemic awareness when they can see words as you read them, rather than struggling to do both at the same time themselves. You’ll be given a better idea of your child’s reading ability when they read out loud, and they’ll be forced to slow down their reading to correctly sound out words. Avoid stopping your child to correct them while reading though, as doing so can interrupt their train of thought and make comprehending what they’re reading more difficult. Reading out loud doesn’t have to be limited to stories; whenever you are around words, have your child sound them out to you. Road signs are a great example of something your child sees on a daily basis, and can practice reading out loud to you.

Summary: Begin giving your child complete stories. Have your child describe the story to you. Ask questions about the stories. Incorporate writing in with the reading. Continue reading to your child. Have your child read aloud to you.


You’ll want a container large and sturdy enough for your particular purpose that includes a plastic lid, like a can of nuts.  Empty the container of its contents. Wash and dry the inside. Using a flexible measuring tape or ribbon, measure the container so you can wrap it with the right amount of paper or fabric.  Measure the circumference of the container; write down the measurement, adding one or two centimeters for overlap allowance.  Measure the height of the container and write it down. This is what will turn your can from a boring food container to an attractive, personalized money box.  Choose or cut out a piece of paper or fabric large enough to wrap all the way around the container. Lay the paper or fabric face-down on your cutting surface. After tracing out the rectangle, cut it from the paper or fabric using the outline as a guide. Once the rectangle is cut, wrap it around the container to make sure it fits properly. If it’s too large, trim it down to size. If it’s too small, begin again with a new piece of paper or fabric. Before securing the paper or fabric to the container, lay it down right side up and write or draw any of the decorations you plan to use. It will be significantly easier to perform this step while the paper or fabric is lying flat than when it’s wrapped around the container. After the paper or fabric is secure, add any additional decorations you may want. At this stage, you can add decorations like buttons, ribbons, jewels, etc. Use hot glue if the decoration is heavy or won’t stay in place with regular glue.
Summary: Find a suitable plastic food container with a plastic lid. Measure the container. Choose the paper or fabric with which to wrap the container. Cut out the rectangle. Add any decorative writing or drawings you want to include. Add any additional desired decorations.