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Live Theatre can improve Children's Literacy and Social Skills

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A 2006 South Australian study into arts education indicates that going to the theatre can improve children’s literacy and social skills. The Children's Voices study documented the impact of live theatre on 140 State Government primary school students over three years. It was conducted and jointly funded by the Department of Education and Children’s Services, The University of South Australia and Windmill Performing Arts. Windmill Performing Arts project manager Julie Orchard, who is a Department of Education and Children’s Services teacher, said children’s oral and written language improved significantly during the project. In a prepared statement, author of the report and director of the study, Professor Wendy Schiller, Director of UniSA’s de Lissa Institute of Early Childhood and Family Studies Research Group, said the children’s response to live arts performance directly affected their learning and their lives. “The most noticeable impact was the children’s marked gain in lit

Lake Placid Holiday Stroll

As my children grow older I understand that every child feels their parents grew up in the “olden days.” My daughter is confused during a family movie night when an actor plays an album on the turntable. To her a record player is a DJ’s scratch pad. She hears all about keeping things simple and I now realize I have set myself into that clichĆ©. She believes I grew up in it, that simpler time in her mind, where people sang for no reason at all and danced to the orchestra in their head. Now it is my turn to pass along the experience and recreate a simpler time for my own children, to elevate some of the holiday stress and just enjoy being together. This weekend the village of Lake Placid will turn on its old world charm and celebrate its annual Holiday Stroll. Santa will kick off the event with free skating at the Olympic Oval starting at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, for anyone wishing to complete or (gasp!) start holiday shopping, several venues are available for children to be dropped off gi

Lake Champlain Film Society Free Showing of The African Queen

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The Champlain Valley Film Society will be celebrating its 100th film with a free showing of classic Katharine Hepburn/Humphrey Bogart film The African Queen. In 1952, this film won Humphrey Bogart his only Oscar though he had been nominated for Casablanca and The Caine Mutiny. Read more

Hire a licensed Adirondack Guide: Adirondack Outdoor Expeditions!

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Here is the new mock-up for the latest Adirondack Outdoor Expeditions brochure. The website is still a work in progress. I will place an update when the 2010 schedule and calendar is up and running! Thank you for your interest. Tyler Chase has been leading small groups of teenagers and families into the Adirondack woods and waterways since 1983. He teaches Math in the Saranac Lake School District during the school year and has a Masters Degree in Outdoor Education. Although summer is his busy hiking season, he finds time all year to get into the wilderness with his wife and two children. He climbed his 46th high peak in 1978 and has continued hiking and climbing each peak several times since. For Tyler it is less about "conquering" the peak as it is about enjoying all a mountain has to offer. He has travelled to many parts of the world, but finds himself truly at home in the Adirondacks.

Moby Dick at the Pendragon Theatre

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Just a quick note for anyone looking for a rainy day activity this weekend. Pendragon Theatre is performing Moby Dick Rehearsed November 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on November 22. My ten-year-old and I attended the opening and we both loved it. It is remarkably well done. Even if you have not read the Herman Melville book of the white whale, the play brings to life that suspenseful tale of the sea that all can enjoy. Pendragon Theatre has managed to tell the story in just two hours. For an unabridged annual reading marathon you would have to travel well outside the Adirondacks to the New Bedford Whaling Museum where each year the book is read out loud by approximately 150 readers in a mere 25 hours.