E n g L i s h jenni Currie Santamaria

 Raising a Self-Disciplined Child
, by Robert Brooks, PhD and Sam 
Goldstein, PhD, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007

---

178
|
Better Reading English
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Place a check mark by the actions the writers list to help get kids to complete 
chores and prevent discipline problems.
1.
_____ 
Talk about why the tasks have to be done.
2.
_____ Make your child do the task quickly.
3.
_____ Have a family meeting.
4.
_____ Discuss why certain activities are important.
5.
_____ As a family, list household responsibilities.
6.
_____ Prioritize the responsibilities.
7.
_____ Design a rotating schedule.
8.
_____ Agree on a way to remind everyone of the chores.
9.
_____ Punish anyone who doesn’t do the chores.
10.
_____ Reward everyone who does a chore.
11.
_____ Discuss what to do if someone doesn’t do the chores.
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Understanding from context
The following words are all verbs. Read the verbs and definitions. Then write 
the correct verb in the sentences that follow.
prevent 
to stop
prioritize 
to organize so that the most important thing is done first
discard 
to throw away
delegate 
to give responsibility to someone
neglect 
to fail to do something
involve 
to include
distribute 
to give out
reserve 
to hold or keep back
1.
They couldn’t ____________________________ the tasks without knowing 
which one was the most important.
2.
She wants to ____________________________ all of her clothes that no 
longer it.
3.
He tried to ____________________________ the accident by swerving off 
the road.
4.
They ____________________________ their children in everything they do.
5.
The parents ____________________________ the hardest chores to the 
older children of the family.

---

Children and Parents
|
179
6.
The coach ____________________________ uniforms to each member of 
the team.
7.
If you ____________________________ to brush your teeth, you may get 
cavities.
8.
She is trying to ____________________________ criticism of her children’s 
mistakes.
V. UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR: IMPERATIVES
A.
Read about imperatives
An imperative sentence tells a person to do something.
It is understood that the subject of an imperative is 
you
, even though we 
don’t write it or say it
.
Drive carefully. 
Open the door.
Imperatives have the same form whether we are talking to one person or more 
than one person.
Parent to child: 
Sit down, please.
Parent to group of children:
Sit down, please.
Imperative sentences are punctuated with a period or exclamation point.
Examples:
Giving commands: 
Take out the garbage!
Giving advice: 
Have a family meeting about what needs to be done.
Making requests: 
Take your shoes off when entering the house.
Giving directions: 
Turn left at the light.
Giving instructions: 
First, draw the shape. Then, cut out the shape.
Giving warnings: 
Be careful! The dogs bite.
Making offers: 
Help yourself to the apple pie.
B.
Identify imperatives
Write six imperatives from the passage.
1.
2.
3.
4.
__________________________________________________________________
5.
__________________________________________________________________
6.