Know what it is to be a child?
It is to believe in love,
To believe in loveliness
To believe in belief,
It is to turn pumpkins into coaches,
And mice into horses,
Lowliness into loftiness, and nothing into everything.
Francis Thompson (1913)
The program we offer in Kindergarten at Mumbulla School aims to provide a safe, nurturing environment that fosters children’s physical, social, emotional, creative and cognitive development. We offer a play based curriculum, in a homelike environment where daily work in the Kindergarten takes place with a strong predictable rhythm providing the child with a sense of security, anticipation and expectation.
Learning in Kindergarten
The Kindergarten-aged child learns through active exploration and investigation of their physical and social environment. Self directed creative play in the Kindergarten provides opportunities for children to work actively and physically together to plan, create and build. They are learning to work together as a team – problem solving, negotiating, transforming, imagining, inventing, organising, taking turns, sharing equipment, making suggestions and listening to each other.
From imagination to abstract thought
The Kindergarten room has a warm engaging feel that appeals to children’s senses and invites them to explore. Natural open-ended play materials, such as wooden boxes and planks, baskets of pebbles, shells and seed pods, coloured cloths, handmade fabric dolls and wooden animals allow children’s imagination flourish. To a child a shell may be a special ingredient in a cake, or money in shop, or a ticket on a train. It is whatever the children’s imagination creates. Play prepares children for later more formal learning by encouraging and fostering imagination as a foundation for the development of creative, lateral and abstract thinking.
In the Kindergarten children observe and participate in the many purposeful homelike domestic tasks that take place on a daily basis such as preparing the morning tea, setting the table for meals, washing, drying and putting away dishes and sweeping the floor. These experiences help to strengthen and develop children’s will and are the basis for many life skills.
Oral Language Experiences
During the day children participate in a rich variety of oral language experiences. The time honoured art of storytelling allows the children to create inner pictures for themselves, which bring the story alive. Stories include traditional or folk stories, everyday life stories or seasonal nature stories. Rhymes, songs and verses, usually accompanied by movements, provide opportunities for children to practice and master speech articulation, fine and gross motor skills, coordination and dexterity. Stories also foster the development of pictorial or abstract thinking and memory.
Artistic and handiwork experiences such as painting, drawing, finger knitting, wool fleece pictures and French knitting take place on a daily or seasonal basis in Kindergarten. These activities foster children’s creative and aesthetic development and support their fine motor skill development.
The program we offer delays the introduction of formal learning until Class 1 so that we can meet children’s developmental needs and build a rich foundation for later academic learning.
Class 1 Readiness
All Kindergarten children are individually assessed at the end of their time in Kindergarten. This assessment provides the teacher with vital information, allowing them to provide extra support where needed. Please contact your child’s Kindergarten Teacher if you would like more information on this assessment.
Steiner gave indications of how children develop spiritually and emotionally and used this to guide his curriculum and teaching methodology.
These teacher notes on the Kindergarten child offer more insight into these.


Delmare Yasmine July 14, 2020 worksheets
1. Education vs Time Filler
Planning Worksheets for Kids.Before creating the worksheet for children, it is important to understand why the worksheet is being made. Is there a message to be conveyed? Can students record information that can be understood later? Is it being created to just teach a basic concept to little children? A well designed worksheet will make its objective clear. The different aspects that should influence the design of the worksheet are the age, ability and motivation of the students. A young child may not be able to write or read more than a few words. Worksheets should be created keeping these factors in mind. When you buy worksheets for your children, look for how the concept is explained. Is it pictorial or is it just a collection of words? A pictorial worksheet will hold the attention of a child more than just a combination of words.
Home schooling can be expensive and difficult to implement, especially on a tight budget. If money is tight, homeschool worksheets that you can get for free can take the place of a textbook. The worksheet will be able to teach pretty much the same things that a textbook will, and yet you won’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on books. Although some worksheet resources charge a small fee, you will be able to access thousands of printable worksheets that you can use for homeschooling.
Shirley Slick, ”The Slick Tips Lady,” is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of ”10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child’s Study Habits
The basic cursive worksheets that you can use are Rockin’ Round Letters, Climb’n’ Slide Letters, Loopy Letters, Lumpy Letters, and Mix ’n’ Match.Worksheets are now being used in most schools as they are proven effective in fostering a children’s learning process. There were studies that show children responding better to worksheets compared to other boring and strict methods of teaching.
We have come a long way as teachers since those purple-ink mimeograph machines introduced us to worksheets, so let’s be vigilant! Avoid lower-level-thinking worksheets, do not use too many worksheets (even good ones) and NEVER use worksheets as busy work.Instead, let’s fill our classrooms with meaningful, thoughtful lessons and activities that peak student interest and promote higher-level learning. And that is a message worth copying and handing out!
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- From the author of the popular Being the Best Me! series
- Read-aloud social storybook is ideal for school, home, or therapeutic settings
- Includes discussion questions, games, activities and more
- Great tool for reinforcing courage and character in children
Help children develop the attitudes and skills of courage and assertiveness in order to make wise choices and work through challenges. Children learn to do what they think is right and be brave, even if its hard. They learn to distinguish between expectations set by trusted adults and hurtful, wrong, or dangerous things adults or children might pressure them to do. The book also highlights trying new things, taking reasonable risks, and speaking up.
From the author of the popular Learning to Get Along books comes the third book in this one-of-a-kind character-development series. Each of the 12 books planned for the Being the Best Me! series helps children learn, understand, and develop attitudes and positive character traits that strengthen self-confidence and a sense of purpose. Children will relate to the engaging illustrations, real-life situations, and easy-to-understand examples. Each book focuses on a specific attitude or character traitsuch as optimism, courage, resilience, imagination, personal power, decision-making, and work ethics. Also included are discussion questions, games, activities, and additional information adults can use to reinforce the concepts children are learning. Filled with diversity, these read-aloud social story books will be welcome in school, home, and childcare settings.
About the Author:
Cheri J. Meiners, M.Ed., has her masters degree in elementary education and gifted education. A former first-grade teacher, she has taught education classes at Utah State University and has supervised student teachers. Cheri and her husband, David, have six children and two grandchildren. They live in Laurel, Maryland.
Paperback: 40 Pages
Age: 4-8 years


Metallurgists work with metals and alloys in the development and manufacturing of metal items and structures that range from tiny precision-made components to huge engineering parts.
You will investigate and examine the performance of metals such as iron, steel, aluminium, nickel and copper and use them to produce a range of useful products and materials with certain properties.
Work may be in:
- design and manufacture;
- production management;
- quality assurance;
- research and development.
Metallurgists usually specialize in one of three areas:
- Chemical metallurgists focus on the extraction of metals. They conduct tests on ores and figure out the best method of extraction. They also test metals for signs of corrosion.
- Physical metallurgists study how a metal behaves in different conditions including in a hot environment or when it’s put under stress. They will investigate any signs of weakness.
- Process metallurgists design metal parts. They are responsible for shaping metal parts through methods such as casting, as well as joining metal parts by welding and soldering them.
Employers of metallurgists
- Metal and materials producers
- Manufacturing and process companies
- Research and development organizations
- Specialist consultancies
- Utilities companies
- liaising with clients to determine design requirements
- providing technical advice about the suitability of metals for different purposes
- making recommendations and advising about product feasibility
- undertaking new product research
- creating precise designs for components
- developing prototypes and innovative solutions to problems
- investigating corrosion and metal failure/fatigue
- liaising with and supervising engineering and technical staff
- ensuring adherence to manufacturing quality standards
- overseeing operational quality control processes
- using specialist computer applications
- carrying out laboratory-based analysis of samples
- using both destructive and non-destructive techniques to test composition
- developing new test and repair processes
- investigating production problems
A degree in metallurgy, materials science/technology or a similar engineering subject is normally necessary for entry into the profession. Some employers may accept you with a diploma.
- good communication and presentation skills for reporting to customers and colleagues;
- team working skills with other engineers and scientists;
- business awareness;
- problem-solving ability to deal with manufacturing or technical issues;
- innovation and leadership;
- initiative, drive and enthusiasm for improving metals and methods used;
- numeracy skills;
- attention to detail for interpreting design requirements and producing reports;
- the ability to focus on results.


Music Students Score Better in Math, Science, English Than Nonmusical Peers
Effect more pronounced for those who take instrumental rather than vocal music, study says
WASHINGTON — High schoolers who take music courses score significantly better on exams in certain other subjects, including math and science, than their nonmusical peers, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.
“In public education systems in North America, arts courses, including music courses, are commonly underfunded in comparison with what are often referred to as academic courses, including math, science and English,” said Peter Gouzouasis, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, an author of the study of more than 100,000 Canadian students. “It is believed that students who spend school time in music classes, rather than in further developing their skills in math, science and English classes, will underperform in those disciplines. Our research suggests that, in fact, the more they study music, the better they do in those subjects.”
The research was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology
The researchers examined school records for all students in British Columbia who started the first grade between 2000 and 2003; completed the last three years of high school; had completed at least one standardized exam for math, science or English (10th or 12th grade); and for whom they had appropriate demographic information (e.g., gender, ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status).
Of the more than 112,000 student records studied, approximately 13% of the students had participated in at least one music course in grade 10, 11 or 12. Qualifying music courses included concert band, conservatory piano, orchestra, jazz band, concert choir and vocal jazz. General music or guitar courses did not qualify as they required no previous music experience and, in the case of general music, did not require music-making or practice, according to Gouzouasis and his co-authors, Martin Guhn, PhD and Scott Emerson, MSc, also from the University of British Columbia.
“Students who participated in music, who had higher achievement in music, and who were highly engaged in music had higher exam scores across all subjects, while these associations were more pronounced for those who took instrumental music rather than vocal music,” he said. “On average, the children who learned to play a musical instrument for many years, and were now playing in high school band and orchestra, were the equivalent of about one academic year ahead of their peers with regard to their English, mathematics and science skills, as measured by their exam grades.”
Apart from the strength of the associations, the researchers were most surprised by the consistency of the associations across all three subject areas (math, science and English). These associations continued to be significant even when the researchers controlled for demographic factors such as gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and prior achievement on similar exams in seventh grade.
Gouzouasis believes that some skills learned in band, orchestra and conservatory music lessons transfer very broadly to adolescents’ learning in school.
“Learning to play a musical instrument and playing in an ensemble is very demanding. A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop discipline to practice. All those learning experiences play a role in enhancing children's cognitive capacities and their self-efficacy,” he said. “We think that the effects we see are partly a result of the fact that children engaging in school music over many years mostly receive quality music instruction and need to master the high expectations of performing at a high school band or orchestra level. In fact, it is that high levels of music engagement for which we saw the strongest effects.”
The researchers hope that their findings are brought to the attention of students, parents, teachers and administrative decision-makers in education, as many school districts over the years have emphasized numeracy and literacy at the cost of other areas of learning, particularly music.
“Often, resources for music education — including the hiring of trained, specialized music educators, and band and orchestral instruments — are cut or not available in elementary and secondary schools. The argument has frequently been that we need all our money to focus on math, science and English,” said Gouzouasis. “The irony is that music education — multiple years of high-quality instrumental learning and playing in a band or orchestra or singing in a choir at an advanced level – may be the very thing that improves all-around academic achievement and an ideal way to have students learn more holistically in schools."
Article: “A Population-Level Analysis of Associations Between School Music Participation and Academic Achievement
,” by Martin Guhn, PhD, Scott D. Emerson, MSc, and Peter Gouzouasis, PhD, The University of British Columbia. Journal of Educational Psychology. Published online June 20, 2019.


Click for information on the following:
Why raise the issue literacy?
Literacy and numeracy status is assessed at the beginning of the consultation to ensure communication, information or support is appropriate for individuals whose literacy or numeracy skills are otherwise potential barriers to their full participation.
Evidence shows that patients with low literacy:
- Are more likely to have poor physical and mental well-being
- Are less likely to be aware and make use of prevention facilities.
- Are less able to self manage.
- Are less likely to adhere to prescribed courses of treatment.
- Have poorer health outcomes including knowledge, intermediate disease markers, and measures of morbidity.
- People with diabetes and poor literacy skills have been shown to have higher levels of retinopathy and lower levels of blood sugar control
- People with COPD and poor health literacy have been shown to experience greater COPD severity, higher learned helplessness, poorer respiratory-specific and general health status, and greater risk of COPD-related hospitalisation
- Men with lower literacy levels who drank alcohol were also more likely to consume a higher number of units than those with good skills.
- Are more likely to smoke cigarettes
- Women with literacy and numeracy issues are four times more likely to experience homelessness
How to raise the issue of literacy
Identify any issues
- Ask: “How often do you need to have someone help you with understanding forms, letters, or medicine labels?”
- If patient responds either “sometimes” or more often than sometimes, this is a positive indicator of some degree of difficulty with literacy and/or numeracy.
- Reassure your patient by letting them know that many people have difficulty reading and understanding medical information.
- If they have any type of literacy difficulty, consider in consultation with the patient simple adaptations that may support the consultation and their preferred format for future communications (e.g. phone call instead of letters).
- Please ensure that literacy issues are considered as part of the holistic agenda setting discussion in the Health Behaviours and Life Circumstances part of the consultation.
- Health Literacy can affect anyone at any time for example receiving new or distressing health information.
- People living with long term conditions may be required to deal with larger amounts of technical information about their condition and their care.
- Health Literacy is about people having enough knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to use health information, to be more active partners in their care, and to navigate health and social care system
- Never make assumptions about a person’s health literacy level as it may not always be apparent
The Health Literacy Place has more information and range of tools which can support your conversation.
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For book lovers, reading to their children may seem obvious.
However, a lot of research has been done into the effects of children engaging with literacy-relatedd activities at home. Much of this focuses on the early years, and how the literacy environment stimulates language and reading development.
1. It opens up new worlds
Reading together as a family can instil a love of books from an early age. By taking the time to turn the pages together, adults can help children see that reading is something to enjoy and not a chore. Some school children read because they like it but others do it because they will be rewarded – with stickers in a school reading diary for example. Those children who read because they enjoy it read more books, and read more widely too. So giving your child a love of books helps expand their horizons.
2. It can build confidence
Children judge their own ability to read from observing their classroom peers, and from conversations with parents and teachers. When sharing a book, and giving positive feedback, parents can help children develop what is known as self-efficacy – a perceived ability to complete the specific activity at hand. Self-efficacy has been shown to be important for word reading. Children who think they cannot read will be less inclined to try, but by using targeted praise while reading together, parents can help children develop a belief in their own skills.
3. It can build positive reading attitudes
Studies have shown that the more opportunities a child has to engage with literacy based activities at home, the more positive their reading attitudes tend to be. Children are more likely to read in their leisure time if there is another member of the family that reads, creating a reading community the child feels they belong to. Parental beliefs and actions are related to children’s own motivations to read, though of course it is likely that this relationship is bidirectional –- parents are more likely to suggest reading activities if they know that their child has enjoyed them in the past.
4. It expands their language
When reading a book together, children are exposed to a wide range of language. In the early stages of literacy development, this is extremely important. Good language development is the foundation to literacy development after all, and increased language exposure is one of the fundamental benefits of shared book reading.
Shared book reading early on can have a long-term benefit by increasing vocabulary skills. And if they encounter a word they don’t understand, they have a grown up on hand to explain it to them in a way that makes sense to them. When children are taught to read while sharing a book, it can improve alphabet knowledge, decoding skills, spelling, and other book-related knowledge (such as how to actually read a book). Doing something as simple as sounding out the letters of a word they do not understand can vastly improve a child’s skills.
5. It can help their speech and language awareness
Formal shared reading can also involve the use of intonation, rhythm and pauses to model what is known as prosody. This is not a skill that is directly taught, but by simply pausing when needed or changing the tone of your voice can help children develop fluency when reading aloud. This is one of the reasons that shared book reading is not just for pre-schoolers. Demonstrating what is involved in reading complex text aloud fluently is very valuable for children of all ages.
You don’t need a lot of money, or even hours of spare time to read with children. Even small efforts can have big benefits. Nor does it have to be just at bedtime. Sharing a book, a magazine or a comic can take place at any time of the day.
The most important thing to remember is to have fun. Interest in reading emerges from enjoying it with a parent. If you’re interested and make an effort, it can have a huge impact on a child’s engagement with reading.


Antonio Bertali was born in Verona and received early music education there from Stefano Bernardi. Probably from 1624, he was employed as court musician in Vienna by Emperor Ferdinand II. In 1649, he succeeded Giovanni Valentini as court Kapellmeister.
Bertali’s compositions are in the manner of other northern Italian composers of the time and include operas, oratorios, a large number of liturgical works, and chamber music. Particularly his operas are notable for establishing the tradition of Italian opera seria in Vienna.
Approximately half of his output is now lost. The most important source for his work is the Viennese Distinta Specificatione catalogue, which lists several composers of the Habsburg court and provides titles and scoring for more than 2,000 compositions. The “Chiacona” or “Chiaccona” is perhaps his best known work. He lived from March 1605 to April 1669.—Excerpted from Wikipedia


How to Introduce Cats and Dogs
You’ve probably heard the old adage “they fight like cats and dogs.” But would you believe it if we said many cats and dogs CAN co-exist? Better yet, sometimes, they even become friends!
While not all cats and dogs are destined to be besties, you can help create domestic bliss by taking the right steps when introducing them. Here’s how:
Make a Plan!
Whenever possible, have your house ready before bringing a new animal home. Have a room where you can safely confine your cat, and don’t forget to leave a comfy bed, litter box, water, toys, and a scratch box. Also, remove anything potentially toxic, like plants, lotions, or medications.
Prepare Your Dog
It’s easier to have a controlled greeting when your dog responds to basic commands, like sit, stay, and lay down. Whether your dog is new to your home or a longtime resident, continuing to work on these foundational skills will help with all interactions in the long run.
Keep Everyone Separated
Even if your new pet is healthy, you want to keep cats and dogs separate for at least 3-4 days when they’re getting to know each other. This is an important step because your animals can get to know each other through smell and sound, but they won’t feel threatened by face-to-face greetings.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Food
When your animals are separated, feed them or give yummy treats near the barrier. That way, they can have a positive experience that involves their new sibling – even if they can’t see them.
Try a Controlled Greeting
When your pets seem calm and curious about what’s outside the closed door, you can try an introduction. Make sure your dog is leashed and let the cat come out of their sanctuary on their own. Share dog and cat treats liberally and try to keep everyone calm. Watch their body language closely and, if either animal appears aggressive or afraid, calmly distract them, and end the greeting by returning the cat to their sanctuary.
Manage All Interactions
Continue with controlled greetings on a daily basis and save treats for when the animals are together. If the cat tries to escape, let them. It’s also helpful to put up baby gates so a dog can’t pursue the cat or raised areas like tables or scratch towers where cats can escape but still observe.
A Taste of Freedom
When your cat and dog seem calm while in the same room, you can drop your dog’s leash so they can interact more freely. Don’t remove the leash yet because it can be easier to regain control if tension erupts.
Take It Slow!
Remember, it takes time to make friends and get to know someone. Don’t rush it, keep supervising all interactions, and continue separating your pets if you’re not home to keep an eye on things.
It’s also important to note that some dogs and cats just don’t get along, and each introduction is different. If you’re thinking of adopting a new pet, talk with your vet for additional tips. If you already brought your new pet home and things aren’t going well, ask your vet to recommend a professional trainer for advice.


Beyond the Beginnings: Literacy Interventions for Upper Elementary English Language Learners
Author: Angela L Carrasquillo, Stephen Kucer, Ruth Abrams
The book addresses upper elementary English language learners who have a fairly good knowledge of spoken and written English, have demonstrated knowledge of phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding and word recognition, yet are struggling with academic English literacy. Throughout the book, the authors continuously argue that planning and delivering instruction to these students must be based on the ELL's existing competencies, prior knowledge and experiences. Classroom curriculum and instruction must provide opportunities for helping ELL learners to build and extend skills, knowledge and processes. And, the highly complex process of language learning and literacy development calls for multifaceted instructional approaches. The book is divided into eight chapters providing specific information on the diversity of ELLs and providing examples, models and strategies to move them beyond the transition in English reading and writing.
This book is remarkable in the amount and depth of content covered in 158 pages. It would be an ideal choice for a professional reading group.
CMLR, 62:3, March 2006
The book offers preservice and current teachers of upper elementary ELLs many important practical tools for improving their instructional strategies. And by clarifying the problem of conflating conversational proficiency in English with students' academic literacy proficiency, in easily accessible text, it challenges potentially discriminatory (mis)evaluations of these students – a significant contribution indeed.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 10:2
This is a valuable book for anyone serving intermediate ELL students in upper elementary or high school. Because the authors revisit classic works on the topic, the book is especially important for those teachers who are new to the entire issue of serving ELL students.
This book is useful for content teachers who want to become more knowledgeable about how best to serve and support ELLs in the classroom setting. The information is an initial but necessary step towards designing and delivering appropriate instruction for ELLs in the content areas, and it provides mainstream teachers with a basic understanding of the complexities of supporting ELLs in the classroom.
Language and Education Vol 19, no. 6
Angela Carrasquillo is a professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Education where she is the coordinator of the TESOL Program. She is nationally known in the areas of second language and bilingual education and has published extensively in these fields. She is the author (with Vivian Rodríguez ) of Language Minority Students in the Mainstream Classroom (Multilingual Matters, 2002).
Stephen B. Kucer is an associate professor of language and literacy education in the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University Lincoln Center. He is the author of Dimensions of Literacy (Erlbaum) and co-author of Curricular Conversations (Stenhouse).
Ruth Abrams works for the New York City Department of Education as a teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is also on the adjunct faculty of Fordham University Graduate School of Education where she teaches courses in literacy and TESOL.


A is for Alligator. B is for Bear. C is for Cat. Over the years, educators teach phonics through the recognition of sounds from common things and animals around the kids. It always focuses on colorful pictures and materials to encourage young learners to read. The feature of Sensory phonics in sounding out the letter sounds evolve from merely sound related words to pictorial artistic mnemonics. This is multi-sensory playful program to encourage the kids to learn the basic skills of listening, reading, spelling, speaking and writing.
Letters are shaped into animals to head start their first learning through pictures. Kids learn better by teaching pictures, sounds and movements. These combinations of techniques have proven to give them a grasp of more information at a young age and serves as a good foundation of early childhood learning.
Mirror images of letters are common problems of students whenever they start to read and write. Interchangeable letters like ‘b’ and ‘d’ , ‘p’ and q’ , ‘u’ and ‘n’ are common mistakes of children as letters look similar at first glance. This reading challenge can be corrected by constant practice of phonemic and print awareness feature of phonics. Young learners can easily remember that ‘b’ is shaped as a hungry bear and ‘d’ is shaped as a deer reaching its food.
In studies, small letters are more used than capital letters. Though letter names are important, letter sounds are necessary for reading. The child cannot blend letters or read words through letter names. Short vowels are basic phonic sounds than long vowels. Blending of sounds start with two letters then three-letter word, followed by the consonant blend of four-letters and long vowel sounds. These are all considered first before teaching the more complicated version of reading.
Early years of learning, 2-3 years of age, kids are introduced with just the animal shapes, playing with the letter actions and sound. Children are given two to three letters at a time to practice and recognize the sound. They play with the letters through sensory motor activities and crafts. The pictorial animal alphabet alone allows the learners to create an image in their minds of its artistic features and sounds. This strategy cements the graphic and phonics together.
The next step is the combination of animal letters and letter shape. Learners can easily remember the sounds of the letters and recognize it with the usual letter shape. This gradual process is very important and corrections on mirror images of letters are now fixed and modified through constant practice. Blending of sounds happen in this stage as letter shapes are already introduced. With learners having a good organization of its phonics skills, blending to read a word is an easy process.
Through continuous phonics exercises, students would no longer need the animal letters and can read the words without any pictures. Consonant blends, Long vowel sounds, diphthongs and diagraphs can certainly be taught at this step of phonics as there is a clear structure and stories behind every combination of sounds.
The use of drawings of letter shaped animals provides strong establishment of knowledge for more advanced learning. The effectiveness of zoo-phonics animal pictures encourages a learning process to improve their reading skills. Apart from the good foundation in reading, the self-assurance of learners is necessary to build its confidence in later years of learning.
Featured and 1st image by U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Nicolas Melchor. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
2nd image from Stoonn/freedigitalphotos.net


Teach Bucket Drumming like a Drummer
The Bucket Book is a groundbreaking new resource for elementary and middle school general music classes. This inventive program is designed to help teachers and students discover the joy of creating music and the fun of using homemade or found instruments to do so. Fully reproducible, and including a Data CD for projection and enhanced classroom learning,The Bucket Book curriculum teaches rhythm skills and percussion techniques using easy-to-teach lessons that do not require a percussion background.
Detailed information, photos, and resources are provided to acquaint educators with percussion vocabulary and techniques. The activities will engage and delight your students as they explore different timbres and search for the next great sound or rhythm they can produce with their instruments. For teachers wishing to provide their students with a creative, high-quality music education, The Bucket Book is an outstanding resource!


Research-Based (Not Reading-Based)
In our digital age, it’s tempting to see handwriting as optional. But handwriting is still a key foundational skill for literacy development. Explicit instruction in handwriting supplements what students may—or may not—be getting from a reading-based program. In fact, Zaner-Bloser programs are proven effective for developing all types of literacy skills, including reading!
Self-generated action, in the form of handwriting, is a crucial component in setting up brain systems for reading acquisition. (James, 2010)
Children with stronger fine-motor skills do better not only in literacy tasks such as letter writing, but also in kindergarten math; in addition, these skills are associated with ongoing reading and math achievement as late as fifth grade. (Dinehart, et al., 2014)
For developmentally typical students in grades 4–7, fluent cursive writing consistently predicted both higher level spelling and composing skills at each grade. (Alstad, et al., 2015)
Research results show that fluency in handwriting is strongly related to the quality and quantity of students’ complex written texts as late as grade 8. (Christensen and Jones, 2013)
People who take handwritten notes process information better than those who type notes on a laptop. (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014) Students who type notes tend to record what they hear verbatim, whereas those who take handwritten notes are more apt to write more reflectively as they translate what they are learning into their own words.
See citations below.
Often overlooked in today’s busy classrooms, cursive handwriting is key for continued literacy development in grades 2–6. Did you know?
Cursive may activate parts of the brain that lead to increased language fluency.
Cursive reduces distractions by increasing focus, which also fosters creativity.
Cursive connects us to our past through primary source documents.
Fluent cursive consistently predicts more skillful composing and better spelling at grades 4–7.
Research supports teaching cursive in the middle and adolescent grades. Download this white paper to read more about the research cited here.
Alstad, Z., Sanders, E., Abbott, R., Barnett, A., Hendersen, S., Connelly, V., & Berninger, V. (2015). Modes of alphabet letter production during middle childhood and adolescence: Interrelationships with each other and other writing skills. Journal of Writing Research, 6(3), 199–231.
Christensen, C. & Jones, D. (2000). Handwriting: An underestimated skill in the development of written language. Handwriting Today, 2, 56–60.
Dinehart, L. (2014). Handwriting in early childhood education: Current research and future implications. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(1), 97–118.
James, K. H. (2010). Sensori-motor experience leads to changes in visual processing in the developing brain. Developmental Science. 13(2), 279–288.
Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the laptop: Advantages of longhand over laptop note-taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168.


Science for kids automatically makes me think of messy exploding volcanoes. Thankfully there are many other science experiments to do that aren’t quite as complex as that one.
Whether you are homeschooling your children and want to learn about science, or just like to have a fun time discovering, these are some wonderful activities to share with your kids.
Our blog feature for the day, Housing a Forest, is sharing several science activities with us. Check our her interview and blog to find more science for kids fun.
6 Science for Kids Activities
1. Dancing Oobleck – A new twist on an old favorite. It’s so fun to see what happens when you mix cornstarch and water, but its more fun to make the oobleck dance! 2. Test pH – This colorful activity uses an unusual ingredient to determine pH and then turn it to art! 3. Water Bottle Popper – Learn about pressure build up with this fun experiment. All you need is an empty water bottle to shoot a water bottle cap up to 20 feet in the air! 4. Color Spray Science – Science through art has never been more fun and you will end up with something wearable! 5. Ivory Soap Experiment – The results of heating a bar of soap in the microwave are a lot of fun to watch. It also leaves you with a unique texture to play with. 6. Fire Science – Fire is something that always mesmerizes and this is a supervised way to learn about it. 7. Regrowing Celery – If you are about to throw your last stock of celery away, wait. Did you know that all you need is a little water and sunlight and you can actually regrow the plant? 8. Surface Tension – This is such a fun way to look at surface tension and how things float. 9. Raised Salt Painting – See what happens when you paint over a glue and salt design. This isn’t just science for kids, its beautiful art, too! 10. Static Electricity – Make a static-propelled snake! 11. Exploding Art – Shake up some paint and Alka Seltzer in a film canister and direct it towards a large sheet of paper. You’ll make some fun exploding art designs. Make sure you are outdoors for this one! 12. Solar S’mores – Bake a favorite food with the sun. Thank you Tammy from Housing a Forest for inspiring us with these science for kids activities.


Activities to practice and improve maths skills
Building and developing children's numeracy skills can help them to tackle mathematical problems in a variety of contexts. While there is definitely room for learning via text books and written exercises, children learn most readily when a number of their senses are engaged.
Children appreciate learning that feels more like play than work, and there are a number of hands-on, numerical activities that parents can carry out with their children.
Pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage are regularly encouraged to learn through explorative play and this does not need to stop once your children reach the first stages of their 'formal' education.
Below are a number of activities that are designed to stimulate and encourage children's love of mathematics:
Play 'ping pong' as this will help your child cement their knowledge of number bonds. You will say an initial number and they will reply with the pair to 10, 20, 100 or 1000. Encourage children to use their knowledge of smaller bonds, such as 7 + 3 = 10, to work out larger complementary numbers, e.g. 70 + 30 = 100.
SHAPES AND MEASURES
'Guess my shape' is a game which involves you thinking of a shape and your child posing subsequent questions about its properties until the identity of the shape is uncovered.
You can also go on angle and shape hunts around the house, asking questions as you go.
REAL LIFE PROBLEMS
Use a TV guide and get children to calculate the duration of their favourite programmes. They can go on to calculate how much time they spend watching these programme over days or weeks.
Bus and train timetables are also useful for improving children's mathematical reasoning. Children can calculate journey times and intervals between departure times.
Cut out numbers from magazines and newspapers and help your child to put the numbers in different orders.
Encourage your child to count different household objects such as pasta, coins, buttons etc.


Assumption Early Childhood Learning Center
DISCIPLINE POLICY 65C-22.001
We believe that discipline is a measure of showing children that we care about them and their welfare. Our policy is based on the principles of love; respect the concern for the rights of all individuals. The manner in which a teacher handles a discipline situation will depend on the child and the individual occurrence. The positive discipline technique could involve any of the following:
- Provide ample activities to keep the child involved.
- Discussion with child and give gentle explanations and reminders.
- Positive reinforcement and encouragement.
- The child will be redirected to another activity.
- Provide a quiet time. (This is a short time where the child is given time in the classroom to collect him/herself until they are ready to be a part of the group activities again.)
*The child’s teacher may send a child to the Director’s Office when all of the above positive discipline techniques have been exhausted. After 3 visits to the Director’s office the Teacher and Director will then call to schedule the “Initial Consultation” with the parents. Any time your child is sent to the Director’s office the Teacher or Director will notify the parent in writing, email, text or by phone call.
Discipline NEVER includes any of the following:
- Physical Punishment
- Taking away or threatening to take away snacks, play, recess, a resource class.
- Making a child feel that they are “bad”.
CHRONIC DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR
We will make every effort to work with the parents of children having difficulties at Assumption Early Childhood Learning Center. We are here to serve and protect ALL of our children, though. Children displaying chronic disruptive behavior which has been determined to be upsetting to the physical or emotional well-being of another child/class may require the following action:
- The parents will be asked to meet for a conference with the Child’s Teacher and ECLC Director. The problem will be identified and a course of action established to resolve the situation.
- After 2 weeks of no improvement and the initial plan for helping the child fails, the parent(s) will again be required to meet with the Director and the child’s Teacher. Another attempt will be made to identify the problem, outline new approaches to the problem, and discuss the consequences if progress is not apparent.
- If, after 4 weeks and 2 Parent/Teacher/Director conferences, the child is unable to participate in group experiences, the discipline problems continue, the child poses a threat to self, staff or other children in the program and it is determined that all possibilities have been exhausted and that the child is incompatible with our program, the child will be dismissed from Assumption ECLC and the parents will need to seek other school/child care arrangements. Dismissal decisions are made by the ECLC Director and Pastor and are final.
Feel free to print this for your records. DISCIPLINE POLICY 2017


Music therapy is a scientific discipline that deals with the therapeutic use of music as well as the musical elements (sound, rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and volume). The sessions are conducted by a qualified music therapist, who works towards the achievement of therapeutic goals, which are related to mental, physical, emotional and social issues, as well with the improvement of the quality of life.
Music therapy is not directed towards an artistic outcome, entertainment or music education.Music therapy is a recognized health profession both in Europe and in the U.S.A. and is governed by a code of ethics and a code of practice. Evidence-based research is expanding over the last years demonstrating the efficacy of music therapy in a wide range of fields including: mental health, special education, early intervention, neurology, delinquency, addictions, in-patient care, pain management, deafness / cochlear implants, neonate intensive care, and long term illnesses.
Infants, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly can benefit from music therapy in individual or group sessions.
Music therapy can benefit people with:
Music therapy can also be employed during pregnancy as well as with people who are in search of a medium of self-expression, personal development, and support.
Is musical knowledge necessary for someone to benefit from music therapy?
No. It is not necessary to have had any previous musical training in order to benefit from music therapy. The musical instruments used are readily accessible, allowing the patient to easily produce sounds, rhythms, and melodies, thus facilitating self-expression.
Who can practice music therapy?
A qualified music therapist holds an undergraduate degree (BA) or a postgraduate degree (MA) from an approved program in music therapy.
It is advised to contact the Cyprus Music Therapy Association for qualified music therapists.


Study explores ways to bolster early childhood numeracy skills
19 Oct 2020
For some young children, learning the basics of 1-2-3 can be easy as A-B-C.
But because early numeracy skills often receive less attention than early literacy skills, children who lag in number comprehension may fall behind academically in kindergarten and beyond.
Keting Chen, human sciences doctoral student in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, is exploring how home and childcare environments are associated with preschoolers’ numeracy skills — the ability to understand and work with numbers — and how parents and teachers can ensure those skills are where they need to be once the children enter school.
Funded by a one-year grant from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute’s Graduate Scholars program, Chen’s dissertation project is designed to identify factors at home and in childcare environments that predict children’s numeracy skills, and how the two settings jointly contribute to early learners’ number comprehension.
“Research indicates young children’s numeracy skills are very important in predicting later academic success,” she said. “We have found significant, individual differences among students upon entry into kindergarten, and I’m interested to learn why these differences occur so early.”
Chen aims to identify important aspects of early childhood numeracy environments, such as parents’ and teachers’ early math knowledge, and frequency of numeracy activities. Her study will include 120 preschool-aged children — and their parents and teachers — with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Parents and teachers will be asked to report how often they do numeracy activities, and children’s numeracy skills will be assessed. Researchers will use video observations of parent-child interactions during those activities to examine both home and childcare environments and their associations with children’s numeracy development.
“Video observations help us better understand what numeracy activities look like — games, reading, cooking or other math concepts embedded in those activities,” Chen said.
She also wants to gauge parents’ knowledge of typical numeracy skill development — for example, whether parents think a 4-year-old has a specific skill or not. This data will help Chen determine whether parents are designing age-appropriate numeracy activities.
Not surprisingly, Chen said, studies show more-frequent home numeracy activities better prepare children to begin school. However, she said, that research generally focuses on one environment — either the family or childcare setting.
“I’m looking at both contexts to better understand how each context supports those skills, and whether they are supported similarly or differently,” Chen said.
She noted that general math skills include many concepts — numbers, patterns, shapes, spatial ability — and an early understanding of number concepts and strong numeracy skills are important for future academic success. Children typically begin learning number words and addressing the meaning and value of the words as toddlers.
A few years ago, as a graduate student at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, Chen noticed that several 3-year-old children could verbally count fairly high — as high as 30, for example. But they did not necessarily understand what those numbers meant.
“They could count by memorizing the number words, but they didn’t yet understand the meaning of a request such as, ‘Can you bring me four oranges?’” she said. “That concept had not yet developed at their age. That interested me; I had never thought about that.”
Chen also found different skill levels among children of the same age. Some had begun to master numeracy skills, while others lagged. The children who were further along, she said, were those whose parents took more time teaching them at home.
She quickly recognized the need for parents and teachers to understand what children know, and when, to appropriately tailor teaching methods. Because children have varying exposures to numbers at home, Chen believes teaching plans must include all numeracy concepts.
Chen’s faculty advisors are Amy Napoli, assistant professor of child, youth and family studies; and Julia Torquati, professor of child, youth and family studies, and CYAF graduate director and Buffett community chair.
College of Education and Human Sciences
Child, Youth and Family Studies


It is our aim that all pupils leave St Clare’s with the Numeracy skills necessary for them to not only excel in secondary school but be confident and competent in their use of Numeracy in their everyday lives, prepared for adulthood. Not only should our pupils leave us with an excellent understanding of the four operations, as well as a good knowledge of fractions, shapes etc. but they should be able to apply their knowledge to solve a range of problems, and in a variety of contexts. Our use of the White Rose curriculum ensures topics are revisited year on year, allowing us to build on prior knowledge, while our staff’s confidence allows us to deviate from the scheme to provide consolidation or challenge for our pupils as appropriate.
Maths lessons are delivered in a variety of contexts, guided by the White Rose scheme of work, which incorporates challenge for all learners. In the long term, blocks of teaching are planned to activate prior learning with specific content revisited throughout the year as appropriate. In weekly planning, we include opportunities for pupils to use talk in maths lessons and plan activities based around varied fluency, and problem solving and reasoning. We follow the five key areas of Mastery; Mathematical Thinking, Fluency, Variation, Representation and Coherence. Resourcing and staff training are ongoing and adapted to the needs of our staff and pupils. Progress of pupils is closely monitored by staff, with assessments being carried out half-termly. We are working closely with the Archimedes Maths hub to develop best practice and ensure our teaching is in keeping with the latest developments in the subject. All staff show an awareness of pupils in their classes with additional needs, with teaching and planning adapted to cater to allow for all groups of pupils to make good to outstanding progress. Pupil data is recorded termly onto assessment grids, with the pupils being graded using a -, =, +, M scale. For example, a Y2 pupil with average attainment would receive a 2- in Autumn, 2= in Spring and a 2+ in Summer, showing that they have reached age-related expectations. The M grade is reserved for pupils demonstrating Mastery of the subject.


Learn how to paint in 3 hours
Figurative painting – it is a developed technique that allows people without art education to draw immediately.
We recommend that you take our general fast training class and then continue your development of creativity with our master classes.
After one painting lesson you will be able to confidently draw and produce your own paintings!
Your brain's right hemisphere will start activating. For painters the brain's right hemisphere is responsible for accurate vision of objects in space, musicians for the hearing and creative people for making customized solutions!
The right hemisphere of the brain starts to work within 30 minutes after the start of the training. Therefore, we often call this method hemispheric drawing.
With the rise of the right hemisphere activity and balancing it with the left brain unique things can happen: the performance of the brain increases 5 times, increases the speed of decision-making, the inspiration, and inner peace, harmony, manifested in all areas, which at times improves the level of quality of human life.
The purpose of the method is not to teach academic standards of the fine arts, but to discover in you the creative personality and to help to develop your talent. Anyone can draw, but to start, we must stop to analyse our actions and just create!
For whom the right hemisphere drawing is?
For those who want to realize the dream of being a painter, for professional artists, for business, for those who have a profession related to the design, creativity, for those who want to find inspiration and for all who consider themselves creative people, or want to become !
Everyone can come and special artistic training is not required.
During the training, we draw five paintings, and maybe more, it all depends on you.
All materials are provided.
Pastel painting (Pan Pastel)
EBRU - painting on the water


The mission of Special Programs is to evaluate, develop, and implement learning
programs, using counseling, recreational activities, sports, unique activities, and services
requiring social and academic interaction. Educarte students are provided the
opportunity for physical, emotional, and intellectual development. Academic support
programs are created and implemented for students on an individual basis.
The program includes the following services:
· Advice for high school students
· Special needs and adaptations
· Support for language learning.
The program is designed for students with educational special needs that requires curricular adaptations. Every student in this program receives personalized attention.
The department designs individual academic programs for each student, with objectives and contents according to observed achievement levels of each subject. Emphasis is placed on attaining student independence.
The program uses a variety of materials, tailored individual learning styles, and an integrated approach to enrich the learning process and achieve meaningful learning outcomes.
Together, the Educarte educational psychologist and teachers provide the students with the necessary support through various school activities.
The Guidance Department provides support and advice to students for their social, academic and vocational development through specialized services that offer information, intervention, and the coordination of educational resources of the community.
At Educarte we strive to help our students reach their full potential by developing their academic and physical skills as well as their communication proficiency.
In Pre Maternal, we are working on an Early Stimulation plan, created by the Psychology Specialist, Maria Fernanda Velazco,. She has developed an excellent plan for students in Pre Maternal (Children 10 months to 2 years and 3 months).
It takes place in the early stages of life, for it is this period that children will learn the foundational skills to reach their full potential in life.
Skills that seek to promote early stimulation in children include language, movement, and psychological /psychosocial development (learning to develop relationships with others).
By using these skills, humans can integrate into their community and develop a meaningful life. If there is a lack of these skills, they must work to develop them and thereby achieve a balance that leads the student to a proper integration with their social environment. The child should develop the maximum amount of skills to give them more tools to properly integrate into the world.


Education is not only academic, but artistic, developing an appreciation for beauty, creativity, and excellence. Fine arts classes develop foundational knowledge and skills with constant practice in artistic production, expression, and performance. Visual and performing arts are constantly on display in performance throughout the school year.
This course is designed to provide a broad view of art education. An awareness of the student’s artistic growth and the importance of culture and environment with respect to art lessons will be stressed. The curriculum is based on art production, art history, art criticism and aesthetics and interdisciplinary connections.
Learning to appreciate and to evaluate art and looking at art strives to make individuals aware that all great works of art are part of a creative continuum. The students will review the basic foundations of art elements and design principles and then apply that knowledge to create artistic works of art from their own individuality. Coverage of the various art periods from pre-historic through contemporary art and the learning styles of well-known artist will be covered.
Students use art elements and principles to develop skills and sensitivity in a variety of methods and techniques. They increase awareness of composition with abstract, non-objective, and realistic renderings. Students will use many drawing materials and tools with emphasis on perfecting individual approaches to drawing. Students will also explore commercial art by using the computer and photography.
AP Studio Art
AP Studio art portfolios are designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience of art. Students must submit portfolios for evaluation at the end of the school year. Candidates prepare their portfolios through organized AP instruction. The student must show a fundamental competence and range of understanding in visual concerns.
Drama is the communication of ideas and feelings in order to get a desired response. Drama I teaches the techniques and methods used in the performing arts as well as developing presentation and communication skills. Students learn about the development of theatre throughout history, watch and analyze dramas, present various speeches and performances, write an original play script, and design a theatrical set.
Music II Instrumental
This course provides students with hands-on experience on woodwind instruments to develop a greater depth of musical artistry. This class is a more advanced course in which students are expected to be proficient on their instrument. Students also learn the fundamental elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and form), a variety of musical styles, composers, and historical periods.
Music II Chorale
This course is designed to meet the California state standard for Visual and Performing Arts, Music. This class is a performing ensemble that will learn basic musicianship through choral music. It will cover the fundamental elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and form) a variety of musical styles, composers, and historical periods. It also provides students with hands-on experience using Solfeggio and proper techniques in singing to develop a greater depth of musical artistry.
This course is the advanced choral ensemble of the high school. This class will focus on choral literature for small ensembles. Students in Chamber Choir will also prepare repertoire for the HS Chorale in performances and festivals. This ensemble also provides students with hands-on experience using Solfeggio and proper techniques in singing to develop a greater depth of musical artistry. Previous musical experience is a requirement for this class and an audition is required.


Is Moss A Plant?
Moss is a group of tiny, fuzzy plants belonging to the division Bryophyta which are non-vascular plants. These plants can reach 0.4 to 4 inches in height on average. The largest species can reach up to 20 inches. This is the first plant to survive on solid ground as they have evolved from algae.
There are 12,000 different species of moss which can be found throughout the world. In ancient cultures, this plant was used to help cleanse and heal the wounds.
Quick Facts: –
- Most animals do not eat moss as it is hard to digest with very little nutritional value.
- Reindeers are the exception in this case as they eat this plant because it contains a chemical which keeps their blood warm.
- These plants do not have roots. They have cell filaments called rhizoids instead of roots.
- This green fuzzy plant does not make seeds and it does not have fruits. They also do not produce pollen.
- Generally these plants tend to grow in moist places, but some species are drought tolerant and cold tolerant.
- They collectively provide more carbon offset than all of the trees in the world which makes them important for us.
- The reason why these plants cannot grow taller is because they are not able to water to the top.
- They break down exposed substrata and release nutrients for the use of more complex plants that succeed them.
- The sheet moss is a species that grow in carpets on the soil. It is bright green.
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The Natural Musicians activities cover almost all of the elements of the National Curriculum in a simple, enjoyable way.
The activities develops musical abilities, citizenship, numeracy, literacy, creativity, leadership, social skills and more. The advantage of the activities is that they are cross curricular and can be used as part of or form a scheme off work relating to a core subject – such as Numeracy or Science.
When we look at an object, what do we see? What sound would it make if you could hear it? Looking closely at nature and found objects we can see patterns, symmetry and numbers in the objects and be inspired by them to inform music making and movement. Through the activities we can engage in sequencing, handling data, do some measuring, look at ratios, geometry, solve problems, represent musical tracks in graphs and tables
By adding words to the sounds we enter literacy. By looking at what we have found, what it is, where it grows, how it grows and what part it might play in the ecosystem we enter the curriculum of science…
A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. [DfE, 2013]
When it comes to music The Natural Musicians system can deliver all of the above and following elements of the national curriculum (2014):
Performing, composing and listening
a. sing in solo or group contexts, developing vocal techniques and musical expression
b. perform with control of instrument-specific techniques and musical expression
c. practise, rehearse and perform with awareness of different parts, the roles and contributions of different members of the group, the audience and venue
d. create, develop and extend musical ideas by selecting and combining resources within musical structures, styles, genres and traditions
e. improvise, explore and develop musical ideas when performing
f. listen with discrimination and internalise and recall sounds
g. identify the expressive use of musical elements, devices, tonalities and structures.
2.2 Reviewing and evaluating
Pupils will be enabled to:
a. analyse, review, evaluate and compare pieces of music
b. identify conventions and contextual influences in music of different styles, genres and traditions
c. communicate ideas and feelings about music, using expressive language and musical vocabulary to justify their opinions
d. adapt their own musical ideas and refine and improve their own and others’ work.
If you want any clarification of terms, read on!
(Group contexts: These include singing in unison and in parts.
Developing vocal techniques: This could include using the voice to make music in a variety of ways, for example different singing styles, rapping, beatboxing, choral singing, scat singing, chant and other vocal styles from around the world.
Create, develop and extend: This includes composing original music, arranging existing musical ideas and creating new pieces using a range of existing material.
Musical structures: These include popular song structures, binary form, ternary form, variations, rondo, raga and 12-bar blues.
Styles, genres and traditions: Different types of music across time and place (styles), music for different purposes (genres) and ways of working and producing music that may reflect a specific cultural or social function (traditions).
Musical elements: These include pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and silence.
Musical devices: These include repetition, riff, ostinato, call and response, canon, sequence, inversion, cyclic patterns and ornamentation.
Musical tonalities: These include major and minor keys, atonality, modulation and different types of scales.)


Hobbies Playing Music Musical Terms and Symbols: Sharps Share PINTEREST Email Print Brandy Kraemer Playing Music Playing Piano Tutorials Piano Chords Buying Advice Music Education Playing Guitar Home Recording By Brandy Kraemer Updated March 19, 2019 A sharp is an accidental that indicates a slight increase in pitch. It’s seen as a noun, a verb, and an adjective. Definitions (n) A sharp is a symbol (♯, also ‘#’ in type) placed in front of a note, increasing its pitch by a half step. D# is a half step higher in pitch than D; and D is a half step higher than C#.(v) To “sharpen” a note means to raise its pitch by a half step (see double-sharp).(adj.) The word sharp can describe a pitch that is slightly higher than desired (or “off-pitch”), even if the pitch does not match an actual sharp note. For example, when tuning a piano, a particular string might sound “a bit sharp,” and would need to be “flattened” to match the correct pitch. In Other Languages diesis (It)dièse (Fr)Kreuz (Ger) More Music Symbols to Know marcato: informally referred to as simply an “accent,” a marcato makes a note slightly more pronounced than surrounding notes.legato or slur: connects two or more different notes. In piano music, the individual notes must be struck, but there should be no audible spaces between them.decrescendo: to gradually decrease the volume of the music. A decrescendo is seen in sheet music as a narrowing angle, and is often marked decresc.delicato: “delicately”; to play with a light touch and an airy feel.


Resources › For Educators Inclusion - Both an Educational Practice and an Educational Philosophy Share Flipboard Email Print A young boy enjoys participating in a theater troupe with typically developing peers. KETV For Educators Special Education Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior Management Lesson Plans Math Strategies Reading & Writing Social Skills Inclusion Strategies Individual Education Plans Becoming A Teacher Assessments & Tests Elementary Education Secondary Education Teaching Homeschooling By Jerry Webster Special Education Expert M.Ed., Special Education, West Chester University B.A., Elementary Education, University of Pittsburgh Jerry Webster, M.Ed., has over twenty years of experience teaching in special education classrooms. He holds a post-baccalaureate certificate from Penn State's Educating Individuals with Autism program. our editorial process Jerry Webster Updated March 18, 2017 Definition Inclusion is both a practice and a basic underpinning of modern educational philosophy. A Practice The practice of inclusion in public schools is based on the legal concept of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) When Congress passed PL94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, it was in response to the findings of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 in PARC (Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Citizens) vs. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The decision stated that children with handicaps were protected under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Least Restrictive Environment has come to be known, through legal challenges and due process, as that educational experience that is most like that received by non-disabled students. Districts (the Local Education Authority) are expected to offer a full spectrum of placements in the best interest of children, from full inclusion, which means receiving all instruction in the general education setting, to residential treatment,when it is in the best interest of the child, and all alternate levels of restriction have been exhausted. It also requires that students with disabilities attend schools in their neighborhood, rather than in special schools. Most students receive support and services in something between the two extremes, as for students with significant academic challenges, they often do the best when they receive explicit instruction in the resource room, where the difference in their skills and their need to focus are not compromised by active students. The amount of time spent in a special education setting needs to be designated in their IEP, as well as being justified there. Inclusion as a Philosophy Inclusion is also an educational philosophy. Supported by research, it fosters belief that children with disabilities do better in general education settings with typically developing peers. It also advances the understanding, also supported by research, that best practices in special education, especially differentiation, provide the most success for general education as well as special education students. Unlike "mainstreaming" which proposed to stick students qualifying for special education in general educations to "sink or swim," inclusion holds that students of broadly differing abilities can succeed with appropriate support. Although integration is sometimes used interchangeably with inclusion, it is more generally understood as the effort to bring minorities, English Language Learners and new immigrants from diverse populations, into local educational communities, and the practices that best foster smooth integration into social and cultural groups. Certainly, good teaching is good teaching, and strategies that help integrate English Language Learners also supports students with specific learning disabilities in building and enriching language development. Pronunciation: in-kloo-shun Also Known As: integration, inclusional (in Canada and England) Examples: The Rye, New Jersey school district has clearly demonstrated its commitment to inclusion by hiring and training extra special education teachers to co-teach in middle school and high school classrooms with general education teachers.


Warm-ups are a fantastic way to engage students, revise previous content and introduce new concepts. This bundle includes concepts aligned to the Australian Year Three Curriculum. Each concept features editable components so you can adjust them to suit your students' needs. This pack has slides that follow a rote learning style, e.g. sight words, and also slides that the whole class can complete on mini-whiteboards.
If you would like to see more about how I use these slides in my classroom, you can follow me on instagram @mrschalmerscherubs.
While we are navigating this global pandemic, I am more than happy for you to adjust this resource to best suit the needs of your class.
***Tips for Distance Learning***
- Share sections of slides with parents/students through e-mail or an online platform. E.g. release new sight word slides /grammar content / math concepts each week.
- Screen shot desired slides and upload as an image for students to complete on SeeSaw (or other platform).
- Display selected slides on your computer/smartboard. Work through a normal routine, filming the warm-up for students to access online.
- Follow me on instagram @mrschalmerscherubs for more tips or to have questions answered.
Are you after Math Warm-ups? Find them here: Year 3 Math Warm-ups
There are over 610 slides which include:
Phonics and Spelling
- Digraphs, trigraphs and blends.
- Sight words (Completely editable for any word list).
- Nonsense words (completely editable).
- Phonemes that can be represented in multiple ways.
Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation
- Punctuation flash card slides: Capital letters, full stops, exclamation marks, question marks, commas, ellipses, quotation marks, apostrophes, brackets.
- Punctuation explanation: Introduction to different types of punctuation.
- Commonly misspelled words (editable for any word)
- 'Make a word': Creating words out of provided letters.
- 'Level Up': Improving sentences.
- Parts of speech: Exploring nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
- 'Grammar Ninjas': Identifying and replacing parts of speech.
- 'Word of the Day/Week': Word work activities / Extensive list of words provided.
- Vocabulary building around a topic.
- Synonyms and antonyms.
- Synonym ladders: Different shades of meaning.
Text Structure (Includes graphic organisers, examples and creative warm-ups)
- Persuasive text structure.
- Narrative text structure.
- Information reports text structure.
- Writing paragraphs.
Reading comprehension strategies.
- Inference training: 'Reading between the lines' and answering questions (completely editable).
- Predicting: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links, sentence starters & crystal ball graphic organiser.
- Connecting: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links & sentence starters.
- Inferring: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links & sentence starters.
- Comparing: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links, sentence starters & Venn Diagram graphic organiser.
- Visualising: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links, sentence starters, 'visualising' practise with photographs.
- Questioning: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links and sentence starters.
- Summarising: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links, sentence starters & 'Somebody Wanted But So Then' graphic organiser.
- Synthesising: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links and sentence starters.
- Determining importance: Mentor text suggestions with YouTube links and sentence starters.
Notes: There may be duplicate slides that feature in other year level PowerPoints. Slides such as phonics, sight words and nonsense words will follow a similar format as other year level warm-ups.


Under the Constitution
This right guarantees free and compulsory education for children between the age of 6 to 14 years in India under Article 21A of the Constitution of India.
- ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school, shall be asked to pay any kind of fee/charges/expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.
- ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age groups.
Under the Right to Education Act, 2009
- Providing elementary education to a child (6-14 years) who does not/could not go to school. Such child to be admitted in age appropriate class and has the right to receive special training.
- Seeks to provide children right to seek transfer from a government or govt. aided school to another such school in order to complete elementary education. Such child also has right to immediately seek a transfer certificate (TC).
- Mandates non-minority private unaided schools to reserve at least 25% of their entry level seats for children belonging disadvantaged sections to create a more integrated and inclusive schooling system.
- Mandates the appropriate government and local authorities to provide for children’s access to elementary schools within the defined area or limits of the neighbourhood.
- Lays down the responsibilities of the State and Central government for carrying out provisions of the act.
- Constitution of a School Management Committee (SMC). The role of this committee to manage, monitor and support a school in its functions.
- Indicates that within 3 years from the date of commencement of the act, the appropriate government and local authority shall insure that the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is maintained in each school.
- Compulsory and free education for all.
- Special provision for special classes.
- Minimum standards.
- Admission for all.
- Quality and quantity of teaching.
- All-round development.
- By the people, for the children.
- Ensure that every child below the age of 14 gets free and compulsory education.
- Curb the problem of illiteracy.
Ensure personal growth and in turn growth of the country.
This Article is a part of the ‘Know Your Rights’ series by Centre for Clinical Legal Education, Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai


Five useful tools to support music education
Here are five of my favourite apps/online tools that can be used to create, share, or listen to music. In the list below, click on the name of the tool to visit the web site and find out more about what it can do and how to download it.
Explain Everything (iOS & Android)
This versatile, open-ended app has no limit to the way it can be used in educational settings. It has all of the features of a slideshow app, a screencasting app, and a whiteboard app. For music, it could be used to record sounds of instruments and/or voice, ear train, annotate performances, create graphic scores, etc.
This Apple app succeeds at making the creation of music accessible to people who may have little musical training, or even none at all. The app can be used in different modes and can support various levels of competence in musical composition. In the video below, the actual GarageBand tutorial starts at about the 4:00 mark.
Noteflight (online tool)
This free, online tool for writing standard musical notation is one of the easiest to use. Users can create scrores and have the ability to produce publication quality scores. Or, students can have fun freely exploring their music ideas; it’s easy to experiment with notes, rests, clefs, signatures, mordents, tempos, and so on. The tool has a built in playback mode so that users can listen to how their composition sounds.
This app lets you “remix your life.” That is, you can make recordings of various sounds you make or hear to create a custom percussive pad. You can create rhythms and beats from the sounds of your life. Users can also record specific performances and export the video to the camera roll.
NAXOS Music Library (online resource)
If you are a PDSB student or teacher, you can access this resource at school quite easily by clicking on this link: http://peel.naxosmusiclibrary.com/ If you are at home, you can access this resource for free by using this link: http://naxosmusiclibrary.com/ and then entering the correct username and password. The login information is available at your school. This resource contains over 1.7 million music tracks in every musical genre!
Bonus App: VidRhythm is not free but it is enormous fun. Once in the app, you choose a song from the list and then you choose a style of video (the way it will look and be put together). At this point, the app guides you through the words, sounds, notes, and so on that you need to record to have the building blocks of the song. Finally, the app creates the video and autotunes your pitch (if necessary) so it that sounds great. Students won’t learn a ton of music theory using this app but it is fun to play with. Your kids will be highly involved and laughing.
This post was part of a blog hop organized for #peel21st in December, 2015. Please check out the other blogs in this hop by clicking on one of the links below:


Libraries and Families and Children, Oh My!
Libraries play many important roles in their communities. They can be centers of learning as well as centers of community life. Libraries can also be very important in the lives of families and children. They can support early childhood learning, which is becoming an increasingly important subject in our country. Libraries can also be a great support to parents of minor children of any age. WebJunction recently hosted a webinar highlighting the importance of libraries in these areas. Attendees were engaged by learning about new initiatives from the Institute of Museum and Library Services around early childhood learning and were also treated to some extremely positive statistics from the Pew Internet's libraries research on parents and libraries.
Susan Hildreth, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) talked about a recent report, Growing Young Minds, from the IMLS and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading that highlights the role of libraries in early childhood learning. There is a clear call to action from the report that calls upon policy makers and practitioners to fully use the capacity of libraries and museums to close knowledge and opportunity gaps and give all children a strong start in learning.
What does this mean for your community and your library? It means that the IMLS is challenging your policy makers to invest in libraries and museums as places of learning for children. In the report they also recommend that libraries and museums can do the following to improve early childhood learning:
- Establish strong partnerships with a wide range of community organizations.
- Provide parental and family support and access to quality programs and services, especially for vulnerable populations.
- Create links to schools that support local education priorities and policies, including Common Core and other state standards.
- Incorporate recent research on the brain, executive function, and learning into exhibits and programs.
- Embed rigorous evaluation into program development and base programs on research and evidence.
Susan also told the group about several library initiatives going on right now that support early childhood learning across the country. There are some very cool things happening in libraries this summer for kids that not only teach them but also keep them entertained and engaged over the summer.
The webinar then went from learnings around programs to learnings around statistics.
Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, gave the audience an overview of Pew’s new study on the attitude of parents toward libraries. It probably comes as no surprise to those of you reading this that parents bring their children to the library. But did you know that 94% of parents say that libraries are important for their children? 94%! What a great statistic to share with your stakeholders. Lee also told the audience about all 13 takeaways about libraries and families from the report. Some other great stats he had included:
- 91% of all respondents say libraries are important to their communities, including 91% of all parents surveyed.
- 76% of all respondents say libraries are important to them and their families. 84% of parents think this.
- 60% of parent library visitors say that interactions with librarians are "very positive."
And Moms are the biggest supporters of libraries from the study. From chat there were suggestions that the next time you’re engaged with a Mom, you should see if you can get her to become a vocal advocate for the library by talking to her friends or her neighbors or work mates about the library. Moms make great advocates!
Lee also shared that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has published a great fact sheet using Pew library statistics that is freely available to any library and can be used when you’re talking to people in the community and stakeholders about the value of the library. The piece is called Communicating with Local Decision Makers.
In all, this webinar was packed with amazing information that you can use in your library as you plan new programs for early learning and wonderful statistics that you can share with your stakeholders that reinforce the value of the library to the community.
To listen to the entire presentation and to access all of the resources that were mentioned by the speakers, please visit the WebJunction webinar archive.


Early literacy development begins the moment a child is born. Every touch, word and image helps to build the skills needed for children to become lifelong learners. Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed in whatever endeavours they choose and it is every parent’s wish to have their child grow to become a confident and resilient adult. The Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) recognizes that parents are the first and most important teachers in a child’s life and demonstrates that commitment by investing resources into community programming across the Columbia Basin.
CBAL reaches across the region, delivering and supporting programs that focus on providing parents and caregivers with the tools and knowledge needed to support their children’s physical, cognitive and social and emotional development.
In Valemount, Play and Learn is offered to families with preschool children. Participants discover ways to support emerging literacy skills through songs, stories, rhymes, sign language, crafts and everyday teaching opportunities, while children engage in facilitated, creative play. The connection a parent has with a child is unmistakeable and programs such as Play and Learn build on that connection to enhance the development of early literacy skills.
By the time a child starts kindergarten, they may know the alphabet, be familiar with the letters in their own names and even have begun to recognize simple words. These skills are key milestones and family literacy programs, such as Parent-Child Mother Goose, Love 2 Learn and Alphabet Soup, aim to help further develop these skills.
Once a child enters school, parents want to be supportive as their children develop and acquire new knowledge and skills. CBAL offers a number of family literacy programs designed to support this specific age group.
In Revelstoke and other communities across the Columbia Basin, Parents as Literacy Supporters (PALS) has been offered in partnership with school districts. “PALS gives families a chance to connect with their Kindergarten teacher, and provides information, ideas, strategies and activities that can be used at home. PALS is a wonderful opportunity to bring together parents, teachers, and community as partners to support young children’s learning,” says Tracy Spannier, community literacy co-ordinator in Revelstoke.
Take time to attend a family literacy program in your community. Visit your local library, family centre or visit www.cbal.org to learn more about family literacy programs in your community.
On Wednesday, October 10, support literacy in your community by taking part in Black Press and CBAL’s Reach-a-Reader campaign. Buy The Valley Echo from a volunteer who will be out on the town and all proceeds raised will go to support literacy programs in your community. By learning together we will grow strong together.


A profession filled with variety, in both environment and population served, offers choices from a vast array of potential technical skills in nursing. Every nurse begins with training in foundational skills, to include clinical assessments to computerized charting. From there, whether you work in emergency rooms, intensive care units or in some other specialized or general medical setting, the use of unique technical skills is a professional certainty.
Nursing in Critical, Intensive and Emergency Care Settings
To work in an emergency room or intensive care unit means learning an entire range of skill sets for every major organ system. Intensive care units specialize in cardiology, neurology, trauma care and many other areas. Emergency departments include a lot of variety and pace. Nurses working on other specialty and general medicine units use most of the skills listed here:
- Cardiology — use of telemetry devices and advanced lifesaving training (ACLS)
- Pulmonary — chest tube, ventilator and airway management
- Neurological — lumbar punctures techniques and conscious sedation
- Gastrointestinal — tube feedings and ostomy care
- Endocrinology — specialized diabetic care and glucose monitoring
- Wound care — use of wound-vacs, specialized dressings and advanced skin care
- Phlebotomy — starting and managing IVs, central lines and other ports
- Orthopedics — cast care, traction management, pins, immobilizers and use of assistive devices
- Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat — operating fluoro and Woods lamps, specialized eye care
- Urology — dialysis and management of urinary diversion devices
- Oncology — use of chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapies
- Transport — emergency ground and flight nursing
- Social — assessment of elder and child abuse
- Psychiatric — therapeutic intervention skills with a variety of mental health issues
Pre-op nurses are skilled at preparing patients for surgery and work closely with anesthesia providers. Both scrub and circulating nurses staff the operating room. Scrub nurses work in the sterile OR setting and handle all instruments and equipment used during surgery. Circulators supervise the bigger picture, ensuring the OR is properly set up, scheduling workflows and acting as liaison. Recovery room nurses make sure patients are stable enough to be transferred or to go home.
Neonatal, Labor & Delivery and General Medical Care
Labor and delivery nurses use special equipment, such as sonograms and fetal Dopplers, to monitor the progress of labor. Before and after delivery, specialized nurses employ skills unique to maternity, childbirth, newborn and post-partum care. As with most nursing specializations, education is a critical component of the profession. These range from childbirth classes to lactation consulting.
Technical skills in nursing may or may not be as highly evolved in general medical or as surgical as those in critical and emergency care settings. Even so, all nurses have expertise with skills that require extensive training.


Extraneous images draw attention from text, reducing comprehension in beginning readers — ScienceDaily
Reading is the gateway for learning, but one-third of elementary school students in the United States do not read at grade level. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are exploring how the design of reading materials affects literacy development. They find that an overly busy page with extraneous images can draw the reader’s attention away from the text, resulting in lower understanding of content.
The results of the study are available in the September issue of the journal npj Science of Learning.
“Learning to read is hard work for many kids,” said Anna Fisher, associate professor of psychology and senior author on the paper.
The typical design of books for beginning readers often include engaging and colorful illustrations to help define the characters and setting of the story, offer context for the text and motivate young readers. Fisher and Cassondra Eng, a doctoral candidate in CMU’s Department of Psychology and first author on the paper, hypothesized that the extraneous images may draw the reader’s eyes away from the text and disrupt the focus necessary to understand the story.
The researchers sought to understand how to support young readers and optimize their experience as they become more fluent readers. In the study, 60 first- and second-grade students from the greater Pittsburgh area were asked to read from a commercially available book designed for reading practice in this age group. Half of the book consisted of the published design and the other half was streamlined, having removed the extraneous images. Each child read from the same book. The team used a portable eye-tracker to monitor the number of times the child’s gaze shifted away from the text to images on the page.
To develop the streamlined version of the book, the researchers had a group of adults identify relevant images to the text. To differentiate, extraneous images were defined as entertaining, but nonessential pictures to understand the story. For the streamlined version, the researchers kept the images that 90% of the adult participants agreed were relevant illustrations. All other illustrations were removed.
While the time each child spent on a page was similar, the researchers found that nearly all children reading the streamlined version had lower gaze shifts away from text and higher reading comprehension scores compared to the text in the commercially designed version of the book. In particular, children who are more prone to look away from text benefited the most from the streamlined version of the book.
“During these primary school years, children are in a transition period in which they are increasingly expected to read independently, but even more so in the wake of stay-at-home orders as children are using technology with less in-person guidance from teachers,” said Eng. “This is exciting because we can design materials grounded in learning theories that can be most helpful to children and enrich their experiences with technology.”
Fisher notes one limitation to this study was that her team only evaluated reading using a single book.
According to Fisher, these findings highlight ways to improve the design of educational materials, especially for beginning readers. By simply limiting extraneous illustrations, children can have an easier time focusing and better reading comprehension as a result.
“This is not a silver bullet and will not solve all challenges in learning to read,” said Fisher. “But if we can take steps to make practicing reading a little bit easier and reduce some of the barriers, we [can help children] engage with the printed material and derive enjoyment from this activity.”
Fisher and Eng were joined by Karrie Godwin at the University of Maryland Baltimore Country in the project titled, “Keep It Simple: Streamlining Book Illustrations Improves Attention and Comprehension in Beginning Readers.” The project received funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.
Materials provided by Carnegie Mellon University. Original written by Stacy Kish. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.