The issue of bullying is not new, but as recent headlines suggest new social media bullying or cyber-bullying is making it worse. Nassau County BOCES arts in education website is a resource a where educators and artists can connect and work together. The Nassau County BOCES website lists over 42 different theatrical companies and artists who have specifically created programs to educate youth about cyber-bullying. I have taken these programs and classified them in order to help educators navigate the field and as a first step toward a study involving the effectiveness, or the impact on student behavior, these prevention through drama programs have.
|School:||State University of New York at Stony Brook|
|School Location:||United States -- New York|
|Source:||MAI 51/03M(E), Masters Abstracts International|
|Subjects:||Art education, Theater, Health education|
|Keywords:||Cyber-bullying, New York, Prevention through arts, Prevention through drama|
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Defining and Measuring Parenting for Educational Success: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Parent Education Profile
To gain access to federal funding, family literacy and adult education programs are required to demonstrate evidence that participants have made gains on standardized educational tests. The Parent Education Profile (PEP) is one test now adopted across many states to measure parenting practices. However, this article highlights some of the flaws in having a single standard, which makes assumptions about the ideal parent based on values of wealth and class.
The Parent Education Profile (PEP) is an instrument used by family literacy programs to rate parents’ support for children’s literacy development. This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how the PEP constructs the ideal parent, the text’s underlying assumptions about parenting and education, and its ideological effects. The analysis shows how many features of the PEP evaluate parents according to a middle-class, predominantly White model of parenting and family-school interaction. Furthermore, the PEP tends to assume a universal, normative model of parental support for literacy, parental (mothers’) responsibility for educational outcomes, equal access to resources required to meet the PEP standards, and a limited parental role in assessment. In so doing, the PEP lends support to several dominant discourses regarding poor and minority families, such as the discourse of parent involvement and the “mothering discourse,” which encourages mothers’ supplementary educational work. Implications for policy, research, and practice are discussed.
Title: Defining and Measuring Parenting for Educational Success: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Parent Education Profile
Author: Esther Prins and Blaire Willson Toso
From: American Educational Research Journal 2008; 45; 3; 555


How to Make a Leaf Mobile
In this post I wanted to explore different ways of how to make a leaf mobile with children. A leaf mobile can be done with easier or more difficult versions, depending the childrens’ ages and abilities. For older children (about 10 years and up) really fine string or fishing line can be used. This will promote continued fine motor skill development, hand eye coordination, and dexterity. Using thicker string or twine makes it easier to do.
To make it easy enough for younger children to manage, have them glue leaves to cut out pieces of paper, hole punch and then tie a string through. Alternatively, with large leaves they can just hole punch a strong part of the leaf and tie the string through the hole (this will only work for thicker leaves). Either option makes it much easier for them to tie the string to the leaf piece and then tie the other end onto a stick. Again, this is a great way to encourage and support fine motor skills and scissor skills. Once the leaves are attached to strings they can then be tied onto a stick and hung up for display.
What you need to make a leaf mobile
- Glue stick
- Hole punch
Questions to ask
- Why did you choose that leaf/those leaves?
- Why did you arrange them this way?
- What could you do or add to make yours more interesting? e.g. For a challenge children can add additional rods (sticks) to hang leaves off on each side of the main stick (they would need to balance). This would require balance, and would make it more like “Kinetic Art” such as Alexander Calder’s mobiles.
What they get from making a leaf mobile
This is a fun way to get children to use and develop fine motor skills. Beyond this, this activity requires children to plan, evaluate and make decisions to create their piece of work based on aesthetic appeal. They also need to consider how to get their artwork to ‘balance’. If children make more complicated mobiles with additional rods (sticks), they will need to plan and adjust their work as they go along to ensure that all the different parts balance.
Take it further
Please see my post on Autumn Leaf Activities for Children for additional activities to do with leaves.
As discussed above there are a range of ways to make this activity easier or harder depending on the skills and abilities of the person doing it. Using different materials or setting different expectations can make it more or less difficult for children to do.


I have recently been watching the ABC’s Don’t Stop The Music. It has been amazing watching the children’s transformations in such a short period of time. Children who would not normally ask questions now have confidence to do so. Students who wouldn’t normally push themselves are learning that hard work really does pay off. Having them all come together to play music as a team, listening to and in staying in time with each other, is such an amazing outcome for these kids.
As a music teacher, I get to see these transformations in children’s lives all the time. I know that music education is a key that helps children, even the very young, to form pathways in the brain that can help a child grow academically, socially and musically. Below are 4 reasons why, consistently participation in a variety of music-making experiences are important for young children, and babies.
1. Shared musical experiences may help children with numeracy and literacy.
The Mind Institute is studying the impact of music on human intelligence. Their studies are showing that students with musical training improve spatial reasoning, which results in better problem-solving and mathematic skills.
A University of Queensland study also shows that shared music-making has a greater impact on learning to speak and read than just reading aloud to your child.
2. Music-making strengthens your child’s auditory perception.
Developing good auditory perception is essential to language development. The MAARs Institute has discovered that learning and participating in music-making is one of the only ways to develop the ear so that it can hear and discriminate between pitches, rhythms and tones. All these skills are necessary to learn words, speak sentences and understand the meaning of spoken and written language. Children who are surrounded by musical experiences from a young age learn to speak earlier than those who do not.
3. Singing with your child strengthens their social bonds.
Young babies who are sung to in the womb and after birth are more easily settled and respond quicker to their caregiver’s voice. Continuing to sing to a child after they are born, especially using folk and cultural songs, provides them with a rich cultural context from which to draw their identity.
4. Early music education prepares children for successful instrumental lessons.
Children who have had at least one year of early childhood music lessons that are supported at home and which include learning musical symbols, playing musical instruments and singing, find learning an instrument to be an easier experience and progress faster than those who have had no prior music lessons.
Knowing that music education is such an important aspect of early child development, I would like to invite you to join me for a personal introductory lesson. This lesson is complimentary and will provide you with a great firsthand insight into the benefits that music education has for your child.


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The Kodály Concept of Music Education
Zoltán Kodály's ideas on music education are usually mentioned under the name Kodály Method. It is more accurate to say Kodály Concept because the composer himself did not work out any complete and detailed methodological process of teaching music. He formulated principles rather than teaching techniques or a step-by-step process or advice for teachers. The adaptation of the principles to the reality was elaborated and developed by his disciples and his followers.
These principles have come to be known as the "Kodály Method" of music education:
• Music is a prime necessity of life.
• Only music of the highest quality is good enough for children.
• Music education must begin nine months before the birth of the child.
• Music instruction must be a part of general education for everyone.
• The ear, the eye, the hand, and the heart must all be trained together.
Read more at the website of the Kodály Institute.


Their feelings matter
I went into this position as a school leader thinking so much about what tasks have to get done and the programmatic changes that would need to be made. But as I reflect and gain experience (of course the best teacher) I realize that in most ways I had it all wrong.
People’s feelings matter.
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou
I never thought of myself as a feelings guy. In fact playing ball and being “tough” pushes you down a certain road of becoming hard and at times rough (just ask my wife, I’m sure she’ll tell you!). But in the end with leadership, little matters as much as if others are willing to work with you, for you, and for your common goals.
If you are not considering your teachers’ feelings, you don’t really care if they learn or grow.
People remember information that is important to them, that connects in some way to their lives and previous experiences, and that is meaningful to them. Learning occurs when people feel the information or skills matter. For teachers, they learn if they feel it matters to their instruction and their students.
I have to reflect and keep myself in constant check on this. Am I pushing to get things accomplished or am I pushing to help others grow? If it’s growth, then they have to WANT to grow. That’s an emotional thing. That taps into their why, their beliefs, and comes from a positive relationship.
Our students’ feelings REALLY matter.
You could rewrite Maya Angelou’s quote as follows:
Students will forget what you said, students will forget what you did, but students will never forget how you made them feel.
If you think back to the teachers and administrators that really made a difference in your lives and gave you the lasting inspiration, can you remember the details or do you just remember a feeling they gave you?
I remember…an elementary school librarian who always welcomed me and made me feel special, made me feel like it was the safest place in the world.
I remember…a middle school teacher who preached, “Character is who you are when no one is watching.” She helped me learn integrity, but I don’t remember what ‘subject’ she taught.
I remember…an English teacher who would talk about pro-wrestling with us to connect and make sure we knew she cared about our interests.
I remember…a high school civics teacher who went out of his way to tell me he had my back when there were personal things going on at that time.
I remember…a college professor who acknowledged and praised my unique abilities (being a guy in elementary education is unique as it is) and helped me believe in myself.
I remember…my first principal who gave me the push and confidence to consider educational leadership. I still have a poster from his principal’s office in my principal’s office now. I reflect on it every day.
Don’t be in too much of a rush. Don’t be in too much of a push to cover everything and ‘get-r-done.’ Take the time to connect to your students, make them feel safe and special. Your lasting impression in their lives will not be from getting every single task in each lesson complete. It will be from the personal interactions that you have with them on a daily basis.
How many times have you actually stopped thinking about everything else and just talked with a student? I mean really talked with them. And listened. Listened like you really cared about every detail they were saying.
Thank you for reflecting with me. If you see me, please remind me. We still have to accomplish a lot and work really, really hard for our students. But we can’t forget that our teachers’ and our students’ feelings really matter.
Like Nike, “Just Do it.”
There is never enough time.
There is always so much to do.
We have to make the time.
Their feelings matter.
Click to Tweet the Takeaway: “How you make teachers & students feel today matters more than any task on your to do list.”
I wrote this immediately after we finished up another great #pwcsedchat on Twitter. Thank you for those in the chat tonight for your inspiration!
Hey there, want a free hi-def copy of my handout 9 Breathing Breaks Strategies? Enter your email here to subscribe and receive a download link sent right to your email!


From its quirky name to its fuzzy brown skin to its bright green flesh, kiwifruit is one weird food. Get past that, though, and you find a fruit that’s both delicious and nutritious. Kiwifruit has a sweet tart taste that’s been compared to a combination of banana and strawberry.
The edible seeds add flavor and slight texture. Best of all, kiwifruit has more nutrition than any other fruit, according to a study at Rutgers University.
- Kiwifruit is packed with nutrition. It has vitamin C, which boosts the immune system and slows aging; antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, folate, zinc, and lutein, a nutrient necessary for good eye health. Two kiwis have more fiber than a bowl of bran cereal.
- Kiwifruit was first discovered in China and quickly became a favorite of Chinese royalty. It was viewed as a very special delicacy.
- During the mid-1800s, farmers in New Zealand began growing kiwifruit. Back then, it was originally called Chinese gooseberry and then New Zealand gooseberry.
- In 1962, a California grocer began importing the fruit from New Zealand after a shopper requested it. The grocer renamed the fruit “kiwifruit” after New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi.
- Soon, growers in California began offering kiwifruit. Today, most of the kiwifruit eaten in the U.S. comes from California. Elsewhere, China, Italy, New Zealand, and Chile produce kiwifruit.
- Choose kiwifruits that have smooth skins. Avoid those with shriveled skins. The kiwifruit are ripe when they give slightly when you touch them. If they feel hard, they’re not ripe.
- Quirky: slightly odd
- Edible: okay to eat
- Delicacy: a special and rare food
Questions and Answers
Question: How should I eat kiwi?
Answer: You can peel and slice it to put in fruit salads, but if you’re eating a kiwifruit by itself, here’s a simple way: Have a parent help you cut the fruit lengthwise to make two halves; use use a spoon to scoop out the fruit.
Watch another way to eat kiwifruit.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Kiwifruit Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 24 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/kiwifruit/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Kiwifruit Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/kiwifruit/
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Creative Ways To Teach English As Second Language To Children
English is one of the most popular languages in the world. So, if you have bilingual children, you do need to find a good, creative way to help your kids learn English naturally. Doing that is not that hard actually, so here are some great tips to help you get started!
If you’re raising bilingual children and you want to teach them English, then art projects would be a great activity for that. Art is all about helping kids learn new words while playing and learning something new. Art can be used to depict animals and objects, which you can outline the name for. Then the child will associate that picture with the word you said. It’s a very good ESL teaching experience, and it works really well.
Simon Says and other games like that are encouraging kids to get moving. At the same time, this will also encourage the kids English speaking activity. You showcase the words first, and then you play the game. Encourage your kids to use these new words while playing the game. If you want to ramp up the difficulty a little bit, you can introduce some new words to the lesson format.
It may not sound like much, but labeling is one of the nicest activities for bilingual children that want to learn English. You just have to get multiple items and start labeling them. Your child will find it easier to understand English words during this kind of activity. And that’s exactly the type of reaction that you need to have.
Board games can be used as a great tool for bilingual children to learn English. It’s a very good approach and one that you can use in a meaningful way if you so desire. The results can be quite amazing with this system, so you should consider them.
Yes, school trips are maybe some of the best opportunities for bilingual children to learn English. They will get to see a lot of stuff, and you can use this type of situation as the perfect means to tell your child about those items, what they mean and so on. It’s incredibly important to use this kind of approach, so you should try to take it into account if possible.
While raising bilingual children can be tough, it also opens up plenty of opportunities. That’s why you should consider all these creative ways to teach your child English. They make a lot of sense, and using them will be extremely handy most of the time.
Use this approach to your advantage and give your kids the opportunity to learn English words this way. Most of the time this will end up being a very fun experience for them. Not only that, but they will actively learn English words, and that’s by far the most important thing you want to focus on. Make sure that you use these techniques naturally, don’t make them feel forced so you can obtain the best results!
How can we help you?
So are you interested in checking out our useful educational flashcards, learning charts, and educational apps specifically designed for struggling learners? Do you wish to learn more about the techniques to improve the spellings of your kid? If yes, then head to the link below to see how we can benefit you and pave the road to learning development for your kid!
Happy Art Education offers fun language-development games for kids in kindergarten and preschool designed with educational and child development experts. We recommend you to visit our Apps page if you want to get all the latest and best teaching tools!


“ I enjoy the positive atmosphere the Music Department provides me. This has helped my skills improved greatly with both my piano playing and singing.” Lara, Year 9
The value of Music education for all students is found in the unique contribution music can make to human flourishing. In a variety of sonic-social contexts, Music education seeks to develop the whole person through self-growth, self-knowledge and musical enjoyment. At Swan Valley Anglican Community School students have many varied opportunities to enrich their life through Music making.
Primary Music Program
In the Primary School, student learning focuses on developing the foundation skills necessary for musical literacy in the most enjoyable way possible. The emphasis is on developing tuneful, rhythmic and expressive students who are capable of understanding music and all it has to offer. All students in Pre Primary to Year 6 meet twice a week with a music specialist and are actively engaged in making music through singing, chanting, moving, dancing, and playing games. From Year 3 students also learn to sing in parts, play tuned and un-tuned percussion, improvise and create with understanding and learn how to read and write music notation.
Example of student work:
Year 4 Student Composition: Ponies are the Best
Year 5 and 6 Band Program
Commencing in Year 5 students have the opportunity to audition for the Junior Years Band Program. Successful applicants are offered free instrumental hire and tuition for two years. Instruments currently on offer through the band program are trumpet, trombone, saxophone, bass and percussion.
Secondary School Music Program
In the Middle Years all students study general music. General music classes focus on practical, creative music making through a wide variety of contexts. In the Senior Years, from Year 10, students can elect to study music as a specialist subject. Students interested in studying music at a tertiary level and gaining entrance to WAAPA are given additional support through one-to-one extension work and our experienced instrumental tutors.
“Music makes you feel empowered! As painful as it often is to practise, once you get something right you can’t help but feel good about yourself. Creating something that sounds beautiful is to me a feeling like no other. Being a member of an ensemble makes you feel like you’re a part of something.” - Rachael, Year 11
Examples of student work:
Year 8 Student Composition: Underground
Year 10 student Composition: 57 Chevi
With Contemporary Rock and Pop ensembles, Concert Band, Jazz Bands, Choirs, Guitar ensemble, Percussion ensemble and a variety of student directed groups there is ample opportunity for all students to be involved in performances at the school and in the wider community.
“The Music Program at SVACS is great! I love the ensembles that I take part in. I learn an amazing amount of stuff at rehearsals. I’m a member of Senior Choir, Baterista and Contemporary Ensemble and enjoy them all very much.” - Caitlin, Year 7
From Year 1 onwards 25% of the school population is enrolled in Individual Instrumental tuition. We are fortunate to have 11 excellent instrumental tutors able to teach a wide variety of instruments, vocals, theory, song writing and music production across a variety of musical styles.
“Playing a musical instrument is one of the most complex skills and individual can pursue. Performing in an instrumental ensemble requires an intricate combination of visual, intellectual, physical, and auditory control coupled with a perceptive decision making process. Instrumental music is a form of communicating meaning and feeling through the signs and symbols of musical notation.” - Edward S. Lisk
Withdrawal from Instrumental Lessons
If a student wishes to cease Music lessons, parents are required to provide a full School Term’s notice by filling out an Instrumental Withdrawal form. To download the form click here. Instrumental Withdrawal Form
Withdrawal forms are to be presented to the Co-ordinator of Music or emailed to the Co-ordinator of Music at [email protected]. Failure to provide such notice will result in parents being invoiced for the schedule of Music lessons for this period.
For information on Music Scholarships email [email protected]


Helen Frankenthaler is a New York-born post-painterly abstraction artist who actively added to the Abstract Art Movement of 1946 to 1960. In her art, Frankenthaler builds up a strong connection between surface area and image, having the specifics of painting as a medium. She got additional art education and learning in the workshops of Hans Hoffman, Wallace Harrison and also Ruffino Tamayo. In 1950 Frankenthaler was introduced to modern painting by Clement Greenberg, a significant art doubter. In 1951, Frankenthaler was chosen by Adolph Gottlieb for a popular New Talent exhibition.
An important catalyst for the advancement of Helen Frankenthaler’s design was the art of Jackson Pollock. The showing of Frankenthaler’s paint ‘Mountains as well as Sea’ in 1952 released her career. In this painting she introduced her ‘soak discolor’ method of painting right on unprimed canvas. She combined oil paint with kerosene or turpentine to greatly weaken it and make the colors penetrate right into the canvas rapidly. By basically fusing background with figure, this cutting edge abstract art strategy of Frankenthaler’s made it impossible to divide one from the other. On top of that, the strategy enabled the spontaneous production of composite forms.
Abstract Expressionist Painters
The influence of abstract expressionist painters like Arshile Gorky and also Jackson Pollock did not stop Frankenthaler from developing her own unique abstract art style and next day delivery photo prints. Frankenthaler’s large discolor paints earned her great reviews. In 1960, the technique of ‘Color Field Painting’a painting style featuring big locations or areas of shade was made use of Frankenthaler’s work.
The year likewise saw Frankenthaller making prints for the first time. ‘Essence Mulberry’, one of her greatly successful pieces is likewise among her most important abstract artwork. Her abstract art jobs, which continue to integrate her discolor method have actually been commended for their lyrical attributes. Frankenthaler has actually had a number of events, noticeable of which were the ones at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art.


What is Forest School?
Forest School is defined as: ‘An inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem, through hands-on learning experiences in a local woodland environment.’ (Forest School Initiative 2005a)
Forest School started in Denmark and Scandinavia, where the ‘open-air’ culture (the ‘frulitsliv’) is a way of life. Forest School is the name of the approach to educating children in the outdoors, allowing them the opportunity to get close to nature and explore their surroundings. Children are given the opportunity to take part in carefully planned activities but are also given the opportunity to direct their own learning through child-led play. They are encouraged to take risks in a safe environment, where they supervised at all times by a fully qualified member of staff and other staff members.
Why is Forest School good for my child?
Forest School helps children develop skills such as:
Children are able to practice literacy and numeracy skills, alongside creative and practical skills. They also develop their listening and speaking skills by following instructions and feeding back information to the group. Each Forest School session is designed to meet the needs of the specific age group.
What happens during Forest School?
Children get changed in their classroom for Forest School and then are taken over to the Forest School area, ensuring that all children are accounted for.
Each session begins around base camp (a circle of logs around our camp fire), where we go through our health and safety rules. We then talk about changes in the area and talk about the potential risks (fallen branches/holes).
Activities for the session are explained, which may be linked to the seasons or the curriculum. Sometimes we have parents or friends of the school come in and demonstrate outdoor skills and crafts.
The children are then given the opportunity to choose an activity or free play, which may involve role play, mud kitchen or den building.
Children then return to base camp to reflect on the session with the rest of the group.
Children will need appropriate clothing for the environment as well as the weather. This means children will need to wear long sleeve tops and trousers all year round. The only time we do not go outside for Forest School is in strong winds or thunder and lightning. We work on the principle that ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing’.
For cold weather
Hats and gloves
Jumper or fleece
Long sleeve top & bottoms
Wellingtons or walking boots
Waterproof trousers and/or coat
For hot weather
No shorts or short sleeves (long sleeved top & bottoms)
Sun protection cream
Forest School rules
Treat our Forest School with respect
Respect our peers
No pick, no lick
Stop at the boundary
Leave Forest School how we found it
What can you do?
Please ensure your child has the appropriate clothing and talk about what the children have done during the session. Children may also learn new skills in Forest School that they would like to carry on at home.


Enjoy this Easy Science for Kids Brunei Quiz – you’ll get your quiz score after completing this FREE online interactive quiz on Brunei. You need to answer all the questions to be able to get your score. You can do this fun quiz about Brunei again, till you get the perfect score and become a quiz champion!
Tip: To get it right the first time, read the page with fun facts about Brunei.
Brunei Quiz – FREE Geography Quizzes
Our easy earth science quizzes are a free of charge online resource for teachers and educators of kids in elementary school, grammar school and preschool. This fun Brunei Geography quiz helps your kids learn fun facts about Brunei while enjoying this FREE science quiz questions for kids.
If your kid is home-schooled by you, or is in an after-school enrichment program, then this is a fun yet educational activity, with reading comprehension benefits for kids in 1st to 5th grades, doing this fun online Geography quiz on Brunei.
As a reading comprehension training for your kids, you can set a timer to encourage kids to do the reading comprehension activity faster the number of times they can read about the Brunei quiz topic, before they do the actual Geography questions and answers quiz game.
Younger kids who cannot yet read or write, such as Pre-K kids, Kindergarten kids or Preschool kids, will benefit from doing this Brunei quiz and our other fun quizzes, as a listening comprehension activity; you read out to them about the topic and then read the quiz question and answers. You will select the Brunei quiz answer they think is correct, and at the end you get the quiz score. Your child can try again and again doing the Brunei quiz, till gets the perfect score faster, as he or she learn to listen more carefully and develop a better memory and attention span!
Enjoyed doing this free online quiz about Brunei? Check out all our other fun Quiz Questions for Kids and other earth science made easy for kids. You can also read our Easy Geography for Kids all about Brunei page. Get lengthy info here.


An understanding of phonics is one of the core literacy skills kids need to become fluent readers. As such there is a burgeoning resource of lessons, activities and games that teach kids phonics online. But what is phonics exactly?
Phonics is the ability to link letters or combinations of letters to units of sounds, called phonemes. This is otherwise known as the Alphabetic Principle. There are two types of phonics instruction generally used in early education:
Analytic Phonics – is a form of inferential learning that teaches children to analyse a particular set of words and recognise the common phoneme. For example, a student may be asked to discuss how the following words – run, roll, risk, rant – are alike.
Synthetic Phonics – focuses on linking an individual letter, or letter combination, with its appropriate sound. This allows kids to break words down to their individual letters and sounds. This synthetic approach has in recent years largely overtaken the analytic approach as the preferred method of phonics instruction.
Regardless of the approach taken, educators agree that phonics instruction is less effective when removed from a larger framework of literacy instruction. The same goes for instruction of phonics online. Any phonics instruction, whether face-to-face in the classroom or if delivered online, needs to be couched within a larger literacy framework that delivers instruction in all the key literacy areas, phonics being one of them.
ABC Reading Eggs delivers effective instruction in phonics online by using a synthetic phonics approach. The lessons offer explicit instructions by mapping individual letters and letter combinations with appropriate sounds. Each letter of the alphabet is introduced in its own lesson, focusing on the letter-sound relationship and highlighting the alphabetic principle. The focus of the lessons is on developing awareness of letter-sound relationships, not for their own sake, but so that the knowledge can be deployed in the active and fluent reading of meaningful texts.
ABC Reading Eggs includes a comprehensive phonics program that includes lessons on core phonics skills such as working with beginning and end blends, a variety of vowel sounds, dipthongs, consonant letter sounds such as the soft c and g, y, silent letters, double letter sounds, word families, and learning how to attach multi-syllable words.
ABC Reading Eggs offers instruction in phonics online within a complete reading program. The literacy skills developed in each lesson accumulate into a critical mass of literacy, where after Lesson 9 kids read their first book where they can apply their phonics skills.
My children love Reading Eggs. They enjoy learning to read and spell with the lessons. My son struggled with other phonics programs. But he loved Reading Eggs. Opening a new egg after each lesson kept him motivated to finish the program. My daughter loved the skill bank part of the program. She was glad Reading Eggs had a spelling section. L. Taylor
Our students love this site. It is bright, entertaining, engaging and educationally sound. What a fun way to learn to read! They can’t get enough of it and ask regularly ‘is it our turn on Reading Eggs today?’ Katrina Kruger, Elliot Heads State School


Reading Time: Approx 3mins
There are few who would dispute that the ability to write one’s own name acts as a gateway for future literacy abilities. Previous research in education however has suggested that the length of a child’s name may be predictive of future academic attainment (Treiman, Kessler and Bourassa, 2001).
Several studies have suggested that knowledge regarding the letters present in one’s own name form the foundation of later alphabet knowledge and thus children with longer names would have a wider array of letters to draw upon.
However, recent work (Puranik and Lonigan, 2012) has demonstrated that children grouped by length of the number of unique letters in their name show no significant differences in measures of later literacy development, whereas groupings based on name writing ability (scored on a developmental scoring scale of 1 to 9) did, with more proficient writers performing better. However, this study was small in size and limited to children in the United States.
Using large, nationally representative data sets over multiple geographical locations, a team here at CEM examined the length of a child’s name and the child’s ability to write their own name, in relation to later academic skills. CEM is uniquely placed to contribute to this debate as our assessments are used with over one million children internationally each year. This enables us to examine these relationships in detail and validate name writing tasks as a diagnostically useful tool for teachers and educational practitioners.
In this study, we analysed the PIPS Baseline assessments (Tymms, 1999a) of nearly 15,000 children who were assessed between September 2011 and July 2013 from schools in England, Scotland and Australia. The assessment includes an item assessing the quality of name writing ability. Each child writes their name on a piece of paper which is then evaluated on a six point scale. This item has been shown in previous research to be a reliable predictor of future reading and mathematical abilities at age seven (Tymms, 1999b). The average age of the children sitting the start of year assessment in this study was 5.06 years.
For the purposes of this study, the child’s name writing ability was taken from the beginning of the year and their abilities in reading, mathematics and phonology were taken from the end of year assessment. In the English sample (where greater demographic data were available), any potential effect of age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status was considered when examining the relationships between name writing ability, length of name, reading, mathematics and phonological awareness.
Our analysis showed that across the three national samples, the length of a child’s name had no substantial effect on the ability to write one’s name or on the end of year scores in reading, mathematics and phonological awareness. These relationships remained unchanged when we controlled for participant age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. In contrast however, the ability to write one’s own name showed substantial relationships with reading, mathematics and phonological awareness. These relationships reduce in strength only slightly when age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status are controlled for. While the ability to write one’s name at the beginning of the first school year is a robust predictor of attainment at the end of the school year, the length of a child’s name has no effect on these same variables.
Our analysis suggests that the ability to write one’s own name is a robust predictor of future academic performance and is a suitable measure for use in assessments.
Whilst we cannot draw conclusions regarding the underlying mechanisms of why this should be the case, nor can we rule out explicitly that children may or may not use letters in their own name as a framework for future learning, we can show that the actual number of letters present in a name is not predictive of future attainment.
It is also interesting to note that the ability to write one’s name is as predictive of mathematics as it is for future reading ability. Whilst more data would be required to explain this finding in detail, we may tentatively conclude that, at this age, the ability to write one’s own name is perhaps indicative of more general underlying cognitive ability rather than just proficiency in literacy alone.
This work was carried out by a team of researchers at CEM consisting of Lee Copping, Helen Cramman, Helen Gray, Sarah Gott and Peter Tymms.
Dr Lee Copping is a researcher and test developer, and has worked at CEM since 2013. His current areas of interest focus mainly around issues in the assessment of academic abilities and fair access to education. Lee’s research background is in evolutionary and developmental psychology and he completed his doctorate in 2014.


Of Two Minds: Creative Couples in Art & History showcases the creations of romantic couples who inspired, instructed, or even assisted one another in making art or knowledge. In anticipation of Women’s History Month beginning tomorrow, we shine the spotlight on two remarkable women who were artists, partners, and educators in an era when it was unusual for women to hold prominence in the public art sphere.
Violet Oakley was a muralist and stained glass artist, public art domains that have typically been dominated by men. If you’ve visited the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, you’ve seen her work: in 1902, she was commissioned to paint 43 murals for the state’s brand new Capitol building. Oakley’s style was well-suited to the Capitol’s Beaux-Arts architecture and neoclassical elegance: her paintings favor bold lines, vivid colors, and dramatic compositions that allude to Renaissance art. At the time of the mural commission, Oakley shared a communal household with several other female art students. This was an unconventional arrangement at the turn of the twentieth century, and garnered both positive and negative attention—one of their instructors, the celebrated illustrator Howard Pyle, called them the Red Rose Girls after their property—but the young artists shared a home for nearly a decade, and each found a substantial measure of success as artists and illustrators.
Some years later, Violet Oakley taught a mural painting class at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts—she was only the second female instructor to ever teach at PAFA—and captivated a young art student named Edith Emerson. Perhaps inspired by this course, Emerson was commissioned in 1918 to paint murals for the new Little Theatre (now known as the Plays & Players Theatre, our near neighbor on Delancey Street); Emerson won a prize from PAFA for her murals as well as the admiration of her instructor, Violet Oakley. Emerson became Oakley’s assistant; later, they moved in together and lived as companions for nearly 40 years. During that time, Emerson became a curator and then director of the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill, which recently hosted an exhibition of Violet Oakley’s artistic career.
Oakley and Emerson are remarkable figures in women’s history, landing prominent commissions and roles in art education when there weren’t too many examples of female success in the art world. But the artworks on display in Of Two Minds, on loan from the Free Library’s Print and Picture Collection, don’t capture their importance places in Philadelphia history or turn-of-the-century American art; rather, these drawings seem to offer a glimpse into the quiet, peaceful moments of their shared life.
This undated sketch by Oakley at first seems to bear little resemblance to her vivid historical murals. But the longer you look, the more the sketch seems to reveal: the onions are tall and stretch toward the cloud-dotted sky, suggesting a slightly overgrown garden; Emerson seated, comfortable, her knees supporting her own drawing; the relaxed folds of her clothing, sketched in bold lines like a draped figure in historical painting, flow into an article of clothing cast on the ground–perhaps it was a warm day? In a few lines, Oakley has captured what appears to be a moment of both artists at work in a pleasant domestic space.
Unlike the spare sketch above, in Emerson’s drawing fine lines traces the curve of Oakley’s hair and careful smudges create the folds of her clothes and shadows on her face. Despite the humble materials, the pencil-drawn frame and block lettering gives this drawing a more permanent feeling, like a grand portrait; Oakley’s unlined face, tilted downward, has the grave expression sometimes given to artistic representations of angels. This drawing is also undated, although it was signed by the artist in 1981 before it was gifted to the Print and Picture Collection; perhaps, to its creator, it came to represent a memorial to Oakley, who died in 1961. But both the peacefulness of the subject’s pose and its rendering in light, fine pencil create the impression of a quiet moment captured and made beautiful.
These two drawings will be on view at the Rosenbach through October 7; in the current exhibition, you can learn a little more about the lives of Emerson and Oakley, as well as other artists and writers who lived and worked together. But even after the exhibition closes, the century-old artwork of Emerson and Oakley will remain in some of Philadelphia and Harrisburg’s lovely historical buildings; should you pass by, take a moment to reflect on the lives and achievements of these Philadelphia art mavens.


Professor Claire McLachlan is Dean of the School of Education, Federation University Australia, where she leads education programmes across 3 campuses in Victoria, Australia. Claire has a strong track record of research on early literacy, early childhood curriculum, teachers’ beliefs and practices, assessment and evaluation.
The place of literacy in university child care settings in Victoria: an analysis of learning opportunities for infants, toddlers and young children.
This paper presents findings of observations of literacy learning opportunities in Federation University child care settings in Victoria, Australia. The results of data collected in three child care centres with a population of 450 of infants, toddlers and young children is presented. The data collection used the ELLCO (Smith & Dickinson, 2002) and ECERS-3(Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2015) and non participant observations and findings are presented. The implications for strengthening literacy practice in early childhood with diverse communities is explored.
There is robust evidence to show that children develop the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities to become literate in the early years and that these foundational skills, developed prior to school entry, have long reaching benefits in education (National Early Literacy Panel, 2009; Bernstein, West, Newsham, & Reid, 2014). Research shows that when teachers increase their understandings of literacy acquisition and transform the pedagogies they use with young children, there are increases in children’s literacy outcomes (Cunninghmam et al., 2015; McLachlan & Arrow, 2014). The purpose of this research was to identify the literacy environment children in university childcare experience, as part of strengthening pedagogies for infants, toddlers and young children. This project was the first stage in an ongoing project investigating literacy learning in the FedUni Children’s Centres in Victoria, Australia. This initial phase involved non-participant observations of children (n=450) in all FedUni Children’s Centres at three university campuses. In addition, the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation toolkit (ELLCO Pre-K) (Smith & Dickinson, 2002) was used to examine 19 items in 5 critical areas: Classroom structure, curriculum, language environment, books and book reading, and print and early writing. The ECERS-3 (Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2015) was used to examine the quality of the environment available to children. The purpose was to identify the typical literacy experiences that infants, toddlers and young children experience and to support teachers to reflect on and strengthen the play-based curriculum offered. This presentation will examine the findings of the data collection using the ECERS-3, ELLCO and non-participant observations, which suggest literacy practice needs strengthening. The implications for review of early childhood curriculum, strengthening teachers’ pedagogies and future research with diverse child care communities are explored.


Cultural aspects of intelligence
Another factor that may contribute to bias is the fact that the term ‘intelligence’ can mean different things in different cultures.
This step, therefore, considers if there is a difference in how intelligence is perceived in different cultures; the oriental (East) vs occidental (West), north vs south, traditional vs progressive and urban vs rural. These differences are closely linked to the field of cognitive science which concerns the ability to reason, solve problems, learn, plan and communicate.
In 1956, the cognitive scientist, George Miller, presented a paper on the capacity of humans to transmit information. He posited the view that there is, in fact, a limit to the intellectual capacity of humans. He stated that there is a limit to how much information humans can receive, process and remember and this limit is built into us through our nervous systems, our capacity for learning, ‘span of immediate memory’ and ‘span of absolute judgement’.
How are these limitations reflected across cultures?
So do different cultures buy into the view that there is a limit to human intelligence and do they perceive it in the same way? Gardner et al. (1996) classify ‘cultural societies’ as hunter-gatherers, nomadic herders, fishing communities and agricultural.
In industrialised societies, such as North America, intelligence is often equated with ‘speedy answers’. In societies where formal schooling is rare, however, intelligence is required to provide subsistence, food and shelter for the family/clan and this is reflected in cultural attitudes. For example, behaviours that are ‘patient and sensible’ and ‘in line with social norms’ are seen as more characteristic of intelligence in these cultures (Gardner at al. 1996: 7). By way of example, Gardner et al. (1996: 6-7) cites the Puluwat Islanders of Micronesia and certain African tribes such as the Baganda of Uganda, the Mashona of Zimbabwe and the Kispsigis of Kenya who value the ‘ability to deal wisely with others’ and ‘exercising prudence and caution, especially in social interaction’ which can be summed up as ‘social responsibility’ (Gardner et al. 1996: 7).
In industrialised societies, literacy and numeracy skills are often seen as features of intelligence, whereas in traditional hunter-gathering cultures this is the case with subsistence practices.
What is your view on this and what do you think are the implications for the development of AI?
Gardner, H., Kornhaber, M. L., and Wake, W. K. (1996) Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives. San Diego: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
Miller, G. (1956) ‘The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Limits on Our Capacity for Processing’. The Psychological Review Vol. 63 (2)
© Coventry University. CC BY-NC 4.0


At Phoenix we are pleased to continue Maria Montessori’s vision into the early elementary years. The elementary education builds on the foundation established in the primary program.
Elementary age children are growing in their social skills, imaginations and ability to work with more abstract concepts. The elementary program at Phoenix encompasses:
Study of the English language including vocabulary, spelling and punctuation, linguistics, parts of speech and sentence structure. A primary focus on writing and research skills.
Principles of arithmetic, fundamentals of algebra, geometry, logic and statistics. Working in the concrete and moving to the abstract continues to be a vital learning tool for elementary children. Enabling the student to develop an inner picture that will last a lifetime.
History, Geography & Cultural Studies
Study of our roots in history creating an understanding between the distant past to who we are today. Geography is expanded from the primary education to include physical geography. Understanding the formation of the Earth, to include the oceans, atmosphere, rivers, lakes, deserts, mountain ranges and natural resources. Cultural studies continue with art, music, dance, cooking classes, yoga and a weekly Spanish class.
Study of the Earth’s geological history, the solar system, zoology, exploring the elements and biology.


What every teacher should know Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing Introduction: How Children Learn to ReadCourse ModulesPrint AwarenessPre-testIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestPhonological and Phonemic AwarenessPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestPhonicsPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestFluencyPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestVocabularyPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestSpellingPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestComprehensionPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestWritingPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestAssessmentPre-TestIn DepthIn PracticeAssignmentsPost-TestTeacher ToolboxThe Struggling ReaderAlphabetic PrinciplePhonological AwarenessDecodingClassroom ManagementDifferentiated InstructionLanguage Arts BlocksGlossaryResourcesBecoming a Certified Literacy Teacher Phonics: Pre-Test Phonics instruction teaches: a. the relationship between letters and sounds in written form b. the understanding that speech is made up of individual sounds c. the awareness that print carries meaning d. none of the above Phonics instruction has an impact on a child's: a. reading ability b. writing ability c. both reading and writing ability d. neither reading nor writing ability Teaching students that the letters ph represent the /f/ sound is an example of what type of instruction? a. whole language b. vocabulary c. phonics d. all of the above Which of the following is a true statement? a. phonics involves looking at the sounds letters make in spoken words b. phonics involves looking at the relationship between letters and sounds in written form c. phonics involves looking at how print works d. phonics involves looking at the difference between consonants and vowels Phonics instruction is most effective when it begins in: a. preschool or pre-kindergarten b. kindergarten or first grade c. second or third grade d. none of the above Which of the following is an approach used for phonics instruction? a. children learning the letters or letter combinations that represent sounds b. children using word parts or families to identify unknown words c. children learning to segment words into sounds and writing letters for these sounds d. all of the above Effective phonics instruction may improve: a. fluency b. word recognition c. spelling d. all of the above Phonics instruction: a. is an entire reading program b. is one component of a reading program c. should be introduced in grades two and three d. none of the above The best way to teach letter-sound relationships is to: a. use an "I do", "We do", "You do" teaching method b. provide ample practice to all students c. continue to practice one set of skills until all students achieve mastery d. all of the above Phonics instruction is effective for which of the following groups of children? a. learners of the English language b. children from low socioeconomic level households c. children who are struggling with comprehension d. all beginning readers Next: Phonics In Depth > Reading 101 is a collaboration with the Center for Effective Reading Instruction and The International Dyslexia Association.


Late Nights at Loyola - Solving Mysteries with Science.
Late Nights at Loyola 2017 welcomed 15 students from Anna’s Place Tuesday night for Solving Mysteries with Science. Students searched for arthropods, matched zoomed in pictures to the correct animal, learned about solving mysteries with fingerprints, created hidden messages using invisible ink and identified liquids as being acidic or basic depending on chemical reactions. Late Nights at Loyola is a series of events that prioritizes student-centered learning in the sciences. This project is aimed at fourth through eighth graders who have not had the opportunity to be in a specialized learning environment where each student receives close attention. Students learn foundational skills in the natural sciences through hands-on educational activities. These activities incorporate typical scientific techniques, simulating real classroom experiences. Loyola students and faculty design and implement the curricula for the students, ensuring that all of the lessons are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Hopefully, this experience will expose students to a fulfilling learning process and motivate them to continue to pursue their educational goals.
Check out the photo gallery here.


The University of New Orleans Center for Hazards Assessment, Response & Technology (UNO-CHART) is excited to share its newly completed Risk Literacy curriculum, “Preparing for Storms in Louisiana, 2nd Edition.” The second edition is an update to the first edition based on feedback from adult education providers. The curriculum was designed in Plain Language to teach the concepts of risk as subject matter in literacy programs, as well as teach literacy through risk education. The curriculum has multiple parts, including a student manual, facilitator’s guide, take home guide, and flashcards.
We are reaching out to you because you requested Risk Literacy materials for your group or agency, and we have a limited number of hard copies available to disseminate. The materials are also available on the web.
Here is a description and web link for each of the products:
The student manual is the core of the curriculum, and includes five chapters on how to prepare for storms, including information on hurricanes, preparation, evacuation, returning and protection.
The facilitator’s guide can be used to teach the material in the student manual and take home guide, and includes 14 lesson plans with reading comprehension strategies.
Take Home Guide (English)
The take home guide is for student use in class as well as at home, so the students can study, review concepts and work on assignments.
Take Home Guide (English/Spanish)
The take home guide is for student use in class as well as at home, so the students can study, review concepts and work on assignments. The English/Spanish version includes both English and Spanish.
There flashcards are in Spanish on one side and in English on the other. They contain supplemental information on preparing for storms.
Please respond if you would like to request hard copies, or if you have any questions about the curriculum.
Center for Hazards Assessment,
Response and Technology
106 Milneburg Hall
2000 Lakeshore Drive
New Orleans, LA 70148


In the primary years, we build a solid foundation for learning from a broad and balanced curriculum based on developing strong reading, writing and numeracy skills.
All learning is informed and planned using the Australian Curriculum. Primary students learn in their home classroom as well as a dedicated resource centre, digital technologies and science laboratories, art and music studios, and design and technology workshops. Core learning areas such as Religious Education, English, Maths and Science are taught by their class teacher. There is a focus on Inquiry Based Learning through the lens of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), which encourages our boys to be curious and experiment.
We develop educational programs incorporating robust, hands-on and purposeful learning tasks that integrate digital technology and engage boys in an active and exciting curriculum. We recognise each boy's individuality and offer a variety of approaches to suit unique learning styles. These include opportunities to manipulate materials as well as activities that use a multi-sensory approach. Learning Plans are developed for boys to ensure that individualised learning needs are being met. This is done in consultation with parents and the child.
Our class teachers know the stories of each boy in their class. At the beginning of each year, we set aside academics to focus on social and emotional learning and wellbeing. This is a great investment of time and energy because it helps all the boys, especially new class members, to feel settled, welcomed and included in the St Paul's College community.
Our explicit Social and Emotional Learning programs support the wellbeing of each child. As part of their Pastoral Care Program, boys will develop skills in self-awareness and self-management, resilience, socialising and social awareness, healthy bodies, relationship formation, group dynamics, decision making, and cooperation.
Enquire about enrolment or request an information package here.


As Textbook Prices Rise, Open Educational Resources Provide an Alternative Option for College Students
By: Kelly Clark, CTE MEd
January 16, 2020
Graphic image of a book morphing into a laptop for e-learning.
It is no secret that textbook prices have grown exponentially in the last decade. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of textbooks increased approximately 190% between January 2006 and January 2018! The average price of textbooks and instructional materials is $1,200 per academic year (College Board, 2019).
Baker College is committed to finding ways to make education more affordable for our students. One way Baker College is accomplishing this is through the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) for courses taken by most students early in their studies – courses like Economics, English, and Psychology.
OERs are totally free and openly licensed educational materials that are used for teaching, learning, and research purposes. They include textbooks, course lessons, images, digital software, virtual reality spaces, presentations, and articles. They also come from the same places as print materials – researchers, authors, experts, and faculty at colleges and universities all over the world. OERs are textbooks and other learning materials that are accessible online and downloadable for offline viewing at no cost to students. In many cases, there are also very low-cost options for a print version. The primary benefit of OERs for students may be cost savings; however, recent studies have indicated that students are performing at the same or higher levels than those using traditional textbooks.
By implementing these online resources, Baker College saved students $93,500 in textbook costs across just eight courses in 2019, and in January 2020, two more courses are implementing OERs. Because Baker College is continuously improving programs that educate leaders in Healthcare, Business, Social Sciences, Nursing, Engineering, Informational Technology, Occupational Therapy, and Education, expect to see more courses engaging with these resources in the future.
The OER movement is gaining more and more momentum each year nationally as traditional course material prices continue to rise, and as additional educational institutions become aware of Open Educational Resources. Baker College is building the awareness of OERs by encouraging the adoption of these instructional materials in their courses. The Instructional Design team is collaborating with librarians, researchers, and faculty to promote the use of OERs for the courses in which they will have the most significant impact. By doing this, we hope to provide opportunities for faculty to customize materials to meet students’ needs in order to increase student success and to decrease the cost of earning a degree.
Kelly Clark, CTE MEd, has been with Baker College for 12 years as an Instructional Designer. Before that, she ran an educational center for a General Motors facility. While working for a school district and GM, she taught high school juniors and seniors. Clark holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, an Elementary Education certification in mathematics and social sciences, and a Master's in Education. She currently serves as the Director of Instructional Design for Baker College, is a Certified Quality Matters Master Course Reviewer and a Certified Quality Matters Program Reviewer. She is one of six board members of the MI OER Network leading the OER charge for the state of Michigan. She is also leading the charge for Baker College, along with the BC librarians.


The School Education Department is the largest department consisting of Primary and Secondary stages assumes greater significance and aims at imparting minimum and essential general education to all the children in the age group of 6-15 years and to equip them with necessary competencies to shape them as useful and productive citizens. Telangana has adopted the national pattern of education i.e. 10+2+3. Out of 10 years of schooling, the first 5 years i.e. Classes I to V constitute the Primary stage, the next two years i.e., Class VI & VII the Upper Primary stage and the remaining 3 years i.e., Classes VIII to X, the Secondary stage. Concerted efforts are made in all the schools in the State with a well-knitted field functionaries monitoring system to take the Education to the nearest place of residence of the school going aged children, even in remote, tribal and hillock areas. Telangana has attained 100% access by providing at-least One Primary School within the reach of one-kilometer. Today any child in any part of Telangana can access a school within a one-kilometer radius. The Government of Telangana in the School Education Department is committed to providing quality education from Class I to X for all the school-going age children in the State, including general and linguistic minorities, and other disadvantaged groups.
The main objectives of the School Education Department are:
- Universalization of Elementary Education
- Universalization of Secondary Education
To meet the above objectives the department has taken up the following activities:
- To enroll all the children in the age group of 6-15 years.
- To provide early childhood education to the children in the age group of 3-6 years.
- To provide quality education up to class X.
- To develop literacy and numeric skills and social awareness in students.
- To create scientific attitudes.
- To promote cooperation, tolerance, and self-control.
- To promote vocational efficiency and productivity.
- To develop among children the qualities of Social, industrial and cultural leadership.
- To prepare the children for higher education and to provide teacher education at Elementary and Secondary levels.
Administrative Setup: District Level:
- At the district level, the District Educational Officer (DEO) is the Head of the District Educational Administration. The DEO is an Administrator, Inspecting Officer, and an Academician.
- He is assisted by an Assistant Director in the Educational Administration of the District. Another Assistant Director to look after Legal & MDM issues.
- He is also assisted by one Assistant Commissioner for Government Examinations in the work relating to Public Examinations of VII and X Classes.
- At Mandal Level, Mandal Educational Officers (MEOs) are the field functionaries.
- They are the Inspecting Officers for Primary and Upper Primary Schools in their Mandals.
- In order to strengthen the Mandal Level Education System, the posts of Mandal Educational Officers and Deputy Inspectors of Schools are upgraded to Gazetted cadre in 1998.
For more information click below link
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Rabbit and the Moon
Have you ever heard the phrase, “man in the moon,” or noticed dark spots on the moon that look like a face? These marks are the dark areas, or seas of the moon, but ancient people had many legends to explain them. This one comes from the Micmac tribe.
Rabbit was a great hunter. Each day, he trapped other animals in his traps. He brought his catch home to his mother. But one day, he noticed that the traps were empty. For many days, Rabbit’s traps remained empty. At first, rabbit thought Wolverine was stealing his food. Then he noticed long, thin footsteps. They looked like a moonbeam.
Rabbit made a strong trap with a rope to catch the thief. He hid in the bushes in the night. Soon a beam of light appeared. It was so bright that it hurt Rabbit’s eyes. Rabbit pulled on the rope and caught the thief.
A voice in the light cried out in a strange, quivering voice. It told Rabbit to let him go. Rabbit didn’t understand. All he saw was a bright beam of light. It hurt his eyes and made them water. It scared him. Rabbit threw snow at the light. The snow sizzled and melted. Then he threw clay at the light. The clay left muddy marks on the light.
The voice sounded angry. It told Rabbit to let it go. Rabbit was very afraid. He ran home and told his mother what had happened. Mother rabbit told him to let the beam of light go. Rabbit ran back to the light. He said he would let the light go only if it promised never to come to Earth again. The light agreed.
Rabbit let the light go. It became the moon in the sky. The clay balls Rabbit had thrown at it made marks that looked like a face. The moon stayed in the sky and never returned to Earth again.
Rabbit and the Moon Vocabulary
- Legend: a story that might have elements of truth, but isn’t entirely true. The story is usually handed down for many years.
- Wolverine: a small, but fierce, mammal related to badgers
- Quivering: shaking
- Sizzle: bubbling and hissing caused by heat
Learn More All About the Rabbit and the Moon
Watch this interesting video about the tale of the Rabbit and the Moon:
A stop motion video telling the story of the Rabbit and the Moon.
Rabbit and the Moon Q&A
Question: Why did people make up stories about the moon?
Answer: Before scientists had telescopes and other instruments, people didn’t understand how the universe worked. Stories and legends helped them understand aspects of the natural world that seemed mysterious or scary.
Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about the Rabbit and the Moon info? Take the FREE & fun all about the Rabbit and the Moon quiz and download FREE Rabbit and the Moon worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.
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Classrooms in The Children's House
The curriculum at The Children’ s House is developed by the lead teachers using the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress for children Birth to 8 years of age and the National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice. In each classroom, the teacher plans daily activities that are available to all children throughout the day in the areas of Social & Emotional development, children’s approaches to learning, Language, & Literacy development, Communication, Creativity & the Arts, Cognitive development, and Physical & Motor development.
Our play-based philosophy provides children with imaginative activities both teacher and child guided, that allow them to develop their skills in math, science, creative arts, language development, self-help skills, and literacy while exploring their environment.
In the Infant Room, babies are encouraged to explore and learn in a safe, caring, and nurturing environment.
While in the Toddler Room, children ages 16-35 months are encouraged to develop their independence, while we keep in mind each individual's varying time schedule and needs.
The children in this room are learning important skills through their play such as self- help skills, life skills, math, science, and literacy skills.
In the Preschool II classroom, children are provided opportunities to learn and grow by engaging in creative, open-ended, hands-on, active play experiences.


Parents often read to their children. They read picture books and short stories with beautiful illustrations. But there is a world of poetry beyond Dr. Seuss to which we can also introduce our children. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked.
Poetry offers a wonderful opportunity for our children to learn some of the foundational skills that are important as they become readers—phonemic awareness, word recognition, fluency. Once these skills are established, children can begin to develop their comprehension skills.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, segment, blend, and manipulate the sounds of language. Children love rhyming words—sing, ring, string, thing, swing, sting. Most poetry plays with the sounds of language. This provides a great way to learn new words using the ‘word family’ approach—“am” is developed into “Sam”, “ram”, “jam”, “slam.”
Poems are short, easy to learn and can be mastered in a short time.They have rhythm and rhyme. They are predictable and easy to memorize. As children improve their poetry reading skills, their comprehension will also improve and they will begin to read with appropriate expression, phrasing, volume and speed.
Use this summer as an opportunity to read some poetry! There is poetry to interest every child. Do your children like to laugh and be silly? Read humorous poetry from Shel Silverstein. Are they learning the days, months, seasons? Find poetry that teaches those skills. Here are some ideas:
Douglas Florian – Initially an artist with a love of painting, his poems add color to the world. HIs quote – “Whatever tickles my fancy or bangs my funny bone I approach with vim, vigor, or vice versa.”
Eloise Greenfield – Her poems are descriptive with a rhythmic style. They are realistic with a positive portrayal of African American communities.
Mary Ann Hoberman – She is clever and witty. Writes mostly about nature and science, she is a gifted humorist living in Connecticut.
Bruce Lansky – He grew up on the West Side of NYC and then in Scarsdale, NY. He is a publisher first and foremost, who now also writes limericks and humorous verse, many about school situations
Myra Cohn Livingston – Her poems are about everyday sights. She writes contemporary children’s poetry with sensitivity and a focus on correct form and structure, which are important to her. She is known as “The Poet’s Poet”
Kenn Nesbitt – He includes imagery of outrageous, everyday events and makes fun of school life!
Jack Prelutsky – Originally a folk singer, he writes imaginative and humorous verse. Some of his poetry is set to music! You can also get his audio anthologies.
Shel Silverstein – First a musician and composer, then a cartoonist for many magazines before becoming a poet and illustrator. His poetry is hilarious and sure to make your child laugh out loud! Try Where the Sidewalk Ends, sure to make you and your children smile. His most popular book is the well known, The Giving Tree.
Robert Louis Stevenson – Originally from Scotland, then moved to the United States. Though he is better known for his essays and books, he was a serious poet who loved literature.
Have a wonderful summer and keep reading!!!


Report: States Can Harness Technology to Improve Early Education
As states move to create or improve early education programs, policymakers need to start thinking about how communication technologies and interactive media can fit into the broad picture.
That's the message of a new report by Lisa Guernsey, director of the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative, who frequently writes about technology and early education. She encourages "thoughtful adoption" of new technologies with an eye toward integrating networks that will help strengthen communication and learning for families with young kids. Those networks can include such places as early-learning centers, public libraries, schools and after-school programs, she writes in the report recently released by the Education Commission of the States.
"State leaders will need to encourage collaboration across many sectors that typically sit in silos, including school districts, early learning programs, libraries, museums, after-school programs, adult education, and health services," she says in "Technology in Early Education, Building Platforms for Connections and Content that Strengthen Families and Promote Success in School."
Guernsey notes that libraries have long supported early learning through story hours and other activities, and now also are providers of technology, such as audio books and Internet access—which is often publicly funded. States can harness the power of libraries and their resources and create partnerships with early-learning programs, elementary schools and child-care centers to better reach and help families, she says.
States also should consider assessing where and how technology is being used in early and elementary education and its accessibility to families, provide professional development in educational technology for teachers, and "recognize the power of open access to communications technology and media," the report said.


We are exposed to music throughout our lives, from birth all the way through our adult years. Whether or not one pursues music as a hobby or a profession, this art form plays a role in every person’s life. This is not a new concept, but why is it so important? And as we tend to see less focus on music and the arts in school, why is it important for parents to expose their children to music at all ages?
“Music is our social glue — it connects each human, one to another,” says Rachel Kramer, president of Music Learning Center, Inc., and CEO of AlivenArts in Cincinnati. “Research validates that the human voice was used for singing a million-plus years ago as the first form of communication, and that this communication predates the use of spoken language.”
Let’s explore the language of music and how it impacts our children, as well as what parents can do to support music exposure and education in their child’s life.
Music is Integral to a Child’s Development
Music begins to play a role in a child’s life before they are even born. And of course, once they are in the world, music surrounds them. The connection to music is natural and is actually integrated in a child’s development.
“Research shows that the exposure to music from early childhood onward helps children to speak more clearly, develop a larger vocabulary, and strengthen social and emotional skills,” says Julie Montgomery, executive director of Linton Chamber Music. Music education and appreciation are the focus of the Peanut Butter & Jam Sessions hosted by Linton throughout Cincinnati.
As a child grows, music continues to have an impact. “The goal is to light that spark for enjoying and appreciating music,” Montgomery says. “When children enjoy classical music at such a young age, it can open their minds in so many ways.”
This impact, as well as introducing a form of self-expression, is an integral part of a child’s development, and music is one way we can encourage them.
Children of All Ages Benefit from Music
We often associate the benefits of music with babies and young children, but all ages can benefit from this exposure.
“Positively or negatively, music affects everyone,” says Amy Dennison of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. “Music can help a child understand a concept or idea. A child, who may feel something but doesn’t have the vocabulary to express it, may use sounds to communicate. Without a lot of explanation, children will bring music into their lives and they will find ways for it to serve many needs.”
While this everyday connection to music can be wonderful, it does make a difference how children are exposed to music. Consistent and positive educational experiences are key. “Studies show that early musical training can actually improve executive functioning, a strong predictor of academic achievement,” Montgomery says. “Bottom line: Music can enrich your child’s life!”
Parents Can Use Music To Support Their Child’s Development
Parents naturally begin to use music to support their child’s development from birth. “Young children love to make sounds,” Dennison says, “so create opportunities for sound discovery.”
As children grow, exposing them to a variety of music is a great way to open their eyes and ears, as well as introduce them to a new form of expression. Parents can also consider encouraging music lessons, as there are many benefits, some of which are unexpected.
“If your child shows an interest in learning to play an instrument, find a way to encourage it,” Montgomery says. “If you can afford lessons, find a good teacher, and get them to practice each day. Learning an instrument teaches discipline, patience, persistence and builds confidence.”
While parents often encourage musical interaction at a young age, it’s also something to keep in mind as children grow older and begin to face stressful situations in school and everyday life, as music can be an outlet and a growing opportunity for them.
Music is indeed a universal language that we can all appreciate. A baby’s first sounds are more aligned with singing than speaking, and that connection to this art form doesn’t stop there. Music is a form of expression, a way to learn and a tool to build confidence. Music is a part of our everyday lives and as parents, this art form can be supported and encouraged to further a child’s development.
“Equipping our humans, of all ages, with the necessary tools to be creative, curious and concerned with holistic living is most easily and readily available through music education and participation — where all are welcome, and everyone benefits,” Kramer says.


Grade R teachers at Manenberg primary schools revisited their childhoods at a workshop about learning through play.
The 21 teachers, who took part in the workshop at Silverstream Primary School last Thursday, each received R8 000 worth of Lego from ORT SA Cape, an educational NGO, to take back to their classrooms.
ORT SA Cape trains and supports teachers in disadvantaged communities across the Western Cape. It ran last week’s workshop as its Mandela Day project.
“We have an established relationship with the Lego Foundation (through Care For Education) and train teachers, practitioners and facilitators in disadvantaged communities to use Lego resources… in their classrooms,” said Karen Kaimowitz, ORT SA Cape’s chief executive officer.
Ms Kaimowitz added that the training was all about exciting the teachers.
“By using the Lego blocks, children learn through play, and it also engages thinking, problem-solving and they are exposed to a resource that is fun. The benefit of it is that it makes a positive difference in early literacy and numeracy skills,” she said.


Education & Community
Examples of collaborative, project-based art education. Using a theory of critical pedagogy, this work references socially engaged artists like Tim Rollins, Suzanne Lacy and Pepón Osorio. The goal is for young participants to take pride in themselves and their experiences through art-making that is rich, rigorous and aesthetically sound. In a way, it seeks to elevate art education in both form and function, placing it within the field of social practice.
They're Playing the Board, 2018
They're Playing the Board is a series of student drawings and self-portraits that have been collaged into playing cards, calling to mind both the playfulness and precarity of growing up for many kids today. In Poker, "playing the board" means your best five-card hand rests in all of the face-up community cards in the center of the table. In a child's life, success depends on the support of the community--their family, teachers, neighbors and friends. It often seems like a game of chance, working with the hand you're dealt.
Proyecto de Lluvia, 2015 - 2017
Handmade paper, student drawings, public mural, gallery exhibition, public programming.
In an effort to promote a more positive collective perception of youth in Camden, students pose a question: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning how to dance in the rain. What is your dance? In conjunction with MFA thesis research for (...), Proyecto de Lluvia spanned three years, included multiple contexts and hundreds of participants. Click on the zine images below to learn more.
What Is a Food Desert, 2016
Collaged photographs, handwritten text, paint and paper.
Commission for "Food Moves," a food justice exhibit at Rowan University Art Gallery, curated by Daniel Tucker and Mary Salvante. What is a Food Desert uses collage to document a participatory action research project centered around kids' relationships with food politics. The maps, which outline the different Camden neighborhoods, include handwritten entries from students, photographs of a classroom vegetable garden, and pictures of their school lunch.


It’s about using technology to solve problems by creating unique approaches and strategies to improve healthcare, battle poverty, protect the environment, and so much more.
You can construct health information systems that will study the needs of doctors, nurses, patients, and health care organizations by allowing providers to share information, stay up to date on the latest treatments, and discover new methods of healthcare delivery that can save lives.
You can take technology into the natural world to help map the human genome, study how people perceive and process information, or develop ways to create clean, renewable energy that can help the environment.
You can analyze customer data to present a better experience for users, offer new opportunities for business to become more efficient, or establish your own start-up company that can change everything.
From music to mathematics, from psychology to security, informatics will give you the foundational skills needed to bridge the gap between technology and people. Our program provides students with the technical and practical knowledge needed to prepare you for a career in a high-demand field.
Students in our program learn a wide range of skills that gives them the flexibility to succeed in nearly every domain. They learn the highly sought fundamentals of programming. They learn the social and organizational skills needed to grow a business or develop their own. They learn how to design and prototype user-friendly designs, and they learn how all of those skills can be applied to tackle real-world problems.
Informatics doesn’t just prepare you for a job. It opens the door to a career. Every new technology creates an opportunity for informatics to play a role, creating a tomorrow with endless opportunity and a limitless future.
Informatics will teach you the foundations of how technology works and how you can leverage those foundations on a broader scale to impact the world.


The approaches we have developed to aid pupils through this journey include:
- A common methodology booklet to delivering numeracy for staff. This aimed to give a consistent approach for solving mathematical and numerical problems.
- Learning Logs are issued to all pupils in the Broad General Education, from S1 to S3. These are completed during their Supporting Learner’s period to update progress on numeracy.
- Homework diaries contain a section on the most common methodologies for solving numeracy problems. These methods should be applied in all subjects. There is also a section for pupils to record their numeracy skills in class as they complete a task which helps them to fill out their learning logs.
Please click on the following documents to view them:


FL.LAFS.5.RF. READING STANDARDS: FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS (K-5)
LAFS.5.RF.3. Phonics and Word Recognition
LAFS.5.RF.3.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
LAFS.5.RF.3.3.a. Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.


Learning to read is one of the most critical skills students must obtain during early childhood education. Reading skills set the foundation for overall academic success. There are several ways to approach reading instruction, and educators often rely on several reading theories.
Students in grades kindergarten through third grade are learning to read. From fourth grade on, students make a significant shift, and they are then reading to learn. In order for students to be successful in the middle through high school grades, it’s important for them to have a solid foundation of reading skills.
One effective way to ensure students have the necessary reading skills is for teachers to know if students are below level or on level for their age group. Additionally, to better differentiate reading instruction, teachers also need to know three additional levels for each student: instructional level, frustration level and independent reading level.
Theories About Reading
There are many theories concerning the best way to teach reading and how people actually learn to read. As in many instructional practices, some theories come and go in popularity, and some have greater success than others.
One of the popular reading theories is the whole-language theory. This approach suggests that if students are immersed in words, books and language-rich environments, they will naturally make meanings of words and learn to read. This theory does not utilize specific and direct literacy instruction.
Whole language is a top-down theory of reading. Students are introduced to all of the components of reading at once, and they make meanings while immersed in the literacy process. In this approach, teachers do not establish a basis or foundation for reading instruction.
On the contrary, the theory of reading utilizing the bottom-up reading model involves a step-by-step mastery of reading components so that the student eventually becomes literate. This theory relies on direct and explicit instruction of the five components of reading throughout early childhood education.
The term "bottom up" is exactly how this process works. The initial focus for early literacy is the instruction of the basic or foundational skills necessary for life-long mastery of literacy and the components of reading. In bottom-up reading activities, student learn to read from the bottom, or foundation, up to concepts like reading comprehension.
Components of Reading
The complete process of reading has five main components. In order for students to become fully literate, the following concepts must be mastered:
- Phonics – Understanding the sounds that correspond with each letter of the alphabet. This includes long and short vowels and other phonetic rules and involves connecting the concept that letters make sounds and sounds make words.
- Phonemic Awareness – Understanding the sounds of letter combinations, such as consonant blends, syllables and complete words.
- Vocabulary – Understanding what words mean and being able to use them appropriately.
- Fluency – The ability to read with proper speed and expression without errors. Fluent readers read in the way that they speak.
- Reading Comprehension – The ability to recall events, characters and the main idea of a story or passage after it is read.
Bottom-Up Theory in Reading
The bottom-up theory says that reading is a skill in which students learn to read in a step-by-step way. This approach utilizes a building-block approach starting with the foundation of phonics and phonemic awareness. The theory recognizes that students must first learn the basics in order to fully understand the more complex components, such as comprehension and inferences.
The bottom-up theory is widely used because of its sequential approach. This theory recognizes reading as a development process that is best learned in a way that starts with a foundation and builds with complexity.


Resources › For Educators Severe Emotional Disturbances (SED) Classrooms Share Flipboard Email Print Banksphotos / Getty Images For Educators Special Education Behavior Management Applied Behavior Analysis 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 01, 2019 Self-contained classrooms for students designated with "emotional disturbances" need to create a structured and safe environment for students with behavioral and emotional disabilities to learn appropriate ways to interact with peers and adults. The final goal of a self-contained program is for students to exit and join the general education population in regular classrooms. Students with SED's may be included in general education classrooms with support from a special educator. In many cases, when a student's behavior puts him or herself at risk or threatens typical peers, they may be placed in self-contained settings. Sometimes, when children have come to the attention of law enforcement because of violent or destructive behavior, they may return from some form of confinement to a residential program. Decisions are often made on LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) based on the safety of the student, peers, and teachers. Because these special placements are very expensive, many school districts look to self-contained programs to help students with Severe Emotional Disturbances re-enter the general education population. Critical Elements of a Successful Classroom Structure, Structure, Structure: Your classroom needs to exude structure. Desks should be in rows, evenly spaced (maybe even measure and mark each spot with tape) and should be aligned so that students cannot make faces at each other. Trust me, they'll try. Classroom rules and reinforcement charts need to be clearly displayed. Be sure that all materials or resources are easily available, and that your classroom layout requires as little movement as possible. Students with Emotional Disturbances will use sharpening a pencil as an opportunity to annoy a neighbor. Routines: I make no bones about the fact that I am a devotee of Harry Wong's excellent book, The First Days of School, which lays out ways to create routines for a classroom to run smoothly. You teach the routines, you practice the routines, and then you make very sure that everyone (even you) follows the routines and executes them with fidelity. Routines require a teacher to anticipate the sorts of challenges he or she will meet. It's wise for new teachers or new emotional support teachers to ask a veteran special educator to help them anticipate the kinds of problems that you will meet in an Emotional Disturbance program so you can build routines that will avoid those pitfalls. A Token Economy: A lottery system works well in general education classrooms to reward and reinforce appropriate behavior, but students in an Emotional Disturbance classroom need ongoing reinforcement for appropriate replacement behavior. A token economy can be designed in a way that connects it to individual behavior plans (BIP) or a behavior contract to identify target behaviors. Reinforcement and Consequences: A self contained classroom needs to be rich in reinforcers. They can be preferred items, preferred activities, and access to the computer or media. Make it clear that these reinforcers can be earned through following rules and appropriate behavior. Consequences also need to be clearly defined and clearly explained so students know what those consequences are and under what circumstances they are put in place. Obviously, students can't be allowed to suffer "natural consequences," (i.e. if you run in the street you get hit by a car) but instead should experience "logical consequences." Logical Consequences are a feature of Adlerian psychology, popularized by Jim Fay, co-author of Parenting with Love and Logic. Logical consequences have a logical connection to the behavior: if you tear up your shirt during a rant, you get to wear my ugly, ill-fitting shirt. Reinforcement needs to be things that your students actually find important enough to work for: although "age appropriate" is the mantra of the day, if behavior is extreme, the most important factor has to be that it works. Create menus of appropriate reinforcers from which students can choose. Choose or design reinforcers that you can pair with replacement behaviors. For example, a certain number of days with a certain number of points, and the student gets to eat lunch in the lunch room with a partner class. A certain number of day with a certain number of points might also earn a student the opportunity to invite a typical peer to play a game in the ED room.