A teaching degree is the clearest path to a career in education. So what are the requirements for starting and completing an education degree?
Requirements for starting an education degree
The requirements for starting a bachelor’s degree in education are pretty basic. You just need to have reasonably good high school grades and acceptable college entrance exam scores. If your high school transcripts and your marks on the SAT or ACT are good enough to get you into university, they’re good enough that you can declare a major in education.
Getting into a Masters in education is a little different. Most universities have different undergraduate GPA requirements for admission into each of their Master’s programs. Moreover, graduate education degrees seldom look at past SAT or ACT scores, and usually don’t require a GRE score.
But you shouldn’t worry too much about meeting the requirements. Generally, Master’s programs in education will accept students with any kind of undergrad degree– you don’t need to have an undergrad in education. And the GPA requirements are are usually similar to the average requirements for other Master’s programs at the school.
Coursework requirements for completing an undergraduate education degree
You will be expected to complete certain kinds of classes no matter which education degree you choose to enter (elementary education, science education, language arts, etc…). To complete your Bachelor’s in education, you’ll be required to take a range of courses on developmental psychology, learning theory, and classroom pedagogy.
Every content area has additional coursework requirements too. For example, if you’re looking to get licensed as a social studies teacher, you may need to take a certain amount of credits in university-level humanities classes.
Most state licensing boards give social studies teachers a lot of choice in exactly which humanities classes they take, provided they take enough credits. Other content area licenses have stricter degree coursework requirements. A licensed art teacher would need to take coursework specifically in art, a licensed science teacher might need a certain number of biology courses and a certain number of physics courses… you get the idea.
Coursework requirements for completing a graduate education degree
Courses in your content area are pretty easy to include in your degree plan as an undergraduate. However, at the Master’s level, completing all the required content area coursework can be a struggle in some cases.
Say you want to get licensed to teach math, but you didn’t major or minor in math as an undergrad. You might need to take a full year (or more!) of math classes before you can start the regular education classes in your degree program.
Because of this, it’s not uncommon for a Master’s degree in education to take more than two years– I’ve worked with students who wound up spending 3, even 3 and a half years getting a graduate education degree in a subject they hadn’t previously studied.
So at the graduate level, it’s definitely best to know the required coursework before you enroll– make sure you know whether your Masters will take two years or more than two. And consider getting licensed in a content area you took a lot of classes in as an undergrad.
Fieldwork requirements for completing an education degree
Every education degree requires some kind of fieldwork before graduation and licensure. Fieldwork requirements vary at different universities. But all education degrees require some kind of student teaching experience– a period ranging from eight weeks to several months, in which you assume most or all of the responsibilities of a full teacher..
Classroom observation– visiting schools to watch professional teachers in action– is another common fieldwork requirement. In some cases, your degree program may require you to do some some volunteer work as a classroom aide as well.


Hardcover book 168 pages + cd, Laulau Oy
LET’S LEARN BY SONGDRAWING (book + cd) is a comprehensive and inspiring method material, which includes versatile information about the Songdrawing MethodTM, 40 lovely method songs and hundreds of practical activity ideas for different pedagogical purposes and usage situations. The catching melodies and easy-to-learn lyrics as well as the beautiful arrangements of the songs inspire the songdrawers of different age to dive in to the world of art- and action-based learning.
SONGDRAWING is a multisensory and holistic form of activity in which drawings are conjured up and supported by joyful drawing songs. With its diverse excercises, working methods, and processes, the Songdrawing Method supports children in multiple areas of learning and offers experiences of interaction and inclusion.
In addition to singing and drawing, songdrawing invites the children to concentrate, communicate, and cooperate. The method effectively supports linguistic and social emotional skills, motor and manual skills, self-efficacy, and courage. In songdrawing, the boundaries of the paper don’t determine the limits of visual expression. You might as well songdraw on your friend’s back, on a large shared piece of paper, in sand, or in the air.
This material includes versatile information about the Songdrawing Method, 40 lovely method songs and hundreds of practical activity tips for different pedagogical purposes and usage situations. The catching songs on the CD support and inspire you on your songdrawing
path and lead you to mesmerizing musical milieus, as well as to various pedagogical themes, stories and adventures.
The Songdrawing Method was developed by a Finnish children’s songwriter and music educator Minna Lappalainen, together with method users and experts in education and rehabilitation. During the past few years songdrawing has become an established pedagogical method in Finnish early childhood education, preschool and special education, early childhood music education as well as in rehabilitation such as speech and occupational therapy. The method is in active use also in early language teaching, language immersion and language enrichment programs in preschool and elementary education.


Practice Guide Summaries: Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K-3rd Grade
The What Works Clearinghouse practice guides are designed to provide succinct recommendations that address challenges educators encounter in their classrooms and schools. The Lead for Literacy Center Practice Guide Summaries provide actionable evidence-based recommendations that are most relevant to literacy leaders in the elementary grades.
This is an abbreviated digest of the Practice Guide cited below. It was created for instructional leaders and supervisors who are responsible for ensuring quality literacy programming but not responsible for implementing the evidence-based practices (EBP). It is designed for awareness only. Access the Practice Guide for full understanding and implementation of the EBP.
Adapted From: Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., Furgeson, J., Hayes, L., Henke, J., Justice, L., Keating, B., Lewis, W., Sattar, S., Streke, A., Wagner, R., & Wissel, S. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 2016-4008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuides


Elementary Education: Bilingual and Bicultural Sequence
The Bilingual/Bicultural Sequence in the School of Teaching and Learning focuses on the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, preparing future teachers to teach in bilingual elementary classrooms from first through sixth grade. Graduates often have a minor in Spanish or ESL endorsement.
100% hiring record for teacher candidates who seek employment as bilingual teachers after graduation.
A job market currently experiencing a shortage of teachers
Technology skills embedded directly into methods courses.
Diversity training in every course.
Multiple clinical experiences (more than 300 hours, including teacher institutes and parent-teacher conferences).


To date, research in the field of combinatorial catalysts has relied on serendipitous discoveries of catalyst combinations. Now, scientists from Japan have streamlined a protocol that combines random sampling, high-throughput experimentation, and data science to identify synergistic combinations of catalysts. With this breakthrough, the researchers hope to remove the limits placed on research by relying on chance discoveries and have their new protocol used more often in catalyst informatics.
Catalysts, or their combinations, are compounds that significantly lower the energy required to drive chemical reactions to completion. In the field of "combinatorial catalyst design," the requirement of synergy--where one component of a catalyst complements another--and the elimination of ineffective or detrimental combinations are key considerations. However, so far, combinatorial catalysts have been designed using biased data or trial-and-error, or serendipitous discoveries of combinations that worked. A group of researchers from Japan has now sought to change this trend by trying to devise a repeatable protocol that relied on a screening instrument and software-based analysis.
Their new study, published in ACS Catalysis, details the identification of effective catalyst combinations, using the proposed protocol, for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). OCM is a widely used chemical reaction used to convert methane into useful gases in the presence of oxygen and the catalyst. Elaborating on the motivations behind the study, Dr. Toshiaki Taniike, Professor at the School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and corresponding author of the study, says, "Combinatorial catalyst design is hardly generalizable, and the empirical aspect of the research has biased the literature data toward accidentally found combinations".
To derive a bias-free dataset from OCM for devising the protocol, the researchers sampled randomly 300 solid catalysts from a vast materials space containing upwards of 36,000 catalysts! Screening such a large number of catalysts is near impossible by human standards. Hence, the team used a high-throughput screening instrument to evaluate their performance at facilitating OCM. The obtained dataset was used to outline the novel protocol, aimed at providing a guideline for catalyst design. This was implemented in the form of a "decision tree classification," which is a form of machine learning that helped in understanding the efficiency of the selected catalyst combinations, in giving better OCM yield. This, in turn, helped in drawing up the required catalyst design guidelines.
Interestingly, the results showed that, even with random sampling, 51 out of the 300 catalysts gave a better OCM yield when compared to the alternative non-catalytic process. Explaining the potential implications of their discovery, Dr. Keisuke Takahashi, Associate Professor at Hokkaido University and co-author of this study, says, "The combination of high throughput experimentation and data science has already demonstrated the power of bias-free catalyst big data in finding novel catalysts as well as a catalyst design guideline. It is also important to state the essentiality of these approaches for implementing such a demanding study in a realistic time frame. By equipping all the essential techniques of the study, truly nonempirical catalyst developments could be realized".
Indeed, we can hope, along with the scientists, that this strategy will "catalyze" several future material science discoveries!
About Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Founded in 1990 in Ishikawa prefecture, the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) was the first independent national graduate school in Japan. Now, after 30 years of steady progress, JAIST has become one of Japan's top-ranking universities. JAIST counts with multiple satellite campuses and strives to foster capable leaders with a state-of-the-art education system where diversity is key; about 40% of its alumni are international students. The university has a unique style of graduate education based on a carefully designed coursework-oriented curriculum to ensure that its students have a solid foundation on which to carry out cutting-edge research. JAIST also works closely both with local and overseas communities by promoting industry-academia collaborative research.
About Professor Toshiaki Taniike from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Dr. Toshiaki Taniike is a Professor and the Director of International Research Center for Materials Informatics, at the School of Material Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan. Dr. Taniike's specialties include inorganic compounds and materials chemistry. He has more than 140 publications like research articles, review papers etc. in reputed journals, and several books, to his credit. In addition, he is a valuable member of The Japan Petroleum Institute, Materials Life Society, The Society of Polymer Science, Catalysis Society of Japan, and The Surface Science Society of Japan.


Margaret Allison Bonds was an American composer and pianist born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Monroe Alpheus Majors, was a civil rights activist, writer, campaigner and one of the first Black physicians in the American southwest. The Bonds’ family home was frequently visited by America’s leading black artists, musicians and intellectuals so Margaret developed a political consciousness early on in her life. She began composing and playing the piano at the age of 5, and later studied at Northwestern University and the Julliard School of Music.
Whilst living in New York, Bonds maintained an active career as a concert pianist and teacher, and set up and took part in initiatives to showcase the work of other black musicians. She achieved commercial success in 1939 when her adaption of “Peach Tree Street” appeared in the classic Hollywood movie, Gone With the Wind, but her most important works were composed in the 1950s, often setting to music the work of her friend, the poet Langston Hughes.
In her works, Bonds sought to challenge negative perceptions of African American identity in favour of celebrating the beauty in blackness. As a cultural ambassador for racial uplift, she strongly believed that art should be for and of all people: “Music has to be human, and people have to like it; it has to move them spiritually and intellectually.”
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BRIT Kids 2023: Friends and Feelings
The BRIT Kids ‘Friends and Feelings’ collection was created and composed by 20 talented young people aged 10-17 from the BRIT Kids…
Underwater Soundscapes by Primary School composers!
Welcome to Minute of Listening’s Sound of the Year Awards 2021 Collection! The Sound of the Year Awards are a celebration of…
Discover a treasure trove of music education resources created by the experts at Minute of Listening.


Utilize the following resources to assess and educate diabetes patients in literacy and numeracy.
60-item list of common diabetes terms for patients to read aloud; used to assess literacy and estimate reading level
43-item objective nutrition label and diabetes word problems; used to assess diabetes literacy and numeracy
Toolkit that includes evidence-based practices to improve healthcare professionals’ ability to provide health literate communication
Toolkit that contains 24 chapters of diabetes education, especially for patients with poor health literacy and numeracy skills
Builds upon the DLNET toolkit; includes 30 education modules that encourage diabetes self-management; available in English and Spanish


By Dr. K'Joy Simms, Pediatric Nephrologist
Kidney disease can and does occur in children. Pediatric kidney disease presents a unique public health challenge as it is relatively rare but often severe with various etiologies. It is usually overshadowed by kidney disease in the adult population where it is more common and burdensome. However, pediatric kidney disease certainly requires the same level of awareness an advocacy as adult disease because of the implications on growth, development, quality of life, and burden to the public health care system.
Many children with kidney disease go on to have chronic kidney disease (CKD) or chronic renal disease. In this condition, the kidneys are permanently damaged, do not get better with treatment, and worsen over time. Ultimately, the child may require renal replacement therapy in the form of dialysis or transplantation. Kidney disease affects approximately 1574 children per 1 million and all ages and races are affected. Over the past 20 years, the incidence of chronic kidney disease in children has steadily increased.
The kidneys are two bean shaped organs that are located below the ribs. They are responsible for filtering the blood of waste and extra water and produce urine to get rid of these. But it doesn’t stop there. The kidneys are also responsible for removing extra acid from the body and maintaining a healthy balance of salts and minerals. The kidneys make hormones that control blood pressure, make red blood cells, and interacts with a hormone that promotes healthy growth. With this understanding, it is very easy to understand how CKD can lead to myriad of problems in childhood. Children with CKD may have no symptoms at all. If they do have symptoms, they may include swelling because of decreased urination, some disease may cause frequent urination or prolonged bedwetting, poor growth, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, headaches related to elevated blood pressure, and anemia from decreased red cell production.
The medical challenges are only the start of the story. As one may expect, kidney disease has a tremendous impact on the quality of life for the child and the family members. Children often struggle to achieve independence from their parents because of the complexity of their health condition. Additionally, they often encounter relationship problems, learning and behavior problems, and have delayed language and motor skill development. Other siblings in the household may suffer neglect because of the amount of support that is required to care for a child with CKD.
The cause of kidney disease in children is very different from the more common causes in adults. Infants and children are more likely to suffer from birth defects, congenital
, and hereditary disease. Teenagers are affected by glomerulonephritis which occurs because of swelling and inflammation of the kidney, infect ion, nephrotic syndrome, and urine blockage or reflux. Many causes of CKD in adults have their origins in childhood. The obesity epidemic in childhood has given rise to the increased prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in children. Obesity often leads to hypertension and diabetes, both leading causes of CKD in adults.
Even with the best treatment, pediatric CKD patients have increased morbidity and mortality when compared to their age matched peers. Children with CKD have a shortened lifespan compared to children without kidney disease. Those that require dialysis have a mortality rate that is 30 times higher than other children. The leading cause of death is usually related to cardiovascular disease or infection.
The importance of CKD and kidney failure in children should not be understated as it carries with significant impact. Kidney transplantation is the preferred form of renal replacement therapy in children as it can help with maximizing their growth, development, and increases their survival with compared to dialysis. While there is no cure, renal transplantation provides as close to a second chance as is humanly possible. Every child should have a second chance!


It is a well-known fact that most all children enjoying playing outside. It's no surprise, given that they may bring numerous hours of enjoyment and pleasure. Children are also likely to be unaware that games can have a hugely good impact on their physical and mental health, as well as their growth and development. The majority of exciting outdoor activities for kids include some form of physical activity, such as playing ball, riding bikes or skates, or climbing and crawling through a jungle gym. These exercises help youngsters develop practically all of the muscles in their bodies while also providing adequate chance for them to learn on their own how to efficiently use those muscles. Through these games, children can learn simple abilities like leaping and running, as well as more complicated ones like skipping, much more quickly and easily.
The Benefits of Jungle Gyms
Looking at several jungle gym configurations, it is easy to see how helpful an outdoor jungle gym can be for children. Jungle gym activities offer numerous possibilities for children to improve their physical coordination and mobility, all of which are essential for the healthy development of other motor abilities.
Desire to Move and Discover
The proper development of gross motor abilities is critical to optimal childhood development. Almost all kids are born with an abundance of energy and an instinctive, primal drive to expend that energy by exercising their muscles and exploring their surroundings. An outdoor jungle gym is an excellent way to meet that demand because it stimulates kids to move, clamber, crawl, stretch, and climb in order to overcome the "obstacles" and explore their surroundings. Children will learn how to manipulate their bodies according to their needs and wishes while learning about nature and the world through these activities.
Learning Their Body
Children can learn how to crawl between objects, climb up and down, on top of objects, and over objects by using an outdoor jungle gym. They are also given the opportunity to become aware with their bodies' shapes and spirals, as well as various expanded and contracted body movements. They will learn how to properly balance up and down, as well as left and right. Furthermore, the kids will become familiar with the concepts of relaxation and tension, as well as rest and movement. They will strengthen their skills in synchronizing their lower body and legs, upper body and arms, and left and right sides of the body by participating in jungle gym exercises.
Motor Skill Development
By interacting with the jungle gym, children will learn new and more complicated motor skills such as sliding, lifting, and stretching. Children will have unrestricted access to their bodies and the powers they possess as a result of these interactions. These interactions and exercises will also help the kids improve their physical and mental coordination, which is important for performing things that need significantly more control and precision. Fine motor coordination will make it much easier for children to operate scissors, handle a pencil or a toothbrush, and open and close screw-top containers.
Practice and Repetition Through Fun
Repetition and practice are the most effective ways to learn anything. Because children are easily bored by practice and repetition, they must be implemented through fun and play. The children will never be bored this way, especially with the help of a jungle gym.
Playing on the Jungle Gym with your child outside is an appraise to bond, teach, spend time with, and connect with your child. It gets you exercising, everyone gets some fresh air, and your kids will remember that you took the time to play with them outside.


The free online course to plant and care for a vegetable garden in your school.
How can vegetable gardens be places for early childhood learning, growth and inclusion?
Planting and caring for a school vegetable garden can be difficult due to several factors, such as unsuitable school location, lack of funds, access, maintenance limitation during the school holidays, lack of specialised teachers or personnel. To bring a permanent educational project to fruition, thorough and adequate training is needed to set up a permanent school garden.
GARDENStoLEARN is a free online course for early childhood teachers, school managers and educators. It consists of three different modules, complete with lessons, educational resources that can be downloaded and exercises to learn how to plant and care for a vegetable garden.
The modules include:
- planning information needed up-front, before setting up a school garden, such as identifying a suitable location, conducting a market survey, fundraising, networking and sustainability;
- technical guidelines to choose, set up and permanently care for a suitable type of garden, either an on-ground or off-ground garden;
- more material on inclusion, a collection of the best educational practices and hands-on early childhood workshops.
GARDENStoLEARN is part of GARDENStoGROW Urban Horticulture for Innovative and Inclusive Early Childhood Education, a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, which is focused on creating educational vegetable gardens and training courses for early childhood teachers and school managers to set up and manage themselves a permanent vegetable garden in their schools.
The GARDENStoGROW activities that are carried out at school can be further investigated by attending the Nature and its shapes workshop, the event introducing some of the GARDENStoGROW workshops that takes place during the training course for early childhood teachers to set up workshops and playful scientific activities through tinkering and STEM experiences.
Training courses by Explora are available on the S.O.F.I.A. platform.
Explora is accredited by the Ministry of Public Education (MIUR) for training (Dir. Min. 170/2016).


This handout describes what STAR/EBRI volunteers need to know about evidence-based and explicit alphabetics instruction. It also provides a routine for teaching the English letter-sound-syllable patterns that will help students read and spell words alone and in text.
Beginning Alphabetics Tests and Tools (BATT) strives to provide a principled system for ABE/ESL teachers wanting to develop their students’ knowledge of Roman alphabet letters, English letter-sound patterns, sight or high frequency words, and transfer of those letter-sound-word skills to text fluency and comprehension.
NEW SLIDES RECENTLY ADDED! This electronic, screen-shareable resource includes Google slide sets (in PDF format) for remotely teaching compound words, common suffixes, common prefixes, and related word families.
This ATLAS-supported resource includes: (1) a public domain test for identifying students' approximate grade level performance in word reading or decoding, (2) a series of 'mini-lessons' for teaching multi-syllable decoding with compounds, syllable types and rules, common suffixes, prefixes, and roots, and (3) an appendix of student handouts.
This scripted, ready-to-print, curriculum package is designed to improve accurate and fluent word reading and word spelling. It is useful for Intermediate level students.
This collection of instructional resources for the four components of reading is recommended by Minnesota STAR (STudent Achievement in Reading) and EBRI (Evidence-Based Reading Instruction) teachers. Resources are organized by the four reading components – alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension – and free and pay-for resources are included.
This resource is for helping students who are ready to move beyond phonics and simple words. It focuses on morphological awareness: how morphemes such as prefixes, Latin roots, Greek forms, and suffixes combine or assemble to form multi-syllable words and sometimes change meaning, part of speech, or usage.
For teachers serving beginning-level adult readers and working on alphabetics, this website provides a FREE source of sight word flashcards, games, lessons, and activities. All are focused on the Dolch Sight and Fry Instant lists; two collections of words that all beginning readers (at GE K-3) should recognize without sounding out letter by letter.
This phonetic reading program website offers free PDF files of phonics books, workbooks, wall charts, flashcards, games, and activities at five levels. Materials are designed to be used sequentially, from the Learning the Alphabet through Basic and Advanced Phonics Patterns; however, it is also useful for older readers at beginning levels.
These “stellar” ideas for alphabetics instruction were collected from participating MN STAR administrators and teachers during 2009-2012.
Story by Story was developed for Beginning ABE students needing (and wanting) systematic and contextual phonics instruction. However, it has been successfully used with many Beginning-Intermediate ESL students as well. This website provides 12 printable Story by Story lessons that each include the story text, a word study, and sentence-writing exercises.
Provides reading teachers and tutors with convincing background information and testimonials, a lesson plan model and template, other reinforcement ideas, and over 100 common or sequential phonogram and word family lists for immediate analogy phonics instruction.
This resource from Just Read, Florida! was developed for teachers or volunteers working with children; however, sections of Part 1, Ideas for Building Readers, may be very useful for adult alphabetics instruction.


Language – English & Mandarin: Students develop proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking, while fostering effective communication skills.
Mathematics: Students explore mathematical concepts, develop numeracy skills, and learn to apply mathematical thinking in real-world contexts, promoting logical reasoning and problem-solving abilities.
Science: Students engage in the exploration of the biological, chemical and physical aspects of the natural world, and the relationships between them. Students develop an appreciation and awareness of the world as it is viewed from a scientific perspective while nurturing their curiosity.
Social Studies – Humanities and Social Science: Students develop a deeper understanding of themselves and others and their place in an increasingly global society. This provides opportunities for students to look at and think about human behaviour and activity realistically, objectively, and with sensitivity.
The Arts – Music: Students participate in music education, learning about different musical styles, instruments, and techniques, fostering an appreciation for music and promoting creativity.
The Arts – Visual Arts: Students explore various art forms, techniques, and mediums, nurturing their creativity, self-expression, and aesthetic sensibilities.
Personal, Social and Physical Education: Students participate in physical activities and sports, developing motor skills, promoting fitness, teamwork, coordination, and fostering a healthy and active lifestyle. Students also engage in our Positive Education curriculum to enhance their overall sense of well-being.
Our curriculum provides a well-rounded education that encourages students to explore various disciplines and develop a broad range of skills, knowledge and understanding.


However, the school system is not designed to help them address their concerns and get the information they seek.
There is no explicit mention of climate change in the Australian primary school curriculum and it is mainly taught in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects in high school.
More broadly, the main ways we talk about climate in the community and the media are centered around science and economics. They tend to involve abstract ideas such as “the planet is getting warmer” or “rainfall is more unpredictable”. While these are important elements, they overlook the social, cultural and psychological ways in which people around the world are affected by climate change.
So how can we better support schools and teachers to address climate change in a way that matches the interests and concerns of young people?
“ Back to recommendation stories
We are geography and environmental researchers who have written a comic about how people around the world are experiencing climate change. This is aimed at high school students, but will also appeal to academics and the general public.
Called Everyday Stories of Climate Change, it examines the ways low-income families have had to adapt to climate change in five countries on three continents.
It starts with a student waking up in Australia and heading to school. Here the teacher notes that climate change is impacting people all over the world, “today we are going to explore some of these places”.
For example, in Bangladesh, sea level rise has contributed to the salinity of the local river. The women therefore have to walk for hours to draw fresh water from another river. In Porto
, after Hurricane Maria, people are struggling to get nutritious food and the streets are too dirty for children to play outside. In Barbuda, the government is trying to move people off their land, so that private companies can build luxury hotels after Hurricane Irma.
The characters in the comics are fictional, but their stories are based on research – via interviews and surveys – that the comic book writers have done about people’s experiences with climate change in Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, South Africa and Bangladesh.
The importance of stories
Researchers have long argued that we need to put a human face on climate change and communicate in ways that people resonate with. This means we need to do more than present a graph or churn out statistics.
Comics are an effective way to put a human face on issues because they allow us to show first-person stories and experiences. This can create both an understanding of the issues and instill empathy in readers.
The comic is deliberately engaging and accessible. By showing real people going about their business, it also challenges condescending ideas about people and places affected by climate change in the so-called “global south”, which often portray them as “helpless” victims.
The comic also allows people to see the concrete, day-to-day ways in which people around the world are experiencing, responding to, and adapting to climate change.
For example, the family in Puerto Rico raises their own chickens and grows their own vegetables so they can eat the food they want during the food shortages after Hurricane Maria. In drought-stricken Cape Town, people are saving bath water for the garden and planting drought-tolerant aloes.
Showing these solutions is important because research suggests it gives people a sense of agency and hope that they can adapt to climate change.
(This is a syndicated PTI story via The Conversation)


Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) educators are excited to continue our nature-based science discovery program with local Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative classes this year. This program serves students in the City of Fredericksburg Fredericksburg, King George, Stafford, and Spotsylvania Counties. Through this program we are able to offer math and science-based learning experiences both in the classroom and outside in nature, with a goal to spark an interest in the natural world while reinforcing classroom concepts such as letter recognition and counting.
FOR is one of many community partners and participates in the Fredericksburg Regional Head Start Education Advisory Committee meetings every year. At these meetings we learn what the program’s goals are for the students during that academic year and work with other partners to support Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative in meeting those goals. These goals include letter recognition and math skills to help prepare students for kindergarten, as well as social/emotional skills. In addition to providing classroom visits and hosting the students on field trips to FOR’s riverside preserve, we have provided professional development opportunities for staff and tools that can be used to integrate nature lessons into Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative programming.
So far this Fall, educators have visited classes at the City of Fredericksburg’s Early Childhood Learning Center and King George Head Start Site. While there we shared information about how important trees are to the river and animal life. Students explored a variety of leaf shapes, colors, sizes, and textures and learned that leaves can be used to identify tree species. Educators then led them through an activity to sort the leaves by color and then counted each set of leaves to see how many of each color they had. Of course, no visit to our preschool friends is complete without a song so each lesson ended with a song about fall leaves.
We are grateful to the PNC Foundation’s Grow Up Great program for continued funding for this project. We have provided early childhood educational experiences funded by this program for more than a decade. Thanks to the PNC Foundation’s generosity, we have two years of funding secured to continue offering this wonderful experience to the young learners in the Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative programs.
Written by Field Trip Coordinator Jen Gron


The arts are full of learning opportunities. Artful learning is the best way to approach teaching and learning. Listen to/view lectures, explore lessons, add your artful ideas to teaching arts in the senior years (high school), and add your own imagination to the artful world of teaching. This blog is "in progress" for a course about Arts Education in the Senior Years (High School).
The Dance, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts curriculum frameworks and implementation resources are intended to support, promote and inspire the growth of all students as artistic learners as they journey towards becoming creative, artistically literate “adults and citizens who will truly enrich their own lives and the lives of future communities” (Manitoba Education, 2011, p. 10).
Manitoba Education. Click on the right, below the movie, to connect with Manitoba Education syllabus materials and explanations.
Manitoba Education additional materials http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/learnres/bibliographies.html#art
Examine Lesson Links above and find everything you need for lessons and resources.
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ENJOY teaching the arts by engaging in works that inspire imagination.
Enjoy Bear 71 from the National Film Board (on Vimeo) http://vimeo.com/35267742
Enjoy The Top 10 Arts Education Apps http://gettingsmart.com/2011/09/top-10-apps-for-arts-education/
Enjoy 12 Outstanding Apps for Music Teaching http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/12-outstanding-music-teaching-and.html
Enjoy 5 Outstanding Apps for Theatre Education http://www.avatargeneration.com/2013/10/5-great-resources-for-teaching-drama/
Enjoy 12 Outstanding Apps for Music Education http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/12-outstanding-music-teaching-and.html
What are the Multiple Intelligences? Enjoy a video with Howard Gardner talking about education.
Enjoy a talk about how the arts are essential to schools. Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
and the follow up TED Talk (2010) http://youtu.be/r9LelXa3U_I
Enjoy a video about photographer Ansel Adams - a documentary (2002) http://youtu.be/wWxmv4iT3TI
Look After Your Vocal Cords: Here's What They Look Like
...then take a look at a short slide show on this.


Child care health consultants (CCHCs) are health professionals with education and experience in child and community health. They are an invaluable resource for early care and education programs. CCHCs support programs by providing expertise in a variety of areas such as increasing staff knowledge on health issues and improving compliance with best practices. Learn more about CCHCs and how they can support programs.
How can a CCHC support early care and education programs?
A child care health consultant (CCHC) combines health expertise with knowledge of early care and education best practices to help programs ensure healthy and safe learning environments. They do this by:
- Helping programs understand children’s healthy growth and development and how to address children’s health conditions
- Writing or reviewing policies and procedures
- Observing health and safety practices and helping programs prevent illness and injuries
- Providing training for staff and families
- Facilitating referrals to community health and social service resources
- Assisting programs with quality improvement strategies
Scientific research supports the importance of a CCHC
Studies1 have confirmed that CCHCs improve the health and safety of children in early care and education programs by:
- Increasing staff knowledge of health issues in child care settings
- Increasing compliance with health and safety best practice standards
- Improving the quality of health and safety policies and practices, including handwashing, sanitation, and safe sleep practices
- Increasing the number of children who receive oral, developmental, vision, and hearing screenings and assessments
- Improving children’s access to a medical home, enrollment in health insurance, and up-to-date immunization status
- Strengthening environmental health practices
- Promoting the inclusion of children with special health care needs
What is a CCHC?
A CCHC is a health professional with education and experience in child and community health who also has specific training in early care and education and child care health consultation. In some states, regulations determine who can be a CCHC.
CCHCs collaborate with directors, teachers, and family child care providers to improve the overall quality of care.
Visit the Child Care Health Consultants page on the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) for resources related to child care health consultation, including tips for working with a CCHC, CCHC competencies, interactive skill-building modules, and more. If you are not sure how to find a CCHC, contact your state child care resource and referral agency or local health department.
1 Please see page 25 of the Child Care Health Consultant Competencies for a full list of references related to the benefits of using a CCHC.
Resource Type: Publication
National Centers: Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety
Last Updated: September 13, 2022


Music has long played a role as an ambassador for peace and understanding between cultures. Yet, there is little research that gauges how creating music aids in the development of cross-cultural awareness. Given today’s tense political climate post-9/11, further investigation of the role that music can play in fostering cross-cultural awareness is needed. Using a sociocultural constructionist framework, this study investigated how 22 youth (12 girls and 10 boys) from the United States, in communication with youth in Tel-Aviv, Israel, analyzed and composed music steeped in traditional Hebrew, Arabic, and Western traditions using the computer program, Impromptu. Participants took part in pre-tests and post-tests to measure their awareness and respect for Israelis at the start and end of the study using the Cross-Cultural Awareness Drawing Task (Bar-Tal & Teichman, 2005). Using qualitative techniques, the researchers analyzed the written reflections of participants on their music composition process over the course of the intervention. Findings suggest that the music composition and analysis exercises had a positive impact on the development of crosscultural awareness over time among American students, helping to counter the common misconceptions about the Middle East fostered in today’s media.
Downton, Michael P.; Peppler, Kylie A.; Portowitz, Adena; and Bamberger, Jeanne
"Composing Pieces for Peace: Using Impromptu to Build Cross-Cultural Awareness,"
Visions of Research in Music Education: Vol. 20, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/vrme/vol20/iss1/6


wonderLearn Number Flash Cards- Math Matching Cards (11-20) for 2+ Year Old Kids- STEM Brain Games, Numeracy Skills, Smart Interactive Learning Toys
About the Product
- With wonderLearn Math Matching Cards, you can help your child learn math in a fun way. The cards are designed to help your child to practice basic math skills like counting, matching, sorting and counting. The cards come with brightly coloured pictures and a corresponding number on the back of each card. A fun and enjoyable way to teach your child all about math.
- These cards are so exciting, colorful and fun! They are very well made and the best of all, they are educational. They provide a safe way to introduce children to math. There are 1-20 cards in each pack, making it possible to use these cards in a variety of ways.
- Wonderhood Math Matching Cards are a fun and engaging way to help your child learn these essential math skills. They are a perfect addition to any homeschool, preschool or daycare curriculum! A perfect way for children to learn about colors, patterns, sorting, matching, counting, and more.
- Kids are naturally curious about the world around them, and want to explore! Keep kids entertained and learning with these fun educational toys. This is a great toy for kids aged 3 to 7 year old boys as well as girls and it's a perfect Birthday gift. Package Content: 40 cards


Algebra is a broad part of Math that follows all the rules of arithmetic which includes, addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction and introduces a new element of unknown. Here is an example, 10y= mx+ b, the symbols are place holders of unknown numbers. You may be required to solve an algebraic equation and Math knowledge is required to solve Algebra problems. Unknown values and variables are involved in solving algebra equations. Algebra knowledge is important as it prepares students in the understanding of Math categories like; Geometry, Calculus Trigonometry among others.
Categories of Algebra include;
Elementary Algebra is mostly taught in high school and does not involve solving complex algebraic equations and it is mostly concerned with Algebraic quantities, Algebraic expressions, solving algebraic equations, solving systems of those algebraic equations. Studying Elementary Algebra introduces students to Algebraic math problems and how to solve them.
Abstract Algebra is also known as Modern Algebra. It includes advanced Algebraic Math problems and it is taught in upper school level like in colleges and Universities. A student is required to have concrete Math problem-solving ability in order to solve Abstract Algebraic equations. Abstract Algebra is also involved in algebraic structures instead of number systems in Elementary Algebra. This is mostly involved in representation theory, homological algebra and Cumulative algebra which are among the major categories of Abstract algebra.
Terms used in Algebra
An Algebraic equation involves arithmetic concepts, Variables, and constants that attest two Math expressions are equal to each other. The equality of Math expression is shown by the use of symbols, for example; 20x +10 = 500
An Algebraic variable is basically a symbol in an algebraic equation that is used for Algebraic expression example; 20x +10=500, X a variable used for Algebraic expression
Other terms used in algebra include; Two variable Equation, Monomial, Exponent, Polynomial, One variable Equation, among others.
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During the Spring 2019 semester, 36 students from the Haskell and Irene Lemon Division of Construction Science designed and built a “tiny house” as part of their Construction Fundamentals Lab. The course used a hands-on approach that taught students the foundational skills necessary to complete a real-world construction project. It is designed to help students get familiar with the vibe of a job site, giving them confidence and helping them to develop their problem-solving skills.
The 160-square-foot house was built on a trailer in the Creating_Making Lab. Construction spanned the course of 10 weeks.
“This year, we wanted to shrink the scope of the project so that it was more manageable,” said instructor Bryan Bloom.
For 2018’s design-build project, students helped build two affordable housing duplexes in the Norman area. Students in 2019’s course were able to take ownership of the entire process, from designing the house, to selecting materials, to actually putting it all together and building it.
Students spent the first five weeks of the semester developing the design of the house and planning the project. In the third week, teams presented their concepts and then came up with a final design as a class. This process helped the students grow their design skills, getting Construction Science students more familiar with the design side of projects. A local architecture practice donated its design services to the GCA for the second year in a row.
They then spent the next few weeks discussing which materials and systems would work best for the design. Construction began in week six.
“They’re excited about how much they’re doing,” says Bloom, “for a lot of them, this is their first time on a job site. I think a lot of them were surprised by how much we got done just in that first day.”
The house was auctioned off at the end of the semester, with the money from the sale going back in to the program to support next year’s project.


I can describe the position of objects in my classroom.
8,000 schools use Gynzy
92,000 teachers use Gynzy
1,600,000 students use Gynzy
In this lesson, students will use positional words to describe the positions of objects in the classroom and school.
Students will be able to describe the position of objects in my classroom using positional words like above, below, front, behind, left, and right.
Students will review the concept of location. Then they will be introduced to the concept of using positional words to describe location. Students will learn about the importance of using words to describe position.
Students will learn about positional words, like front, back, below, above, near, next to, under, left, right, etc. The teacher will model using this vocabulary to describe object position. To check understanding, students will practice using positional words in conversations to describe where objects in their classroom are located (i.e., the bookshelf is near the teacher’s desk).
Review positional words with 10 fill-in-the-blank questions.
Students will take a walking tour of their school and practice using positional vocabulary while locating items they see or their teacher directs them to locate.
Save time building lessons
Manage the classroom more efficiently
Increase student engagement
Gynzy is an online teaching platform for interactive whiteboards and displays in schools.
With a focus on elementary education, Gynzy’s Whiteboard, digital tools, and activities make it easy for teachers to save time building lessons, increase student engagement, and make classroom management more efficient.


The Ugly Side of Science Education Material Too Dificult
Adults and youngsters need completely different atmosphere to know one other’s mind-set. An grownup read somebody’s way of thinking and choose him with out pondering of the driving forces to that state but a toddler could understand and feel compassion for the man human. One’s mind-set could possibly be because of feelings concentrated of their minds. Children may not be aware of their actions till they attain a sure age to have the ability to understand another mind-set. Adults and kids relate varyingly due to completely different levels of understanding another state of mind.
It’s best to encourage these questions, even when you don’t know the solutions your self. In these conditions, you shouldn’t invent a proof. Tell them “Let’s discover out collectively” and it can result in some wonderful quality time spent together with your little one. Search on-line for answers, or make a journey to the local library. And in case you do not find a satisfying answer to a selected question, then be sincere about that, too. It’s OK to let youngsters know that scientists don’t know all the pieces about how the world works, and that there are some scientific questions that also should be answered.
Take time to find the world along with them.
While you get uninterested in answering questions, turn it round and ask your youngster some easy questions. Then, encourage their creativity by giving them a possibility to discover the solutions themselves. Asking questions additionally provides you a greater concept about their knowledge of a topic. The Advantages of Science Canine Meals
Developing activities in science for kids that instantly reply their questions could be tough. Nevertheless with a library of excessive-quality educational DVDs on hand, we are able to reply questions instantly, and precisely, on the similar time providing that instantaneous gratification to which the children of the data age have turn out to be accustomed. Ready, whereas we develop a lesson plan or search textbooks for the reply just isn’t an option.
Career Alternatives and Job Outlook.
Most if not all college students who attend computer science faculties are in all probability subjected to writing a program to print the notorious Hiya World. Programming languages might have changed over the generations, yet there is a clear and obvious have to clear this hurdle. Others could attest to numerous hours of tuning the movements of the bouncing ball towards time and gravity. Though it is probably not as torturous because it sounds, it actually presents itself as an archaic model of computer games. Since all work and no play make a boring particular person, this is possibly the initial effort to stimulating creativity and innovation.
When assessing a forensic science university a prospective pupil should verify that the school offers a curriculum in the field of forensics the learner is concerned in, and the course meets the necessities of the organization which attests forensic scientists in that particular discipline. After figuring out which schools have qualified with the criteria, college students might start to trim down their choices in searching for the forensic science faculty or university that may suit their desire.
It’s critical to decide on a school with curriculum that can permit someone to be employed in her/his preferred subject after completion of college degree. Another good thing about bringing sooner or later science fair initiatives into your weekend routines each time it works out, it that it’s going to give your youngster a sense of independence.


Education is a transformative journey that requires adapting teaching methods to suit the needs of every learner. Ignacio Estrada’s powerful quote, “If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we must teach in a way the child can learn,” encapsulates the essence of personalised education. At Word Window, our mission is to empower children struggling with reading, particularly decoding words. However, it was through the invaluable feedback of these children that we discovered an unexpected path towards success, emphasising the importance of individuality and autonomy in learning.
Listening to Our Children:
As we embarked on the research and development of Word Window, our initial focus was on providing a tool that parents and teachers could use to support children facing reading challenges. The device aimed to assist in decoding words and promote a deeper understanding of language. However, during the early testing phases, we observed something remarkable. Many children expressed a desire to use the device themselves, craving a sense of control over their learning process.
The Power of Autonomy:
Recognising the appeal of autonomy, we realised that enabling children to break down words and solve reading difficulties independently was crucial. Word Window became a vessel for their newfound agency in learning, offering them the opportunity to explore and engage with language on their terms. By providing a platform that allowed children to take charge of their learning, we witnessed a remarkable shift in their confidence and enthusiasm for reading.
The Benefits of Movement and Fidgeting:
Another unexpected benefit emerged during our journey with Word Window—the integration of movement and fidgeting. We discovered that incorporating physical engagement into the learning process enhanced children’s cognitive abilities. The fidgety feature of Word Window, which allows children to manipulate the device as they engage with the words, created a dynamic and interactive learning experience. Parents also reported reading time voluntarily being extended – in itself adding numerous benefits to literacy development.
Movement and learning are intertwined in a way that supports cognitive development. By incorporating fidgeting, children found an outlet for their energy while remaining focused on the task at hand. The combination of movement and learning fostered an optimal environment for knowledge absorption, enabling children to unlock their potential and make meaningful progress.
A Shift in Perspective:
Listening to the feedback from children and witnessing the positive impact of Word Window on their learning journeys led us to reassess our approach to recommending its use. We realised that a rigid structure might not suit every child’s needs. While some thrived with a more structured intervention, others benefited from having the freedom to explore and discover at their own pace.
This shift in perspective allowed us to embrace the diversity of learning styles and individual preferences. Word Window transformed from being merely a tool for aiding reading to becoming a catalyst for personalised learning experiences. By adapting to the unique needs of each child, we created an environment where reading became a joyful and empowering endeavour.
Estrada’s quote reminds us of the power of personalized education and the importance of adapting teaching methods to meet the needs of every learner. Word Window embodies this philosophy, providing children with a tool that empowers them to learn in a way that resonates with their individuality. By listening to our children and valuing their input, we uncovered the transformative effects of autonomy and movement in the learning process.
At Word Window, there are no hard and fast rules dictating how the device should be used. It simply serves as a means to aid reading and foster a love for learning. As we continue to evolve and grow, we remain committed to empowering children, parents, and teachers to embrace alternative approaches that celebrate the unique strengths and learning styles of every child. Together, we can create a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive and excel, regardless of their challenges.
Director and Inventor of the Word Window; Kate McKenzie is always interested in hearing about how the Word Window is helping children at home and in schools, but if you haven’t yet heard about the Word Window, then check out the website www.thewordwindow.com where you can learn much more about Kate and the Word Window.


Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP)
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has launched the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in 57 Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) throughout India. This flagship initiative is launched under NEP 2020. It was notified in 2021. It offers a 4-year dual-major undergraduate degree program, preparing teachers for the 4 stages of the new school structure i.e. the 5+3+3+4 structure of foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary schooling.
What is ITEP?
The ITEP aims to provide cutting-edge pedagogy, foundational literacy and numeracy, early childhood care and education, inclusive education, and an understanding of India’s values, ethos, art, and traditions, among other things. Prospective teachers passing out of this course will be equipped with 21st-century global standards to shape the future of New India. The course will save students one year by completing it in 4 years instead of 5.
Benefits of ITEP
It will provide cutting-edge pedagogy. This means it will provide the latest technologies used in teaching methods and teaching practices. Also, it will establish foundational literacy and aid in Early Childhood Care and Education. (ECCE)
The National Education Policy 2020 focuses on Early Childhood Care and Education. In accordance with the NEP 2020, it is essential to achieve early childhood education so that the kids entering Grade 1 are ready. To achieve this, there is a necessity for three years of pre-schooling before Class 1. The major challenge in the ECCE is the lack of trained teachers. ITEP will address this challenge.
What is Foundational Literacy and Numeracy included in the ITEP?
It is the skills and strategies that are used in speaking, reading, writing, and interpreting thoughts. Basic numeracy skills include fundamental mathematical operations such as subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division.
What is Inclusive Education according to NEP 2020?
All children in the country should get equal educational opportunities despite their socioeconomic identities. How does UNICEF define inclusive education? All children in the same classroom should get the same opportunities.
Category: Government Schemes Current Affairs


Developmental milestones 12 to 18 months As children grow, so do their skills. While not specific to your child, this education sheet can help you know what. 12–24 Months. Communication/. Language. Exploring Words. Option 1 (IG) Toddlers participate in a book sharing about monkeys jumping on the bed. 12 months ⚫ Stands well with who are 24 months can kick a ball, throw overhand, and Each year, approximately 12% of infants in the United. What to Feed Toddlers Months. What to Feed. Plan meals and snacks to provide a variety of healthy food from all food groups (fruits, vegetables. Nestlé CERELAC Baby Cereal is a complementary food for babies from 12 to 24 months. While infants and children have higher requirements of nutrients than. Your Plan for Great Nights · Customize a sleep training plan to help your baby achieve hours of independent crib sleep. Remain emotionally connected to.
Course Description · Toddlers are almost always on the move! Channel your child's natural energy through music and movement learning. · Smart Start: Months. Developmental Red Flags (12 to 24 months). Weight and Height of Toddlers – From 12 to 24 Months A baby brings immense joy in a family. When you have a baby, you take care of his every little need and.
Adapted and revised by the Mid-State Early Childhood Direction Center - DEVELOPMENTAL CHECKLIST - 12 TO 24 MONTHS. CHILD'S NAME: DATE OF BIRTH. Developmental Milestones: 12 to 18 Months · Cognitive, Play, and Communication Skills · Motor Skills · How You Can Help. DEVELOPMENTAL CHECKLIST - 12 TO 24 MONTHS. CHILD'S NAME: DATE OF BIRTH: PARENT OR GUARDIAN: DATE. OBSERVED. MOVEMENT. ✓ Walks alone ( mos.).
Your child's rapid brain development between the ages of 12 and 24 months causes amazing changes to happen—such as talking, walking, and remembering—as your. Around 12 months, toddlers develop a new ability to remember experiences that occurred a few hours or even a day earlier. Toddlers often show off this new. The leaflet explains the normal stages of early speech and language development between 12 and 24 months. It aims to help you understand the stage at which.
They make major strides in communication, and their vocabulary increases slowly over the first 6 months and then expands quickly during the second 6 months. Months -- Ages and Stages Welcome to the world of toddlerhood! This stage brings a greater sense of independence as children learn to walk, run, and. Fine motor skill development: Birth to 2 years · months · months · months · months · 2 to 5 years · You can help your infant develop MOTOR SKILLS. From months, children explore the world with increasing autonomy. Their rapid development supports this independence and gives them new tools to.


In the Early Years our children spend their day inquiring and exploring meaningful learning experiences and hands on activities that help them to learn basic skills in a fun and active way with the help of transdisciplinary themes. Students actively focus on developing their international mindedness in themselves.
Language and numeracy development is also a major focus in the early years. The children are engaged in active dramatic play, stories, discussions, games songs, rhymes, word play and mind problems that develop strong language skills with the help of structured A to Z reading and writing programme and mathematic integration. Strong language and mathematical skills are the foundation of literacy development. We uniquely combine the Inquiry Approach and at TIPS we believe that all students learn differently so the learning experiences are designed to constantly be engaged and challenged.


Music and art have traditionally been ways for people around the world to display and relate their cultures. When multiculturalism is effectively integrated into fine arts curriculum, students are able to connect to their own cultures as well as gain an appreciation and respect for ones. The following are ideas, suggestions, and links that can help educators bring multiculturalism into their arts classrooms.
Ways to Incorporate Multiculturalism into Arts
- Help students understand their cultural contexts through art and music.
- Display and teach about art and music of various cultures, not just "classic" (European) styles.
- Teach about different aesthetic perspectives (for example, there is an entire field of study dedicated to Japanese aesthetics).
- Invite artists from different cultural backgrounds into the classroom.
- Discuss different forms of cultural expression.
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
This site allows individuals to take a virtual tour of the museum's exhibits and provides art educators with many excellent resources for lesson plans.
Multicultural Music Education
This site provides one example of how educators can integrate multiculturalism into music education, serving as a model for educators in lesson planning.
Native American Art
This site provides educators with many examples of Native American art.
This site provides articles as well as exhibits of Asian art; its high-quality photos provide educators with resources for multicultural art lessons.
Kindergarten Cultural Art Lessons
This site provides many multicultural art activities for young children.


Japanese Art Textbooks Between “Digital Schoolbooks” & “Mud Play”. From the view-point of a unified “Mind-Body” in Children
When looking back on the history of art education in Japan, it is impossible to think without considering “Art Textbooks”. “SEIGA-SHINAN (Instruction book of western drawings)” is a Japanese-style book originally published in 1871 by the Ministry of Education, written by Kawakami Togai (Japanese style painter) as the first art textbook in Japan. Since then, textbooks – prepared based on the National Curriculum Standards – have become a crucial issue for the educational system of our country and now are provided free of charge at the compulsory education stage. In recent years, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has been promoting the publication of digital textbooks with many kinds of contents, from pdf conversion of paper textbooks to contents incorporating the latest technology. In Japan, the wave of the digital textbook has been praised. In Japanese art education, cognitive aspects are being emphasized in the wave of modernization, on the one hand, but on the other hand, there is a history of art education that emphasizes physicality. “Muddy child care” at preschool level is a good example. In 1977 “Formative play” at 1st and 2nd grade of primary school was set to fill the gap between preschool education and school education. Sensory experiences and movements, action with and within natural elements, materials and others were used extensively, and it became recognized as a favorite educational content for children. But there is a history of conflict of art education between “La Pensée sauvage” and “Logical Thinking”. With the movement of publication of digital textbooks being activated, the relationship between digital media and analog media can be grasped from the perspective of “mind-body”. In the modern digital society, with regard to employment of potentials and personality, we think that the development of non-cognitive abilities (attitude, value, motivation, temper) should also be regarded as important in art education. But what kind of measures are required for that? Can a digital textbook be a tool that supports children’s subjective drawing and modeling activities? I am planning to present these issues with the above consciousness.
Naoki Mizushima, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo (Japan)
Mizushima N., Wada N. et al., (2017) Handmade Picture Books, Asakura Shoten, Tokyo; Mizushima N., Matsumoto T. et al., (2015) Picture Books and Society, Asakura Shoten, Tokyo; Mizushima N., Fujie M., Iwasaki Y. (eds) (2015) Art and Craft in future, Nihon Bunkyou Shuppan, Osaka; Elliot W. Eisner, (1986) Educating Artistic Vision (translation, Nakase N., Mizushima, N. et al.), Reimei Shobo. (Editorial Supervision) Art and Handicraft [Grades 1-6] – Childrens Primary School’s books based on National Curriculum of Japan – Nihon Bunkyo Shuppan Osaka.


During the 1990s, Medellín was globally perceived as one of the most dangerous and violent cities in the world. Since then, the city has transformed socially, economically, and culturally. Library Parks aim to address Medellín’s inequality. Fundamentally, the facilities are designed to get people, particularly youth, off the streets. They succeed in attracting young people by showing films, staging exhibitions and theatre productions, and giving local talent the chance to perform. These opportunities, in turn, raise self-esteem, participation and creativity. In addition to typical library services, most Library Parks comprise auditoriums, workshops, playrooms, sports facilities and computer rooms. Youth and adult literacy programmes are also offered to boost the community’s literacy and numeracy skills, including digital literacy. The city currently has 10 Library Parks.


The Science Behind Art Appreciation And Brain Stimulation
Art is a visual medium like no other. Beautiful art can transport you to faraway lands or into the distant past in a matter of seconds. Looking intently at a wall art can evoke strong emotions or emotions and even inspire creativity within ourselves. Although everyone responds differently to art, there is no doubt as to its impact on our brain and consciousness.
Studies show that art appreciation is a powerful tool that can stimulate and engage our brains. The viewing, analyzing, or creating art can stimulate the brain with long-term benefits. Scientific evidence points out that looking at wall art can impact the brain wave patterns, the nervous system and even raise serotonin levels in your body. For this reason, many experts recommend art education as a proven therapy method that can help improve one's social and emotional development to academic achievement. In this article, we will discover more about the impact of art, specifically wall art such as canvas paintings and unique prints, and how viewing or creating them helps keep your brain active and healthy.
Wall art and your brain- A unique relationship
Today, experts believe that art is a vital component of health and wellness. Not only is it an outlet to explore one’s creativity, but also surrounding yourself with wonderfully depicted wall art can open up your mind and stimulate deeper thoughts.
For instance, when you look at the canvas painting of a flower in full bloom, you are not actually looking at a flower. Even so, your brain will tell you to recognize it as a flower. How does it happen?
In reality, our brain has an innate ability to identify patterns and discrete familiarity from abstract forms and incomplete information. This is how we look at a piece of wall art and perceive an image that makes sense to us. The visual information our brain receives on seeing a canvas painting or a printed image is compared with the information we have already gathered and stored in our memory. This is how wall art stimulates the brain- by organizing and recognizing patterns and shapes we see on the piece and helping us make sense of it, thereby allowing us to enjoy it.
Apart from gathering information and making sense of the imagery, our brain also undergoes some physical changes when viewing and appreciating a beautiful piece of art. Research tells us that the blood flow to the brain increases by as much as 10% when we look at a painting, print, or sculpture- almost equivalent to looking at a loved one.
When we view an art piece, especially a painting, we are not just trying to make sense of it. Our brain is simultaneously allowing us to immerse ourselves in the image. This process is called embodied cognition, where the neurons in the brain turn the visual information you see in the canvas painting into actual emotions. The more you look at a piece, the more you feel yourself going into the art. And when this happens, you may start sensing the ideas and emotions the painting is trying to communicate with you at a cognitive level.
Viewing and appreciating art
Learning to understand and appreciate wall art is key to keeping your brain active and involved. To analyze an art and put your brain to use, you can try a few simple exercises like-
- When viewing a canvas painting or print, describe what you see and feel
- Think about what the artist is trying to communicate through the painting. Put yourself in their shoe
- Compare the subject of the art with contemporary ideas or what’s happening in society presently
- Discuss the theme of the art with other enthusiasts and compare it with other works you like or your own life experiences
Art appreciating is an acquired skill that comes through practice. To truly appreciate art, you need to be an expert. All you need is a good eye and interest in learning about art. Exercises like these where you analyze art can improve your analytical and problem-solving skills and keep your mind alert even as you age.
How to surround you with art
If you want to surround yourself with art, especially wall art, here is what we suggest-
- Visit local museums or art galleries where there are different kinds of paintings, prints and other visual arts are exhibited. You can visit with your friends or partner for a more interesting and interactive experience.
- Watch documentaries and read books about art to educate yourself. Learning about different artists, styles and techniques will help you understand and appreciate art better.
- Create art by taking up painting or sculpting classes. Painting classes especially are fun and keep you interested in creating unique pieces of wall art that can communicate everything you want to express that words cannot.
- Buy wall art for your home and office space. Hanging wall art, especially canvas paintings and unique canvas prints that you find interesting is a great way to surround yourself with art and get your daily dose of art viewing and brain stimulation.
Looking to buy wall art for your space? Check out our latest collection of handmade paintings and limited edition canvas prints today!


Despite reduced poverty and significant improvement in living standards over the last two decades, intersecting inequalities threaten to leave many young people behind, with those from the poorest households, rural areas, and minority groups increasingly disadvantaged.
Childhood exposure to climate shocks such as droughts and floods has an unequal impact on children’s development, affecting their nutrition, skills development and progress in school, with poorest children most affected.
Early growth stunting can be reversed over a much longer period than originally thought, well beyond the first 1,000 days, even up to the age of 15 years; physical recovery is associated with better performance in cognitive tests and progression through school.
The dramatic rise in access to education has not translated into an equivalent increase in learning; Addressing the learning crisis involves delivering on every child’s right to basic foundational skills.
Inequalities in skills and learning appear very early in life, with those from the poorest households, in rural areas, and minority groups consistently underperforming, which may perpetuate differences in employment in young adulthood.
Investment in quality early childhood development is important for skills development and later life outcomes, but quality services often exclude the poorest children.
Gender differences in young people’s transition to adulthood widen significantly during adolescence, affecting young women and young men in different ways at different times, particularly in relation to education, early marriage and parenthood, migration and getting a decent job.
Girls who drop out of school, especially in rural areas and among poorer households, are at greater risk of early marriage than those who stay in education. Likewise, early motherhood puts girls at much greater risk of dropping out of school or lower education outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic is widening inequalities and reversing progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, with combined pressures of interrupted education and increased domestic work and childcare, having a disproportionate impact on vulnerable girls and young women.
Unequal recovery in employment rates during 2020 has increased the gender employment gap, with significantly slower job recovery among young women linked to the increasing burden of unpaid caring responsibilities.
The pandemic is taking its toll on the mental healthof young people, with a striking fall in subjective wellbeing and increased levels of anxiety and depression.
Many young people experienced increased physical domestic violence during lockdown periods. This increase was identified among both young women and young men. Those who had previously reported experiencing physical domestic violence before the pandemic may be particularly at risk during the lockdown


The Music Department
Music is a Language
Students will become fluent in the language of music through reading, writing and performing using musical notation. Through the use of a system of symbols students will represent their creativity in both composition and performance. In addition, students will apply their knowledge of musical notation and subject-specific vocabulary to analyze and interpret music.
Music Instruction is Differentiated
Musical concepts will be presented to children through various modalities to differentiate learning, including aural, visual and kinesthetic experiences. MS 936, Arts Off 3rd ultimately focuses on music making itself as the most vital learning experience, including singing, moving, instrumental performance, improvisation and composition.
Music Builds Community
Music education enables student groups to establish a sense of community through group classes, rehearsals and performances. Students will perform for and engage their peers, teachers, parents, administrators and staff as part of the performer/listener partnership.
In the recent COVID19 times, many people have used music as a way to express emotion throughout their community. Please take the time to listen to two young boys, quarantined in their home in Sicily, Italy.


To close learning opportunity gaps and to prepare students for the upcoming academic year, many schools and districts are implementing summer programs with a specific focus on language arts. In support of this need, EL Education has developed a K-3 Summer Skills program to accelerate reading foundational skills, offering students a chance to practice their literacy skills mixed in with purposeful play, storytelling, and creative expression. This program is designed for primary students and based on EL Education's comprehensive Language Arts Curriculum. The K-3 Summer Skills materials will be available for free on our Curriculum Website.
View a recording of the 90-minute WePD session to learn how to support K-3 students as they accelerate learning in foundational reading skills using the newly created EL Education K-3 Summer Skills program:


As the weather starts to get cooler and the leaves begin to change color, it’s the perfect time to teach young kids about the science behind fall. We will explore some fun Fall Science Experiments for Kindergarten that you and your kids can try together.
Do you want to see more ideas like these? Have a look at my collection of amazing fall activities for kids!
Fall is filled with natural wonders that make for excellent science experiments for kids, helping them learn and explore the world around them. If you’re looking to create some unforgettable memories this autumn, then you have come to the right place.
So keep reading to see the list I’ve prepared below!
This post may contain affiliate links meaning I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Read my disclosure policy here.
Fall Science for Kids
Fall is an exciting season for kids, and there’s no better time to teach them about the science behind it. With the leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, and shorter days, there are plenty of natural phenomena to explore.
You can teach your kindergarten child about science and the changes that happen in nature through various fun science experiments.
Recommended Fall Books for Kids
Reading is fun so encourage your kids to read more this fall. Add these awesome fall books to your reading list so your little one can learn more about turkeys, pumpkins, apples, fall animals, and more!
Goodbye Summer, Hello AutumnToo Many PumpkinsThe Leaf Thief: (The Perfect Fall Book for Children and Toddlers)Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: A Fall Book for KidsHow to Catch a TurkeyBad Apple: A Tale of Friendship
Recommended Fall Activity Kits
Let your child explore the world of pre-literacy and pre-numeracy with these Fall Activities for Preschool.
This craft kit will make learning about the fall season so much fun! The perfect activity for Thanksgiving.
More Fun Fall Activities to Try
Aside from fun fall science experiments, there are several other activities that can complement your fall lessons. Here are some ideas:
Nature Walks: Take your child on nature walks during the fall season. Encourage them to observe and collect various leaves, acorns, pinecones, and other natural materials. Use these items later for art projects, leaf rubbings, or creating a nature-inspired collage.
Pumpkin Exploration: Incorporate pumpkin-related activities such as pumpkin carving, pumpkin seed counting, or even conducting simple pumpkin experiments like observing the decomposition process. This hands-on experience will teach children about the life cycle of a pumpkin and encourage scientific exploration.
Apple Science: Engage in apple-themed science experiments. Show children how apples float or sink in water, conduct taste tests with different apple varieties, or demonstrate the process of making applesauce. These activities help children understand the properties of apples and how they change when exposed to different conditions.
Fall Leaf Sorting: Collect a variety of Fall leaves and help your child sort them based on shape, size, color, or texture. This activity promotes classification skills and encourages children to observe and compare the characteristics of different leaves.
Sensory Bins: Create a Fall-themed sensory bin using materials like dried corn kernels, mini pumpkins, cinnamon sticks, and colorful leaves. Incorporate scoops, measuring cups, and containers for children to explore different textures, practice fine motor skills, and engage their senses.
Weather Observations: Encourage children to observe and document changes in the weather during the fall season. Help them set up a weather station with a thermometer, rain gauge, and windsock. Discuss the concepts of temperature, precipitation, and wind direction as they make daily observations.
Remember, these activities can be tailored to suit the specific interests and developmental level of your child. Have fun exploring the wonders of Fall while nurturing their curiosity and love for learning.
I hope you found a fun fall science experiment to do with your kindergartner. It provides a great opportunity for kids to learn and engage with nature while also having fun.
From witnessing the colors of leaves change right before their eyes to exploring the insides of pumpkins, these activities will surely spark the curiosity of your child while providing an excellent foundation for further learning.
So why not gather some supplies and start exploring the wonders of science with your child today?
More Fall Activities
Easy Fall Science Experiments for Elementary Students by STEAMsational
Apple Science Experiments by Affordable Homeschooling


Teachers in Art Education: What Elementary School Needs to Do More with Art Appreciation
- 10.2991/icesshum-19.2019.43How to use a DOI?
- teachers, art appreciation, elementary school, art education
The purpose of this library research is to explain the need to teaching art appreciation since art teachers in Indonesia, especially at elementary schools, have not paid much attention to this activity by establishing a relationship between the urgency of art appreciation and the current pedagogical practice in Indonesia. The researcher then draws on a set of real cases in countries or regions where students are taught to appreciate art. It was found that art appreciation has been a core strategy of teaching art at elementary level for decades that produces a lot of success in places where it is systematically implemented, proven by significant improvement on students’ soft skills such as language acquisition and communication skill, which are vital for later stage of students’ life. Finally, the researcher concludes by giving a number of notes about what teachers, schools, and government can do more regarding art appreciation to improve the art learning, leading to students getting the most out of the art class.
- © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Ardipal PY - 2019/08 DA - 2019/08 TI - Teachers in Art Education: What Elementary School Needs to Do More with Art Appreciation BT - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Education Social Sciences and Humanities (ICESSHum 2019) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 265 EP - 270 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/icesshum-19.2019.43 DO - 10.2991/icesshum-19.2019.43 ID - 2019/08 ER -


Elementary School Teacher Day
the third Monday in January
Do you remember your elementary school days? Is there a teacher you particularly liked, whose influence you carry with you until the present day? Elementary School Teacher Day is dedicated to all the teachers that help mold young minds during their formative years. It is a day to thank retired and current elementary school teachers for all they have done to help students.
Elementary schools are part of primary education, and they educate students from about the age of four to eleven, or from pre-kindergarten or kindergarten to fifth grade. Their focus is on socialization and basic academic skills, which are fundamentals that will help students throughout their lives. Most elementary school teachers have a bachelor's or master's degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and have classrooms with 20 to 30 students with diverse needs.
Elementary schools originally were synonymous with primary schools and went to grade eight. Following World War I, junior high schools came about, which educated students between their elementary and secondary school years. At that time, elementary schools usually educated students from the age of kindergarten through sixth grade. In the 1960s, a shift from junior high schools to middle schools began, and sixth grade began being included in middle schools. Since then, elementary schools have usually gone through fifth grade.
How to Observe Elementary School Teacher Day
Celebrate the day by thanking elementary school teachers for the work they do preparing young minds for their future. Perhaps there is an elementary school teacher you had while growing up that you are particularly fond of that you could reach out to today. Or maybe you have children who are of elementary school age right now and could thank their teachers for the help they do in educating your children. Perhaps your child could even bring them a gift out of appreciation.


There are great regional differences in educational attainment in India. Some states like: Kerala , Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal have higher literacy rates. While states like: Bihar Rajasthan UP (Uttar Pradesh) Arunachal Pradesh has low literacy rates. This is due to inequalities in income and wealth on a large scale and lack of investment by the Government on education.
1. The people of these states give less importance to education and are mainly employed in the agricultural sector or informal sector that has very little to do with education.
2. The people among these states suffer due to lack of proper incentives for educational development.
3. The Government focuses more on metropolitan cities rather than the rural backward areas.
4. Availability of resources In India there are wide disparities in states in terms of availability of resources, availability of schools, colleges, and awareness for education, etc. Hence this is also one of the reasons responsible for the present regional differences in educational attainment.
5. Lack of proper implementation of Government policies. In some of the states of India either the benefits of Government policies on education do not reach or if they reach, there is lack of proper implementation. Consequently, the children of these states are deprived of even elementary education


Morphology, phonology and literacy in primary years: Evidence from eye-movements and dynamic assessments.
Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science
Sara Whylie (PhD student), Helen Breadmore (DoS), Anna Cunningham (supervisor), Clare Wood (supervisor)
My PhD research investigates the role of morphological awareness in the literacy development of budding readers. The project will take a closer look at the developmental trajectory of morphological awareness development, as it relates to other literacy skills by testing three different age groups within primary years. Specifically, I am studying the following research questions:
- How does morphological awareness in language relate to the development of later literacy skills?
- How do young readers use (or not) morphology in reading?
- Do implicit measures of morphological awareness (using the eye-tracker) relate to explicit measures (using dynamic assessment)?
Morphological awareness here refers to the awareness of and ability to manipulate the smallest units of meaning within words. Its importance has been supported for several skills including reading comprehension and vocabulary. By studying morphological awareness in very young learners longitudinally, and at a critical period of their introduction to formal instruction, we hope to gain insights into the role of morphological awareness in literacy development. A further aspect of the project investigates how the older primary age child might use morphological awareness in reading. This allows us to elucidate the role of morphological awareness across literacy development from pre-readers to up-and-coming readers.
Alongside traditional assessments, several novel tests have been created. Dynamic assessment of morphological awareness provides unique understanding of the learning potential of younger children, while eye-tracking may uncover implicit morphological awareness. A separate eye-tracking task for older readers will investigate the cognitive process of decoding words by analysing their constituent parts.


Exploring the arts and literacy in curriculum: A cross-cultural comparison of Australia, Canada and France
No Thumbnail Available
Art Education Australia
This paper explores the relationship between the arts and literacy in schools in three countries: Australia, Canada and France. It begins by sharing research that has investigated how literacy education has impacted on arts education but also relating to the unique literacies present throughout the arts. The authors then present information related to the arts and literacy in each of their prospective curriculums. This is then followed by a personal reflection on their own experiences related to the arts and literacy in schools. The paper summarises these observations by theorising ways in which the partnership between the arts and literacy be improved particularly in terms of perceptions of the arts and literacy education. We argue that provision of quality arts education is crucial if we are to address the policy rhetoric as well as approach learning holistically for children and young people.
Art education , Literacy , Critical pedagogy--philosophy , Art--Study and teaching
Barton, G., Lemieux, A., & Chabanne, J. C. (2018). Exploring the arts and literacy in curriculum: A cross-cultural comparison of Australia, Canada and France. Australian Art Education, 39(1), 50-68.


Unique Literacy Curricula
Unique Literacy Curricula
Explicit Phonics Instruction
Students enrolled at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy immerse themselves in a unique and explicit approach to phonics. NOCA is the only school in northwest Ohio to implement the Access Literacy program. All of NOCA’s teachers are specially trained in Access Literacy instructional practices where students learn to hear the phonogram, say the phonogram and then spell the phonogram. In total, students in the primary years memorize 72 phonograms and 47 spelling rules that help them to encode, recode and decode the English language. As students’ progress through the curriculum, they learn to complete markings that correspond to the phonograms’ order of sound activation. Students practice marking phonograms through the use of orthography reading using punctuation and so by watching teachers model oral the oral reading of literature.
Students at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy learn a structured way to develop spatial awareness and fine motor skills as they craft manuscript letters in the early years. Soon after mastery in manuscript writing, students learn how to write in cursive. As students build language skills, they develop strong spelling, dictation, and composition abilities. Students begin with basic sentence constructs and delve into more complex forms of writing.
Spelling instruction at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy follows a prescribed sequence of multi-sensory lessons known as orthography. Students become experts in using syllabication, pronunciation, and letter markings of challenging word lists.
Perhaps, one of the more unique aspects to the curriculum offered at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy is NOCA’s commitment to instruction in formal grammar. Students practice mastering traditional grammar rules of the English language. In the upper elementary grades, students begin diagramming sentences which leads them to a better understanding of sentence structure, increased comprehension, and students becoming better writers. Mastery of grammar is pivotal to students’ later study of Latin.
Students at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy are exposed to a plethora of classic texts that echo the school’s mission and commitment to forming virtuous citizens. Stories and characters that students encounter embody courage, kindness, curiosity, moderation, prudence, and honesty. Students engage in thoughtful discussions facilitated by the teacher that lead them to the pursuit of what is good, true and beautiful.
Poetry and Recitations
Students in all grades read and memorize poems and speeches authored by various writers throughout history that have withstood the test of time. The reflections and ideas presented in these works speak to the very soul of man and offer wisdom, truth, and inspiration. Students practice honing their memory skills, public speaking, and power of persuasion by delivering recitations of select pieces.


What does a 'literacy rich' environment for young children look like?
Children who are regularly exposed to a variety of quality children's books, whether they are from the library, garage sales, stores, gifts, or hand-me-downs, are more likely to become readers. Children who are stimulated by lots of talking, singing, rhymes and songs are more likely to thrive. Children benefit from using paper, crayons, paints and markers, since the development of drawing and writing supports reading. Many daily experiences also nurture literacy development. For example, talk about and share with your child alphabet letters, grocery lists, cereal boxes, recipes, puppet shows, library visits, make-believe activities, letters from relatives, books, newspapers, and magazines. Children who have adults and older children in their lives who enjoy reading themselves are especially fortunate. Plan to have fun!