Initiative For Ceramic Education
The Seattle Initiative
At the 2012 Seattle NCECA conference k12clay established this initiative to support the teachers and students who want help finding links to numerous interdisciplinary resources in ceramics. We further agreed to gather resources for making the case for clay in education.
1. Collect and make available exemplary Lesson Plans with documentation, and
resources that can also connect to core subjects and state standards.
2. Design and create a clearinghouse for Resources for the ceramic art teacher
including links to websites, PDFs, images, museums, potteries, galleries and local
artists to support teaching practice.
3. Provide established Safety guidelines for teaching ceramics in a K-12 setting.
4. Solicit, collect, and publish, funding resources for ceramic arts projects and local
support groups with people to turn to locally.
5. Connect our website to journals, organizations, social media, universities, colleges, craft groups, arts
organizations, industrial ceramics corporations, education and charitable foundations, museums and craft
6. Establish an organized site as a place where ideas and resources for ceramic
arts research can connect or find support.
7. Establish an international Bibliography of ceramic art education research.
8. Collect research establishing connections between ceramics and improvement in reading.
9. Collect research that establishes connections between ceramics and improvement in
other areas of the school curriculum including examples of benefits of using ceramics in education from a
variety of sources.
10. Establish the k12clay.org website as a unified "go to" starting point for ceramic arts teachers or for advocacy
of education in the ceramic arts.
This initiative was accepted by the Foundation as the final third of our mission, including the exhibition and scholarship. We include it here as a public offering and a statement of our intent to work toward the creation of these resources.
We welcome replies. Please send to our Teaching Ceramics Committee,
chaired by teacher/potter Nicole Dubrow of Black Sheep Pottery


Foundational skills are those skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and ESL (English as a Second Language), as well as learning and study skills, which are necessary for students to succeed in college-level work. At Shasta College, this also includes GED and GED prep courses.
Have you always thought about college but felt like you weren’t prepared? Don’t feel that you are alone. Many students show up at Shasta College needing to boost their skills. Shasta College offers courses that will bring you “up to speed.” Many of these courses are under the Foundational Skills program.
Student Success Workshops
Shasta College offers a wide variety of Student Success workshops to help students with study and computer skills of all types. Workshops include ones on memory improvement, specific applications like PowerPoint, and APA format. To see the current schedule of Student Success workshops, please click here.
We offer courses that start at a very basic reading level and move all the way up through college level writing. Students at all levels will find an appropriate class. A student with the desire to succeed can make significant progress through these courses. Instructional aides are available to support students in these classes. The Writing Center is also a free resource for students needing help in these areas.
Foundational Skills offers courses that start with basic arithmetic and move you through basic algebra and on to college level math. Students of all levels will find an appropriate math class. These courses are supported with free help in our Math and Business Learning Center.
How well student services and instruction are integrated has been shown to be a major factor in a student's probability for success. When you participate in Student Development courses you will learn about services available to you on campus and develop strengths in:
• Career exploration
• Decision making
• Study skills
• Strategies to be more successful in your future courses.
You will have the opportunity to be in a class with other students who have the same concerns, thus providing you with mutual support and the sharing of information and resources.
Shasta College offers computer courses for students that have never used a computer and also more advanced courses for those with some experience. The Business/Math Learning Center offers free help for these courses.
Shasta College offers many opportunities to learn English. Depending on how much English you know and your goals, there is a program of English just right for you! If you have never studied English or if you do not understand English well, it is necessary for you to take ESL classes in the “non-academic” program. If you have already studied English and plan to take college classes, you may be eligible for academic ESL courses. These courses can enhance your success in college.
• ESL Office (Main Campus) – Schedule one on one tutoring.
• Workshops to help you understand class assignments provided by the ESL Department and the Writing Center.
• Business/Math Learning Center: Drop in tutoring and small group tutoring for math and computer courses.
• Science Learning Center: Drop in tutoring for science courses.
• Writing Center: Tutoring and assistance with your writing skills.


Date of Award
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
The recognition, development, and implementation of appropriate curricula for infants and toddlers has been receiving increased attention recently in education research. As the population of early childcare classrooms becomes increasingly diverse, many factors affecting language development are in need of further investigation in order for educators to better meet the individual needs of the child. This paper examines the implications of a play-based, early childhood curriculum on language development for those children exposed to languages other than English. Through an ethnographic case study approach, this study aims to provide a detailed look at the effects of curricula on language acquisition, while examining literacy development for multilingual children in educare environments. The findings of this study point to relevant suggestions for consideration as to the structural and systemic changes that can be made to facilitate the nurturing and educational goals of the children, educarers, and parents indiverse Canadian educare settings.
Mangoff, Lena, "The effects of an infant/toddler curriculum on literacy development for multilingual children" (2007). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3913.


Who We Are
AquaAid International works with community partners to design and implement culturally appropriate, result bearing, and cost-effective water and sanitation projects.
Our mission is simple: clean water for everyone, no exceptions.
It all started when Sophie and Simon worked on a yacht that set anchor off the coast of Bahia Honda, Panama. Sophie and Simon met a single father with two little girls looking to trade coconuts for fishing hooks. Previously, the girls were not able to attend school because it took them almost a day’s travel to another island to get clean drinking water. After a new pipeline supplying clean drinking water was constructed, the girls were free to attend school for the first time. They were delighted to be future students even though they only had one pencil between them. Sophie was impacted by this event and returned to the US to read all she could about water, sanitation, and the environment.
Simon tells Sophie about the village of Karahola, Nicaragua where his family lives that still does not have access to clean drinking water. In Nicaragua, Simon and Sophie established a field team and began collaborating with the local water and sanitation committee to design the most appropriate water project.
AquaAid believes no two communities are the same, therefore no two water and sanitation projects should be the same. There is no one size fits all development solution. Each project is designed alongside the community to address community specific water and sanitation goals. All projects include a comprehensive education program to provide the community and children with basic knowledge of water and sanitation. Young rural populations are the focus of AquaAid's education program, as a result of their potential within their community and country. In Karahola, Nicaragua to implement the concepts of basic sanitation AquaAid developed a primary school curriculum to teach concepts of hand-washing, safe hygiene practices, the importance of clean drinking water, and water in the environment. To engage the children we designed water and sanitation coloring books, sing hand-washing songs, and play a variety of games such as modified duck-duck goose with glitter on the student’s hands to demonstrate disease transmission.
Completed Projects 2014
12° 51' 34.743" N
-84° 22' 50.6784" W
800+ people with sustainable access to clean drinking water
300+ kids taught about water, sanitation, and the environment
Upcoming Projects 2015
12° 50' 15.666" N
-84° 29' 35.2242" W
Build 25 Latrines
600 People with Clean Water
Teach 200 kids
AquaAid is working toward a future where everyone has access to clean water and basic sanitation. Join us!
Support Us With Funds
We made an audacious promise to the general public, 100% of our public donations go directly to fund water and sanitation projects.
$10.00 = 2 Coloring Books
$50.00 = 1 Filter
$250.00 = 1 Latrine
AquaAid is a 501(c)(3)
Buy a Tee!
Price: $17/shirt + $4 shipping
Sophie Hollingsworth, Founder
Born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Sophie studies global public health and environmental science at New York University. Sophie loves all things water: whether helping to bring those in need clean drinking water, sailing, diving, or studying water resources, she is a water girl. As the Founder and Director of Operations Sophie oversees all aspects of AquaAid International in the USA and Nicaragua.
Jose Simon Gonzalez Espinoza,
Director of Field Operations
From Juigapla, Nicaragua, Simon spent the majority of his life working on farms throughout Nicaragua. Simon works closely between the field and the USA staff to collaborate on basic sanitation education curriculum and water implementation logistics. As proud father of five children Simon strives to provide his children and the children of Nicaragua a brighter future.
Christopher Lumbi Gutiérrez Water Specialist
The Gonzales Mareneco Family Project Manager's
Daysi Gudiel Espinoza Education Program Advisor
Derek Steffens - Field Strategist
Sandy Arthur - Creative Director
Alex Espinoza - Technical Operations
Hear what the Press is saying


“Super Agers” Hold Genetic Keys to Longevity
As the nation’s senior population soars due to the aging of baby boomers, researchers are delving deeper into questions surrounding the genetics of longevity—specifically, what traits do healthy, active centenarians have in common?
That was the question researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University asked themselves when they embarked on the Longevity Genes Project more than a decade ago. The trial began in 1998 as a study of healthy seniors between the ages of 95 and 112. Since then, it has grown to include more than 500 centenarians and near-centenarians and more than 700 of their children.
The research, now called the LonGenity study, is directed by Nir Barzilai, MD, a professor of genetics and medicine and director of the Institute for Aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His work is the focus of a newly launched Web site, SuperAgers.com.
Along with results of the trial, the site features inspiring stories of 4 seniors—Lilly Port (96), Harold Laufman (98), Irma Daniel (103), and Irving Kahn (104)—who have followed their passions well into their 90s and beyond.
“The goal of the Longevity Genes Project is to understand how centenarians live so long,” Dr. Barzilai said. “What is it in their genetic makeup that allows them to get to this age and remain healthy?” Dr. Barzilai and his team highlighted major discoveries their research has yielded, including:
• The identification of at least 3 genes thought to promote longevity
• Evidence that longevity is inherited from generation to generation
• The finding that those with exceptional longevity are more likely to have high levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol
They hope these and other findings from the study will lead to new drug therapies that mimic the benefits of protective genes. “I hope that in our lifetime, we will be able to use medicine in order to prevent age-related diseases,” Dr. Barzilai said. “The results of this research can be directly translated into the development of a drug.”
Unfortunately, a simple pill to delay the onset of aging is not yet an option, and likely won’t be for the millions of baby boomers just entering their 60s. In the meantime, study participant Irma Daniel offers pragmatic advice on the topic of aging gracefully: “Work! It’s the best thing for not getting old.”
Experts Take Aim at Subpar Rx Drug Labels
Prescription container labels are long overdue for a patient-friendly makeover, and it may happen sooner rather than later. Experts from the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) are pushing for changes to the design and content of drug labels, which they argue are a major source of patient misunderstanding, nonadherence, and medication errors.
According to USP, 46% of patients have misunderstood dosage instructions and 56% have misunderstood auxiliary warnings. The problem is exacerbated by low health literacy, which drastically increases a patient’s chances of misreading a label. The content of prescription labels and instructional materials also varies widely, even among prescriptions for the same drug.
The USP report cites a “lack of universal standards” as the primary driver of these inconsistencies, and puts forth a list of recommendations that could be incorporated into state laws, regulations, and guidelines. The report also calls for more scientific research to identify the key components of a successful prescription label.
One change that USP analysts said would improve understanding is to make dosing instructions more explicit. For example, instead of reading “Take 2 tablets twice daily,” labels should read, “Take 2 tablets in the morning and 2 tablets in the evening.” Instructions for hourly dosing intervals—such as “every 12 hours”— could be challenging for patients with limited numeracy skills, and should be avoided.
The ideal patient-centered label should serve as a primary source of information, standing in for the pharmacist and physician when neither is available for counseling. “Although other written information and oral counseling sometimes may be available,” the report stated, “the prescription container label must fulfill the professional obligations of the prescriber and pharmacist.”
USP is currently seeking feedback from pharmacists on the newly proposed guidelines. Comments should be submitted to 17PrescriptionContainerLabeling@usp.org by the deadline of March 31, 2011.


For many teachers finding a valid way to assess
a student's writing is a difficult task. A collection of the students writing showcased in a portfolio is one
way that a teacher can use to determine the progress of the student's writing skills.
This website was created for Elementary Education teachers that are
trying to decide if they want to institute writing portfolios in their classes.
The three key elements needed for successful portfolio writing in
an elementary classroom are:
I. Teachers directions should be clear, specific, and include the assessment rubric
prior to starting the portfolio.
II. Students should reflect on their experience of choosing the pieces that they
III. Make it enjoyable for the students or they will not want to write.


Ellis, Sue and Safford, Kimberly eds. (2005). Animating Literacy: Inspiring children’s learning through teacher and artist partnerships. UK: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education and Creative Partnerships.
|Google Scholar:||Look up in Google Scholar|
Action research by teachers and artists provide a window on creative projects at work in classrooms from the Nursery to year 6, demonstrating how creative approaches to learning enhance pupils’ reading, writing, speaking and listening and how partnerships play a key role in teachers’ professional development. Contributions feature pupils’ own work and voices as well as reflections from practitioners.
Safford, K. and Barrs, M.(2007) Creating contexts for talk: the influence of school-based creative arts projects on children’s language National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE) English in Education Vol 41 No 2 pp 44-56 ISSN 0425-0494
Safford, K. and Barrs, M. (2005) Many routes to meaning: children’s language and literacy development in creative arts work London: CLPE/Creative Partnerships ISBN 1872267459
|Item Type:||Edited Book|
|Project Funding Details:||
|Keywords:||teacher action research; teacher-partist partnership; creativty; creative partnerships;|
|Academic Unit/Department:||Education and Language Studies > Education
Education and Language Studies
|Interdisciplinary Research Centre:||Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET)
|Depositing User:||Kimberly Safford|
|Date Deposited:||03 Feb 2009 01:52|
|Last Modified:||15 Jan 2016 09:26|
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Coleridge, Derwent (DNB00)
COLERIDGE, DERWENT (1800–1883), author, second son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge [q. v.], was born at Keswick 14 Sept. 1800. He was sent with his brother Hartley [q. v.] to be educated at a small school near Ambleside. The two brothers were in those days in continual intercourse with Southey and Wordsworth. Derwent was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, and here he formed intimate friendships, which lasted for life, with W. M. Praed, Macaulay, Moultrie, Sidney Walker, Charles Austin, and Bulwer. In the autumn of 1822 he joined them as a contributor to ‘Knight's Quarterly Magazine.’ His contributions, signed ‘Davenant Cecil,’ were mostly poetical. He proceeded B.A. 1824, and M.A. 1829. In 1825 he was ordained by Bishop Carey of Exeter; soon afterwards he was appointed master of the grammar school at Helston, Cornwall. One of his most distinguished pupils there was Charles Kingsley. While at Helston he published his largest work, ‘The Scriptural Character of the English Church’ (1839). He agrees with the conclusions which Mr. Gladstone supported in ‘Church Principles considered in their Results,’ published the following year, although Mr. Gladstone wrote as a pronounced high churchman, while Coleridge aimed at setting forth the views of his father on church and state. The avowal that he wished to be regarded as his father's disciple induced F. D. Maurice to dedicate to him his ‘Kingdom of Christ.’ Coleridge's book, though eloquent, missed popularity, perhaps on account of its impartiality. In 1841 he was appointed first principal of St. Mark's College, Chelsea, just established by the National Society. He held that post until 1864, and undoubtedly did much to shape the course of elementary education in England. He was a strong advocate of Latin in mental training, placing it altogether above mathematics or physical science. The study of languages was always a passion with him. Dean Stanley once declared him the most accomplished linguist in England. He could read Cervantes and Alfieri as easily as Racine and Schiller, and was well acquainted with Hungarian and Welsh poetry. Of the latter he was intensely fond. He could also read not only Arabic and Coptic, but Zulu and Hawaiian.
Under his guidance sacred music was made a large part of the training of the college students. Choral services were not known in 1841, except in cathedrals, and when one was established in St. Mark's College Chapel pilgrimages used to be made to hear the novelty, not only from all parts of London, but by country clergy. ‘The chapel service is the keystone of the arch,’ he wrote in an interesting letter to Archdeacon Sinclair, published in 1842. He published several pamphlets in the course of his principalship, all evidently inspired by the desire to place the education of the people in the hands of the church, though his view of the church itself and its doctrines was by no means a narrow one. His last publication on the subject was a manifesto against compulsory education and in favour of denominational schools.
His life of his brother Hartley, published in 1849, is a very well-written biography, and he also edited some of his father's works in conjunction with his sister [see under Coleridge, Samuel Taylor]. In 1864 the works of Praed appeared under his editorship, and with a memoir by him. In 1854 Bishop Blomfield offered him the living of Northolt, but he declined it. Ten years later he accepted from Bishop Tait the rectory of Hanwell. Finding the parish church a long way from the population, he set to work to build a new one in the midst of them, and it was consecrated on the last day of 1879, when he was in his eightieth year. His mind had lost none of its vigour when he resigned next year, but he had become subject to constant attacks of acute neuralgia, and he retired to Torquay, where he died on 28 March 1883. His wife, to whom he had been married for more than fifty-five years, survived him. He left a son and a daughter.
[Materials furnished by the family; Memoir of Hartley Coleridge; personal recollections.]


Last week we talked about developing fine motor skills through off horse activities. Today, we are going to discuss the other main motor skills: gross motor skills. Gross motor skills help us walk, throw, catch, and balance. These motor skills form the basis for fine motor skills so it is just as important to focus on gross motor skills as fine motor skills.
Luckily, the horse helps develop gross motor skills. The balance, posture, core strength and horse movement all positively impact gross motor skills. However, today is about developing those gross motor skills off the horse so let’s get to it!
As with the fine motor skill development, there are a ton of activities that help develop gross motor skills. Below are a few of my favorite suggestions, but you can adjust these however it works best for your situation.
- Not every center is lucky enough to have a labyrinth, but if you are, or if you can make one, I highly recommend it. Labyrinths are beneficial for mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. We will focus on the physical benefits. The continuous spiral into the center forces the rider to focus on his feet and requires a mind-body connection to stay on the path. The ability to move through a pattern without tripping or falling off the path helps work on balance and walking or running. You can repeat the pattern with the rider as often as you’d like, making it easier by stopping or more difficult by running through it.
- Follow the Leader
- This is a “Simon Says-esque” game that can be combined with an obstacle course, scavenger hunt, or whatever else works for your center. The point of the game is to get the rider(s) to follow in a single line through any movement. It can be snaking through a pasture or walking and stopping through a barn. It can get more difficult if you add obstacles, like climbing over a fallen tree or crossing a bridge on a sensory trail. The more difficult the obstacles get, the more gross motor skills will be required.
- Ball Toss
- You can either do this by having riders toss the ball back and forth to you, to each other, or into a bucket. All you need is something to toss! Have riders stand in a circle or across from each other/the bucket and throw the ball. The partner needs to catch the ball and toss it back. If riders are throwing into a bucket, retrieve the item and toss it back to the rider. Again, this activity can be easily scaled by making the item heavier or lighter, standing further apart, or adjusting the speed.
- Sing & Dance
- This is particularly fun for young riders, but I’ve had adults enjoy it as well. Pick a song with movement to it, like The Hokey Pokey or I’m a Little Teapot. Have the riders stand in a circle (or stand across from you if it’s just one) and sing and dance along to the song. The movements often require balance, like turning to the side and sticking out an arm or bending your body to the side. This is an entertaining way to work on gross motor skills.
I hope these sparked some ideas for you! What other activities would help develop gross motor skills? Let me know in the comments below!


Art is essential in educating you to see the world, she argues; it gives keys to understanding the world and one's own place in it. An excerpt which I think helps illustrate her point talks about the importance of music education in the development of emotional maturity in teenage boys:
Like life, musical passages contain highs and lows, fast and slows … musical vocabulary includes dissonance and resolution, tumult and sublimity, all emboldening a student in the process of making music to feel to his heart’s content within the security of a confined experience... By learning to orchestrate emotional content through so rigorous a structure, the student must learn to merge reason and emotions; otherwise, the resulting music will be cold and sterile, math without the poetry. Classical music is too mentally commanding to permit the flailing and screaming incited by rock n' roll, thus it forces young people to control their emotional output, offering them the experience of cathexis rather than catharsis. Also, because music deals with broad abstractions - triumph, defeat, love, loss - it allows a young person to personalize universals of the human condition, to feel on a grand scale both the hope and the hurt that necessarily accompany an individual life fully lived. For teenagers, in particular, it unlocks gateways to mature excursions into the ecstasy and the vulnerability of love, the headiness and the hazards of risk. Often, once young people begin to understand the value of classical music, they turn to it in moments of emotional need to help them experience deep stirrings that may not make it to the surface of consciousness by themselves. Repressed boys, especially, can benefit immensely from music study.As another musician said, "Self-knowledge is a dangerous thing; the freedom of who you are." Read York's whole argument here.


The USA has the world’s largest international student population, with more than 1,000,000 students choosing to broaden their education and life experience in the United States. Nearly 5% of all students enrolled in higher-level education in the USA are international students, and the numbers are growing. From the mid-1950’s, when international student enrollment was only just reaching 35,000, international education in the USA has come a long way.
- The most prestigious, top ranked education globally
- Safe, friendly and politically stable country that welcomes international students
- University campuses are clean and safe
- Academic freedom is one of the hallmarks of US universities
- Multicultural population making it a very dynamic and exciting place to be
- Different perspectives on instruction that better prepares students for the real world
- Many opportunities to join planned and informal activities with other students, such as hiking, skiing, museum visits, excursions to new cities, social outings, etc
- Exposure to some of the most up-to-date developments in technology, as the USA is a global leader in this area
- Part time work permit for international students
- Flexibility in the education system
US colleges are known worldwide for the quality of their facilities, resources, and faculty. One of the most distinctive features of US universities and colleges is the choice of courses within a single institution. More importantly, students can move between one institution and another with relative ease. It is common to complete the first two years of a degree at one institution, usually a community college and then transfer to another to complete the degree.
The system comprises of 12 years of primary and high school education, which is mandatory for getting admission in any graduate college, university, or for any professional and technical schools. It is not compulsory to complete these 12 years of elementary education within United States. Therefore students from overseas are also welcomed for higher education in the US.
US higher education starts with undergraduate courses. You can earn either a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor’s degree. Students often earn an associate degree first, and then study two more years to gain a bachelor’s (or baccalaureate) degree. Usually, a bachelor’s degree will be awarded by a university, whereas an associate degree may be earned either at a community college or university.
Undergraduate degrees (and some master’s degrees) are awarded after a student completes a pre-determined number of courses. A student is awarded credits for the courses he or she takes, and the degree is complete when the student completes the required number of credits. This means that although most students complete bachelor’s degrees in four years, some spend longer if they take part-time classes or take time off from school.
Graduate degrees, often known as master’s degrees, require at least two years at a university after you complete your bachelor’s degree. These are often termed “advanced professional degrees,” as they tend to be aimed at specific professions. Graduate degrees are career-advancing degrees in subjects such as medicine, law, and management. For example, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) is the standard business graduate degree. Doctorates (PhDs) usually take four years to complete, and are research-based.


Under the Education Act, 1998, the Minister for Education and Science may set down the curriculum for recognised schools. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment was established as a statutory body in July 2001 and its function is to advise the Minister of Education and Science in matters relating to the curriculum for early childhood education, primary and post-primary schools, and the assessment procedures employed in schools and examinations on subjects that are part of the curriculum. This includes the subjects to be offered, the syllabus for each subject and the guidance and counselling provision to be offered.
There are guidelines on the time to be allocated to each of the curriculum areas.
The aims of the curriculum are to ensure that all children are provided with learning opportunities that recognise and celebrate their uniqueness, develop their full potential and prepare them to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The focus is on the child as learner, and the use of a variety of teaching methodologies is an essential feature of the curriculum.
The curriculum aims to foster the development of key skills in communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, inquiry, investigation and analysis, and social and personal awareness and interaction. In particular, it places key emphasis on the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills.
Each curriculum statement contains the rationale, aims, objectives, structured content and assessment approaches for each of the 4 class levels: infants; first and second; third and fourth and fifth and sixth. The teacher guidelines are designed to provide resource material to support teaching and learning.
Every teacher has received a copy of the full set of documents. The full set or individual documents can be purchased from the Government Publications Sales Office or downloaded from the NCCA’s website.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has prepared a guide for parents that provides an outline of the broad content and emphases in the curriculum, as well as advice on how parents can support teaching and learning at home and in school.


Combining reading and crafting? Bam.
A match made in heaven.
Sure, good ole free play and open-ended art is awesome, but some days, an Art Activity book is a super way of sneaking in some reading for kids. And the ‘art’ of reading informational text to follow directions and to use drawings and diagrams to support the reading are foundational skills in nearly every grade level of the Common Core State Standards.
Reading informational texts is something covered in some way almost every year in the English Language Arts Standards. As parents, let’s do what we can to support our kids’ learning from home.
It’s a win-win-WIN.
Maddy rocked out the informational text reading this week with the help of Melissa & Doug’s Craft and Create Mixed Metal Jewelry set. And she’s loving her new jewels.
Here’s the skinny. . .
- Reading Informational Text and Crafting– Easy, Beautiful Jewelry-Making:
I knew that Maddy would love this Mixed Metal Jewelry Set, because right now she’s totally into accessories and jewelry. And she’s also into doing things independently.
And she really did love it.
She took off from the start, opening the set and reading and following the directions. She began by setting out all of the pieces. And then she started with the Layered Earrings.
We chatted along the way, checking out a few different design options and deciding on the silver-bronze-silver graduated layered discs. Love it!
She made these adorable earrings! Aren’t they to die for?
Next she moved onto the braided bracelet.
As she read, she used the photographs and diagrams to help her more clearly understand the steps.
Especially when it came to the four-strand braid, she used both the diagram and text. I held one side of the bracelet as she braided, and I totally learned something new!
I have never in my life braided with four strands, but Maddy figured it out and explained it to me as she went. Super real-life application of an important reading skill–and Common Core State Standard.
Her bracelet turned out so awesome.
And not only did we learn how to do the four-strand braid, but we also learned some cool, new ways of tying off bracelets, combining strands, and connecting the mixed-metal washers and rings.
I really think this is only the beginning.
Maddy so loved jewelry-making that we’re heading to the craft store for some mixed metal pieces this weekend. Though the set comes with plenty of pieces, Maddy was busy and included a handful of pieces in each one she made.
It will be so awesome to see her apply her new skills to the other pieces we purchase at the store. She felt great about what she made and looks forward to making more. Love. It.
In my opinion, there’s nothing better than this! It’s real-life and purposeful informative text reading at its finest!
fyi: I wrote this post as part of the Melissa & Doug Blog Ambassador program. Melissa & Doug has long created rockstar products that nurture creativity and thought in our children, which is why I am so proud to be a part of this program.
As always, my opinions and ideas are my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.


How important is proper breathing when it comes to playing music and singing? Very! For singers, especially, learning how to control your breathing helps with your tone, your vocal power, and your phrasing. Read on as Portland music teacher Bonnie M. explains the 3 simple steps to keep in mind…
If you’re an instrumentalist, how comfortable are you with considering your breath while playing? When you watch an orchestra begin to play, you will notice the Concertmaster’s bow indicate the upbeat at the same time he or she shows an exaggerated breath. This communicates to the orchestra the time of that first measure. The next time you sit down at your piano, and hear the beginning tempo of your piece, take a breath in time as you start your practice session. At the next phrase, do the same, and listen as the music becomes more alive. Please, don’t hold your breath between phrases though!
If you’re a vocalist, you’ll already know that you can’t makes sounds if you don’t breathe. Your breath gives shape to the phrase, and sometimes as a beginner your breath can feel as if it restricts your phrasing. Let’s break down the process:
The lungs fill with air drawn in by the diaphragm. Silence and relaxation are key, as few things disrupt the mood of your song more than a sudden *GASP* between phrases! When the vocal folds are tense, the inhalation of the breath creates that ugly sound. If you’re having difficulty finding enough breath, imagine buckling on a belt of noses around your waist. All those noses are breathing for you, helping you expand all the way around your belly. (Another hint: breathing through your nose is always quiet!)
For a singer, the release of air is carefully rationed to sustain a phrase until the end. I often imagine a feather in front of my mouth, and in my breathing exercises I blow just strong enough to keep the feather uplifted, but not so strong that the feather is blown away from my face.
The easiest thing to forget when you’re focused on singing to the end of that long phrase: the best way to end that note is to breathe IN again. Don’t just let the sound stop by tensing up – gently let your diaphragm fill your lungs once more and that note will end softly, instead of harshly. If you want to go a step further, consider the next word you sing and allow your mouth to form its first vowel while you breathe in again. Then you’re doubly prepared for your next entrance.
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Bonnie M. teaches piano, singing, flute, music theory and opera voice lessons to students of all ages in Portland, OR. She joined the TakeLessons team in November 2012, with a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Education from Willamette University. Learn more about Bonnie, or search for a teacher near you!
Photo by Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson


If your little puppy takes to water like a guppy, it may be time to sign up for swim classes. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), swimming instruction definitely isn’t a must-do by toddlerhood — and it isn’t for every tot, either, so don’t force the issue. But if your sweetie seems ready for splashing in something bigger than the bath, there’s no reason to postpone learning to swim. In fact, some evidence suggests that children over age one may be less likely to drown if they’ve had formal swimming lessons — definitely a compelling case for signing up your munchkin sooner than later.
How will you know if the time is right? If your child is good at following directions, physically coordinated so he can kick and paddle at the same time, and emotionally ready (read: not afraid of the water), all swim signs point to go. In that case, look for a swimming-readiness program that’ll teach him the basic moves — how to float, for instance, and dog paddle. Look for small classes (fewer than six students) with instructors who are certified in CPR, first aid, and water safety.
A few more swim class considerations:
- For little ones six-months to age three, seek parent-and-child aquatics classes (most local community centers offer one) led by trained professionals who teach water entry and exit, bubble blowing, front kicking, and back floating. They should also provide water-safety instruction for you.
- For swimmers ages three and four, you can try programs that hold classes for kids both with and without parents. Try to find one that focuses on safe pool behavior as well as paddling and kicking.
- For four- and five-year-olds who are already accustomed to water, consider classes that run up to 30 minutes over an eight- to ten-week period so kids can build on foundational skills and eventually move on to coordinating movement of the arms and legs.
The most important lesson about swim classes: They don’t protect a child from drowning, and they’re never a substitute for constant adult supervision in the water. Parents should always remain within arm’s distance when a child is near or in a body of water. Also note a substitute for that all-important supervision: floaties, water wings, or inner tubes. While these swimming aids are fine if you’re in the water right next to your tot, they can’t be counted on to keep her safe.
3 More Things to Read:


Online elementary education degrees from accredited universities and schools.
What is Elementary Education?
Elementary education normally involves the teaching of children in kindergarten through grade 5 or 6, depending on locality. Beyond the obvious task of providing students with instruction in the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, a teacher performs many additional important functions. This includes developing and employing curriculums that will provide students with knowledge and information that will help build them mentally, physically and spiritually. It includes the ability to understand and interact with students in ways that will provide encouragement, draw out their talents, reward them for their work, motivate them to achieve and at times provide comfort, a feeling of being loved, or just a listening ear. At the same time, it can involve patience in dealing with unruly or uncooperative students. As with any occupation, it can entail considerable self-sacrifice and long hours.
Elementary Education Degrees
In general, educators on the Kindergarten and Elementary school level are required by states to complete an approved teacher education program, be licensed and have a bachelor’s degree. However, many states offer alternative licensing programs to attract teachers for positions that are hard to fill. Most states require continuing education for renewal of a teacher’s license.
Job Opportunities with an Elementary Education degree.
Job opportunities for teachers of Kindergarten and Elementary school are expected to grow as fast as the average for all occupations. The Department of Labor also indicates, “fast-growing states in the West particularly California, Idaho, Hawaii, Alaska, Utah, and New Mexico will experience the largest enrollment increases. Enrollments in the South will increase at a more modest rate than in recent years, while those in the Northeast and Midwest are expected to hold relatively steady or decline. Teachers who are geographically mobile and who obtain licensure in more than one subject should have a distinct advantage in finding a job.”


"One-size-fits-all phonics lessons," Karin Dahl and her coauthors assert, "may be too big for some students, too short in the sleeves for others." Before children can make sense of phonics study, they first must learn that print conveys meaning. Children who do not have this foundation concept may do phonics workbook pages, but without understanding or processing the concepts. That's why - unlike books on traditional phonics teaching - Rethinking Phonics emphasizes the making of sound instructional decisions based on the unique needs of individual students. And because children learn many concepts as they read and write each day, it concentrates on phonics-in-context, rather than on traditional, stand-alone phonics. In short, it explains embedded phonics instruction: what it is, how it works, and how to do it. Since a critical component of phonics instruction is selecting the most appropriate lessons - for whole-group, small-group, or individual settings - Rethinking Phonics presents a variety of proven-effective activities that teachers can use. These activities, along with other examples, come from an in-depth study of highly successful phonics instruction in eight exemplary first-grade classrooms. The classrooms' nine master teachers describe the decisions they made before, during, and after shared reading from big books, charted stories and songs, quality children's literature, writing demonstrations, writing conferences, word study, and project work. Each chapter provides valuable insight into teachers' decisions to plan phonics instruction based on their students' specific needs, rather than on the old skill-and-drill routines. The book reveals six basic principles for effective phonics instruction, explores the vital role of assessment in making instructional decisions, and devotes a chapter on how to help children who struggle with phonics and reading.
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Rent Rethinking Phonics 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Karin L. Dahl. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Heinemann.


Hardly a day goes by where some science activities are not taking place in our house. I love presenting science projects and activities to the kids at home in order to provide them with opportunities to explore the world around them and pique their curiosity. (You can find all our science experiments and explorations here.)
Quite a few times over the last year our science learning focused on the sense of sound. We’ve explored sound by conducing an experiment, creating our own instrument, and taking a walk in our neighborhood! I’ve listed these activities below. Just click on the title above each picture to learn more about it! (Be sure to link up your posts about any or all of the five senses at the end of this post!)
You can also find more science fun on my Science for Kids Pinterest Board.
We’d love for you to share how you
Discover and Explore: The Five Senses!
September 25– Pumpkins
October 2– Community Helpers
October 9– Halloween
October 16– Dinosaur & Fossil Fun
October 23– Creating with Natural Materials
Please read the following guidelines for sharing:
- Share family-friendly posts related to the weekly topic — kids activities, crafts, recipes, nature outings, printables, etc.
- By linking up, you are giving me permission to share your post including one photo in our weekly feature post and on social media channels.
- Visit 2-3 other posts that have linked up, find some new ideas & meet new friends!
- If you’d like, grab a button for your post — we love to share and want to find lots of great activities to highlight for you!
The linky will remain open for one week. Then all five co-hosts will feature activities in a separate post the Friday after the linky closes. All featured posts will be shared on the Discover and Explore Pinterest Board. (Be sure to follow so you don’t miss any features!)
Don’t forget to follow all my amazing co-hosts to see what they’re sharing this week!


The lack of professional teachers ranks first among all the challenges facing rural education programs. Our township has few community school and there is lack of fine teachers. Due to the lack of teachers some schools could not let the students learn from them.
Many schools need teachers to lead the classes in different subjects. According to recent statistics by Ministry of education, rural schools are suffering incredibly than urban schools. The big difference in education between urban and rural areas stems from the policy on the number of teachers.
Based on the standard, the number of teachers is determined by the number of students. Where there are more students, particularly in urban areas, there are more teachers. The policy has contributed to the incomplete education of rural schools.
The shortage of available funds is another big challenge, and is most sever in rural places. The limited funds are mostly spent on necessary teaching materials. Whatever money is left over is often used or invested in related field. Now the quality of art education mainly depends on parents rather than schooling. Urban parents enroll their children in outside institutions to learn, this is nearly impossible for rural children due to their poor economic conditions.
The absence of education in rural areas widened the urban-rural gap. This will ultimately hurt the fundamental interests of rural children and undermine their overall competence.


11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Year Listed: 1990, 1991
Location: St. Helena Island, South Carolina
The historic buildings at the Penn Center are located on 50 rural acres along the Sea Island coast in Beaufort County, South Carolina. This site of 17 original buildings was one of the first locations of a school for formerly enslaved Africans, built in 1862. The campus consists of multiple-use facilities, including a museum, an archives, an administrative building, a maintenance shed, an early childhood learning center, and seven other buildings for use by the public for meetings or overnight accommodations. The majority of the buildings are wooden structures that face deterioration from age and weather. Conditions range from water damage to roof areas and interior spaces, to rotted siding, inadequate or antiquated HVAC systems, lack of security/fire suppression systems, termite damage, inadequate alterations for handicap accessibility, poorly constructed roadways that have not been upgraded to accept current traffic, damaged and diseased 100-year old oak trees surrounding the campus.


Following on from my previous posting, I want to consider what the implications are for what our eyes are doing when we are learning to read?
Certainly, because the span of fixations are more limited, the beginning reader needs more fixations and saccades to hold text in foveal view. This and the fact that publishers increase font size may, the authors speculate, lead beginning readers to look at the initial letters in a word and to guess. Of course, as we are well aware, many teachers promoting multi-cueing techniques reinforce this tendency by asking young children to look at the first letter or the accompanying illustrations and to guess what word might come next.
Such a strategy may seem to offer a quick solution, especially if a word is guessed correctly. However, this is rarely the case! Multi-cueing must always collapse back into a whole language approach, which, to paraphrase Diane McGuinness, promises everything and delivers nothing’*.
On the other hand, in their research article ‘Literacy Development: Insights from Research on Skilled Reading’, Jane Ashby and Keith Rayner insist that by attending carefully to the detail of words and linking print to sound, a child is embedding and anticipating advances in later reading development. After all, it is the internal details, the complexities of the spellings of many of the vowel sounds, that are fundamental to successful decoding. The corollary of this is that it is vitally important to teach beginning readers using high quality phonics programmes because children who can recode spellings into speech sounds are able to match them to their oral/aural repertoire. This skill is also an indispensable device in ‘generalizing the meaning of spoken words to written words [and] is a valuable self-teaching tool’.
In addition, being able to identify (read) words without having to resort to context has a number of crucial ramifications:
First, it helps to build high quality representations of word-specific sound-spelling correspondences.
Second, the ability to process text automatically enables a reader to apply themselves entirely and without distraction to such things as ambiguity of language, lexical choice, the ‘vagaries’ of plot construction, as well as the complexities of syntax and grammar in more challenging texts. As I have pointed out before in postings, if the cognitive load of decoding text is low, resources can be allocated to other, higher order skills.
Third, automatic word recognition (or decoding) also reduces the difference between reading and listening comprehension. In the beginning, readers’ listening comprehension skills vastly exceed their reading comprehension skills; yet, as decoding ability improves to the point of automaticity, the disparity between the two reduces to the point where written text is easily comprehensible.
Moreover, given how lexically impoverished everyday speech is in comparison with written language, reading will offer vastly more opportunities for learning new words than oral language alone can offer [cf Keith Stanovich’s ‘Measuring Print exposure’ in Progress in Understanding Reading].
Interestingly, the authors also point out that ‘[b]ooks with short words allow children to register all the letters in a word during a fixation’ (p.58), a contention which would lend strong support to the use, in the beginning stages of learning to read, of decodable readers containing short words.
However, the central message conveyed by Ashby and Rayner I will leave in their words:
“Instruction that develops a child’s ability to read unfamiliar words accurately (and familiar words quickly) will, by definition, build the efficient word-recognition processes that are necessary for text comprehension.”
Ashby, J. & Rayner, K., ‘Literacy Development: Insights from Research on Skilled Reading’, in Dickinson, D.K and Neuman, S., Eds, (2006), Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Vol 2, London, Guilford Press, pp 52-63
McGuinness, D., (2004), Early Reading Instruction, London, The MIT Press.


Over 100 ready-to-use projects for teaching math on the computer to grades 3-8.
Meet the Author
Beverly Burnley earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Harris Stowe Teachers College in St. Louis, Missouri. As a Title I teacher in the East St. Louis (Illinois) public schools, she has used models and representations to teach mathematics to gifted and remedial students in grades 1 through 6 for more than thirty-three years. While instructing entire classrooms in a computer lab environment, she created a unique teaching strategy that supports the math standards and increases students' computer proficiency levels.
Ms. Burnley has presented this strategy for professional development workshops at the St. Clair County (Illinois) Regional Office of Education and now describes it for teachers across the country in her new book, Hands-On Computer Activities for Teaching Math.
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If history is about change, few Lawrence institutions are as historic as Haskell Indian Nations University.
"What Haskell is about today is 180 degrees different from what it was about 120 years ago," said Dan Wildcat, a professor of American Indian studies at Haskell.
At first, Haskell Institute was about forced assimilation, or, as explained in some of the early literature, "the necessity of teaching Indian boys and girls to earn their living in ways similar to those adopted and utilized by their white neighbors."
In today's words, that meant stripping American Indian youngsters -- children already separated from their families -- of their cultures.
"It was extermination, cultural extermination," Wildcat said. "The idea was to use a system built of strict discipline to eliminate any and all vestiges of a student's native identity -- language, values, religion, their tribal beliefs.
"It was a complete immersion. Anyone caught speaking their native tongue was subject to corporal punishment."
Over time, Haskell's mission evolved. It went from being a boarding and trade school (1884-1930), to a vocational school (1931-1969) to a junior college in 1970.
In 1993, Haskell Indian Junior College made the switch to a four-year college, offering bachelor's degrees in elementary education. Five years later, it added degrees in American Indian studies, business administration and environmental studies. It also offers 14 two-year degrees.
Today, Haskell is keen on perpetuating, rather than exterminating, native cultures.
"A hundred years ago at Haskell, American history was taught within the context of the Indian being a problem," Wildcat said. "Today, it is taught in a way that emphasizes tribal values, that honors those values."
And instead punishing students for speaking their tribal languages, Haskell now offers courses on the Cherokee and Muskogee languages.
Since becoming a four-year college, Haskell's enrollment is capped at about 1,000 students.
Though Haskell officials hope to offer more baccalaureate degrees in the future, the university's growth is limited by its budget, almost all of which is allotted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a division within the U.S. Department of Interior.
Haskell's annual budget now stands at $9.1 million, plus $2.5 million to $5 million for facilities and maintenance. In recent years, increases have, at best, kept pace with inflation.
It's a trend that's likely to continue. In his fall convocation address, Dave Anderson, head of the BIA, warned students and faculty not to expect "growth" from the federal government.
Instead, Anderson, himself a member of the Chippewa and Choctaw tribes, encouraged the university to begin developing alternate sources of revenue.
"He is right about that," Wildcat said. "It will be a struggle, but for Haskell it has always been a struggle. We are used to it."


By Rudina Vojvoda
NEW YORK, 3 December 2012 – One in five young people aged 15 to 24 in 123 low- and middle-income countries has been left out of primary education and lacks skills for work. Of these people, the majority are young women.
The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report Youth and Skills: Putting Education to Work examines how skills-development programmes can be improved to boost young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better lives.
Podcast moderator Femi Oke discussed the report’s findings and the dynamics around gender and skills development with Director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report Pauline Rose.
Listen to the Podcast in Streaming MP3 Format
Unemployment, poverty – and inequality
The number of young people in the world has never been higher. In 2010, the population of those between the ages of 15 and 24 reached one billion. Many of these youth are not learning the necessary skills to become functional adults in their societies.
According to Ms. Rose, one in eight young people is without work. “Perhaps of even greater concern is that there are around one in four young people who are working for wages below the poverty line. And we identify that young women are much more likely to be in this situation, and that includes young women who have actually had some education,” she said.
Ms. Rose said that, while programmes such as BRAC in Bangladesh and Camfed in parts of Africa are addressing the needs of young women in the direst circumstances by providing basic skills training and assistance in setting up profitable businesses, these efforts are not enough. “These programmes are very important, but they are reaching too few young women and men who need the support of these programmes. They need to be radically scaled up by governments with the support of aid donors.”
Developing skills, and economic growth
Evidence shows that investing in young people’s skills development leads to economic growth and brings positive transformation. Ms. Rose highlighted two cases: “The Republic of Korea is a striking example of a country that invested in skills development and linked that with the country’s overall macroeconomic policy and strategy to make sure that young people were being provided with the skills that they need for the work place…[I]t went from being a low-income country 30 years ago to now being a high-income country, with a massive increase in economic growth…”
“…We contrast this with Ghana, which started out 30 years ago with a similar level of education and a similar level of economic growth to actually being stagnating both in education and growth.”
The report calls on governments to address the need to give young people who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills a second chance in education. It also calls on donors to allocate their funds to reach those who are most in need.
“We’re also working with young people to make sure that they are also able to put the word out there, to the ministries of education. Because, at the end of the day, it’s experiences of the young people who really matter and who actually can express the need and the importance of these issues far better than we can,” concluded Ms. Rose.


“A coach is a teacher’s teacher. A coach accepts, understands, and addresses the real needs of adult learners in specific schools with the same unfailing, relentless, positive energy that our very best classroom teachers bring to their work with children.”
—Walpole, M. & McKenna, S. (2013). The literacy coach’s handbook. New York: The Guilford Press.
Literacy How Mentors are subject matter experts who deliver professional development on each component of comprehensive literacy instruction. In their role as coaches, Mentors guide adult learners (i.e., teachers and administrators) on how best to translate and strategically implement their literacy knowledge in the classroom. Mentors embody Literacy How’s core values—Passion. Lifelong Learning. Professionalism. Collaboration. Empowerment. Accountability—as they coach adults towards instructional excellence.
Coaching Adult Learners
A teacher enters the classroom with a lifetime of theories and experiences around the purpose, possibility, and conveyance of elementary education. A coach must get inside each teacher’s head to size up predilections, prejudices, knowledge base, skill set, readiness to change, and the ability to do so, then come together to create a plan to empower change to happen. This challenging job description promises a huge payoff—research has shown that peer coaching is the key link in transferring knowledge to practice (Joyce and Showers, 2002).
- are supportive and non-evaluative.
- use insight and listening skills to influence the internal ideas that shape the external behaviors of teaching.
- build trust by maintaining confidentiality
“Joyce & Showers acknowledge that NO ONE will take the risks of growing in front of another person, or their advice and “coaching” unless they first have a relationship of mutual trust with that person. Mentoring provides that relationship within which effective coaching can lead to risk-taking and growth.”
- build team accountability by engaging administrators and appropriate staff.
Principals should respect coach-teacher confidentiality, support teachers’ growth, and require their accountability.
- are strategists, who can guide teachers to focus on having the greatest impact.
- celebrate small successes along the way, while reaching for measurable goals.
- understand that change takes time. Research on effective school change has found that it takes an average of 20 to 25 times of trying a new method or technique before it becomes natural (Joyce & Showers, 1988).
Cognitive Coaching Model
“Coaching is a strategy for implementing a professional support system for teachers, a system that includes research or theory, demonstration, practice, and feedback.”
—Walpole, M. & McKenna, S. (2008). The literacy coaching challenge: Models and methods for grades K-8. New York: The Guilford Press.
The research-based Cognitive Coaching model, developed by Arthur L. Costa and Bob Garmston, assumes that people are capable of change. It asserts that teaching cannot be reduced to a recipe or formula, but that classroom performance is based on internal, invisible skills, the thought processes that drive the overt skill of teaching.
Literacy How mentors continuously use this four-step coaching process to refine teaching behaviors and increase effectiveness:
“In order to make true change in teacher practice, coaches must implement the coaching cycle fully and guide teachers through the gradual release of responsibility.”
—Christine Cohen, Literacy How Mentor
Resources and References
- Cherniss, C. (1978). The consultation readiness scale: An attempt to improve consultation practice. American Journal of Community Psychology 6, 15-21.
- Costa, A. & Garmston, R. (2002). Cognitive coaching. 2nd edition. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers.
- Ellison, J. & Hayes, C. (2003). Cognitive coaching. Weaving threads of learning and change into the culture of an organization. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers.
- Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (2002). Student achievement through staff development. 3rd edition. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
- Hasbrouk, J. & Denton, C. (2005). The reading coach. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
- Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
- Walpole, S. & Blamey, K. Elementary literacy coaches: The reality of dual roles. (November 2008). The Reading Teacher 62, 222-231.
- Walpole, S. & McKenna, M. (2013). The literacy coach’s handbook. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.


BUREAU OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
main thrust of the Bureau of Elementary Education is to provide access,
progress and quality in elementary education. It formulates and
implements key programs and projects to enable every citizen to acquire
basic preparation that will make him an enlightened, disciplined,
nationalistic, self-reliant, God loving, creative, versatile and
productive member of the national community.
Key Programs and Projects
- Multigrade Program in Philippine Education (MPPE)
program supports the DECS mandate to improve access to and quality
elementary education through the opening of complete multigrade classes
and completion of incomplete schools in far-flung barangays. It also
provides instructional materials, training, school buildings and
introduces community support schemes.
The project outlines the broad policy directions to pursue by the State for Filipino children under six year-old.
- Multigrade Demo Schools Projects (MDSP)
- Pupil Learning Enhancement Program (PLEP)
- Little Red School House Project (LRSP)
- Integrated Curriculum for Multigrade Classes (IC-MG)
- Early Childhood Development Project (ECDP)
ECDP is being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Department of Health, and DECS. Services are addressed to
children under ____ are delivered in an integrated approach; DOH takes
care of health and nutrition concerns of children ages 0 to 6; DSWD
takes care of the early education of the six year olds.
- Preschool Service Contracting Program
program is an alternative delivery system to provide preschool
education to prospective Grade I enrollees throughout the country
Preschool classes are organized in the
5th and 6th municipalities and urban poor areas, and are provided
preschool experiences for 6 months by private preschool providers.
- SPED Personnel Enhancement Program
are short term summer/semester courses, seminar or training workshops
and national conferences done year round primarily aimed to hone the
capabilities of regular and SPED teachers, administrators, supervisors
and other service providers in addressing the educational needs of
gifted and children with disabilities and in managing programs
appropriate for them.
- Resource Materials Development for Children with Special Needs (CSNs)
development and production of various resource and instructional
materials for CSNs include textbooks in braille and in large print,
Handbook on Inclusive Education, Reference or Guide Materials for
Teachers of Children with Learning Disabilities and Learning
Competencies for the Gifted in Grades I-III and Enrichment materials in
six learning areas including Computer Education.
- Early Intervention Program for Children with Disabilities
program focuses on the training of SPED teachers and social worker as
facilitators to provide parents and other community volunteers with
knowledge and skills on educational intervention that should be given
to infants, toddlers and preschoolers under age 6 who are disabled or
those with developmental delays. The program utilizes the Filipino
Adaptation of the Portage Guide to Early Education.
- Standards for Quality Elementary Education (SQEE)
project intends to generate competency standards for the workforce in
all levels of elementary education. It draws upon the rationale that
the improvement of instruction is influenced, to a certain degree, by
setting standards for what the students, as well as other education
stakeholders, should know and be able to do.


What Is Mirror Writing?
Mirror writing is a form of reversal. It means that the person is writing backward, from right to left, the letters or words appearing like ordinary writing seen in a mirror.
While mirror writing is considered to be normal during the preschool phase, it should alert parents and teachers if it continues after formal reading and writing instruction has begun. If it continues it indicates a severe visual perceptual deficit, especially with visual discrimination of position in space. More specifically, the person is unable to discriminate between left and right, has a problem with the reading direction, and might also be unable to cross the midline. Deficits in other foundational skills might contribute to this problem.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter, most popularly known for his fresco The Last Supper and his painting Mona Lisa, was also a sculptor, engineer, architect, inventor, scientist and naturalist. And he is the most celebrated mirror writer to date. He usually used mirror writing, starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.
No one knows the true reason Leonardo used mirror writing, though several possibilities have been suggested:
- He was trying to make it harder for people to read his notes and steal his ideas.
- He was hiding his scientific ideas from the powerful Roman Catholic Church, whose teachings sometimes disagreed with what Leonardo observed.
- Writing left handed from left to right was messy because the ink just put down would smear as his hand moved across it. Leonardo chose to write in reverse because it prevented smudging.
Edublox programs are effective in overcoming letter reversals, number reversals, and mirror writing problems by addressing the underlying shortcomings that interfere with reading, spelling, and writing performance.


"The music around us" (Book) - This book aims to provide music teachers with a basic knowledge of music from Turkey, Pakistan and Morocco. These three countries represent each one corner of the North Africa-Middle East-West Asian region, which is next door to Europe and with which we have long historical relationships. Moreover, all three represent significant music historical tradition, at the same time related, while clearly different from each other. This justifies these musical culture's placement in Danish music education. In addition all three countries have supplied Denmark with immigrants from 1960 onwards. In this context, the book therefore also makes music teachers able to teach music in relation to the three immigrant groups. At the same time the book hopefully makes teachers able to insert the music that immigrants from those countries are carrying with them, the music the young people with that background are listening to, and what teachers may experience themselves in these countries, into a broader perspective. Therefore the book is not only about the small musical universe that migrants and migrant youth actually are engaged in in this country. The Danish conditions only play a minor role. This choice should be seen as an attempt to challenge the very unfortunate tendency in the Danish public wherethe immigrants are made ??the primary reason to engage other cultures in our (music) education. It is unfortunate because there are many other and far more important reasons to expand the musical horizons. The resident migrants from the three countries often give a very one-sided and narrow view of the (music) culture in their countries of origin. This is mainly because of the immigrant's backgrounds, both geographically and socially. In order to increase understanding and respect for other parts of the world, it is important that we all understand that the culture of these countries, including the music, is part of a long historical development and part of a varied mosaic of contemporary trends. The publication is produced with support from the Ministry of Education.


A lavishly illustrated study of the influence of artists on the development of six New South cities
Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South recounts the enormous influence of artists in the evolution of six Southern cities—Atlanta, Charleston, New Orleans, Louisville, Austin, and Miami—from 1865 to 1950. In the decades following the Civil War, painters, sculptors, photographers, and illustrators in these municipalities employed their talents to articulate concepts of the New South, aestheticism, and Gilded Age opulence and to construct a visual culture far beyond providing pretty pictures in public buildings and statues in city squares.
As Deborah C. Pollack investigates New South proponents such as Henry W. Grady of Atlanta and other regional leaders, she identifies "cultural strivers"—philanthropists, women's organizations, entrepreneurs, writers, architects, politicians, and dreamers—who united with visual artists to champion the arts both as a means of cultural preservation and as mechanisms of civic progress. Aestheticism, made popular by Oscar Wilde's Southern tours during the Gilded Age, was another driving force in art creation and urban improvement. Specific art works occasionally precipitated controversy and incited public anger, yet for the most part artists of all kinds were recognized as providing inspirational incentives for self-improvement, civic enhancement and tourism, art appreciation, and personal fulfillment through the love of beauty.
Each of the six New South cities entered the late nineteenth century with fractured artistic heritages. Charleston and Atlanta had to recover from wartime devastation. The infrastructures of New Orleans and Louisville were barely damaged by war, but their social underpinnings were shattered by the end of slavery and postwar economic depression. Austin was not vitalized until after the Civil War and Miami was a post–Civil War creation. Pollack surveys these New South cities with an eye to understanding how each locale shaped its artistic and aesthetic self-perception across a spectrum of economic, political, gender, and race issues. She also discusses Lost Cause imagery, present in all the studied municipalities.
While many art history volumes about the South focus on sultry landscapes outside the urban grid, Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South explores the art belonging to its cities, whether exhibited in its museums, expositions, and galleries or reflective of its parks, plazas, marketplaces, industrial areas, gardens, and universities. It also identifies and celebrates the creative urban humanity who helped build the cultural and social framework for the modern Southern city.
Orville Bulman: An Enchanted Life and Fantastic Legacy, Felix de Crano: Forgotten Artist of the Flagler Colony, and the award-winning Laura Woodward: The Artist behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach and a contributor to the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.
is an art historian in Palm Beach, Florida, where she and her husband own Edward and Deborah Pollack Fine Art. She is the author of
"In her path breaking study, Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South, Deborah Pollack has provided readers with innovative, compelling arguments, amid a carefully-crafted narrative, for the critical role of the visual arts in the development of six important Southern cities in the eighty-five years following the catastrophic Civil War."—Paul George, professor of history, Miami Dade College
"Deborah Pollack's groundbreaking well-documented study of urban development and art in the South emphasizes race and gender as crucial elements."—Judith H. Bonner, senior curator and curator of art, The Historic New Orleans Collection
"Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South is referenced like a doctoral dissertation, but reads like the page-turner novel. This book is nothing short of fabulous, and a must-read for the artist, architect, collector, historian or anyone interested in the contribution of the arts to the development of the New South."—Jay Rayburn, Florida State University
"A most succinct encapsulation of Louisville's arts and cultural history. Much as the Ohio River caresses this city, the author's discussion of the evolution of culture, arts, and a fascinating philanthropic history is intertwined perfectly. The Louisville chapter is a literary treasure and gift for our city by the river."—David L. Buchta, director and state curator, Kentucky Division of Historic Properties
"Deborah Pollack has produced a thought-provoking and vibrant study on the aesthetic life of six southern cities. As informed by urban development and an evolving visual culture, Pollack expands our understanding of the New South through the periods of Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and early Modernism. Regional identity and iconography are positioned among interconnected themes of transatlantic influence, race, gender, patronage, and aestheticism in this meaningful contribution to existing scholarship in the history of the South."—Nancy Siegel, professor and chair, Department of Art and Design, Art History, Art Education, and director, museum studies, Towson University


ERIC Number: ED177226
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1973
Reference Count: 0
Domain-Referenced Curriculum Evaluation: A Technical Handbook and a Case Study from the MINNEMAST Project. CSE Monograph Series in Evaluation, 1.
Hively, Wells; And Others
A technology for domain or criterion referenced testing was developed to evaluate the Minnesota Mathematics and Science Teaching Project (MINNEMAST) in grades K-6. The venture was influenced by the low achievement of MINNEMAST students on standardized tests. After instructional objectives were selected and operationally defined, corresponding test items for each course unit were developed. As the collection of items grew, they were arranged in formal tables called item forms. Item forms served two basic purposes: they obviated the need to store individual items, by substituting a set of written rules through which items could be generated when needed; and they enabled the relationships among items to be traced by specifying item characteristics, including stimulus and expected response, and instructions for administering and scoring. The test was actually an ordered set of items administered individually according to a matrix sampling design. Because each child received different item sets, there were as many tests as children sampled. Results were interpreted in terms of patterns of responses to item sets with related stimulus and response characteristics. (Recommendations for curriculum development and evaluation, sample item forms, and a sample interpretation of test results are included.) (CP)
Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Criterion Referenced Tests, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Evaluation, Educational Assessment, Educational Objectives, Educational Testing, Elementary Education, Elementary School Mathematics, Elementary School Science, Evaluation Methods, Evaluation Needs, Experimental Curriculum, Guides, Individual Testing, Item Banks, Item Sampling, Test Construction, Test Interpretation, Test Items
Publication Type: Reports - General; Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: California Univ., Los Angeles. Center for the Study of Evaluation.
Identifiers: Domain Referenced Tests; Minnesota Mathematics and Science Teaching Project
Note: Appended item forms may be marginally legible


Piano Lessons for Kids - Book 1: How to Play Piano for Kids (Free Video Available)by LearnToPlayMusic.com, Andrew Scott, Gary Turner, James Stewart
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***Comes with online access to free piano videos and audio demonstrating all examples. See and hear how each one is played by a teacher, then play along with the backing band. Also includes music score and piano animation for easy music learning.***
"I have used this book over and over with my piano students. A simple and easy method to a beginner for learning notes and rhythms." - Victoria I. Romero, McAllen TX [Amazon]
Progressive Piano Method for Young Beginners - Book 1 contains all you need to know to start teaching kids to play piano - in one easy-to-follow, lesson-by-lesson children’s piano tutorial. Suitable for children aged 4 to 8 years and all types of pianos including electric pianos, digital pianos and piano keyboards. No prior knowledge of how to read music or playing the piano is required to teach a child to learn to play piano from this book.
Teach your child:
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Contains everything you need to know about how to teach a child to play piano today.
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DIET means District Institute of Education and Training. National Policy on Education has suggested an overhaul of teacher education as the first step towards national organisation. It has suggested Strengthening of teacher training institutions at the district level and giving them the role of identifying and responding to the teacher training requirements of the area of their coverage.
The DIETs have been opened at district level in all States. The functions of these institutes may be described as under:
(i) To organise pre-service courses for elementary school teachers. They are trained to teach primary and middle classes.
(ii) To organise in-service training for elementary teachers. There are short-term training programmes such as workshops, refresher courses, seminars etc. for elementary teachers.
(iii) To review curriculum and learning materials. One of the wings of the DIET deals with curriculum and learning materials for elementary teachers
(iv) To train teachers in non-formal centres. Non-formal centres have been opened to educate drop-outs in the age group 6- 14 years; the teachers are educated to do their job well.
(v) To look after the material equipment in the elementary schools, Most of the elementary schools are short of needed learning materials.
(vi)To promote literacy programmes. DIETs adopt certain blocks in a district and undertake programmes for adult literacy.
(vii) To organise research programmes to improve the quality of education in elementary schools. (viii) To develop competency in the universalization of elementary education (UEE).
(ix) To work for early childhood care and education (ECCE).
(x) To pay special attention to girls' education in the age group 6-14.
(xi) To improve evaluation procedures for elementary education.


HELP YOUR CHILD EXPRESS HERSELF WITH ART
[Robin is a student]
- Give your child some paper, along with color pencils, Craypas, watercolors, or pastels; ask her to draw any or all of the following:
- how she is feeling
- what happened
After she does the drawing, ask her to tell you something about it; describe it, tell you how she feels. You can listen and be supportive.
- Take her to the museum if she would like to go. Look at paintings that are big and colorful (not real adult looking or serious); paintings that she will not find boring. You probably know what kind of things she likes. Be sure to go to the food court and the gift shop.
- Draw and paint with her. She will enjoy it and it will be fun!
- Collect lots of stuff in a box that you can make sculptures and art with; for example, clothes pins, pipe cleaners, fabric, paper clips, ribbons, lace, etc. Invite her to make something with these things; this could be a sculpture or a collage.
- Look through books about artists that she might like; pick out paintings and drawings that you can use as examples of what kind of art to make. Understand how and why the artist painted what he or she did.
- Play music that she likes while doing art; for example, a favorite song or singer.
Would you like to submit an article or opinion regarding art education and creativity? Send it to us at firstname.lastname@example.org
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Health benefits of correct singing
Is Singing Good For Your Health?
Do you know that singing is actually good for your health and even make you live longer? The National Charity, Heart Research Of United Kingdom wants to get everybody to be singing from 8-15 December 2008 to help raise funds to find cures for heart diseases and also because the charity believes that there are evidence to show that singing is good for you.
Singing Music Therapy
Professor Graham Welch, who is the Chairman of Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London has studied developmental and medical aspects of singing for more than three decades.
He said, "The health benefits of singing are both physical and psychological. Singing has physical benefits because it is an aerobic activity that increases oxygenation in the blood stream and exercises major muscle groups in the upper body. Singing has psychological benefits because of its normally positive effect in reducing stress levels through the action of the endocrine system which is linked to our sense of emotional well being. Psychological benefits are also evident when people sing together as well as alone because of the increased sense of community bonding, belonging and shared endeavor."
According to a research conducted by leading singing teacher and singer Helen Astrid, from The Helen Astrid Singing Academy in London, regular vocal cord exercises are also believed to prolong life.
This was what she said, "Singing is an excellent way to keep fit because you are exercising your lungs and heart (cardio vascular exercise). Furthermore, your body produces endorphins (feel good hormones), just like when you eat a bar of chocolate except that with singing is that you won’t consume any extra calories! Singing not only increases your lung capacity, it improves posture, clears respiratory tubes and sinuses and can even increase mental alertness through greater oxygenation. Singing regularly also tone and firm up your abdominal muscles and back. However, that is if you are singing correctly.”
"Another benefit of singing is that it can keep you looking young since you are gently exercising your facial muscles" added Helen who looks more than a decade younger than her age.
According to the findings of a joint study conducted by Harvard and Yale, singing can even helps you live longer. The study showed that choral singing increased the life expectancy of the population of New Haven, Connecticut. This report concluded that this was because singing promotes a healthy heart and an enhanced mental state.
So if singing is really good for your health, then let’s have fun and keep fit by singing more regularly. Remember the song by Helen Reddy "Keep On Singing"? Click here to get a good singing voice to sing beautifully.


Mary Jo writes…
Language is critical for literacy development and storytelling creates an interactive bridge. Music, repeated phrases, and actions provide connections and invite participation by children when they become part of the storytelling event.
Working in schools demands that the storyteller is tuned into the state literacy standards. Storytelling connects many types of standards but I am only concentrating on the literacy connection. A good story challenges a child’s auditory, visual, and kinesthetic skills along with a phonemic awareness.
Performing in schools as a storyteller gives a teller the opportunity to address some reading readiness components such as repetition, retelling, rhyming and sequencing. When teachers are aware of what the stories have to offer they are amazed at the children’s reaction. Children develop their oral language skills by learning to tell and retell stories. They learn about their world, other cultures, visual imagery, moral and social issues and they increase listening skills.
Literacy standards connections to look for when telling stories for children:
- Phonological Awareness
- Understanding Stories
- Book Awareness
- Word Awareness
- Story Enjoyment
Mountains of information are available for review and it can be mind boggling. Check out these organizations for documentation of literacy standards and review for connections to your type of storytelling.
- International Reading Association
- National Council of Teachers of English
- National Association for the Education of Young Children
Play with the sounds of language using songs, rhymes, chants and stories. Get excited about what you do. This life of mine is a passion and I work at it everyday in one way or another. Over the years I have been successful because I spent 35 years in the trenches with young children and also attended numerous conferences and developed a love for my life. I rely on my experiences to connect my storytelling to the world I live in and to share my experiences with anyone who will listen!
More about Mary Jo
I have 35 years as an Early Childhood Educator and 20 years as a storyteller. I believe in my heart that children who listen to stories develop a great vocabulary and understanding of their world. I used storytelling in the classroom and began visiting schools, libraries and doing workshops for teachers and librarians. In this period of time I have been in all but 7 states and visited with thousands of children and adults. Children need excitement, music, props and I like puppets with my storytelling. I am not a puppeteer I just play with puppets and I play with story.
Today I work as an author, storyteller, consultant, teaching artist and granny-on-the-go! I am a good traveler and my fluff goes with me wherever I go to tell stories. Children are hungry to hear a good told story and they connect especially when there is a little rhythm and rhyme. I have 7 books published and working on a couple at this moment along with 3 CDs and my favorite a new DVD called “Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Storytellin’ Fun!.


Certain musical instruments are a lot easier to learn than others. However, in the world of classical music, most stringed instruments can't just be picked up and learned on the spot. They take practice, persistence, and passion for the music itself. In fact, they also require proper guidance, which is why string methods like the ones in this section are so essential. Whether you play the violin, viola, cello or double bass, string method and instruction books are must-own source material for any serious musician.
As you can imagine, this catalog is quite the extension one. For this reason, you might want to consider refining your search with the "Category" function. By doing that, you can narrow down your options specifically to the instrument you play and what your current skill level is. For example, if you're a student cellist, click on "Cello Method & Instruction Books" and you'll be given only those options. Need a suggestion? Try something like the Carl Fischer 170 Foundation Studies Book 1. A top seller, this book is like studying with some of the best music teachers in history.
Speaking of music teachers, you'll also discover an impressive variety of conductor/teacher string method books in these pages, including the top-selling Alfred Orchestra Expressions Book One Teacher Edition, the KJOS String Basics Book 1 - Teacher Book and many more. Hal Leonard is another music education publisher that's well known and trusted for their string methods. Their Essential Elements for Strings instruction books are available for a wide range of stringed instruments. Each Essential Elements string method is packed with a wealth of materials to develop total musicianship in a classroom environment.
As you can see, companies like Hal Leonard, KJOS, Alfred and countless others specialize in music education by offering books, CDs, DVDs and scores that are chock-full of easy-to-follow lessons, exercises and legendary musical pieces. With a little time spent in these pages, you'll be sure to come across more than one string method that matches your instrument of choice and your musical aspirations; feel free to start browsing your other choices whenever you're ready.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


When you think back to your primary school days you probably recall classes like reading, math, and science. However, when your kids look back to their primary school days they may remember those subjects, plus ones like Twitter.
Kids under 11 years old will be taught how to use social networking site Twitter along with blogs and webcams under a new high-tech primary school curriculum. The new studies are designed to help prepare kids for today's high-tech world.
The new plan will allow teachers more freedom to dictate lessons and will allow technology to form the backbone of the curriculum. Part of the new education will include email, messaging, wikis, and twitters along with blogs and podcasts.


MONDAY, June 25, 2012 — We all know about the importance of using sunscreen. Did you know it isn't allowed in public schools?
As mom Jesse Michener discovered, public schools in 49 of the 50 states — including Washington, where she lives with her family — consider sunscreen to be a medication that requires a doctor's note to apply. (California is the sole exception). When her daughters Zoe and Violet came home from a school field day with serious burns, Michener was furious. Both children were taken to the hospital that night with headaches, chills, and pain.
"Prolonged sun exposure leads to burns," Michener, a freelance photographer and videographer, wrote on her blog. "Either put sunscreen on or, at the very least, remove the child from the sun. A simple call would have brought me to that school in minutes to assist my kids."
To make matters worse, fair-skinned Zoe has a form of albinism that increases her sun sensitivity, a situation that the school teachers and staff were fully aware of, Michener wrote.
Kids Need Sun Protection, Too
"We know that having a sunburn at any time in your life, particularly in childhood, increases your risk of skin cancer — including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer," says Jennifer Stein, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology at NYU School of Medicine. "And in the short term, a sunburn can be really painful."
Because it was raining the morning of the field day, Michener didn't apply sunscreen to her kids before they left for school. While making sure that children have sunscreen on before they leave the house is a good idea, says Dr. Stein, "you have to reapply it every two hours. If you put it on your kid in the morning, by lunchtime it's sweated off."
What's the reason for the sunscreen ban? "Because so many additives in lotions and sunscreens cause an allergic reaction in some children, we have to really monitor that," Dan Voelpel, a spokesman for the Tacoma Public Schools (where the Michener children are students), told ABC News.
"There's lots of different things in sunscreen that you can be allergic to," says Stein. "It can be the active ingredient, or something else, like the fragrance used." She recommends that both kids and adults test any sunscreen first on the inside of the arm for any reaction before applying it all over. Ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide provide a physical barrier against the sun's rays and may be better for sensitive skin.
Cover Up for Sun Protection
But as Stein notes, sunscreen is just one part of a sun protection plan. Wearing clothing that covers your shoulders, chest, and back is a smart idea, and add on a hat. "They make clothing now that's accessible at all price points that's designed for sun protection — it's breathable and waterproof." It's also wise to avoid peak times when the sun is directly overhead, usually between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The cover-up advice is especially important for infants, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Because delicate infant skin absorbs sunscreen chemicals more easily, the best sun protection strategy for babies is to keep them out of direct sun entirely. "Little babies can overheat very easily," says Stein. "If your baby needs to be in the sun, protect them and use a sunscreen — just make sure it's something you've tested beforehand."
School Sunscreen Ban: What You Can Do
Since the sunburn incident, Michener reports on her blog, she's heard from the director of elementary education in Tacoma that a new law has passed allowing individual school districts to decide what is and isn't allowed regarding sunscreen application at school.
Parents may want to check with their local schools about any policy affecting sunscreen use. "I'm a mom," says Stein. "For my kids, a parent can sign a permission slip to say it's okay to put sunscreen on." She recommends that along with the slip, parents provide a "safe" sunscreen — one that's been tested to make sure there's no allergic reaction — for their kids to take to school.
Michener told the Huffington Post she's heard from people all over the country and is working with others to research what can be done to revise sunscreen policies in public schools: "I'm out to change policy that ties their hands from making good decisions."
Is the sunscreen ban justified, or just plain dumb? Do you think sunscreen should be allowed in schools? Share your opinion in the comments.
Credit line: Courtesy of Jesse Michener
Last Updated: 6/25/2012