Parental bookreading practices among families in the Netherlands
Bookreading has proven to be beneficial for children's language and literacy development (e.g. Bus, Van Ijzendoorn and Pellegrini, 1995; Fletcher and Reese, 2005; Mol and Bus, 2011a). Families in Western countries are often advised to read to their young children, and many parents appear to be aware of the positive effects of bookreading. However, little is known about bookreading patterns among families in the Netherlands. In this study, we analysed the bookreading behaviours of 464 parents with children aged 0-12 residing in the Netherlands, as well as the reading behaviours of 275 children aged 8-12 years. The results demonstrate that 60% of parents read daily to their children. Parental education was significantly related to bookreading frequency but home language was not. Fathers were the primary reader in only 8% of families compared to 65% for mothers. Parents did not read for long periods of time: 40% of parents reported reading between 5 and 10 minutes and another 40% read from 10 to 15 minutes. Almost half of the children in this study reported reading at least once a day and a quarter read between 15 and 20 minutes a day. This study provides more insights into bookreading patterns among Dutch families. Although many families already report reading to their children, there is still room for improvement regarding the length of reading and paternal bookreading.


|Lessons Learned from the Hangyoreh Winter School|
In January 2015 NKHR conducted our 26th Hangyoreh School, an alternative winter school for the North Korean youth. Thirty North Korean students participated and were divided into small groups based on their academic level. The program focused on improving students’ skills in Korean, English and math—the three most difficult subjects for North Korean youth. The students were also taught other subjects such as history, public speaking, art, sports, and civic education. Below, a NKHR intern shares the lessons she learned at Hangyoreh School.
The Hangyoreh School, which lasted from January 5th to January 21st, is designed to assist North Korean youth grow in confidence and attain basic academic skills. On the first day of the Hangyoreh School, Mr. Bum-jin Park, a Board Member of NKHR, acknowledged the difficulties that these students face in adjusting to a new environment. They struggle especially at school. Many find difficult to integrate into South Korean society and its academic environment. Yet, Mr. Park encouraged the students not to focus on these obstacles, but to make the most of every opportunity—especially the opportunity for education. There are many among the Hangyoreh School graduates who have done just that.
For the first time, I began to grasp what these teenagers must have gone through when they arrived in South Korea, a new country. At an early age, they escaped from North Korea, then journeyed through China and Laos, Cambodia, or other foreign lands to finally reach South Korea, the land of their dreams. But is the reality they face in South Korea optimistic and welcoming? At a time in their lives when they are more sensitive to peer-pressure, and their development of self-esteem is most critical, these teenagers bear more burdens because they are bullied and struggle academically. I related to these young students, as I personally recalled my teenage years in Europe. During that time, I was an alien and a foreigner, trying hard to adjust to a new language and culture, making efforts to make friends and strive academically. Doing all these tasks simultaneously was never easy. I cried many times, upset by how people treated me differently based on my imperfect English accent, and my appearance as an Asian person. It hurt me to think that these students must have similar experiences in South Korea. There were also students without family here—I could not even begin to imagine how lonely they must feel at times.
I visited Hangyoreh School again two weeks later to observe the classes and students’ presentations, and to interview teachers and students on their progress. When I asked two students what had benefited them most about the School, both agreed that it was the customized education that facilitated their learning. Teachers taught them subjects in a way that was “easy to understand.” They mentioned that the education curriculum in North Korea did not include English courses and mathematics was limited to four years. By contrast, the South Korean primary school curriculum includes intensive English courses and six years of mathematics. Along with such customized education, they found slideshow presentations useful because they learned to communicate their ideas in a manner that could be understood by others. They also found the teachers’ continuous encouragement and advice beneficial. “Teachers here encourage me continuously,” one student said. “They tell me to be confident, to not be let down, and to love myself despite what people think of me.”
Visiting Hangyoreh School was a meaningful occasion to appreciate North Korean youth and their struggle adapting to a new country. These teenagers, like teens in South Korea and elsewhere, deserve an education and a sense of belonging. I am thankful that organizations like NKHR strive every day to provide these teenagers with such opportunities. Despite many despairing moments in those teenage years, what motivated me to thrive as an individual were my parents’ encouragements and continual support. Although it is unrealistic to expect that North Korean students’ self-esteem would be completely restored and that they could master all the essential skills necessary for their resettlement in South Korea in only three short weeks, I came out of the school feeling confident that the process had begun for those students, assisted by the direction and encouragement from the teachers.
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The Barton Reading & Spelling System was developed by Susan Barton to teach people with dyslexia to read and spell. It was designed for children, teenagers, or adults. The Barton Reading & Spelling System is influenced by the Orton-Gillingham method and is approved by the California Department of Education. It is supported by independent scientific research and is recommended as “best practices” for students with dyslexia by the National Institutes of Health. It assures that phonemic awareness skills necessary for reading success (according to the NIH) are in place. It provides phonics instruction, applying sounds to symbols, along with the teaching of logical spelling rules so the student knows which spelling to apply for the sound that is heard.
By using using techniques proven to be effective with dyslexia, the student learns to read and spell through multi-sensory methods. Concepts are taught in a logical sequence with logical reasoning that makes sense to the learner. Spelling improves along with reading accuracy and fluency. Susan Barton designed the Barton Reading & Spelling System with an in-depth understanding of the weaknesses and strengths of dyslexia as reflected in the direct and explicit instruction, the careful sequencing, and the cumulative scope of the lessons. The Barton Reading & Spelling System (click to watch a demo) will greatly improve the spelling, reading, and writing skills of students who struggle due to dyslexia or a learning disability; however, it is effective for any struggling reader.


Pratham, an NGO has carried out a survey in five States viz Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand and Rajasthan with support from UNICEF and UNESCO. The study has noted that in the last two decades, impressive strides have been made in India in terms of providing school buildings, classrooms, teachers, textbooks and other facilities. These have been matched by very significant improvements in enrollment. The Annual Study Status of Education Report (ASER) study ‘Inside Primary Schools” tracked 30,000 rural children in Std 2 and Std 4 in 900 schools spread over five States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. The Survey suggested many improvements that are required in education.
• Textbooks need urgent revisions. They need to start from what children can do and be more realistic and developmentally appropriate in what children are expected to learn, with clear learning goals and sequence.
• Systems must be put into place to track attendance, not just enrollment, and ensure regular reporting and monitoring of this attendance.
• Mother tongue instruction and programmes for language transition need to be introduced and expanded.
• Teacher recruitment policies need to assess teachers’ knowledge, but more importantly their ability to explain content to children, make information relevant to their lives and use teaching learning materials and activities other than the textbook.
• State teacher education plans should invest in human resource capacity academic structure, like Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres structure, like Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) to enable them to help improve teaching and learning quality via in-service training and classroom visits.
• As per the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, child-friendly education needs to be defined and measured regularly as apart of the indicators of quality education.
• Libraries with take home books for reading practice at the household level, should be monitored as part of RTE indicators. Family reading programmes could also be part of innovations to help support first generation schools goers.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 has become operative with effect from 1st April, 2010 and SSA norms have been revised to correspond with the provisions of RTE Act, 2009 in order to ensure quality elementary education to children of age group from 6-14 years throughout the country including these five States.


They include grass, trees, flowers, bushes, ferns, mosses, and more. Plants are members of the kingdom plantae..Types of plants | Science for kids |Trees,Herbs,Climbers,Creepers,Thorny plants,Water Plants. Types of plants .Trees Tall, big and strong plants are Trees .Have you ever wondered how to tell one plant from another? Scientists have stu.d plants for a long time .Find out interesting facts about plants. Get information about plants and discover more about nature with DK Find Out, to help kids learn..Plants are classified into several types based on the basis of their growth habit. Explore more about herbs, shrubs, trees, climbers and creepers @ BYJU s..If you are looking to get your kids into gardening, the experts at HGTV Gardens have curated a list of easy plants for kids to grow..There are many different types of plants, ranging from grand trees to tiny algae. This is an overview with pictures..


Twitter Cheat Sheet
Info & tips for those getting started on Twitter
Twitter is not just for the Kardashians!
Get Rid of the Egg
- Tweet- Twitter message limited to 140 characters
- Twitter Feed- running list of tweets
- @/Twitter Handle- person or organization's user name on Twitter beginning with @. This will populate your Tweet in their notifications. If you start a tweet with @ only the person you are Tweeting and other people you know who also follow the use will be able to view the Tweet.
- . - Place a period at the beginning of a Tweet with a person's Twitter handle to make it viewable to all of your followers.
- Reply- Click the arrow to respond to someone's Tweet and engage in conversation
- RT- Retweet: Add RT at the beginning of a re-posting of someone else's Tweet.
- MT- Modified Retweet: Add MT at the beginning of a re-posting of someone else's Tweet that you have modified.
- DM- Direct Message: Send a private message to a follower. The recipient MUST be a follower of yours to send a message that only they will be able to view.
- URL shortener- characters are precious. Use a URL shortener such a Google, Bit.ly, or Tiny URL to consolidate characters.
- #/Hashtags- Target your message to certain communities be including the relevant # in your tweet. Users who regularly search or utilize Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite have columns set up to track hashtags. Hashtags are also useful when looking for resources on a certain topic or following Tweets of conferences. Hashtags are crucial when following and engaging in a Twitter chat. You can also establish one for your class to tag information for your students or their responses.
Helpful Hashtags for History Educators
#sschat- General Social Studies
#sstlap- Social Studies Teach Like a Pirate ideas & resources
#wrldchat- World History
#ushistory- US History
#historyteacher- General History
#socialstudies- Social Studies
#WHAPchat- AP World History
#ccss- Common Core
#pbl- Project Based Learning
#edtech- Educational Technology
#flipclass- Flipped Classroom
#elemteachers- Elementary Education
#ell- English Language Learners
Here are some helpful History and educational Twitter chats to give a try:
#sschat- Mondays 4-5 pm PST
#flipclass- Mondays 5-6 pm PST
#edtechchat- Mondays 5-6 pm PST
#pblchat- Tuesdays 5-6 pm PST
#sstlap- Thursdays 6-7 pm PST
#inquirychat- Every other Thursday 6-7 pm PST


Does the phrase “curriculum revision” excite you or bring a sense of unease?
Whether you are a veteran art educator or it’s your first year teaching, planning your curriculum is something we all need to do. Planning your curriculum doesn’t have to be a stressor; in fact, it can actually be fun! Let’s break it down into a few must-haves to make the task significantly less scary.
Before you dig in too deep, you’ll want to check with your district to see if there is already an art curriculum in place. Some districts purchase art curriculum, have art educators work together to develop set curriculum standards, or allow teachers to create a curriculum that fits their needs. Whatever the situation is with your art curriculum, try and enjoy the process of planning. After all, what we choose to teach our young artists truly dictates our experiences.
Consider these 3 ways to rev up your curriculum development or revision:
1. Medium Exploration
As art educators, part of our job is to introduce students to a variety of art mediums. The exploration of new materials is a vital part of shaping our students as artists. When planning your curriculum, pay attention to the storage shelves in your art room and ask yourself these questions regarding materials:
- Do my students create with multiple mediums during a school year?
- What new mediums do I need to introduce to my students?
- What kinds of mediums do I gravitate toward as an artist and educator? (Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Printmaking, Fibers, Collage, Sculpture, Glass, Metal, Wood, Digital Art, Photography, etc.) Check out these 10 Concepts Every Intro to Art Course Should Cover.
- Do my preferences dictate what mediums I expose my students to during our lessons?
- Can my students identify differences between art mediums? See Nic Hahn’s use of monster mediums as a helpful way to teach students about all art mediums.
2. New Ideas and Themes
Art teachers often have the flexibility to incorporate new and exciting ideas into their yearly curriculum planning. When you see a new idea and you know you just have to try it with your students, a little rearranging can make it possible.
Usually, your elongated list of new ideas grows after attending an awesome art education conference. That feeling of excitement about these new ideas keeps your spark for teaching alive. Carry that spark with you as you plan your curriculum and incorporate a few new ideas into your planning.
Take a look at your stack of resources from conferences, themes, or books and ask yourself these questions.
- What new ideas have ignited my spark?
- Could I work within a theme? For example, what could be the theme of our art show?
- What books or resources can I tie into my curriculum planning, building a connection between literacy and art?
- Can I incorporate Social Emotional Learning into my art room to help build strong artists and strong people?
- Check out these 5 SEL art lessons or this PRO Learning Pack about mindfulness.
3. Relation to Art Standards
Art Standards bring us all together. Our four overarching concepts from the National Core Arts Standards are creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. As art teachers, we do all four of these things with our students every day. Boiling down the standards to these four big ideas can help you identify the best way to approach your curriculum planning. Check out how to Revamp Curriculum to meet the National Visual Arts Standards.
Spend a little time on your computer researching art standards and consider these questions.
- How does my curriculum currently line up with the National Core Arts Standards?
- Do my students know the importance of the four big ideas of creating, presenting, responding, and connecting?
- What could I change to improve how my curriculum plan relates to Art Standards?
- What do I need to know about the National Core Arts Standards?
When it comes down to it, planning a successful art curriculum will be made up of your must-haves. Your artists can tell when you are excited about teaching and will feed off of your excitement.
Most importantly, plan with passion and purpose.
Focus your mindset on viewing curriculum planning as an exciting challenge and an adventure to try new things in your art room. Inevitably, every necessary task is what you make of it. So, why not make it fun and empowering?
What kind of curriculum planning is required of you?
Are you able to work with a team when planning your curriculum?
What is your favorite part about planning your curriculum?


Around 30% of students in sixth grade already have trouble with basic reading and writing. These literacy problems affect performance across subject areas, and they often leave teachers wondering how to help. In this course, you will examine the reasons reading and writing are so difficult for students. Then you will encounter the total literacy framework and see what it does to mitigate literacy problems. Since this framework is based on guided reading lessons that flow naturally into writing challenges, you will learn to successfully transition from guided readings to writing lessons.
Once you have encountered the basic framework, you will investigate a number of ways to modify this basic recipe for a variety of K-12 circumstances, wrapping up with a look at good writing habits and the traits of a productive writing conference. If you're looking for the right way to get students excited about the power of literacy, this is the course for you!
About The Instructor
A veteran educator who has taught every grade but third, Marsha Spears has spent 35 years teaching students and training teachers. Spears earned a bachelor's and master's degree in educational administration with a specialty in curriculum and literacy development, training that would prepare her to take on the toughest of classrooms. And tough classrooms are where she made her mark, helping a wide variety of at-risk learners read with renewed confidence. Over the years, thousands of students and teachers have learned how easily they can incorporate Spears' reading techniques and activities into their daily routines.


Outsider – art
Brute art or art brut is often confused with the so-called art of outsiders. But if art brut is rather “art of the crazy”, then outsider art is a broader concept.
It can be the art of people without special art education, the work of those who find themselves in difficult life situations. The term art – brut was introduced in 1972 by art critic Roger Cardinal. Similar phenomena are marginal art, naive art, visionary or intuitive art, folk art, new fiction.
Perhaps the main difference between the creators – “outsiders” from other artists, is the conditions in which they work. Diseases, loneliness, severe external circumstances, such as war, push artists – “outsiders” to amazing creative impulses. A striking example of outsider art, of course, are the work of Henry Darger.
Henry’s mother died when he was 4 years old, and a few years later, due to a serious illness, his father was sent to a clinic for life.
In 1908, the sixteen-year-old Darger fled from the shelter. He got a low-paid job in a Catholic hospital in Chicago, where he worked for about 50 years, and only after his death it turned out – Henry Darger had written one book all his life, illustrating it with watercolors and collages from old newspapers.
It is not known if Mr Darger would have been delighted if he had learned that today he is one of the most popular outsider authors of art, because he wrote this book for himself. It is this detachment, so similar to meditation, complete immersion in one’s inner world, independence from the opinions of professional critics that makes art brut so attractive for those who are looking for emancipation and freedom in their work.
Another well-known artist – an “outsider”, Nikifor Krynnitsky held a lifetime exhibition, where not a few eminent art critics were invited. However, Nikifor himself, a deaf-mute, tongue-tied old man suffering from tuberculosis, did not feel any emotions at all about this.
The exhibition itself was held only thanks to the efforts of professional artist Marian Vlasinsky, whose touching concern for Nikifor became one of the themes of the modern film by Krzysztof Krause “My Nicephorus” (2004). It is interesting to note that the old Nikifor in this film was played by a woman, Christina Feldman, and this was her only main role
The creative heritage of Nikifor Krynnitsky is truly enormous – more than 40 (!) Thousand works. Closed, dirty, mooing, a real “outsider”, Nikifor actually turned out to be an amazing hard worker who could not imagine his existence without drawing.
The work of ordinary people
Nikifor Krynnitsky and Henry Darger are adults who draw with the immediacy of children, and this unites them. But to the art of outsiders “can be attributed the work of quite ordinary people who find themselves in strange, terrible conditions.
For example, the blockade drawings of the girl Wali Tonsk are not only works of art but also a document exposing fascism.
More than 60 drawings reflect the life of the besieged city from the beginning of the Blockade to its complete lifting. Valine drawings are sometimes accompanied by a description of a particular depicted event. “Visit to the bathhouse”, “Arrest of the cannibal”, “Shelling” – these are the topics of her work.
Valentina Tonsk “discovered” her drawings to the world only 60 years after the war, not counting on fame and recognition. But these works certainly became part of an amazing and complex phenomenon – the art of outsiders.
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Petr Shein Shein • March 19, 2017 18:14
People with a difficult fate usually get drunk and disappear into eternity. But some, endowed with talent, leave behind a creative legacy.


A great book of stories for your budding reader, Reading Basics Book 3: Oats Are for Goats integrates phonics concepts into a series of vocabulary-controlled stories. This engaging reader is filled with high-interest, phonics-based stories your child is sure to love!
Reinforce your child's systematic phonics instruction with Reading Basics Book 3. A part of the LIFEPAC 1st Grade Language Arts curriculum, this reader features easy-to-read stories that utilize 1- and 2-syllable words. As stories increase in length and difficulty, your child will become a more fluent reader. The use of vowel digraphs, diphthongs, long-vowel words, and r-controlled vowels are just a few of the phonics concepts introduced in this popular Alpha Omega curriculum.
Based on a systematic phonics approach, Oats Are for Goats, the third in a series of five readers, contains 24 high-interest stories sure to please any young reader. Since drilling of high-frequency sight words helps to increase fluency, this reader includes a list of instant words used within the stories. While this reader can be used independently, teaching instructions for incorporation into the LIFEPAC 1st Grade Language Arts homeschool program are detailed within the LIFEPAC 1st Grade Language Arts teacher's guides. Comprehension questions are also available in the Reading Basics Reader Study Guide.


Is a Catholic school right for your child and your family?
- Welcoming, inclusive and family-oriented environment
- Sense of belonging and community
- Faith and values based learning environment
- A holistic education – academic, spiritual, social, emotional and physical development
- Quality learning and teaching
- High standards of behaviour and respect for self and others
- Safe and caring environment
- Nurturing and development of individuals and their abilities
- Well-resourced and equipped classrooms with full ICT integration
- Development of life-long skills and a love of learning
- Strong links with parents and community
- Commitment to social justice
- Preparation for a life of worth, not simply a life of work
Making a difference
Catholic schools are an integral part of the Church and are Christ-centred communities based on gospel values. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of individuals and in the wider community by challenging young people, through God, to find meaning and value in their lives and reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society who are highly skilled, informed, tolerant, open and just.
Quality Learning and Teaching
Catholic schools seek to provide a high-quality academic and vocational education for all their students, giving due emphasis to the fundamental literacy and numeracy skills required for both learning and life. They deliver the Australian Curriculum and offer broad curriculum and co-curricular options in well-resourced and equipped classrooms, with full ICT integration and all the requirements for contemporary learning in the 21stcentury. National testing indicates that students in Catholic schools on average consistently achieve at or above state and national averages.
A Life to the Full
Catholic schools emphasise personal and social development as fundamental enduring values and requirements in an ever-changing world. This holistic approach provides an educational foundation for life to the full, meaning the full development of the person – intellectually, spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically.
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a priority for St Joseph’s and has been formally integrated into all areas of curriculum through policy. Social and Emotional learning is recognised as fundamental to success in learning and life.
Safe and Caring Communities
Catholic education occurs in welcoming, inclusive, and connected communities. Catholic schools seek to provide a genuine, safe and caring experience of community, to encourage students to appreciate the intrinsic worth of who they are, to value diversity and treat each student with dignity, enabling them in turn to promote and respect the dignity of all.
Catholic schools recognises and values parents as the first educators of their child and work in close partnership with parents and guardians and their local communities to achieve desired outcomes and develop young people who will take their place as constructive and compassionate members of Australian society.
Our qualified and dedicated teachers are one of the great strengths of our Catholic school community and are recognised as being caring and willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for their students.
Welcoming and Inclusive
Catholic schools are welcoming to all who seek to share their life and wish to entrust their children’s future to Catholic schools because of their explicit goals and acknowledged educational quality.
Enrolment procedures reflect openness to all students whose parents/guardians are committed to further understand, support and live the values of the Catholic tradition. The Catholic identity of schools is inclusive in nature, whilst, at the same time, continuing to be faithful to the original mission of Catholic schools to educate children of Catholic families.
Catholic schools strive to keep fees as low as possible so that more families can choose a Catholic education for their children. Even when school fees paid by parents are included, Catholic schools, on average, operate with only about 90 per cent of the income of government schools, meaning Catholic schools consistently achieve more with less.
In keeping with Gospel values, no child is refused a Catholic education due to financial inability or difficulty. New or existing parents who find themselves in this situation are encouraged to discuss fee concessions with the school principal who will treat the situation with understanding, sensitivity and confidentiality. It is the expectation that families with the capacity to contribute do so, so that our schools can maintain the high quality of education that Catholic education is known for and our families rightly expect.


Best Brontosaurus Video for Kids
This video reveals a lot of interesting facts about Brontosaurus:
Brontosaurus is also known as Apatosaurus. Brontosaurus means ‘Thunder Lizard’. They lived in the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. In 1877, Othniel Charles Marsh, a palaeontologist has discovered a set of bones of the giant dinosaur. Brontosaurus is one of the largest animals that ever lived on the earth.
Quick facts: –
- They reached about 75 feet in length and weighed more than 50,000 pounds.
- An Apatosaurus can reach its full size in just 10 years.
- They had long whip like tails which were used to balance the weight of their long neck.
- Apatosaurus were plant eaters.
- They walked on four legs. They were slow moving creatures because of their weight.
- Apatosaurus had small heads and very small brains relative to their body size.
- Their fossils have been found in Western North America in Wyoming, Oklahoma, Utah, and Colorado etc.
- They had nostrils on the top of their head.
- Apatosaurus primarily fed on low lying plants because it was difficult for them to reach high plants due to little neck flexibility.
- They hatched from around 1 foot long eggs.
- Apatosaurus did not chew its food. It had gastroliths in its stomach that were used to digest the food.
- Their hind limbs were larger than their forelimbs.
Cite This Page
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MLA Style Citation
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APA Style Citation
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- Baltimore City Public Schools has established a Summer Arts and Learning Academy for elementary school students, which integrates math and literacy learning in a program produced by Young Audiences, a Baltimore nonprofit dedicated to arts-based education, according to the Hechinger Report.
- The program, which allows students to participate in spoken word, percussion, drama, dance, illustration and other arts activities, has proven to be especially effective at minimizing summer learning loss as measured by comparative assessments.
- Summer programs such as these are particularly important in narrowing the achievement gap because the impact of summer learning loss is cumulative and can cause some low-income students to be as many as three years behind their peers by fifth grade, the article says.
Most school districts struggle with ways to prevent the summer “brain drain” which seems to steal precious learning time each year as teachers spend time reviewing material that students once knew but have now forgotten. In most school districts, parents are left with the task of keeping their children engaged in learning over the summer. But more school districts are battling the issue by staging summer learning events of their own. In Baltimore, a summer arts program is addressing the challenge.
Because attendance in most summer learning programs is optional, participation increases when students and their parents are offered programs that interest them. A Brookings Institution article notes, “Regardless of the design, these policies should offer engaging options for students over the summer so that summer learning programs do not feel like punishment for students who would rather be enjoying summer vacation. Doing so would set more students up for success as the school year gets underway.” Arts programming, such as that offered through the Young Audiences program, is one way to achieve that goal.
Arts education is seeing a resurgence under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). While many school districts saw cuts to arts education in recent years, new ESSA guidelines establish arts as a part of a “well-rounded education.” More importantly, the new ESSA guidelines loosen the purse strings to Title 1 and other funding sources to encourage arts education, allowing schools to pursue an “arts-rich” education. Other funding partners can increase the access to arts in schools, while community partnerships with art and music organizations can provide valuable local resources for students, especially over the summer. Whether taught in summer school or during the school years, arts and music education can engage students in learning across the curriculum.


Soviet artist Georgy Vereisky
Soviet artist Georgy Vereisky (1886 – 1962) – People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1962), winner of the Stalin Prize of second degree (1946), Full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1949). Georgy Semyonovich Vereisky created a series of lithographs – portraits of prominent Soviet contemporaries – artists, writers, and politicians. Among the most famous portraits – poet Anna Akhmatova (1929), ballerina GS Ulanova (1950), sculptor Konenkov (1954). Georgy Vereisky – master of graphic portrait and landscape (lithograph, etching, drawing). The artist of the Leningrad school of landscape painting, he has also created landscape and genre paintings.
Soviet artist Georgy Vereisky has not received a formal artistic education. He studied at the Faculty of Kharkov and St. Petersburg State Universities. Participating in the first Russian revolution (1905), the events of the year, was even some time in detention and was forced into exile (1905-1907). He got original art education in a private school of Schrader in Kharkov. After moving to St. Petersburg (1911), he studied at the New Art Studio, where there was a high level of teaching. In 1913-1916 he studied in St. Petersburg at workshops of Mikhail Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, E.E. Lansere.
With his high professional and general culture (for twelve years he has been a curator of prints at the Hermitage, and has written a number of scientific articles), Vereisky was able to naturally and effectively continue the classical tradition in the domestic art of XX century. Since 1915 – member of the association “World of Art”.
During WWI in 1916 – 1918, Georgy Vereisky was mobilized and was in military service, where every spare minute used for front-line drawings. “Fighting Pencil” He participated in the work of the association. In 1920 he made a series of portrait sketches of Lenin at the III Congress of International. In 1918 – 1930 he worked in the department of prints in Hermitage, taught at the Higher Institute of photography and photographic equipment, and at the Central School of Technical Drawing (TSUTR); and in 1921-1923 in VHUTEMAS. From 1933 he worked in the experimental lithographic workshop LOSH.
Soviet artist Georgy Vereisky died December 18, 1962. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Theological cemetery. His son – Soviet graphic Orest Vereisky.


What is it?
Numeracy skills are essential for day-to-day life. The human brain is built to learn basic numeracy concepts form a very young age. Researchers have been impressed by the extent of numeracy skills held by three-year-olds even without any numeracy education. Researchers have also come to recognise the strong link between strong numeracy foundations in early childhood and success in numeracy learning during school years.
In the Montessori classroom, early numeracy concepts are introduced long before children are formally introduced to the mathematics activities, providing ‘indirect preparations’ for their later learning. This occurs not only in day-to-day interactions and tasks, but also in other areas of the classroom, predominantly the practical life and sensorial areas. These initial, intuitive stages of mathematics learning have been termed the ‘informal’ stage. Here, children develop a strong foundation in such early numeracy concepts as matching, sorting and classifying, sequencing, patterning, identifying geometric shapes, grading in various dimensions and early concepts in measurement. This accords with the finding that numeracy should be learned “in multiple contexts and across different curricular areas, in order to be considered useful to students”. In this way, a child in a Montessori classroom has a strong foundation in early numeracy concepts before being introduced to the more ‘formal’ numeracy area of the classroom. Children only start learning in the formal numeracy area when they are developmentally ready and interested.
The numeracy area of the Montessori classroom is laid out in a well-sequenced, logical curriculum that uses concrete materials. Each concept being learnt is isolated within a separate material, or activity. This has the effect of distilling concepts into discrete, bite-sized chunks, making it easier for a child to learn and understand new concepts and setting them up for success. Due to the nature of the Montessori classroom, children are able to return and practice as often as they need in order to understand the concept. Such ‘distributed practice’ has been shown to improve learning outcomes. Moreover, children build strong foundations in each numeracy concept without being ‘skipped over concepts’ leading to poor mathematical understanding. They progress at their own pace, learning skills at just the ‘right time’. This ensures children are always working within their ‘zone of proximal development’.


Libraries offer more than books. They are places of learning and discovery for everyone. Ask at the library about getting a library card in your child's name and, if you don't already have one, get a card for yourself. Parents are children's most important teachers. Find the resources you need at LPL Youth Services. Our Parenting Collection contains books, magazines, and other resources with ideas for activities and early childhood learning.
We also have books dealing with difficult subjects (death, divorce, disabilities, etc.) for kids and adults.
Introduce yourself and your child to your library staff. Librarians can help you to select the best books that are both fun and suitable for your child's age level. They can also show you the other programs and services the library has to offer.
In addition to a wealth of books, your library has books on MP3 players, tapes and CDs to listen to, musical CDs, movies, computers that you can use, and many more resources. You can also find books in languages other than English, and programs to help adults improve their reading. If you would like reading help for yourself or adults in your family, visit the Project READ page to learn about the adult literacy program at the library.
The Library offers programs and activities for every age, from babies through teens. Click on the links below for more information about each of the activities.
Babies and toddlers
Mother Goose Time and Toddler Time are group story times that are about a half hour and geared to the attention spans of the children. During story time, your child sits in your lap, and both of you can join in the story. Our Family Literacy Specialist also may show you fingerplays and rhythm activities and can give you tips and handouts that you can use for your own home story times.
The library offers story hours for preschoolers on Thursday mornings. During these story times, you and your child will get to know several books on the same topic. You might play games, sing songs, do fingerplays, or other activities that are connected to that topic. You also may get ideas for books to read and other things to do with your child at home.
Early Education Sites
Child Care and Family Services
Birth to 3 Early Intervention Services
Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Net Cetera: Chatting With Kids About Being Online
Reading Children's Books: There's More to It Than Meets the Eye: an article on the benefits of children's literature.
Holiday Book List: Recommended books to give children.
Schedule of Activities for Kids and Teens


Guided reading is used in the classroom in small-group instruction and for independent reading. This allows the teacher to work closely with each student to help them become better readers by introducing them to increasingly challenging books while meeting the varying instructional needs of each child in the room through guided reading. Students are assessed and receive their reading level based on the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) three times a year. Fun and interesting literacy and reading comprehension lessons, as well as book studies, are constructed to meet the standards in unique and interesting ways.
Writing is a critical skill developed in Second Grade. For each writing assignment, students have three goals: mechanics, organization, style, and content. Students use the Voyages in English curriculum to enhance mechanic skills, while writers workshops are used to further develop organization, style, and content.
Phonics instruction is still very important for Second Grade as it is the study of how letters are linked to sounds, linking letters to form words, identifying spelling patterns and much more to further success in both reading and writing. The students use the Sadlier Phonics workbooks and follow the Curriculum to meet the standards. The curriculum focuses on cvc, ccvc, cvcc words, long vowels, irregular phonic patterns, and sight words.
In second grade we are using the Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Mathematics textbooks and workbooks. This textbook is made up of lessons that follow the Common Core State Standards, plus additional lessons for further instruction or fun activities. The textbook is separated into 12 chapters, each one relating to a different section of standards. Addition and Subtraction Facts, Place Value to 100, Data and Graphs: Using Operations, Addition: Two-Digit Numbers, Subtraction: Two-Digit Numbers, Geometry. Money and Time, Place Value to 1000, Addition and Subtraction: Three- Digit Numbers, Fractions and Probability, Measurement and Multiplication and Division. We use the textbooks in class and then the workbooks for homework.
Second grade uses the Nancy Larson Science series. The topics covered for the year include Investigating the Physical Properties of Matter, Observing Rocks and Minerals, Investigating Forces and Work, Examining Simple Machines, Exploring Sound and Light, and Investigating Birds.
Students use Pearson’s myWorld Social Studies. As a class, students learn about communities and our country, people and places, the world around us, different cultures, American’s past, America’s heroes. Students will use their workbook to develop and understanding of society past and present and also learn how to navigate nonfiction text through various activities in class.
In addition, students in second grade participate in gym, computer class, library, Spanish, music and art.


“Accept the children with reverence, educate them with love, send them forth in freedom.”
– Rudolf Steiner
Waldorf education strives to educate the whole child - the heart, hands and head. The specific methods used in Waldorf education come from the view that the child develops through stages from childhood to adulthood. The Waldorf curriculum is specifically designed to work with the child through these stages of development.
Steiner's teachings provide rich insights not only into what to introduce when, but how to teach children of various ages. Because children from 7-14 learn best when their imaginative and artistic faculties are engaged, Waldorf education helps parents/teachers present every subject in a lively and artistic way. Steiner breaks childhood down into developmental stages that occur of periods of seven years. Each stage has its own specific learning requirements.
- Early Childhood Learning: This stage is listed from birth to age seven. Learning is accomplished through experimenting, imitating, and the use of practical activities.
- Elementary School: Children do not start elementary school until they are seven years old. Learning is accomplished in this stage by recognizing the artistic and imaginative abilities within the child. The approach for learning will emphasize these abilities and by promoting artistic expression and life experiences.
- Adolescence: The emphasis is placed upon developing intellectual and ethical thinking, including the importance of social responsibility.


Digital Media consists of 3 Certificate Programs.
The Visual and Vector Design Program provides a hands-on approach by planning, designing and creating raster and vector-based documents for the development of a portfolio. It provides students with the knowledge and foundational skills needed to evaluate and appropriate basic design principles and best practices employed in the print design industry.
The Digital Media 1 Program combines Visual and Vector Design with Page Layout and Portfolio Design. Students will learn the technical skills needed to be prepared for entry-level employment in the print, digital media and design industry by planning, designing and creating computer-based digital media using a selection of industry-standard software.
Digital Media 2 teaches students the technical skills needed for the motion graphics, video production and content management, web design industry. Students will plan, design and create computer-based motion graphics, video and content management websites to prepare them for entry-level positions in this industry.
LEARN MORE NEXT STEPS


The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education temporarily lifted a decree that had taken away the…
Many lessons were taught at the first desegregated high school in the South
Catholic Schools Week, observed not very long ago, caused me to think about my 12 years of Catholic education, in elementary and secondary schools, and the magnificent lessons that I learned in more than reading, writing and arithmetic.
Martin Luther King Jr., Day occurred roughly at the same time. Recalling Dr. King brought back memories of the civil rights movement years ago, but also of my Catholic education.
I am a graduate of Father Ryan High School, a diocesan school in Nashville, Tennessee. Proudly I note that it was the first school in the former Confederacy to drop the racial segregation restriction that was mandated by law in the South, and in other places as well, until in 1954 the United States Supreme Court judged that this deeply embedded policy of separating people on the basis of race was unconstitutional.
Actually, I was in the first class to go through all four years of high school at Ryan after segregation was ended.
Many years have passed since then. Not many Americans now remember the volcano of emotions that surrounded the dismantling of racial segregation. Relatives and friends bitterly quarreled. Politicians ran on platforms promising to defy the Supreme Court’s ruling in the matter. The apartheid touched every facet of life.
It was violent. People died, such as Medgar Evers, the three young volunteers who were helping African-Americans to vote in Mississippi, and even four innocent little girls in Birmingham, Alabama. Homes were bombed. People were assaulted. We fear terrorism today. We had it then.
In this firestorm, adolescents such as myself had to form opinions. Thank God that I was at Father Ryan, and I thank God for those marvelous priests who composed its faculty. They taught us vitally important lessons.
Since we were in the first school in the South to set segregation aside, we made national news. One of the national networks came to do a story. The reporter asked Father Francis R. Shea, the principal, how many blacks were enrolled. Wise and poised, a future bishop of Evansville, Indiana, Father Shea was direct in his answer. He said that he did not know how many blacks, or how many whites, were registered. He only knew the number of students, since the school took no notice of anyone’s race.
At lunch the first day, surely feeling awkward and uneasy, the African-Americans went to tables by themselves. Without saying a word, but thunderous in their message, several priests joined them.
If asked why we were desegregated, the priests answered without pause that Father Ryan was a Catholic school, and that we students were Catholics. The Catholic Church sees every human being as a wonderful gift of God. Period.
We never had an incident. Turmoil and anger raged everywhere, but it never spilled onto our campus.
These memories, these lessons, have remained in my mind and in my heart, giving me purpose throughout my life.
My elementary education was under the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia at Overbrook School in Nashville. When I reached college and took English Composition and Rhetoric 101, I thought that I knew more than my learned professor, because of what I learned from Sister Mary Joseph in eighth grade.
The sisters taught me much more, however, than not to split infinitives. They taught us all that we needed God, and that God always loved us and would be with us. They taught us to trust God. They taught us to be good to others. They taught us to love the Church, a necessity for the mystical Body of Christ, despite the imperfect human beings within it.
The news these days about Catholic schools is not always reassuring.
I have no children, but were I a parent, feeling my obligation to my children, I know the only schools that I would try to provide for them. As did I, I would want them to learn more than reading, writing and arithmetic.
Msgr. Owen F. Campion is OSV’s chaplain.


Looking for a new way to engage your students on subjects that equip them for the real world and connect with the curriculum? Debt Empire could be just the ticket: it’s a game app that helps to prepare them for the future and make informed decisions around their personal finances. And because it’s fun they’ll want to keep going when school is over.
It’s played on mobile phones and tablets and has been designed by the Commission for Financial Capability as a resource for teachers to help students understand more about debt and all the fish hooks that go with it.
Debt Empire contains numerous educational learnings in mathematics, financial capability and enterprise. It teaches students about potential traps of high interest debt such as payday loans.
Financial Capability in the New Zealand Curriculum – financial capability is highlighted as an example of how “links between learning areas should be explored in the curriculum. This can lead to units of work or broad programmes to develop students’ financial capability, positioning them to make well-informed financial decisions throughout their lives” (p39).
Supporting learners to understand how money works and to be confident and capable in managing money can contribute towards:
To do this students need:
Financial capability is a relevant context for strengthening literacy and numeracy skills and understandings, developing the key competencies, and exploring values.
The Financial Capability Progressions is a matrix of suggested curriculum based learning outcomes across a range of learning areas of the NZC.
Students can access Debt Empire on the iTunes app stores by searching ‘Debt Empire’. It's free to download.
Describe different ways of spending, for example, online purchasing, layby, hire-purchase (loans), phone plans.
Explain external factors that can affect peoples’ choices, for example, advertising, peer pressure.
Compare and contrast different ways of paying for goods and services.
Explore and compare different sources of income, for example, interest, wages, salary, dividends, transfer payments (benefits).
Explore how having more or less money affects spending choices for individuals/whānau/groups/communities.
Explain how income contributes to well-being of individuals/whānau/groups.
Investigate how lifestyle factors and media influences contribute to the wellbeing of people in New Zealand (Health & PE)
Use a range of additive and simple multiplicative strategies with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages; fractions and percentages in everyday use
Debt Empire’s main message if you are buying things with debt then it is important to know what you are signing up for. Debt, particularly from 3rd tier lenders (e.g. payday lenders) can be easy to get into but hard to get out of. Debt can be very expensive especially when excessive interest rates and the extra costs and charges are added into the original loan amount. The costs get even higher when you aren’t able to pay back the loan as planned.
Learning comes from the player using ‘trade tricks’ to grow their empire. They have a corresponding real world tip and link to Sorted.org.nz. Every time a ‘trade trick’ is used the player learns about debt in relation to their life and how to make debt work for them not against them. There are 17 separate ‘trade tricks’ - each of which has an associated learning point.
Sorted.org.nz – debt calculator which shows the power of compounding interest. Sorted also has useful guides and information about debt
Commerce Commission video series tv.comcom.govt.nz


First Thing Music
First Thing Music is inspired by the Kodály method, which offers a structured approach to music education. It is playful and physical, based on a carefully worked out sequential curriculum in which songs and musical games are used to teach the basics of music. It uses techniques such as signs, games, clapping, reading musical symbols and rhythmic notation, and most centrally, singing.
Teachers are trained to use the approach for 15 minutes every day (over three terms) with a whole class of pupils as a way of providing a structured start to the school day. Tees Valley Music Service (the lead partner in the Music Education Hub for Teesside) is leading this project in association with the British Kodály Academy.
Educating young children through daily singing, giving direct access to the world of music without the difficulties involved with the use of an instrument.
Behavioural Insights, The Institute of Education
Language and literacy
Why are we funding it?
While arts education is important for its own sake, the EEF’s Arts Education literature review identified Kodály as an approach with some promise to also impact attainment outcomes, based on earlier studies. More broadly, the review also identified musical approaches with very young children as having similar potential. The EEF’s Early Years Teaching and Learning Toolkit indicates that aspects of the approach, such as the focus on communication and language, also have promise.
How are we evaluating it?
Teams from The Behavioural Insights Team and The Institute of Education (UCL) have been appointed to conduct the evaluation. The main trial will consist of a two-armed randomised controlled trial, with classes randomised to treatment or a business as usual control group from 60 schools.
The primary outcome will be reading as measured by a standardised test, as there is evidence that this type of daily music approach impacts children’s reading ability. A secondary outcome will measure pupils’ learning dispositions. There will also be a cultural measure of ideation (children’s ability to generate ideas and articulate them to others) spanning all five culture round trials.
When will the evaluation report be due?
The evaluation report will be published in Summer 2020.


Amy Shapiro and I took a graduate course this summer for professional development on teaching beginning readers. During the course, we studied The Framework for Literacy Instruction which presents three perspectives for effective teaching—the interactive perspective, the critical perspective, and the response perspective. Across each perspective, the teacher must be cognizant of planning for the learners, the texts, and the instructional practices. It is critically important to address all three perspectives in literacy planning. If our goal is to develop critical thinkers, then focusing their attention on the content, the craft, and the big ideas is imperative. Through exposure to both fiction and non-fiction genres, students can develop a repertoire of comprehension strategies that can be applied appropriately depending on the reading task.
Learners: Affective and cognitive aspects of literacy learning.
Texts: Text structures, types, genres, and difficulty levels matched to literacy learners and literacy goals and objectives.
Instructional Practices: Developmentally appropriate research-based practices used with appropriate texts to facilitate affective and cognitive aspects of literacy development in all learners.
1. Interactive Perspective
- Reading and writing accurately, fluently, and with comprehension.
- Being strategic and metacognitive readers and writers.
- Use a variety of informal and formal assessments to determine areas of strength and need in literacy development.
- Determine texts of the appropriate types and levels of difficulty to meet literacy goals and objectives for students.
- Use instructional methods that address the cognitive and affective needs of students and the demands of the particular text.
- Promote students’ independent use of reading strategies and skills.
2. Critical Perspective
- Judging, evaluating, and thinking critically about text.
- Find out about ideas, issues, and problems that matter to students.
- Understand the learner as a unique individual.
- Select texts that provide opportunities for students to judge, evaluate, and think critically.
- Foster a critical stance by teaching students how to judge, evaluate, and think critically about texts.
3. Response Perspective
- Reading, reacting, and responding to text in a variety of meaningful ways.Find out about students’ interests and identities.
- Understand what matters to students and who they are as individuals.
- Select texts that connect to students’ identities and/or interests and that have the potential to evoke an emotional or personal response.
- Provide opportunities for students to read, react, and formulate a personal response to text.© Laureate Education, Inc.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.


Croxton School’s Curriculum is organised into three main areas:
1. Early Years – Laying the Foundations (Students aged 5 – 10)
In these years, the curriculum focuses on developing the fundamental knowledge, skills and behaviours in literacy and numeracy and other areas including physical and social capacities which underpin all future learning.
Integrated curriculum activities that have a emphasis on the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills form a major part of the curriculum.
2. Middle Years – Building Breadth and Depth (Students aged 11 – 16)
In these years, students’ progress beyond the foundations and their literacy and numeracy becomes more developed. An expanded curriculum program provides the basis for in-depth learning within all domains in the three learning strands.
Students will develop a range of independence skills that develop in them the capacity to manage their own lives, relate competently to others and to interact effectively with the world around them.
Each of the domains in the Discipline-based Learning strand, The Arts, Literacy, Humanities, Numeracy and Science are addressed with emphasis being placed on physical, personal and social learning.
3. Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
Foundation Level – Developing Pathways (Students aged 16 – 18)
In these years, students develop greater independence of mind and interests. They seek deeper connections between their learning and the world around them and explore how learning might be applied in that world.
They need to experience learning in work and community settings as well as the classroom. They are beginning to develop preferred areas for their learning.
The curriculum focuses on developing pathways to post school options. The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a two year program that consists of four strands:
- Literacy and Numeracy Strands
- Industry Specific Strand
- Work Related Skills
- Personal Development


Problem-based learning (PBL) in simulated environments such as massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORGs) offers a variety of language-based scenarios with nonplaying characters providing model language support for cultural, vocabulary, and literacy development. Gaming provides situated learning of content in a PBL format (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). For example, the U.S. Department of State designed Trace Effects, a video game (also a MMORG), for juvenile English language learners (ELLs) in 2012. The levels of the game take you to different American communities for rich situated learning among the varied cultural settings. (See my logic model for Trace Effects.)
I plan to investigate the use of a general MMORG as a language-learning vocabulary tool; it was not designed for ELLs. I will extend a study by Rankin, Gold, and Gooch (2006) that only had four college-aged intermediate and advanced level ELL participants. They reported that participants improved their English vocabulary by 40% from playing EverQuest II (EQ2) for four hours a week for four weeks without instructional supports. Nonplaying characters provided support by modeling language; in fact, the more they modeled, the higher the accuracy in vocabulary meaning. The authors acknowledged their small sample size and called for larger investigations of this type given the positive outcomes. I would like to verify and extend their findings using mixed methods to produce a more robust understanding of this phenomenon.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the proposed study is to determine whether college-aged intermediate and advanced level ELLs can learn vocabulary in a short amount of time from playing MMORGs. EQ2 provides opportunities for the characters (a student’s avatar) to speak. The nonplaying characters (embedded support system) verbalize the rules and alerts to players. All the components in this game are labeled, which serves as an English language support mechanism. In their study, Rankin et al. (2006) found there was sufficient support for ELLs within the game; however, their findings were based on an extremely small sample. My study will include at least 50 participants with random assignment to control and treatment groups (experimental design). If college-aged ELLs could significantly increase their knowledge of English vocabulary by playing a free MMORG like EQ2, then this could be an important extracurricular activity for language teaching programs or informal learning agendas.
A special thanks to Dr. Burke Johnson for getting me started on my dissertation in his course this semester (Advanced Research Design).
Note: These are my humble beginnings. I’ve already begun the literature review and written about 22 pages.
See my PowerPoint presentation on MMORGs for Language Learning that I presented at SITE 2014 in Jacksonville, FL.


Recently, co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, Preston Smith was asked to reflect upon the first decade of Rocketship’s service to low-income families around the nation. As befits someone so committed to education, he presented ten lessons that Rocketship, and the communities they serve, have learned in the past ten years.
- 1. Learning starts at home: By seeking to understand each student’s home life and family needs, education becomes more personalized.
- 2. Create demand for change: By remaining specialized in elementary education, Rocketeer parents are becoming actively engaged in demanding change in public education outside of Rocketship.
- 3. Parents have power: Rocketship’s educational system extends naturally outside the classroom to parents, who in turn become empowered to demand change and accountability.
- 4. Teachers create culturally responsive schools: Having a culturally diverse faculty reflects the value that Rocketship places on student diversity.
- 5. Actions speak louder than words: If you want to prove you believe in something, act meaningfully on those beliefs.
- 6. Meaningful inclusion benefits everyone: Inclusion benefits all students, not just those with disabilities.
- 7. Never stop learning: Not every plan goes the way it is intended, but you can often learn more from your failures than your successes.
- 8. Hire for your mindset: Prevent teacher burn out by hiring people with tenacity and a thirst for learning
- 9. You go farther with others: Building and nurturing partnerships within the community is vital to school success.
- 10. Public and proud: Public education is paramount to a thriving democracy. Rocketship wears the “public” badge proudly.
Rocketship Public Schools (formerly Rocketship Education) believes that it is a privilege to foster every student’s dreams and unleash their potential. To this end, they have established a network of non-profit public elementary charter schools in California’s Bay Area, Nashville, Milwaukee, and Washington DC.
Coinciding with their namesake, Rocketship has their sights set an astronomical goal: the elimination of the achievement gap in education. If the past decade is an indicator of future success, they’ve set the right course.


Indigenous Education Resource Inventory
This inventory is a non-comprehensive list of Indigenous education resources that has been compiled by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the British Columbia Teacher’s Federation, the First Nations Education Steering Committee, and Métis Nation British Columbia. The intent of these materials is to help further incorporate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into B.C. classrooms. The inventory includes guides, books and e-books, articles, websites, videos, and other materials. Educators may find this inventory useful for supporting personal and professional Indigenous learning.
Have a look at this site for some excellent indigenous text and teacher made lessons for fiction and non-fiction books with the reading comprehension strategies.
"At Strong Nations we are very committed to providing current & relevant learning strategies that support ALL learners. Our first addition to the site is a series of lesson plans that support reading comprehension."


In Reading for Pleasure, Kenny Pieper has gathered a range of tried-and-tested strategies to get kids reading, and enjoying it. We hear too often that kids don’t read any more: Kenny thinks it should be every teacher’s mission to prove this isn’t true. In a squeezed curriculum it can be tempting to accept pupils’ lack of reading and make excuses that there is not enough time to give to the ‘luxury’ of personal reading. Teachers do this at our peril. Reading is the essential building block of further literacy development as well as a skill, hobby and habit that we can take with us forever.
Kenny Pieper takes the act of reading for granted, as many – but sadly not all – adults do. You’re reading this right now. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Kenny teaches kids whose lives are terrifying obstacle courses of reading-related problems. They know they struggle with reading so they try to avoid reading at all costs. They leave school, not merely unaffected by this strange reading thing, but saddled with a great deal of emotional baggage about being an outsider, even more entrenched in a belief that reading is for others more intelligent than them. Then there are the children who can read perfectly well, but chose not to, unconvinced of the importance of reading in their lives. What difference does it make to them? We have to answer that question in school. We have a duty to put an end to illiteracy and aliteracy. Kids need reading role models and, as a teacher, that role model is you. You may be the only adult who that reluctant reader will ever see reading. Teachers are critical in giving all children the gift of being able to read well and to value reading.
Topics covered include: the author’s personal reading journey, how reading enabled him to become the first person in his family to go to university and convinced him that fostering a love of reading is his moral duty as an educator, illiteracy and aliteracy, reluctant readers, book reviews, prioritising personal reading by devoting ten minutes each lesson to it, habitual reading, the reading environment, interest inventories, technology, e-readers, Accelerated Reader programmes, recommended reading, building a class library, bookmarks, book tweets, book speed-dating, libraries, librarians, literacy and class inequality, parental involvement, podcasting, reading records, reading dialogue journals, the rights of the reader, reading aloud, silent reading and literacy and gender, amongst others.
The benefits we can all reap when kids become confident readers who read for pleasure are obvious. Discover strategies which will: get kids talking about books, get them thinking about books, get them reading books, encourage independent reading, develop literacy skills and establish a classroom culture where reading is expected and celebrated.
Suitable for primary and secondary teachers, leaders and SENCOs, or just anyone with an interest in or responsibility for getting kids to read.
Kenny Pieper has been teaching English for fifteen years and still loves every minute of it. He stands shakily on the shoulders of giants in the shape of his amazingly inspiring colleagues. Deep down, he still can’t believe his luck that he gets to do this. Click Read more


Literacy and numeracy skills are required in almost all parts of student life. Students who need extra support are offered one or both of the programs below:
The University of New England in New South Wales has developed the QuickSmart programs for literacy and numeracy. The College has been using these programs together with other programs to build solid literacy and numeracy levels in students who need extra support. Students are supported by our trained staff in a designated QuickSmart facility.
The QuickSmart numeracy program focuses on developing students’ understanding and automatic recall of basic academic facts with a particular focus on times tables. The program is called QuickSmart because it encourages students to become quick in their response speed and smart in their strategy use when learning basic academic skills.
Ultimately, QuickSmart aims to free up working memory so students can engage meaningfully in demanding school activities like problem solving and multiple computations. The more automatically a student can complete basic computations such as 9 x 9, the more space they create in their working memory to engage in the higher levels of thinking. Becoming faster and more confident in recalling basic mathematics facts, for example, can mean that students have more time, energy and attention available for tackling more challenging mathematical problems.
The QuickSmart Literacy program focuses on improving a student’s ability to automatically recognise works and increasing fluency in reading. It is based on our growing understanding of neuroscience and how our brains work when learning. Students get individual support three times per week for 30 minutes each time, which allows them to build new neural pathways to aid learning.
QuickSmart Literacy sessions are structured to include a number of short and focused activities aimed at improving a student’s speed of word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension skills.
Regular testing and feedback are essential components of both programs.


Technology changing music education
- Reading time: 3 minutes
Image: INTO SCHOOL
INTO SCHOOL brings technology-supported music and film production into K-12 education, inspiring children to a creative journey from an original idea to a finished work. This holistic, cross-curricular and phenomenon-based learning approach creates opportunities for more versatile music and arts education in diverse learning environments.
The concept has been developed in Finland, where it is known as Ihan oma juttu, and aims to narrow the gap between art, science and technology. It provides equal opportunities for everyone to create music, and to take part in creative processes, expressing themselves through music and the arts.
"Modern technology has opened up new possibilities in teaching as well as learning music and arts. For example, earlier musical background or mastering traditional instruments is not needed any more," says Tuomas Hiedanniemi, Head of Pedagogy of INTO SCHOOL.
INTO SCHOOL consists of two parts: a complete teachers' training programme combining on-site learning and e-learning; and creative projects for children in kindergartens and schools.
During the training, teachers take part not only in online learning, but also in practical workshops, which offer them concrete tools and the confidence to use new teaching methods utilising the latest technology.
The project also gets to highlight copyright issues and authors' rights to a number of communities and families within the EU, in a natural and positive way: children making their own transversal creations offer a great example of creative ownership and cultural property.
At present, INTO SCHOOL is successfully running in dozens of municipalities and from kindergartens to high schools across Finland. It has already aroused great interest in the field of education worldwide, and is supported by various foundations as well as the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland.
Written by: Kari Saarilahti, INTO SCHOOL.


If you gave up the clarinet in grade school, don’t worry. Those precious years of musical training still did your brain a favor.
Brains change with age, and these changes can sometimes interfere with our hearing, which in turn impacts how we respond to speech. But new research shows that being a musician — even by the loosest definition of the word — can curb cognitive declines. A new study from researchers at Northwestern University, published in the Journal of Neuroscience connected music lessons in childhood to the way the brain responded to speech later in life.
The researchers asked 44 adults between the ages of 55 to 76 about any musical instruments they played as children, and studied the electrical activity in their brains as they listened to the synthesized syllable, “da.” The scientists focused their attention on the auditory brain stem, the area that processes sensory and cognitive information. And they found that the longer a person played an instrument during childhood, the faster their brains were able to respond to sounds. This was true even though none of the participates had picked up an instrument in almost 40 years. Recognizing speech is a good indicator of cognitive ability, since picking out speech from background noise with relatively little effort is important for daily functioning.
The participants who had four to 14 years of musical training had a millisecond faster response compared to those who had no musical training. A millisecond may seem hardly notable, but the brain is so sensitive to timing, that the difference matters. This means older adults may have slower responses to sounds that change quickly, which means they can’t always understand what people are saying to them.
So even if you weren’t a musical prodigy, those hours spent practicing weren’t a total waste. “This study suggests the importance of music education for children today and for healthy aging decades from now. The fact that musical training in childhood affected the timing of the response to speech in older adults in our study is especially telling because neural timing is the first to go in the aging adult,” said the study’s lead author Nina Kraus in a statement.


Model Curriculum for English Language Arts
2018 English Language Arts Model Curriculum
Teams of educators from across the state helped the Ohio Department of Education develop the English Language Arts Model Curriculum following the adoption of Ohio’s Learning Standards in 2017. The public, along with educators, commented on suggested changes to the model curriculum for K-12 during a month-long survey that closed in September 2017. These suggestions were incorporated into the model curriculum, where appropriate. The State Board of Education adopted the model curriculum in February 2018.
An Instructional Supports section is included with the model curriculum. These supports contain Instructional Strategies, including examples and Instructional Tools/Resources and were created and compiled by the Ohio educators who updated the Model Curriculum. The Department encourages educators statewide to submit best practice instructional strategies to be added to the instructional supports sections of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum. We will review these submissions and update the instructional supports on a regular basis. Send suggestions via email to English Language Arts Education Program Specialists Kara Putinsky or Joann Kauffman.
To address the instruction of manuscript and cursive writing in Ohio’s schools, the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 58, which becomes effective on July 1, 2019. This legislation required the Ohio Department of Education to provide information on the development of handwriting and include supplemental instructional materials in the English Language Arts Model Curriculum. Guidance and Supplemental Materials for Handwriting can be found along with the Model Curriculum in the table below.
2011 English Language Arts Model Curriculum by Grade Level
Ohio teachers worked in teams in 2010 to suggest instructional strategies and resources that align with the Ohio's Learning Standards in English Language Arts. The State Board of Education adopted the results of their work, English Language Arts Model Curricula, in March 2011.
In October 2013, Career Connections strategies were added to the Instructional Strategies in the model curricula.
Ohio's Early Literacy ToolKit
The Ohio Department of Education strives to build a solid literacy foundation for all students through the implementation of quality language and literacy practices. We can help educators do this by combining effective instruction and meaningful learning opportunities with family and community engagement in language and literacy development.
Ohio’s Early Literacy Toolkits for Districts, Schools, and Teachers
and for Families and Communities
provide evidence-based language and literacy resources for best practice instruction and assessment, as well as supports to build upon the natural learning opportunities that occur within a child’s daily routine.
Using the Standards to Develop Curriculum
These tools create a framework from the standards and model curriculum for planning units around big ideas/concepts; sequencing units to the school year; intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary connections; diverse learner considerations; technology integration; formative, summative and performance-based assessment practices; and resources.
Quality Review Rubric
The Quality Review Rubric provides criteria by which to evaluate the alignment and overall quality of lessons and units with respect to Ohio's Learning Standards.
Last Modified: 12/20/2019 12:02:45 PM


The development of children’s views of nature starts developing at a very young age. So the subject Environmental science for kids should be taught to them from a very young age. Kids generally admire the things around them and imitate different attitudes and actions of the adults or towards living things. It may be a jar filled with worms, butterfly eggs, tadpoles or bugs.
The eyes of young children light up when the teacher brings living things into the classroom. If but teacher drink living thing into the classroom then the children learn about nature more specifically and they get to see e the real things and not just fill up the worksheets about nature.
Once if the students for children get the opportunity to investigate whatever is brought into the class by the teacher, they get motivated to ask different types of questions to the teacher and inquire about that thing. They also get very excited to complete their projects regarding the living thing and write down or share the knowledge they have gathered.
The field regarding environmental science help or emphasizes to understand the different and combined systems of the environment around us. The environmental science also helps to understand the effects of the action of human beings upon the environment.
If you want to know or learn about the basic things of environmental science then you can use the Environmental Science web guide. This will no doubt help you to get the updated information and news regarding this field. The students will get different resources that will benefit the learning process. These sources will help the children to learn about the subject better.
Environmental science is taught at a very early stage of school and it is a booming field for all young scientists of the future. To make this subject easier and comfortable to understand for students, many sites have been introduced.
One among them is the environmental science for kids who are designed appropriately to educate and help children to get the perfect knowledge of the basic concept. This site also helps higher school students to complete their projects and other assignments.
Some insights for Environmental Science for students.
- Different educational sites for students use some plug-in which helps in the working of different multimedia contents and a variety of games. Always visit the sites before the child visits them an adventure that all the software is available with you for their proper functioning.
- For high school students or children, there are different sites that offer project guidelines. These do not substitute for any original work that may help you by providing different information about the project you are indulged in.
- You may also get some recommended sites there but before entering the sites talk to the school teacher about any discounted class accounts or school accounts.
Some top sites if environmental science is:
- PBS Kids go
- EPA environmental kids club
- The globe program
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Ask a scientist is one of the wave pages of U.S
- CHP science education program
Environmental science is important in a number of things such as clarifying modern environmental concept including conservation of biodiversity, using natural resources more effectively and efficiently, knowing the behavior of different or organisms under conditions of nature, knowing the more suitable method of Living, developing a sensitive attitude today’s environmental issues.
How to make Environmental education part of the classroom routine.
Bring as much as creatures and plants inside the classroom. Young students will be able to connect to nature and interact with spider’s bugs tadpoles and slugs. Students must be taught how to respect and treat all the living while starting and knowing them. Trapping bugs and butterflies in the bottle and shaking the container and other sorts of mischief should be not allowed and discouraged.
Focus on some part of the environment
Many children’s had hardly any opportunities to understand nature. Like your enthusiasm for the scenery and being gentle for the surroundings, the people around you will also become enthusiastic.
Choose just one small feature of the background such as slugs, worms, squirrels, frogs or insects. Children become attentive to attitudes, their accountability towards the surroundings from beginning to end of the study of a one-minute section of it.


Four-year-old Joshua challenges his father to a game: Can he come downstairs before Joshua writes the word to? Rachel, two and a half, makes a series of wavy lines on a piece of paper and calls it a “thank-you letter to Grandma.” In Early Literacy Joan McLane and Gillian McNamee explore the ways young children like Joshua and Rachel begin to learn about written language. Becoming literate requires mastering a complex set of skills, behaviors, and attitudes that makes it possible to receive and communicate meaning through the written word. McLane and McNamee provide a fresh examination of this process in light of recent research.
The authors look closely at what young children do with writing and reading. As children play with making marks on paper and listen to stories being read aloud, they begin to discover uses and purposes for written language. They learn that they can use writing to communicate with people they care about and that reading story books opens up new ideas and experiences. As children experiment with writing and reading in their talking, drawing, and pretend play, they can build “bridges to literacy.”
The authors emphasize the importance of children’s relationships with significant adults and peers for growth in literacy. They also devote chapters to early literacy development at home and in the neighborhood, and in preschool and kindergarten settings. In one daycare center for inner-city children, for example, where a favorite activity is dictating and acting out stories, children become active participants in a community of readers and writers—a literate culture.
Through its clear and concise discussion of young children’s growth toward literacy, and its examples of the contexts that encourage and enrich that growth, Early Literacy will serve as a valuable resource for parents, teachers, and others who work or play with young children.


Using colourful pipe cleaners and beads you can set up a fun counting maths activity for kids. This is also really great for fine motor development and when it’s complete you can simply turn it into a busy bag that can be done at another time. Counting beads on pipe cleaners might seem simple enough, but it is the perfect activity for children who are at the early stages of developing their numeracy skills.
Possum (aged 3.5 years) is really into beads at the moment and so I couldn’t wait to give this popular maths activity a try. She is quite familiar with many number names to 10 and ordering them, however, I was keen to see how she was able to represent the numbers to ten by creating them using beads on a pipe cleaner. This turned out to be such a fabulous and fun math activity that we have done it many time since I took these photographs.
Recommended age: Flexible enough to suit all ages and skills
(Strict active supervision is required)
To make the maths activity for your children you will need –
- Pipe cleaners
Begin by folding a piece of paper around one end of each pipe cleaner and fixing it in place with a swipe of your glue stick. Depending on the age of your child and their skill level, write a number on each piece of paper. I wanted to help develop Possum’s understanding of numbers to 12 so I wrote 1 – 12 on each piece of paper. This math activity is flexible enough that you can cater it to suit your own child’s needs and skills.
I thought it might be a bit of fun to have Possum place the pipe cleaners in numerical order. It was wonderful to watch her take the time to think about the order of the numbered pipe cleaners and encourage her to adopt good counting strategies, such as counting on and checking what she had already done. Of course your child might choose to sing a number rhyme or matching numbers written down somewhere nearby. They are all great ways for your child to be supported in their learning.
I took a moment to have Possum trace her finger over each of the numbers for a bit of revision. Even though she wasn’t tracing the numbers in a way that one would write it, it was a great way for have her focus on the features of each number. We laughed about how some of the numbers had straight lines and others had curvy round bits.
Soon enough the beads came out and Possum instinctively went about threading on the beads to represent the number attached to the end of the pipe cleaner. To ensure she didn’t become too overwhelmed I only allowed her to have 2 or 3 numbered pipe cleaners at a time.
This maths activity of counting beads onto pipe cleaners is also a fabulous way of developing your child’s fine motor skills. The process of threading the bead onto the pipe cleaner requires a steady hand and also great hand and eye coordination. This activity really does give all those things a great work out.
Double checking my answers
Maths can be so tricky because there is rarely a grey area, you either have it right or wrong in many cases. One thing I’d really love Possum to be great at is double checking her answers and I think it’s a skill that should be encouraged early on.
Here Possum is double checking how many beads she has placed on the pipe cleaner.
Patterns and Colours
Possum is a little like me in the sense that she finds comfort in things being orderly and organised, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw her using one colour for each of the pipe cleaners. I did encourage her to use patterns but it wasn’t something she was interested in, however, your child may. We did do lots of talking about colours and how they would look if they were mixed together.
You might like to play a game with your child that has them counting the number of beads you have placed on the pipe cleaner and them saying (or writing) the number they believe it to be. Another way of making maths fun and turning learning into a game.
It’s amazing how a math activity that involves counting beads on pipe cleaners can open up so many other learning opportunities. Fine motor development, ordering numbers and naming colours to name just a few. We had lots of fun with this maths activity and even turned it into a quick busy bag maths activity to play on another day.
Do you think your child would enjoy this fun maths activity?
Some more ideas you’ll love –


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Life Span: 1927-Present
Location: Grant Park
Chicago Tribune August 27, 1927
John Philip Sousa conducts “Stars and Stripes Forever” on a terrace east of the new Buckingham Fountain as the fountain is dedicated before 50,000 Chicagoans. And “As though responding to the direction of the bandmaster and the magic of his baton, the fountain began to glow with misty blue lights circling each of the three tiers. A moment later the rush of water started. For an hour the lights were played on the 134 jets, through which 5,500 gallons of water were poured each minute, and all the various lighting effects were displayed.”
Under Construction 1926
Chicago Tribune, April 12, 1931
“Front Yard” by Edward McGill, of the Tribune staff.
Chicago Sunday Tribune, July 23, 1933
From the Robert and Peggy Series
Written and drawn by Professor William Garrison Whitford, Art Education, University of Chicago.
OF all the gorgeous spectacle places witnessed by Robert and Peggy during their stay in Chicago as World’s Fair Visitors, none perhaps appealed to their youthful love for color so much as their view of the Buckingham Memorial Fountain by night. Not only children, but grownups gaze in awe as this great fountain plays its mighty streams of water into the air under a myriad changing colored lights. The children were in Grant park, just north of A Century of Progress Exposition, promptly at 9 o’clock in the evening, when the fountain !urned into a magnificent cascade of all of the co!ors of the rainbow. Uncle Jack explained that the fountain contained 134 separate jets and spouted 14,000 gallons of water into the air every minute during a major display pointing out the eight huge bronze sea horses around the margin of the great pool.
“The real sea horses at the aquarium are tiny ihings,” Peggy pointed out “These bronze ones are big enough to ride.”
Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1931


In a rare moment of bipartisanship, last month Congress passed the much-anticipated Every Student Succeeds act and with a stroke of his pen, President Barack Obama ended the No Child Left Behind era. This shift offers a huge opportunity for the music education community.
No Child Left Behind, the largest attempt at education reform in our nation’s history, resulted in a massive surge in the testing of our kids and an increased focus in “STEM” (science, technology, engineering and math). While well-meaning, this legislation precipitated a gradual and massive decline of students participating in music and arts classes, as test prep and remedial classes took precedence over a broader liberal arts education, and music education was often reduced, cut, or relegated to after school. Little Brandon and Britney certainly didn’t have time for band; they had to prepare for their tests!
Taken on face value, Every Student Succeeds bodes well for music education and the National Association for Music Education, which spent thousands of hours lobbying on behalf of music teachers everywhere. The new act removes “adequate yearly progress” benchmarks and includes music and arts as part of its definition of a “well-rounded education.” It also refers to time spent teaching music and arts as “protected time.”
Music and arts educators now have some leverage for increased funding, professional development, equipment, staffing, prioritized scheduling of classes, and a more solid foothold when budgets get tight and cuts are being discussed. I can almost hear the discussions—”We can’t cut a core class now, can we?” In other words, music is finally at the grown-ups table with subjects like science, math, social studies and language arts.
Now that we’re at the table, we need a national conversation to redefine the depth and quality of the content we teach in our music classes. We need a paradigm shift in how we define outcomes in our music students. And we need to go beyond the right notes, precise rhythms, clear diction and unified phrasing that have set the standard for the past century.
We should define learning by a student’s intimate knowledge of composers or artists—their personal history, conception and the breadth and scope of their output. Students should know the social and cultural landscape of the era in which any piece was written or recorded, and the circumstances that had an influence. We should teach the triumphant mythology of our greatest artists—from Louis Armstrong to Leonard Bernstein, from Marian Anderson to Mary Lou Williams, and others.
Students should understand the style and conception of a composer or artist—what are the aesthetics of a specific piece, the notes that have meaning? They should know the influences and inputs that went into the creation of a piece and how to identify those. There should be discussion of the definitive recording of a piece, and students should make qualitative judgments on such against a rubric defined by the teacher that easily and broadly gives definition and shape to any genre.
Selected pieces should illuminate the general concepts of any genre—the 6/8 march, the blues, a lyrical art song, counterpoint, AABA form, or call and response—and students should be able to understand these and know their precise location within a score and what these concepts represent.
We should embrace the American arts as a full constituent in our programs—not the pop-tinged sounds of The Voice or Glee but our music: blues, folk, spirituals, jazz, hymns, country and bluegrass, the styles that created the fabric of our culture and concert works by composers who embraced them.
Students should learn that the written score is a starting point. It’s the entry into a world of discovery and aspiration that can transform their lives; it’s deeper than notes. We should help them realize that a lifetime of discovery in music is a worthwhile and enjoyable endeavor.
These lessons will require new skills, extra work outside of class, more research, and perhaps new training standards for teachers. But, it’s not an insurmountable task, and it is vital, given the current strife of our national discourse. Our arts can help us define who we are and tell us who we can be. They can bind the wounds of racism, compensate for the scourge of socio-economic disadvantage, and inoculate a new generation against the fear of not knowing and understanding those who are different from themselves.
It is time, music educators. Welcome to the table.