Children’s books play an important role in children’s literacy development because they offer opportunities to broaden their horizons, to develop their vocabulary and to help them become fluent in the target language. At the same time, reading literature increases cultural awareness, improves the cultural sensitivity of children by making them aware of the great diversity in today’s multicultural environment. In this context, reading parallel texts can lead to cross-cultural understandings while increasing empathy and giving rise to new perspectives on their cognitive development.
Bearing all these in mind, I decided to experience reading parallel texts with elementary students this year with the aim of keeping them engaged and interested in learning the English language. As I had already tried to encourage them to read classical stories adapted to suit their needs (Graded Readers series accompanied by activity books), I knew that they were interested in reading, but unfortunately, this activity did not appeal to all of them, as some were not interested enough to approach a text in English for fear they might fail in their attempt.
Consequently, to encourage them and facilitate their understanding I suggested the bilingual texts as a means of enriching their vocabulary without getting them frustrated by the need to look up a lot of words… the translation in Romanian could be seen on the opposing pages. The idea was to stimulate their curiosity and interest in English, not to confuse the them. This way, most of my students started reading in English, as at the end of the activity I was to use alternative assessment to help all students reach their potential. The choice was between writing a summary of the book or solve the tasks on each chapter from the activity books.
The experience proved to be interesting, challenging and finally rewarding: not only did the students’ English vocabulary and fluency grew exponentially, but they also proved to enjoy the tasks!
Benefits of using parallel texts
1. The co-occurrence of the target language and the L1 version on the same page facilitates the process of ‘noticing’ in an ‘authentic’ linguistic context. According to ‘The Noticing Hypothesis’, input does not become intake for language learning unless it is noticed, that is, consciously registered. The learning of a foreign language grammar structure cannot occur unless the learner ‘notices’ the gap between the way the respective structure is used in the target language and their own language. (Schmidt, 2010).
2. Students can learn vocabulary in context as parallel texts enable them to ‘pick up’ new vocabulary items without being fully aware of this process (‘inductive learning’).
3. Less confident readers are encouraged to approach reading in the foreign language, as their anxiety level is lowered by the fact that there is a translation available they can rely on when having difficulties with the text. It is worth emphasizing the importance of looking at the translation only to double-check meaning when they feel confused by the original text.
Schmidt, Richard. ‘‘Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning”. (2010). nflrc.hawaii.edu. Web. 1 June 2018.


Money Side Up! - The Financial Aspect of Inequality
By Aranya Sharma
India is a diverse country, with people from different backgrounds: social or economic, traditions, cultures and races. The country has had a rich cultural tradition and people come in to experience this from across the world. Despite this, the country has a grim reality of abject poverty, economic disparities and inequalities. One of the most prominent issues in the country today is poverty, which in turn gives rise to inequality because a commonly accepted argument tells us that the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. Although, this has lots of different aspects when it comes to asset acquisition and wealth creation, additionally the underlying assumption is the near zero presence of financial literacy amongst individuals. But, in a wider sense, poverty leads to inequality and thus becomes a vicious cycle. Poverty is a condition where a person/family cannot even afford two square meals a day juxtaposed with the affluence of the other world. The issue of inequality is persistent. According to several reports, the top 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the total national wealth. 73% of the wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest 1%, while 67 million Indians who comprise the poorest half of the population saw only a 1% increase in their wealth. This is a particularly alarming situation for a society that is already fractured along the lines of gender inequality, religion, sexual preferences, colours and races.
The fact that millions of people in the country have lost their jobs since the onset of pandemic tells us explicitly, the compounding nature of this issue. The main contributors to this problem are lack of education and basic services, concentration of doctors in urban areas, lack of financial literacy, agrarian practices and advancing technologies. It is a reality that technological advancements favour a particular labour force with the required skill sets and leave out the other, giving rise to what we know as structural unemployment. Often, pregnant women in rural areas have to travel long distances for their deliveries and the absence of basic medical facilities in such areas also leads to a number of deaths caused by preventable conditions, annually. Through all these examples, it has come to light that inequality is not exclusive in nature, it in turn depends on a lot of other factors which have to be worked upon.
We are well acquainted with several government schemes that have been announced to combat all these issues, including the skill India program, beti bachao beti padhao, MNREGA to name a few. These schemes have largely targeted the ill-represented communities and sections of the society. But it would be intriguing to observe the ground level impact of these schemes, whether or not these have been effective and if not then what important steps have been taken in this regard.
This can be changed only if the youth is driven to make a change. Societies, other social organisations, youth foundations and NGOs can undertake initiatives like imparting financial literacy, elementary education, skills to benefit these people and thus give them additional sources of revenue.


Nobody ever said it would be easy. At least, no one who was telling the truth. Being a teacher is difficult at the best of times, but being a teacher for your own child, in your own home, every single day? That takes things to an entirely different level.
Homeschooling During COVID-19
A lot of people have just found themselves in the role of teacher for the first time in their life. Sure, we’re always trying to impart wisdom on our children, and we’re always trying to help them find the best in both themselves or others, but now…
Now we have to consider how to teach them about:
- The Ten Key Literacy Skills
- The impact of Media
- Essay Writing
- Project Based Learning
- Inquiry Based Learning
- And much… much… more…
Elementary Homeschooling: A Parent’s Guide
Everything You Need to Know
This guide include a daily schedule, unique instructions for creative story telling, five engrossing and engaging lessons, and a wide variety of graphic organizers that can be used by both teachers and students of all ages.
We’re all looking for a way to keep things feeling normal. For a number of us, that means a realistic schedule that we can stick to. The information provided in this guide sets up a daily routine that allows for focused learning time, and also independent play.
There are five lessons contained in this guide. They can be built upon day after day for student engagement and routine building, or used on their own when time allows.
The lessons cover reading and writing skills, numeracy skills, history, geography, and a wide variety of other topics. There are also unique extension ideas that allow you to cover the entire school year’s curriculum.
Notes on Modifications
Because each of these lessons has been designed through the lens Universal Design for Learning, focusing on skills-based learning, they can be easily modified for students of all ages.
The lessons contained within this guide as just as relevant for high school seniors, as they are for junior kindergarten students and preschoolers.
The Graphic Organizers
It’s one thing to have someone give you ideas of what you should be doing with your students (your children) but it’s another thing entirely to be provided with all the resources you need to put those ideas into practice.
This guide contains a number of professionally made graphic organizers to allow your students to complete a range of tasks for optimal results.
And the best thing?
This guide is FREE for everyone to use. If you would like to follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or make a small Donation, that’s always appreciated. But, as always with WhatBinder.com materials, they are provided free of charge.
There should never be financial roadblocks that prevent people from bringing quality education to students. A well educated, engaged, and informed society benefits us all.
A Crash Course in Education Theory
For those looking to learn a little more, and who want to learn 95% of what it takes to be an excellent educator, I recommend you take a look at three short articles. Once you understand and internalize these three concepts, you will be prepared to take on any challenge that is presented to you.
WARM evaluations are evaluations that build upon the tenets of Universal Design for Learning, taking four key concepts into consideration during their design and implementation: Welcome student voice, Assessment opportunities, Repetition of skills, Marks into grades
The COAT Method is a form of lesson planning that implements Universal Design to ensure students are provided opportunities to be: Crafting, On their feet, Actively listening, and Talking to each other.
Everybody has that memory, the one where a teacher made a difference in their life. Some people will never forget that teacher’s name, nor what that teacher did for them. The ONE teacher is: Open minded, Networking, and Engaged in student interests.


Decorate your bot, then program it to complete your secret missions! This hands-on kit unites all the STEAM skills into one exciting lab. Customize your bot with embellishments to make a googly-eyed monster bot or a feathered bird bot. Simple push-button programming sets your robot off on missions like drawing with a pen and bulldozing objects through an obstacle course. Science kids will learn basic robotic coding while measuring distances and angles and developing hypotheses they can test. Robot lab combines all the benefits of STEM toys and science projects for kids into one rewarding kit that will have them thinking outside the bot!
• With push-button programming, kids can make their robot draw with a pen, bulldoze objects and more!
• Encourages an early interest in programming, technology and computer science for kids.
• Includes 3.5” x 4” robot, decorating supplies, obstacle cones, wooden cube, pen, marker, bulldozer and magnet attachment, metal stars, grid paper and instructions.
Age Recommendation: Ages 8 and up


(Published - 13 July 2020)
South Africa has 11 national languages – but nine of these are not used effectively as a medium of instruction in schools from Grade 4, leaving many learners at a distinct disadvantage when they start reading and writing in an unfamiliar language. To address this challenge, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) will establish a Centre for African Language Teaching, with a special focus on isiXhosa.
“Indigenous languages should be at the centre of education transformation in South Africa,” said Professor Vuyokazi Nomlomo, Dean of UWC’s Faculty of Education. “More than 70% of the population comprises speakers of the nine African languages, and research indicates that pupils and students learn better in their home languages. But while our country’s Language-in-Education Policy promotes multilingual education, there is little implementation on the ground – due in large part to lack of teacher training.”
Prof Nomlomo holds a PhD in Language and Literacy Studies, and is an accomplished professor of language education and teacher education – something she understands well, having worked as a high school teacher in the Eastern Cape.
UWC-CALT, supported by a R10-million grant from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), will contribute to the development of isiXhosa as a language of teaching and learning in primary schools, and is also geared towards developing teacher education for enabling teaching of – and in – isiXhosa at primary school level.
IsiXhosa is the first language of 8.2 million South Africans. But there is limited expertise in the teaching of early literacy in isiXhosa, and other African languages, in teacher education.
“Our curriculum espouses learner-centred education. But at the moment, from Grade 4 onwards, 80% of our children are learning through what sometimes feels like a foreign language: English,” said Dr Robyn Tyler, a language in education researcher at UWC’s Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR). “If we want to move beyond reciting pieces of knowledge parrot-fashion and enable real, critical engagement with content, our teachers must include African languages in their teaching.”
UWC’s CALT will strengthen the teaching of isiXhosa literacy in the B.Ed (Foundation Phase) which prepares students to teach from Grade R - 3. It will also contribute significantly to the development of isiXhosa literacy materials to be used in the B.Ed Foundation Phase programmes of all the institutions that will participate in the CALT project.
The CALT will also develop knowledge and practice standards in isiXhosa, and design a framework for the teaching of reading and writing literacy in isiXhosa in the B.Ed (Foundation Phase) curricula of the participating institutions.
Coming Together To Transform Teacher Teaching
UWC-CALT will partner with three universities in the Eastern Cape where isiXhosa is widely spoken and taught as a home language.
“The Faculty of Education at UWC is recognised by the DHET for its teaching and research innovation in early literacy development in isiXhosa,” Proff Nomlomo noted. “But we can’t do it on our own: UWC-CALT will thus form a community of practice to advance research in the teaching of isiXhosa literacy in ITE programmes in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces.”
UWC-CALT will take advantage of the University’s dedication to multilingualism and education, exploring opportunities to collaborate with researchers from UWC’s Department of African Language Studies and CMDR, among others.
“The majority of South Africans are multilingual, and multilingualism is a hallmark of being African. So promoting multilingualism in the classroom means building on pre-existing strengths to enable greater access to learning as well as access to new languages,” said Dr Tyler.
Professor Vivienne Lawack, UWC’s Acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor, sees the grant as an opportunity to address the challenges of both basic education and higher education.
“As a University, we are supportive of the promotion of African languages and multilingualism at UWC and beyond, despite the tough economic times and financial constraints that the Higher Education sector finds itself in,” said Prof Lawack.
“While our country struggles with the challenges of COVID-19, we must not forget that there are other challenges on the horizon. To face those head-on, we will need to educate new generations of leaders - and one way to do that lies in mother tongue education and the ability of our teachers to teach African languages.”


Technology and digital media are an integral part of many adults’ lives, and the same is true for many children today. Not long ago, the conversation about digital media and early childhood learning focused on whether or not these new technologies should be part of early childhood education, at home or at school. But in recent years, the conversation has shifted to an acknowledgment that these things are a part of learning.
A recurring theme in all of the literature and studies conducted around technology and early learning is that while digital media can provide significant learning benefits for young learners, the adult-child relationship is essential to obtaining these learning benefits.
According to the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning & Children’s Media, “It’s through relationships that we grow and learn best. This straightforward statement might offer the most essential clue to understanding how children gain the most learning benefit from their interactions with media and technology. Building on this, the essential question might be:
How does a child’s interaction with media and technology strengthen relationships?
It might be helpful to think about a child’s relationships in three ways:
- The child’s relationship to self: We might ask how the experience helps a child to understand and express him- or herself and to develop both competence and confidence.
- The child’s relationship to others: How does the experience help a child to connect, collaborate and share ideas with peers, family and others?
- The child’s relationship to the larger world, community and environment: For example, how might the experience help a child to appreciate the natural world or gain understanding and empathy for the lives of people and other creatures near and far?”
Early Childhood Australia (ECA) has developed a comprehensive statement on young children and digital technologies in response to an identified need for guidance for early childhood professionals. The following excerpt outlines part of the statement developed by Early Childhood Australia, an organisation whose vision is that every young child is thriving and learning.
“The experience of growing up in digital contexts is not universally the same—not every child and family will use, value or understand digital technologies in the same way. As such, there is no simple answer to understanding the role and optimal use of digital technologies with, by and for young children in early childhood education settings. Instead of working towards a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, this practice advice recognises that educators are skilled at working in partnership with children and families, and making decisions in the best interests of the child.”
Play and pedagogy
Young children have opportunities for play and pedagogy in digital contexts. Play and pedagogy involve children using a range of digital devices for exploration, meaning-making, collaboration and problem-solving. Educators engage in active decision making about the use and non-use of digital technologies for learning.
Principle: Play and pedagogy promotes young children’s exploration, social interaction, collaboration and learning in digital contexts
- Provide opportunities for children to explore and experiment with the functions of a diverse range of digital technologies alongside adult modelling and instruction in digital technology use.
- Promote play involving children in digital technology use with digital and non-digital tools and materials to build knowledge about the use of technologies for communication, collaboration and information sharing.
- Seek young children’s perspectives regarding the role and use of digital technologies in their own lives, play and learning.
- Model active decision making regarding digital technology use with, by and for young children that provides a balance of digital and non-digital experiences and activities in early childhood education and care settings.
More information and a detailed statement from Early Childhood Australia can be found here:


“Your child should study music because music brings joy to the world. It will bring joy to your family, and it will bring them joy throughout their whole life.”
Music plays an intangible and essential role in the lives of millions, if not billions, of people worldwide. It acts as a catalyst to create and inspire, as well as serving as a medium for transmitting tradition, literature, and culture. Also, music figures predominantly as defining points across the backdrop of so many significant periods of our lives. Just as certain scents will conjure up Proustian degrees of historical recall, a specific song at a particular time is equally capable of such emotional reminiscences. Music has power — and lots of it.
Understanding the power of music and music education is a special gift in today’s world. Through creativity and the arts, we can collectively nurture and enrich our society, especially when children show us how! Children can use their musical comprehension throughout their lives to help enliven their surroundings and themselves along the way.
How Can Music Education Help Your Child?
So, what can music do for people in the world where music plays a tangible role in their lives? Lots of things. That’s what. With early music education, children benefit in ways that will help them succeed in school and beyond. These benefits accrue best through listening and playing. Yes, intangible benefits are doubtlessly present, but here’s how your child can grow when actively engaged with music:
- Improved listening skills
- Greater math comprehension
- Improved memory skills
- Better coordination
- Elevated self-esteem
- Improved social skills
- A broader sense of history and culture
The list goes on and on and on. Music education helps children make sense of the world around them and their place in it. And with an instrument in hand, children get full-brain workouts, which are essential for their developing minds.
Digital Learning With Acoustic Instruments And Mussila
While digital media has mostly superseded analog formats for educators and students, the educational landscape continues to change and evolve. Especially now more than ever. To accompany these pedagogical shifts, Mussila brilliantly uses tablets and smartphones to introduce the fundamentals of music theory. Whether your child is new to music or already has a musical background, Mussila’s gamified curriculum creates an excellent, award-winning music learning experience.
When we spoke with Krystyna Budzynska from the Royal Acadamy of Music about digital learning, she said, “It is such a useful resource when it is used creatively. It can give children those first steps and get them embroiled in the language so that it is easy to translate to a real instrument like a piano or a violin.”
Some teachers, use Mussila to facilitate pre-practice exercises. Other teachers use the app in concert with challenges from the app’s Learn, Play, Create, and Practice Paths. There’s one more thing you should know about conventional practice in the digital world with Mussila. You can plug and play instruments with Mussila, and now with Tone Recognition, you don’t even need a cable! Turn on Tone Recognition and let the app do the work. The app will recognize the notes your child plays on an acoustic instrument while it guides your little one along the way. Have fun!
Our Music Experts Made Mussila With Care
We created Mussila with our hearts and our heads. Our team comprises some of the most exceptional talents in music education and product development. When your child uses our app to explore their way through piano keys and up and down scales, you’ll see our collective passion for igniting a lifelong love of music, culture, and learning.
We keep our app current, our curriculum engaging, and our love for music and education as passionate as ever. And our efforts have paid off. Children from all over the world use Mussila every day to discover the music around them. If you or your child hasn’t already, you can download Mussila from the App Store or Google Play. Your child’s musical adventures can start today.


Strong evidence of ParentCorps’ impact on children, families and teachers comes from two randomized controlled trials with more than 1,200 Black and brown children in low-income neighborhoods in NYC.
ParentCorps' full model has meaningful and sustained impacts on children's academic achievement, mental health and physical health, one of very few early childhood programs with demonstrated impact on all three critical areas of development. In elementary school, children showed a 24% lower risk of reading below grade level; were 50% less likely to develop mental health problems; and were 50% less likely to be obese, through second grade. In middle school, children were 44% less likely to be chronically absent (e.g. more than 10% of days in the school year), through sixth grade.
In addition, ParentCorps has meaningful impacts on parenting and teacher practices, strengthening teachers and parents' capacities to create safe, nurturing and predictable environments both in the classroom and at home. Parents showed greater involvement in their children’s learning, increased parenting knowledge, and increased use of evidence-based practices (such as positive reinforcement), while teachers demonstrated more nurturing teacher-student interactions and effective behavior management in the classroom.
In a cost-effectiveness analysis, ParentCorps was found to have a 4:1 return on investment over and above the well-documented benefits of pre-K.
“Anyone who knows anything about early childhood education
and health and development is familiar with the pioneering research
that Dr. Brotman has led and the ParentCorps program...
This will be a game-changer for many of our students here in New York City."
Richard Carranza, New York City Department of Education Chancellor (2018-2021)
4 to 1
Several government and nonprofit organizations endorse ParentCorps as an evidence-based early childhood intervention.
Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, considered the most rigorous registry of evidence-based positive youth development programs, awarded ParentCorps the highest rating for evidence, with suggestions about using Head Start funding for financing implementation.
The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, includes ParentCorps in its Compendium of Parenting Interventions, a resource that helps schools, early childhood programs, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders understand the evidence behind parenting interventions for families of young children.
The Parenting Curricula Review Database, published by the Office of Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, lists ParentCorps as one of 28 highlighted center-based parenting curricula. ParentCorps meets the highest level of evidence in this database designed to assist Head Start and Early Head Start programs to choose a research-based parenting curricula to meet Head Start program performance standards.
Potential return on investment of a family-centered early childhood intervention: a cost-effectiveness analysis.
Engaging parents in preventive interventions for young children: working with cultural diversity within low-income, urban neighborhoods.
Transportability of an evidence-based early childhood intervention in a low-income African country: Results of a cluster randomized controlled study.
Effects of ParentCorps in prekindergarten on child mental health and academic performance: Follow-up of a randomized clinical trial through 8 years of age.
A population-level approach to promoting healthy child development and school success in low-income, urban neighborhoods: impact on parenting and child conduct problems.
Early childhood obesity prevention in low-income, urban communities.
Applying public health frameworks to advance the promotion of mental health among Asian American children.


Visual memory and literacy development
Although auditory memory is usually regarded as being of greatest significance where literacy skills are concerned, there is good evidence that visual memory tasks can also give good indications of dyslexia and literacy difficulties (Awaida and Beech, 1995; Beech, 1997; Singleton, Thomas and Horne, 2000; Bogon et al., 2014). Stuart, Masterson and Dixon (2000) found that visual memory influences the acquisition of sight vocabulary in children aged 5 who displayed poor graphophonic skills (i.e. those who had not yet acquired the ability to segment words on the basis of their sounds and who displayed little or no knowledge of sound-to-letter mappings). For children with good graphophonic skills, however, no association between visual memory and word learning was found. In the CoPS study, the correlations between scores on Letters and single word reading (in the region of 0.28) were clearly not of the order reported by Stuart, Masterson and Dixon. Nevertheless, the results were statistically significant. It should also be borne in mind that in the Stuart, Masterson and Dixon study, the children had to learn to recognise words that were unfamiliar to them (e.g. leopard, haddock, canoe), whereas in the present study, the children were assessed on words that they had already acquired, and no distinction was made between children with good or poor graphophonic skills.
A study by Palmer (2000) found that children who maintained a visual representation of words alongside a phonological representation after age 7, were significantly worse readers than those for whom the ability to switch strategies by inhibiting the visual representation had fully developed. Children with good visual memory but poor auditory verbal memory would not only be expected to find acquisition of an effective phonological decoding strategy in reading rather difficult, but also be inclined to rely for a longer period on visual strategies. This approach is liable to run into trouble as the child’s education progresses and the number of new words with which the child is confronted steadily increases.


Cultivating Learning with School Gardens is a set of teacher-training materials and learning tools for schools, organizational leaders, and others to use community and school-based gardens as a laboratory or outdoor classroom. The materials can be used to teach not only gardening, but also to apply theory in biological and social sciences.
Content includes experiential learning activities that promote applied literacy and numeracy skills, hands-on lessons in several academic areas, sustainable garden science, how to involve community, and more. Program goals:
- Provide a laboratory for experiential learning to complement the standard school curriculum in all disciplines.
- Contribute to governments’ focuses on science, literacy, numeracy, and other educational priorities for both boys and girls.
- Contribute to the intellectual, psychological, vocational, and physical development of students through enhanced learning methods.
- Increase parent and community involvement in the school and transfer skills to home and community.
The garden science recommends culturally appropriate, natural, and sustainable gardening practices such as composting, crop rotation, and low-cost, natural pest controls.
Tool kit materials include: teachers manuals for primary and secondary school levels, a student manual, lessons guides for teaching gardening, visual aids, a game, a small “pocket guide” for schools and the community, and a training-of-trainers guide. Materials are available in English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda, though not all materials are available in every language.
**Please note that the files are large and can be slow to open. If you have any issues please try to right click and save the file to your computer. If you have an issue in Internet Explorer please try a different web browser.
Materials were developed with initial funding from USAID to US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Extension and other US land-grant universities. Materials were tested in the Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Mozambique from 2005-2013 with African partners and have been adapted and used extensively with such programs as Liberia 4-H and 4-H Ghana.


This acrylic and graphite on canvas painting, titled Resurrection, was done by Alma Thomas. The painting was unveiled as part of the White House Collection during Black History Month 2015 and is the first painting in the White House permanent collection by an African-American woman.
Ms. Christine Sahr, our Epiphany Art Teacher, had our first graders paint their own interpretation of “Resurrection” and she also taught the students about the artist, Ms. Alma Woodsley Thomas, and her history of overcoming segregation and prejudice.
Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C.. Ms. Thomas was the first graduate of Howard University’s Art department and attended Columbia University, earning her Masters in Art Education in 1934. Ms. Thomas taught in the Washington D.C. public school system, pre and post desegregation, as an art teacher for 35 years.
She is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for the exuberant, colorful, abstract paintings that she created after her retirement from a 35-year career teaching art.
Our First Graders at work with their own water colors:
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A life without education is a life without opportunity. World Vision helps children especially the most vulnerable, access quality education and attain functional levels of literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills. When children can read, they can better advocate for their rights and help provide for their families.
Education ensures people are better prepared to prevent disease and to use health services effectively. Educated mothers are better informed about healthcare and appropriate nutrition and therefore raise healthier children.
Education results in higher wages and economic growth, with each additional year of schooling seeing people earn 10% higher wages.
Education also supports the growth of civil society, democracy and political stability, allowing people to learn about their rights and acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to exercise them.
- 250 million children – many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds – are not learning even basic literacy and numeracy skills.
- 59 million primary school-age children are out of school.
- Educating girls and women in particular has unmatched transformative power.
- If all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, which would be equivalent to a 12 per cent cut in world poverty.


Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. In most Western countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education (though in many jurisdictions it is permissible for parents to provide it).
Primary education generally begins when children are four to seven years of age. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about twelve years of age (adolescence); some educational systems have separate middle schools for that period. Primary and secondary education together are sometimes (in particular, in Canada and the United States) referred to as "K-12" education, (K is for kindergarten, 12 is for twelfth grade).
Typically, primary education is provided in schools, where (in the absence of parental movement or other intervening factors) the child will stay, in steadily advancing classes, until they complete it and move on to secondary schooling. Children are usually placed in classes with one teacher who will be primarily responsible for their education and welfare for that year. This teacher may be assisted to varying degrees by specialist teachers in certain subject areas, often music or physical education. The continuity with a single teacher and the opportunity to build up a close relationship with the class is a notable feature of the primary education system. Over the past few decades, schools have been testing various arrangements which break from the one-teacher, one-class mold.
The major goals of primary education are achieving basic literacy and numeracy amongst all their students, as well as establishing foundations in science, geography, history and other social sciences. The relative priority of various areas, and the methods used to teach them, are an area of considerable political debate.
Traditionally, various forms of corporal punishment have been an integral part of early education. Recently this practice has come under attack, and in some cases been outlawed, in Western countries at least.
The elementary school consists of the first seven years of school, that is, grades 1 through 5 or 6, as well as kindergarten, a preliminary year of school before grade 1 (known in England and Wales as 'Reception'). Originally, however, it was studied after primary school in the 19th century (some schools that have only the youngest students are called primary schools to this day, usually defined as ending after grade 3, or grade 4 in some localities). Also known as grammar school in the United States it is a major segment of compulsory education. Until the latter third of the 20th century, however, grammar school (or elementary school) was grades 1 through 8. After grammar school, one usually attends high school. (In many districts, grades 5-8 or 5-9 were called "middle school", or further separated into "intermediate school ", "middle school", and/or "junior high school".)
- Elementary School Blog
- Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades
- Recess in Elementary School: What Does the Research Say?
- Multicultural Children's Literature in the Elementary Classroom
- Ability Grouping in Elementary Schools
- Cognitive Learning in the Environment: Elementary Students
|Kindergarten||Primary education||Secondary education||Post-secondary education||Tertiary education||Quaternary education|


Speech and Language Resources
View Events/Assignments for
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- ASHA - Children's Speech and Language Disorders
Speech, Language, Medical and Developmental Conditions
- ASHA - How Does your Child Hear & Talk
- ASHA - Early detection of Speech/Language and Hearing Disorders
Signs and ways to help
- ASHA - Speech/Language development of school age child
Types of disorders serviced in the school setting
- ASHA - Questioning Feeding or Swallowing Disorders
Identification, causes, types and treatments of swallowing disorders in children
- ASHA - Who should be screened for a hearing loss?
People of any age can be screened for hearing loss.
- ASHA - Early Detection of Speech/Language & Hearing Disorders
- ASHA - Children's Speech & Language Disorders
Early detection of speech/language disorders...
- ASHA - Typical speech/language Development
Information regarding expected speech/language development in children.
- ASHA - Disordered Speech/Language Developoment
Children's disordered speech and language development
- ASHA - Hearing Loss in Children
Causes, detection and complications...
- ASHA - Hearing overview
Topics ... loss and prevention
- Reading Rockets - Phonological Development
Milestones of "word awareness"
- Reading Rockets - Effects of Hearing Loss
The critical nature of hearing in speech/language development...
- Reading Rockets - Speech/Language & Hearing
Learning the sounds of language by listening and speaking.
- Reading Rockets - Vocabulary
Vocabulary ... words children must know to communicate effectively... instruction, the relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, and practical to introduce new, exciting words to kids.
- Reading Rockets - Early Literacy Development
Infants, toddlers and preschoolers develop of oral language and pre-literacy skills that will help them become readers.
- Reading Rockets - Parent Info
Parent Engagement & Home Support
- Reading Rockets - Phonemic Awareness
The ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in words and the predictability.
- Reading Rockets - Oral Language
The benefits of hearing more words spoken at home...
National American Speech-Language-Hearing Association


Highland School (Boulder, Colorado)
Backstory and Context
"The central building on our campus, built as the Highland-Lawn School in 1891, was designed by Denver architects Ernest Varian and Frederick J. Sterner using red brick and blonde sandstone quarried from local sites. Its location at the intersection of Boulder and Gregory Creeks was chosen specifically for its elevated grounds to protect against the threat of flash floods.
Built in the midst of the Gold Rush, Highland School was the fourth permanent school in Boulder and specialized in elementary education. In 1923, Boulder experienced significant population growth and overcrowding in its schools, prompting the School Board to double the size of the Highland School building. Plans proceeded to erect an additional wing on its north facade in such a way that the wing appeared completely congruous with the original structure. To this day, it is difficult to tell where the original building ends and the 1923 addition begins; only the foundation materials — stone in the original and cement in the addition — betray the difference between the two.
Due to decreased enrollment cause by the suburban sprawl of the 1950s, the School Board closed the Highland School in 1970, and Highland was threatened with demolition in 1971 along with two other significant Boulder buildings, the Union-Pacific Depot and the Central School. In 1972 a group of local community members gathered to create Historic Boulder, an organization with the primary purpose of preserving these three historic buildings and others like them. Through the combined efforts of Historic Boulder and the building’s eventual owner, Sinco International, Highland was protected and registered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Sinco International then began the long and labor-intensive process of renovation and adaptive re-use of Highland into the multi-use facility it operates as today. Maintaining the integrity of the original architectural design was the utmost priority for the renovation, and that dedication is apparent throughout the new interiors. From rich oak wood paneling and solid brass fixtures to high ceilings and antique overhead lighting, the history of the Highland building is alive and well in each and every room.
Our most recent project at Highland is the transformation of our third floor into a modern co-working space. We’ve opened up the entire floor plan to create a versatile work environment with plenty of natural light, adaptive workstations, and stunning views of the Flatirons."
- Pettem, Silvia (December 01, 2005). "Highland School built during the booming 1890s". Boulder Daily Camera.
- Ronald F. Pyke (April 5, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Highland-Lawn School / Highland School" (PDF).


Citizen participation, Literacy education, Numeracy, Disadvantaged, Educational policy, Developing countries, Student assessment, Reading tests, Mathematics tests, Measures, Case studies, Primary education
Designed as household-based assessments, citizen-led assessments (CLAs) are implemented by local organizations who assess children in their homes, thus reaching the most marginalized children, families, and communities, often in remote areas. CLAs add an essential piece of information for truly monitoring progress and help realistically represent the learning levels of all children – at national, regional, and global levels. By using simple tools and easy-to-understand reports, CLAs engage parents and community members in discussions about learning and help foster understanding of the importance of ensuring quality education through civil action. In this publication, members from organizations conducting CLAs in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh provide an overview of the CLA model and illustrate a range of ways in which the model has been implemented in the four South Asian countries to monitor and improve learning. In all four countries, the initiative is known as the Annual Status of Education Report, or ASER – a word that means ‘impact’ in three of these four countries. By design, ASER assesses foundational reading and numeracy skills.
Bhattacharjea, S., Saeed, S., Timalsina, R., & Ahamed, S. (2021). Citizen-led Assessments: A Model for Evidence-based Advocacy and Action to Improve Learning. Australian Council for Educational Research. 10.37517/978-1-74286-636-9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Copyright Australian Council for Educational Research Limited 2021
Place of Publication
Australian Council for Educational Research
978 1 74286 636 9
Asia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pacific region, Pakistan


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.


Primary classes at Coruña British International School
During primary school we focus on providing children with a secure foundation in literacy and numeracy, in addition to working on personal and social skills.
Children learn in a positive and stimulating environment and are taught how to work effectively in teams and groups, learn how to study on their own, how to listen and concentrate, solve problems, make decisions, take initiative and learn about responsibility and cooperation.
Life beyond the classroom
As students progress through the primary stages, they begin to attach more importance to friends and outside activities. We offer a wide range of extracurricular activities that children can take part in depending on their interests.
We pride ourselves on having a close relationship with the parents of our students, and communicate regularly to ensure that each child is fully engaged in lessons and achieving their full potential.
Primary school curriculum
Primary school covers Key Stages 1 and 2, which are evaluated with standardised tests at the end of each stage. In addition, we work to develop the foundations laid down during early years classes, focusing on the following areas.
English is the main language used throughout the Primary School students' day. At the same time, they are strengthening their Spanish and Galician with daily lessons. In Year 5 they begin to learn French as their fourth language. Other languages are possible during the after school Extra Curricular Activities.
Each student in primary school has a dedicated class teacher. This system is designed to create a secure and stable learning environment and ensure good communication with families. Class Teachers help with the development of study plans and problem-solving strategies to manage any issues arising in or outside the classroom.
Throughout the primary stage we consolidate personal and social skills.


With lots of examples and color images, this resource is both a foundational text and a practical guidebook for bringing contemporary art into elementary and middle school classrooms as a way to make learning joyful and meaningful for all learners. Marshall shows how asking questions and posing problems spark curiosity and encourage learners to think deeply and make meaningful connections across the curriculum. At the center of this approach is creativity, with contemporary visual art as its inspiration. The text covers methods of creative inquiry-based learning, art and how it connects to the "big ideas" addressed by academic domains, flexible structures teachers can use for curriculum development, creative teaching strategies using contemporary art, and models of art-based inquiry curriculum.
- Provides research-based project ideas and curriculum models for arts integration.
- Shows how Project Zero's flexible structures and frameworks can be used to develop creative inquiry and an arts integration curriculum.
- Explains how contemporary visual art connects to the four major disciplines--science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts.
- Includes full-color images of contemporary art that are appropriate for elementary and middle school learners.
- Demonstrates how arts integration can and should be substantive, multidimensional, and creative.
About the Author
Julia Marshall is professor emeritus of art education at San Francisco State University and coauthor of Art Centered Learning Across the Curriculum. Contributors: Ann Ledo-Lane is director of arts programming at the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco. Elizabeth McAvoy is a middle school visual arts teacher in San Francisco, California.


Home - Create. Play. Travel.
The best way to learn about science is by performing your own experiments, but not every family has a full science lab in their garage. These static electricity activities are fun to incorporate into homeschool or do as an after school activity.
7 Fascinating Water Science Experiments for Kids
7 fascinating water science experiments for kids from preschool to grade 5. Easy and fun STEM activities great for home and school science fair.
Simple Anti-Gravity Water Experiment for Kids
This post is part of a #sponsored blog tour on behalf of GenZ Read Together . I received complimentary access to the online stories and comp...
Dancing Raisins Chemical Experiment
WOW with EASY science experiments for kids - Dancing raisins experiment teaches kids about chemical reactions between baking soda and vinegar.
Does it Sink or Float Experiment for Toddlers
Will their toys sink or float? Find out with a fun science experiment that's just perfect for toddlers!
Water Science for Kids: Racing Water Drops - Green Kid Crafts
Water Science for Kids: Racing Water Drops Water science is a great way to keep kids learning through the summer break.
Science for Kids – Keep Paper Dry In Water
Science activity for kids that seems like magic: how to keep paper dry even underwater. This is a simple must-do activity!
Cool Water Experiments For Kids
Water experiments aren't just for summer! Our series of cool experiments to do at home continues with these fun water activities. This week is all about water fun for kids because water and STEM activities go together perfectly! We love simple science activities that are easy to pull off, simple to set up, and kids love! What's better than that? FUN SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS WITH WATER YOU CAN DO AT HOME SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS WITH WATER What do all of these science activities, experiments, and STEM…
Simple Science Experiment: Let's Make Rain - Mrs. Jones Creation Station
When rainy weather hits and you're stuck inside this simple science experiment is perfect for teaching little learners how clouds make rain.


Fun Oilfield Facts for Kids
Work from home combined with homeschooling is fun right?! Since your "co-workers" are a little younger than normal, we thought we'd pull together some resources for you to share with them!
Where does Oil come from?
Did you know that millions of years ago the ocean was filled with plants and plankton? (That’s a sea creature that whales eat!) When they died they sunk to the bottom of the sea and over a long time were covered with sand and mud. Then heat from the earth and gravity turned it into oil and natural gas for us to use.
Where do we find Oil?
Oil can be found all over the world, like in the North Sea, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran, Iraq and China. We have to drill down really far into the earth to find it. You can find oil both on land and at sea. Here is a map with all the oil reserves and oil producers all over the world.
Why is this Important
The US, alone, uses over 19 million barrels of crude oil each day! We use it mainly for gas that goes into our cars, jet fuel that goes into the airplanes, and diesel fuel that goes into our trucks and generators. Oil can also be used for electricity which is what powers our homes, jobs, fun places like the zoo, electric cars and even robots!
Oil can also be used for other things like:
Clothing and plastic bottles
For more information on Oil and Gas and what we use it for click here!
Also for a fun little science project (after you've asked mom and/or dad of course) click on Science for Kids.
We'll be back next week with more STEM resources for oilfield kids!
In the meantime, stay safe.


Fun Literacy Activities for After-school Programs: Books And Beyond is a handbook for staff in after school programs to increase their capabilities in supporting literacy. More than 72 activities for ages 5 – 14!
In need of some ideas to help your staff with your literacy component? This resource book has ideas, answers and explanations to help the average person without a teaching degree. Each activity comes complete with Staff Role and Space, time needed, supplies, purpose, directions and more! Includes 24 activities for each emergent, Initial and transitional readers ages 5 – 8, 24 activities for transitional and independent readers ages 9 -10 and 24 more activities for independent readers ages 11 -14. A great start to integrating literacy development into your after school program.
Network members can borrow a copy from the Network Resource Library by contacting Marla Berrios at (203) 483-9757 or emailing her at email@example.com. For your convenience, pre-paid return envelopes are included with your library selection.


The collection also encompasses instruments whose makers, while little known in the West, are revered in their home countries. Among these artists are Empu Resowigno (gamelan, Wirun, Java/Indonesia, 1986), Kanai Lal Das (sitar lute, Calcutta/India, 1940)) and Amin and Sayyed Amin (oud lute, Cairo/Egypt, 1980). However, the makers of the vast majority of instruments are unknown – nameless people whose ingenuity enabled them to create incredibly formed instruments and outstanding sounds with the most basic of materials. Of the 6,000 musical instruments and sound sources in the present collection, more than half are of non-European origin, exemplifying the global vision of the collection’s founder. It is this diversity that renders the Collection Music at the Münchner Stadtmuseum one of the finest of its type.
Of course, the instruments alone give us no insights into the world of sound. Why is it that we dismiss so many kinds of music as "caterwauling"? It is our listening habits that we need to address. The sensation of "beautiful sound" depends on numerous factors: it is neither innate nor absolute. We can train ourselves to listen better. For this reason the Music Collection presents its regular series of selected concerts and Sunday matinees. The matinees also provide opportunities for institutes of music education – music schools, youth orchestras and ensembles – to perform in public.
Complementing these concerts, visually-oriented guided tours highlight the connections between musical instruments and explain their heritage and origins. Trying out a Javanese or Balinese gamelan, or playing with others in an orchestra or ensemble, enable us to experience and appreciate different musical cultures, helping us to relativize basic tenets of musical aesthetics and pedagogy and have fun in the process.


Editor's Note: Lose Control
The Industrial Revolution has much to answer for. According to education expert Sir Ken Robinson, the educational systems in Europe and the United States have changed little since hordes of workers were needed to toil in factories. As cogs in a larger system, these workers were required to have a core set of skills to keep the engines of commerce humming along.
“Industrialism needed a lot more manual workers than it did college graduates. So mass education was built like a pyramid, with a broad base of compulsory elementary education for all, a smaller sector of secondary education, and a narrow apex of higher education,” Robinson wrote in his book Creative Schools.
This system, argues Robinson, is ill suited for a modern world that values creativity over rote memorization. By emphasizing reading, math, and science over the arts, this Victorian concept discourages subjects that could enhance creative thinking.
Barry Schwartz says that these Victorian concepts haunt the workplace, as well as the schoolhouse. According to Schwartz, a professor at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and author of Why We Work, the theories we apply to modern employment can be directly traced to the factories of the Industrial Revolution and the theories of economist Adam Smith.
Smith’s contention was that people are lazy and must be compelled to do work. The type of work doesn’t matter so long as compensation is sufficient to keep workers on the factory line. “And if we structure it in keeping with the false idea that people work only for pay, we’ll create workplaces that make this false idea true,” writes Schwartz. “Thus, it’s not true that ‘you just can’t get good help anymore.’ It is true that you just can’t get good help anymore when you only give people work to do that is deadening and soulless.”
Employees must feel trusted to do good work. “If you think that people lack the skill for wise judgment on the job, you impose detailed rules of conduct,” writes Schwartz. “As a consequence, people never get the opportunity to develop wise judgment. Your lack of faith in the skills of the people you oversee is validated, leading you to impose still more rules and still greater oversight.”
In this month’s cover story, William Cottringer proposes another way. By distancing themselves from the top-down hierarchy that comes with traditional workplace models, managers can meet employees in the middle. The concept of two-way management empowers employees. But it requires that managers give up some control.
This is a step in the right direction. “[Leadership] is not and should not be command and control,” Robinson said in a TED Talk. “The real role of leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility. And if you do that, people will rise to it and achieve things that you completely did not anticipate and could not have expected.”


Every one can imagine something under music education, i.e. making music with the background of educating young people. Music geragogy, on the other hand, has become more and more popular in recent years but is still largely unknown not like the latest celebrity fashion trends.
Effects of music in general
Music has a very special influence on everyone. When you listen to music, feelings are triggered – sadness, happiness, joy, anger, motivation. Music is not just any sound to your ears, on the contrary: When you listen to music, your body and mind are noticeably influenced.
Canadian scientists have even found that your reward system in the brain is activated when you find music beautiful. When you listen to music you like, it has a similar effect on your brain as for example intoxicants or delicious food.
You certainly know the feeling of automatically becoming calmer with calm and balanced music, right? This is not just your feeling, something is actually happening in your body: the adrenal gland releases the hormone norepinephrine when you hear calm and gentle melodies. This hormone is responsible for the fact that stress hormones are reduced and your body automatically becomes calmer.
The opposite is the case with aggressive and fast music: Here the adrenal and pituitary glands release the stress hormone adrenaline.
Music in old age
It has long been known that music has a positive effect on people with dementia. Scientific studies have shown that active music-making noticeably promotes the networking of nerve cells. This counteracts the deterioration and loss of nerve cells so that one of the typical consequences of dementia is positively influenced.
Of course, making music is also wonderful for healthy older people. Singing together is fun for all seniors. In addition, the mind is refreshed through beautiful music, memories of long-forgotten days are awakened.
Make music with seniors
If you want to make music with older people, one thing is particularly important: The focus is on the fun and well-being of the elderly! It doesn’t matter how well or how badly they make music, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes the elderly to operate a musical instrument. When a person with dementia struggles to manage a small part of a melody, one must be able to truly enjoy them.


The ability to access music education should be based purely on the ability to play, not the ability to pay. Music develops a child’s concentration, stimulates their intellectual development, builds confidence, raises aspiration and gives them a greater understanding and empathy for others. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that children who sing or play musical instruments perform significantly better in other lessons than their peers that don’t.
This is why at the 2015 Welsh Liberal Democrat Spring conference, we brought forward this motion on music education, calling for a national strategy on music education ensuring consistent provision across Wales and minimises financial barriers to music education as much as practically possible.
We are proud of the work Kirsty Williams MS, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Minister, has done in this area, introducing the National Endowment for Music, increasing access to musical opportunities for young people across Wales, and working with councils to make more musical instruments available.


VOCALOID for Education (ボーカロイド教育版) is a version of the VOCALOID editor aimed at children with an elementary and middle school level of education. It is possible for schools to purchase a license for use of the software.
Trials for this version were planned for a summer 2016 release with the release date of the full version set at February 7, 2017.
The project is designed with the hope that the VOCALOID editor on tablets and other mobile devices will further extend the comprehension of VOCALOID in education. It is also designed to take an advantage of the commitment of Japan to have a tablet for every school student class by 2020 and so far has been one of the few software to exploit the opportunity this goal has created.
As noted, over 32,000 educational institutes are included in this, so essentially an entirely new market was being created in the process. Yamaha themselves had already taken advantage of the new market before it was created by jumping in to supply new software; "guitar class", "koto class" and the most notable "Vocaloid for Education".
VOCALOID for Education was developed specifically for elementary and junior high school students. Using this version of the editor will allow children to create multiple melodies within the software without requiring the student to be able to read music in order to use it. The aim of the project is to introduce VOCALOID as a music education tool. Though VOCALOID itself and its iOS apps have made it into the classroom setting they were not intended to be educational tools. In comparison to other versions, the user interface resembles that of the regular VOCALOID editor but has a simpler design and features that are catered to children.
The system is designed to be easier to use then the normal Vocaloid versions and is aimed to teach students how to write music. Students and tutors can make adjustments and add lyric through simple touch methods. There is also some room for trial and error so students can learn through interaction and see how their efforts effect the lyrics. Teachers can also use it to demonstrate and teach a song to a group more effectively.
It comes with VY1 and VY2. The software also includes some instruments for use with the 2 vocals, allowing student to switch between. Up to 4 layers of sound can be added and while this is significantly lower then the main stream of Vocaloid software, the intention is to teach harmony between vocals. While it can save VSQx files, it can only open VSQx files that are under 50 measures.
As noted, the software doesn't have as many features as the full Vocaloid software or even other mobile editions such as Mobile VOCALOID Editor. However, unlike the normal software, the price is open (though expected to be about 20,000円) and is based on the schools circumstances and intended use,the final price is estimated after an evaluation. In addition, compared to the regular Vocaloid software version the license is unlimited for its purposes within the institute.


School library programs in Burnaby enable students to become literate, independent, life-long learners.
Burnaby School District has strong, vibrant library programs in all of its elementary and secondary schools. Teacher-librarians and teachers collaborate to plan and teach learning activities which draw on a variety of appropriate learning resources.
Burnaby’s school libraries, including the Burnaby Online School and Fraser Park Secondary, provide an array of materials in all formats to promote literacy development, to support the K-12 curricula, to offer recreational reading materials, and to provide resources for school projects and assignments.
On-line library catalogues provide access to print, media, and electronic resources in English, French and Mandarin. All Burnaby students and parents can access World Book Online from home and school – log in information is available from each school’s teacher-librarian.
Burnaby is also proud to house the Provincial Resource Collection for the B.C. School for the Deaf Outreach Program.
Visit the Destiny catalogue, then click on your child’s school to search the resources and databases available at that school.
District Learning Resources
Burnaby teachers and staff can borrow a variety of learning resources from the District Library Resource Centre (DLRC). The collection supports the K-12 curricula and provides resources for literacy development, specific subject areas, English Language Learners (ELL) instruction, Indigenous themes, the French Immersion program and professional learning books for teachers.
Resources include: book and hands-on kits, novel sets, DVDs, ADST resources (eg. robotics and woodworking tools), Music & P.E. equipment and lighting/sound equipment.
To see what is available visit the DLRC catalogue.
To book resources please email your requests to firstname.lastname@example.org


Is your child struggling to keep up with handwriting demands?
Is he or she smart but can’t seem to get ideas down on paper?
Are you concerned about pencil grip, legibility and speed of writing?
It can be so frustrating when kids struggle with handwriting. The refusal to do work, the giving up easily, writing only the bare minimum that is hardly readable and the homework battles.
As a parent or teacher, you often know that the kids know more than they show. But somehow, they can’t get it down on paper.
You know that handwriting is complex skill with many components, but often don’t know where to start to help kids overcome their writing blocks.
We are here to help!
This 1.5 hour workshop gives a basic understanding of:
The complex foundations that can make handwriting hard for kids
How to tell what’s going wrong (handwriting issues are only, usually, the tip of the iceberg!)
What are the foundational skills needed for handwriting
You also get:
Strategies to help children achieve fluent and legible handwriting
Tips to help kids who are reluctant hand writers
Encouraging stories of how others have overcome challenges through Occupational Therapy
Come and see Michelle Cloete
Date & Time: Saturday, 18th September, 2021 at 1:30PM – 3:30PM
Venue: Annerley Baptist Church, 560 Ipswich Rd, Annerley, QLD 4103
Cost: $75 +GST
This seminar not for you? Please share it with a friend.
Spaces are limited so get in early.


There are many stages to reading development, but between Junior Kindergarten and Grade 2, students are typically consolidating phonological awareness, developing phonics skills, and learning to recognize high-frequency sight words.
RRLS early reading classes are designed to strengthen the foundational skills necessary to be a successful reader. We foster and develop critical reading skills through active, engaging games and lots of practice and repetition. By the end of each program, students will be proud of the progress they have made.
Early Reading Group Class
The Yak Pack
*Note: This class can be delivered as a 5-hour, virtual 1:1 class during the COVID pandemic. Please contact us for more details.
Based on our own sight words and phonics book series, The Yak Pack is an exciting, multisensory program for beginner readers. Students will work through the first two books of Comics and Phonics and the first book of Sight Word Stories. Each student will also receive the complete 9-book set to continue their learning at home.
In this ten-hour program, students will explore:
The first three stages of phonological awareness: rhyming, alliteration, and blending
Early phonics: short vowels and digraphs (ch, sh, and th)
The first ten words from the Dolch high-frequency word lists: and, the, to, he, you, I, a, it, of, and in


Phonics Learning System
If you would like to help your child learn to read, but are overwhelmed by all the educational terminology, this may help. Most parents understand the concept of phonics - the correlation of one sound to one or more letters. For example: the letters 'c' 'k' and 'ck' all make the [k] sound. However, there are two types of phonics: Synthetic Phonics and Analytical Phonics. Synthetic Phonics is the concept of teaching reading by first teaching one letter corresponding to one sound, without teaching all the exceptions and complications, then blending those sounds together in words. Analytical Phonics (aka Implicit Phonics or Whole Word) does the opposite. It moves from the whole word to the parts. This approach was widely embraced and then abandoned by the educational communities in both the U. K. and the U.S. within the last twenty years.
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Over 5200 students (K-3) from sixty four district school boards across the province of Ontario participated in the 2014 Summer Learning Program (SLP). Through a mix of high quality instructional programming and recreational activities, the SLP continued to help elementary students reduce summer learning loss and improve their literacy and numeracy skills over the summer. For 2015, the program will expand and continue to be led by the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE). The Student Achievement Division will once again collect and analyze program data to measure ongoing impact. The longitudinal research study conducted by our university partners with six district school boards is ongoing as well.
Program types offered in the summer of 2014 included those with programming to support focused learning in the following categories:
–Literacy and Numeracy Blend
–First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
Students participating in the programs completed pre- and post-assessments using the STAR computer-adaptive literacy, numeracy and early learning assessment tools.
What is the impact on learning?
An analysis of pre- and post-program student assessment data collected during the summer of 2014 indicates not only a reduction in learning loss for students who participated in the Summer Learning Program, but evidence of gains made as well. A view of all participating students showed a statistically significant average improvement between the start and end of the program, with average gains in reading and mathematics of approximately three weeks.
More good news can be found by digging deeper into specific program types. For example, pre- and post-test scores in reading show that students enrolled in literacy program classes made average gains in reading of approximately five weeks in instructional time. Students enrolled in literacy/numeracy blended program classes made similar gains in reading as well as average gains in mathematics of approximately seven weeks in instructional time.
Overall, students identified as English Language Learners (ELL) made lower gains than other students in most programs with the exception of those who participated in Literacy and Numeracy Blend programs. There were no significant differences in achievement changes between girls and boys, students self-identified as First Nations, Métis & Inuit learners and other students, or students with and without an IEP.
What is the impact on early learning?
Students in kindergarten were assessed using the Early Learning STAR Assessment. Based on this assessment, students were categorized into four groups of readers: 1) Early Emergent Reader; 2) Late Emergent Reader; 3) Transitional Reader; and 4) Probable Reader.
While most students did not move between levels (210 students, 57.2%), a statistically significantly greater number moved up (97 students, 26.5%) compared to moving down (60 students, 16.4%). Participating students did show a statistically significant average gain between pre- and post- assessments in the early numeracy sub-domain within the Early Learning Assessment.
Does the timing of test dates impact achievement?
The majority of boards participating in the 2014 Summer Learning Program held program assessment dates on the first and last day of programming. This pre- and post-test timing protocol was shared by 86.5% of participating boards. Alternatively, 5.8% of participating boards pre- and post-tested students at the end of June and early in September, while another 7.7% of participating boards had non-standard pre- and post-testing dates. No significant differences were found in the analysis of achievement gains between these three different types of testing protocols.
Methodology used in the Analysis
• Data from participating students (Grades 1-4) with both pre- and post-assessment results were used in analysis
• Normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores were used in analysis. These scores are designed to be used for most statistical analyses.
• Pre/post changes and differences in average achievement were assessed using t-tests and ANOVAs:
– Dependent samples t-tests to examine achievement change within groups
– Independent samples t-tests to compare achievement changes between two groups (e.g. males/females)
– Multinomial difference tests examined statistical significance of category changes for participating kindergarten students who had both pre- and post-assessment results.


The SnapBack Advantage
There are several major advantages to the SnapBack Phonics approach.
First, it offers an affordable means of providing highly specialized instruction to empower beginning readers with various learning styles and ability levels.
Second, this highly effective program requires a minimal amount of time to implement. SnapBack Phonics instruction can take as little as 7 minutes per day: Additional time is dependent upon the needs of students and specific reinforcement options chosen by instructors.
Third, the program is user friendly. Highly engaging mini-lesson videos can be presented directly to students. These correlate to lesson activities that are easy to implement and designed to maximize success.
Fourth, in addition to the provision of strategies that leading experts deem best practice for most learners and essential for those who struggle, SnapBack Phonics offers unique and vivid memory aids to help children keep up with today’s fast-paced, demanding curriculums.
Fifth, this program offers a flexible format that allows instructors to select lessons that correlate to reading or spelling resources (or to other teachers) on a daily basis. This provides learners with greater opportunities to transfer and retain skills.
It is no surprise that all teachers involved in the pilot study of this program “highly recommend” SnapBack Phonics!


Building Foundational Skills while Nourishing Curiosity
AOSR provides a challenging and supportive environment that enables students to be successful in their educational pursuits now and in the future. Our teachers are student-centered and adept at developing each student to reach their potential.
Creation of a Safe Environment: Teachers create a joyful, inclusive, and supportive classroom environment by using routines, and encouraging behavior that nurtures the development of cooperation, mutual respect, resilience, and self-discipline.
Teamwork: The teachers at AOSR work together with specialists, administrators, and parents in order to make the best decisions possible for each student. Lines of communication are strong and ongoing and forged with a great sense of mutual respect.
Respect for Tradition: Elementary teachers maintain the legacy of events that make the school special. These include the United Nations Day concert, the annual Halloween parade, Thanksgiving celebrations, and student and parent participation at the annual Mayfair event.


Learn piano in a fun social group atmosphere! Group piano class provides students with an excellent introduction to the keyboard and prepares them for more serious private study as well as playing in a band/ensemble. Most importantly, students will begin to develop the skill of playing music with their peers which provides a lifelong benefit.
B2R takes a modern approach to keyboard education and students will benefit from our carefully thought-out curriculum that incorporates all of the latest software and music technology. Using digital keyboards, students will be able to simulate a wide variety of musical instruments and styles (rock, orchestral, etc.). They also will gain exposure to modern music-making techniques using programs such as Reason and ProTools.
B2R teachers will focus on developing the students’ core keyboard skills: hand position, note-reading, chord vocabulary, rhythm, and theory while rehearsing a repertoire of rock and pop and classical songs.
Each class will give a performance upon completion.
- A well-balanced music education consists of Music Theory, Technique and Repertoire.
- Students learn faster playing music they like.
- Simplified versions of modern songs allow students to see results more quickly.
- Audio recordings of each simplified arrangement are available to students. This allows them to hear how their part should sound.
- Lessons are catered to the needs of each student's learning style.


Learn like a child and speak like a native.
Learn languages directly from native speakers.
Learn What Matters
Ultimate goal of learning a language is communication
The language must be learned in a native environment.
Did you know we use just 800 words in our daily conversations?
At Zing Languages, we connect language learners with the native speakers, in addition to regular classes with local teachers. The language courses are based on the 800 most-used words in the spoken language, giving learners a solid foundational skills.
Practical Courses - Learn & Apply
The course contents are based on language used in the real life situations.
Pay for ONE, Learn from TWO
Local teacher for written language, and the foreign teacher for spoken language.
AI based course content
Get instant feedback and master your pronunciation with AI speaking modules.
Real Global Exposure to
Develop an International Career
Inter-actional methodology. It considers language as a communicative tool, whose main use is to build up and maintain social relations between people.
It sees language as a linguistic system made up of subsystems from phonological morphological, lexical, etc., to sentences. Language is used as a means for doing things.
Classes are taught by both native-speaking and local tutors.
Mostly local tutors.
Based on the language/words used in real-life situations.
Mostly academic, focused on the written language, which is different from spoken language.
Group class size (online)
6 for adults, 5 for children. More speaking time with teachers.
8 to 15. Some students don’t get opportunity to speak.
Time to fluency (oral communication)
2 months (for daily conversations)
Minimum 6 months.
Yes, can adapt oneself in inter-cultural environment.
Theoretical knowledge from books.
Oral communication. Building conversations with foreigners, along with certifications.
The language system is the mirror of a culture; The language we speak is different from what we learn in a textbook just as knowledge is different from application.
Higher Education Aboard
Improve your chances of getting 100% scholarship. Importantly, the language skills can get your jobs in the foreign countries after your studies.
Translation & Interpretation
With globalisation, the demand for multi-linguistics has been growing steadily. Strengthen your resume, work from home at your convenient time.
Expand Business Globally
Technology has made the world borderless. With language skills, you can launch products in new market, find new partners, win international projects.
Through the age of 7 or 8, children can learn to speak a second language with fluent grammar and without an accent. One needs to learn the language for a minimum of 3 months to see results. End of the day, age is just a number. Our time tested teaching methodologies have facilitated even adults and senior citizens to learn the language and speak fluently within a short time span.
You will be assigned two teachers (local & foreigner). The local teacher will be a dual-language consultant, where you can initially learn your desired language with the help of English or your mother-tongue. The foreign teacher will help you improve your skills in an authentic native environment, making your brain to start thinking in the language taught the same way as your mother-tongue.
YES! you can. The courses are based on practical language used in the day-to-day conversations. The course consists of detailed study materials and unlimited AI-based practise exercises. After the course, the students can take international language tests. In addition, all students will be awarded certificates by Zing Languages.
Don’t worry. You are not alone. If you use the logic of your mother tongue to learn a foreign language, it will be difficult to speak fluently. For instance, you need to learn German using German logic. After you make a habit of learning German in this environment, you will be able to speak German naturally.
Apart from teaching languages, our innovative online platform enables an unprecedented exchange of knowledge. For instance, fluent Japanese-speaking teachers connect with students online to provide them with a learning and cultural experience as they become global citizens.
Speak without fear and gain confidence.
See how our students speak in 2 to 3 months.


Circles and Fish
Orange Blocks and Fish
Jeffrey A Mendenhall has B.S. Degree in Art Education from Florida State University. He has an A.S. Degree in Graphic Design from The State College of Florida. His body of art work incorporates the themes of color, emotions, brush textures and shapes. The body of work is reflective of his “Study of Colours in Abstract 20th Century Art Work”.
In college, he did a sketchbook/research project on the colors and emotions in 20th century art. Periods of art that were of focus: Fauvism, Abstractism, OP art, and Color Field. The artists Piet Mondrian, Joseph Albers, Helen Frankenthaler, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Bridget Riley were the main focus of the research project. By studying Frankenthaler and other color field artists, he learned that color alone can invoke shapes and textures. The art work is created through the use of Corel Painter on a computer. His art work is revealing the culture of modern art work.
Corel Painter is a software that allows the artist to create work with different types of media. The user can choose different brush sizes. Users can control the texture, depth, size, bleed, etc of the brushes. You can have a water color layer. There is a liquid oil layer. In the layers and selections, one can control their brush work. A Wacom stylus pen on a pressure sensitive tablet is used to draw the artwork. He creates slide show movies to show the development of pieces. He wants to show people the process of making his digital art. Visit his YouTube page to view other digital art works. He wants to continue to use advancing technologies to create art work. One day, he envisions his art work on flexible screens.


This document is based on an analysis that determined the sub-skills students need to achieve in each of the Foundational Skills (K–5) in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It contains five sections, each targeting one grade level in: Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition, and Fluency. It also includes instructional examples aligned to the sub-skills, giving teachers samples of activity types that facilitate the acquisition of the sub-skills. Each chart includes up to three grade levels to inform instruction for students who are either struggling and need extra support or intervention, or for students performing above grade-level expectations and require enrichment, to allow a teacher to see which skills should have been mastered in the previous year and what students are preparing for in the upcoming years.
This resource provides support in the alignment of instruction in schools that are implementing School Improvement Grants (SIG) and/or College and Career Ready Standards (including Common Core State Standards).


It is normal for kids and parents to feel sad, stressed, confused, scared, or angry during change and uncertainty. The challenge for us as parents is not avoiding those feelings. No—the challenge is, how do we make mindful decisions in response?
Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally bringing awareness to the present moment so we can choose our response to what is happening.
During times of uncertainty, these practices can help us to calm down and become more aware of our moods and thoughts. For kids, it can be helpful both as they transition through different parts of the day and when they face chaotic situations. Plus, it’s a great way for them to be ready to learn, emotionally and mentally.
Self-regulation is one of the 16 Habits of Success that Prepared Parent’s resources are rooted in. The Habits of Success are social and emotional mindsets and behaviors that set kids up for success in school and life. They were developed by educational psychologist Dr. Brooke Stafford-Brizard of education research non-profit Turnaround for Children, in her Building Blocks for Learning Framework.
Every kid needs a set of foundational skills that gives them the mental and emotional security it takes to engage and connect with others. These foundational skills are represented on the first row of the framework:
- Attachment: Having a strong bond with an adult who cares about me
- Stress management: Figuring out how to become calm and balanced when situations get stressful
- Self-regulation: Directing and maintaining my attention and emotions
When kids show up to school stressed or emotionally overwhelmed, they’re unable to focus on learning. Healthy development starts with strong parental or caregiver bonds, and is strengthened when our kids learn how to manage stress and emotions, so that they can focus on external goals.Mindfulness is one way kids can self-regulate and manage stress. Research into mindfulness has shown myriad benefits, including decreased negative thoughts, reduced stress, better working memory, improved focus, fewer emotional reactions, greater cognitive flexibility, better relationships, and more.
Here are some kid-friendly mindfulness activities you can do throughout the day to build your mindfulness skills:
- Morning: Just Breathe, but with kindness
This is a one-to-one activity, so pair up with your kid (or if you have more than one child, pair them up). As you face each other, first take a deep breath in, then out, before making kindness wishes. First say a kindness wish for yourself, something like asking for patience, courage, peace, or hope. Then say a kindness wish to your kid. Reverse, so your kid can do the same for you. Finally, together make kindness wishes for your community, the situation we’re in right now, and the world. End by taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
- Mid-Day: Walk in Silence
Go outside, but try not to talk. As you walk around, listen intently to the sounds you hear. The purpose? This activity encourages kids to tap into their sense of hearing and attuned to the environment around them through listening. Ask each kid to describe 3 different sounds they notice. Take along some paper and pencils to create maps and mark where the sounds were heard. You might repeat this exercise tomorrow to listen for the same sounds in the same places.
- Evening: Toss a Ball with Intention
Consider this a slower version of the game hot potato. Sit in a circle and toss a ball. Ask the person who catches the ball one of these questions. When they toss it, they can ask the same question or a different one. What other questions would you add to this list
Who inspires you?
What made you smile today?
What’s something positive you did today?
What do you love about yourself?


Our approach is based on proven research; that childrens’ best learning experiences come from actively designing, creating, interacting and inventing. Snapology activities encourage social skills and teamwork, while teaching science, technology, engineering, art, math and literacy concepts.
Snapology offers a variety of activities designed to reinforce core competencies and curricula being taught at each grade level. Our programs can be customized based on the # of children, age of children, time allotment and/or other special requirements. We adapt to your goals and objectives.
Snapology’s flexible curriculum allows teachers to adapt to the needs of each unique group of students while allowing children to progress and explore at their own pace. The curriculum is designed to benefit all students - gifted, traditional, and special needs students including sensory and autism spectrum.
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Some organizations expand this acronym to STEAM to add Art education. Snapology is proud to say that all of our programs focus on STEM & STEAM learning concepts. In fact, Snapology programs qualify for use of STEM & STEAM grants provided to many schools, libraries and non-profit organization.
Educating children on STEM concepts has become a large focus in our school systems over the past few years, but many schools don’t have the resources to allow children explore these concepts in a fun, interactive manner. At Snapology, it is our mission to inspire children to pursue careers in STEM fields through educational play and hand-on learning at a young age.
Employers are increasingly seeking workers skilled in STEM areas. We're taking an active role in inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers & mathematicians through excitement in these concepts at an early age. Through engagement in our programs, your children will increase their interest in doing well in school and become more interested in attending college.
Snapology was created by two sisters, Lisa and Laura Coe, who observed the love their children had for creative play using building blocks and other materials that snap together. The idea of offering enrichment classes and camps to teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics, art and literacy concepts excited them given both of their backgrounds in mathematics and science.


Momčilo Gavrić was the youngest soldier in the First World War.
In the beginning of August 1914, Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed his father, mother, grandmother, his three sisters, and four of his brothers. His house was also set on fire. Momčilo survived because he was not at home when it happened – his father had sent him to his uncle earlier.
Left without family and without a home, Momčilo went to find the 6th Artillery Division of the Serbian army, which was near Gučevo at the time. Major Stevan Tucović, brother of Dimitrije Tucović, accepted Gavrić into his unit after hearing about what had happened, and assigned Miloš Mišović, a soldier in the unit, to be Gavrić’s caretaker.The same evening, he took revenge by showing his unit the location of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers, and participated in the bombardment, as told by his son Branislav Gavrić in an interview.
At the age of 10, he was promoted to the rank of kaplar (Corporal) by the commander of his unit.
When his unit was sent to Thessaloniki, Major Tucović sent him to Sorovits where he hastily went through the equivalent of four grades of elementary education.
In Kajmakčalan, vojvoda Mišić was stunned when he saw a uniformed eleven year-old boy in the trenches. Major Tucović explained the situation to him; that Gavrić had been with them since the Battle of Cer, and that he had both been taught discipline and been wounded during his time in the unit. Mišić promoted Gavrić topodnarednik (Lance Sergeant). The order was sent out to all units of the Serbian army.