GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Marvelous Explorations through Science and Stories project now has teacher’s guides available online through the national Head Start program and at the Florida Museum of Natural History website.
The fun and educational science-centered guides provide a challenging and engaging curriculum for early childhood students and teachers. The guides cover a range of science topics including animals, physical science, the environment and the human body.
Shari Ellis, project director at the Florida Museum’s Center for Informal Science Education, said the curriculum was created for preschoolers, but can be easily adapted for early elementary grades.
“The goal was to provide open and free access to these guides so that more teachers can become comfortable exploring science with young children,” Ellis said.
Marvelous Explorations through Science and Stories was developed by a partnership among the Florida Museum, and Head Start programs and public libraries in Alachua and Marion counties. The guides were field tested in more than 100 classrooms for eight years, and are available on the Florida Museum website, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/education/cise/mess.htm, and at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/, the Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center website.
“We found that most teachers really enjoy teaching science to young children, but they sometimes lack developmentally appropriate resources,” Ellis said. “Often, teachers find activities online designed for older children and then may give up on science because the activities don’t work well. Teachers who use the MESS guides consistently report they are amazed at what their students can learn, and the children’s parents are, too.”
The goal of MESS is to foster children’s language and literacy development, curiosity, motivation, problem solving and general knowledge through science experiences.
Grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and ChevronTexaco Foundation provided initial funding. Additional funding to expand the program was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families, Florida Museum Associates, Thomas H. Maren Foundation, Sonny’s, Wachovia Foundation and the Alachua County Community Agency Partnership Program.
– 30 –


In our current era of deep budget cuts throughout education and high-stakes standardized tests which focus predominantly on reading and math, art education can quickly be pushed to the margins. Restoring the arts to a prominent place in our education system may occur only with the help of a surprising ally – 1:1 technology. But how can student access to technology make things like visual art, music, theater, and dance come alive in the classroom? Here are three key roles 1:1 devices can play in improving the quality of art instruction for students of all ages.
Digital Art and Music
Creating art and music through traditional tools – painting with watercolors, for example, or playing the trombone – is incredibly valuable. 1:1 technology should be used to enhance, not detract, from such experiences. For students and schools struggling to afford musical instruments, however, inexpensive IPod apps exist that offer realistic simulations designed to teach students the basics of how to play any instrument. Even better, students can take their expertise with traditional tools and turn them into impressive finished products through tools like IMovie (for video), GarageBand (for music), and Google SketchUp (for 3-D sculpture and design). Once finished, students can document and publicize their work by posting it on a personal blog or sharing it on a site like PhotoBucket (for photography) or ITunes (for songs and videos). No longer will a student’s audience be limited to his teacher and classmates – now students can potentially sing, dance, and create art for viewers around the world!
Districts which cannot afford highly qualified specialists to teach art, music, theater, and dance can turn to online arts courses to expand their class offerings. These distance learning classes are thankfully not limited to video lectures and paper/pencil tests, either, because the types of tools described above can allow students to submit their real artwork (via video, podcast, etc.) to an instructor located anywhere.
Virtual Field Trips, Guest Speakers, and Collaboration Across Schools
In addition to giving students powerful ways to create better art and to share that art with the world, 1:1 technology allows art opportunities from around the world to come into the classroom. Through the power of videoconferencing, for example, students in 1:1 classrooms can talk to expert artists from anywhere around the world. Students can take virtual field trips to museums, for free, from the comfort of their classroom.
Collaboration with art students across multiple schools can also be cultivated. Virtual art fairs can be held involving students from any number of schools, partnerships with other art classrooms can be formed, and “art buddies” within a district (such as a 4th grader from a town’s elementary school being paired with a 12th grader from that same town’s high school) can communicate together about similar art interests using 1:1 technology.
People sometimes see computers as a tool primarily for enhancing science, technology, language arts, and math education. Education in the arts, however, can also be dramatically expanded and improved through a 1:1 technology program.
About the author: Mark Pullen, 1:1 classroom teacher, on behalf of Worth Ave. Group.


The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced a new policy that recommends parents read to their children from birth, reported the New York Times on June 24. In doing so, the APP has taken an official stance on literacy and early childhood development, and the 62,000 pediatricians who are members of the organization have, in a way, become ambassadors of this strong message that literacy development begins from birth.
“We teach all of our pediatric residents about the importance of talking to their patients about book sharing and giving out books at every well child visit,” said Dr. Leora Mogilner, assistant professor of Pediatrics and director of Reach Out and Read at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “When I became a mother, I read to my children from the time they were infants. Reading together was (and still is) a special time for us (my youngest is almost seven). It’s not just about promoting language development and literacy—it is also about bonding and having quality time together.” (Read Out and Read is a program that promotes literacy to families through pediatricians and other medical professionals. Mogilner started the program at Sinai in 1998.)
It can be argued the achievement gap starts before birth—the family and circumstance a person is born into—and the first 1,000 days are crucial in word recognition and development. An often-cited study about families and how they talk to their children called “Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children” by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risely revealed that per year, a child belonging to a professional/white collar family would hear 11 million words versus a child from a disadvantaged/welfare family who would hear just 3 million.
According the New York Times:
“Low-income children are often exposed little to reading before entering formal child care settings. ‘We have had families who do not read to their children and where there are no books in the home,’ said Elisabeth Bruzon, coordinator for the Fairfax, Virginia, chapter of Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, a nonprofit program that sends visitors to the homes of low- to moderate-income families with children ages 3 to 5.”
While reading to children from birth will not close the achievement gap alone, says Mogilner, she says it is a step in the right direction. “We know that children who are exposed to books from an early age have improved language development compared to those who are not read to from an early age.” She goes on to say that most of the mothers she interacts with “are receptive to the guidance we give them about reading to their infants and young children, and they definitely love receiving a book at each visit… When parents come for return visits, they always tell me which book their baby enjoyed and they love helping select a new book.”
At the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America that took place in Denver, Colorado—the same day the AAP unveiled its read-from-birth policy—former-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the commitment between Scholastic Inc., AAP, Too Small to Fail, the Clinton Foundation, and Reach Out and Read called “Pediatricians Promote Reading to Children from Day One, 2014.” The partners have “committed to create a pediatric toolkit, which will include concrete tips and information that pediatricians can share with parents to promote the importance of talking, reading, and singing to children, ages zero to five,” according to the CGI website.
Within the CGI commitment, Scholastic has committed to donate 500,000 books to Reach Out and Read that will deliver the books to 2,000 pediatricians and promote the pediatric toolkit across the country. Too Small to Fail—”a joint initiative of the Clinton Foundation and Next Generation to help parents and businesses take meaningful actions to improve the health and well-being of America’s youngest children, ages zero to five, and prepare them to succeed in the 21st century”—is also developing materials to distribute to members of the AAP to help them emphasize the read-aloud message to parents.


Middle School is poised to take a leap
into 21st century learning. The library media center
is ready to take that leap as well. The West Virginia
Standards for 21st Century Learning state that:
|"The mix of technology tools will change
and evolve rapidly in the future. Today's technology
may be obsolete tomorrow. It is impossible to
predict the tools that will be essential for learning
and working in the years to come. That is why
it is important for people to acquire learning
skills that will enable them to use next-generation
technology and why business people and educators
need to continue to collaborate so schools will
stay abreast of new technology. By moving beyond
the development of foundational skills in technology
to the development of ICT (information and communication
technology) literacy skills, we will prepare our
students to be productive in the classroom and
We need to recognize that the world
our students will be working and living in is scarcely
imaginable today. We need not only to educate them
to use and understand the technologies of today, but
to prepare them to be ready for the technologies of
tomorrow. As stated above, we need to teach them the
"learning skills" that will prepare them
for a workplace that doesn't yet exist.
Belmonte Middle School can create a
"learning commons", which is a space that
is a center for information, knowledge and enjoyment.
The environment is one of inquiry and creativity,
not just skill-building and fact-gathering. It is
inquiry and knowledge building that will lead our
students into successful lives in the 21st century.
The vision for the Belmonte Middle School
Library Media Center is:
commons where inquiry, knowledge, enjoyment, creativity
all live together.
for deliberate and intentional engagement with
is an inquiry model of knowledge acquisition,
hopefully school-wide (IIM-Independent Investigation
where they use Web 2.0 tools in the school as
well as out of school. As Marc Prensky says Its
their after school education not their school
education that is preparing kids for their 21st
century livesand they know it. When kids
come to school they leave behind this intellectual
light of their everyday lives and walk into the
darkness of the old-fashioned classroom.
students literacy skills and they include print
literacy, visual literacy and media literacy.
where students and staff know they will be welcomed,
inspired, and challenged.
where 21st-century ethics are alive.
It is the goal that all stakeholders
at Belmonte will adopt and work towards this vision.


By: Adrienne L. Herrell and Michael L. Jordan
Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, Fourth Edition, by Adrienne Herrell and Michael Jordan, includes a rich assortment of practical strategies aligned to TESOL standards which have been field-tested in diverse classrooms. Each strategy includes a brief explanation, step-by-step instructions on how to plan and use the strategy, and two classroom scenarios demonstrating how the strategy can be adapted for different grade levels and content areas. Herrell and Jordan have included additional language and literacy development strategies, technology strategies, and assessment strategies to support both pre-service and inservice teachers.
*New Strategies building on suggestions from professors using the third edition we have included additional language and literacy development strategies and combined some of the strategies to demonstrate how teachers can effectively sequence approaches to support learning. A total of twelve new strategies (20+%) are included in this fourth edition.
*Reorganization of the Strategies The strategies have been reorganized based on feedback from professors using the text. In addition to the reorganization, the notable changes in this edition include the following:
*Updated Research The theoretical overview section of this edition includes updated research and expands our review to include notable European researchers working in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Updated research is cited throughout the strategy chapters as well.
*Focus on the use of assessment to ensure effective instruction Assessment strategies are included both in the theoretical overview section and in many of the individual strategy chapters to support pre-service and in-service teachers in understanding the importance of knowing how students learn and their current levels of functioning in order to plan effective instruction.
*Expanded emphasis on the use of technology Technology strategies are infused in many of the chapters and additional stand-alone technology strategies have been added to emphasize the appropriate use of technology to support and scaffold learning for English learners.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Pearson (2011-02-05)
Dimensions (H L W): 80 x 1080 x 840


David Cameron announces that promoting competitive team and individual sports will be at the heart of the new primary school curriculum
The Prime Minister has today announced that a new national PE curriculum, to be published in draft in the autumn, will require every primary school child to take part in competitive sport.
The new curriculum will include sports such as football, netball and hockey, as well as outdoor activities.
It will encourage older children to compare their performances in order to achieve their personal best.
The changes will:
- enable pupils to be physically active for sustained periods of time
- develop pupils’ competence in a broad range of physical activities
- provide opportunities for pupils to engage in competitive sports and activities and help pupils to lead healthy and active lifestyles
“The idea of an Olympics legacy has been built into the DNA of London 2012 from the very beginning,” said Mr Cameron. “Now the London Olympics has been a great success, we need to use the inspiration of the Games to get children playing sport more regularly.”
Inspired schools programme
Last year,Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt launched the Olympic and Paralympic Games inspired School Games programme which aims to motivate and inspire millions of young people across the country to take part in more competitive sport.
Designed across four levels for both primary and secondary pupils, the School Games offers all young people in school years 3-13 the opportunity to compete at school and regional levels.
Plans include £1 billion over five years for youth sport, 1,000 local sports venues to be upgraded and 6,000 links developed between sports clubs and schools - so that every secondary school will have the chance of a link with a proper sports club.
There are already 5,000 links set up and this will be expanded to cover an increasing number of primary schools.


Long considered the first American impressionist, Theodore Robinson was born in Irasburg, Vermont, but spent most of his childhood in the rural Midwest, predominantly Wisconsin. Robinson’s formal art education began at the Art Institute of Chicago (1869–1870) and continued at the National Academy of Design in New York (1874–1876), where he was one of the founders of the Art Students League. In 1876 he journeyed to Paris and entered the atelier of the academician Carolus-Duran but later moved to the École des Beaux-Arts to study with Jean-Léon Gérôme. In the fall of 1879, Robinson moved to Venice; here he was befriended by American expatriate artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who had a great influence on him. Robinson returned to the United States in December of that year and began to work as a mural painter for public and private buildings in New York and Boston. By spring 1884 Robinson had earned enough money to return to France. With Paris as his home base, Robinson was able to travel to surrounding artistic sites including Barbizon and Dieppe, and to go to Holland. In 1887 he began his sojourns in Giverny, a village on the Seine where Claude Monet had established his home and studio, and he returned to that village every spring and summer for the next five years.
Although Monet generally avoided the many foreign artists who came to Giverny, he and Robinson became close friends.
Like Monet, Robinson painted figure compositions and landscapes and also explored the concept of sequential images in a series of panoramic views of Giverny. During his Giverny period, Robinson continued to make trips back to New York, where he maintained friendships with Twachtman and Weir, and through them served as a conduit for the dissemination of Impressionist precepts in the United States. Duncan Phillips proclaimed that Robinson’s style “used the broken tones of Monet but refined the method and made it subtle and sensuous.”
To supplement his income, Robinson began teaching during the summers in Napanoch, New York, and later in a succession of teaching positions in New Jersey. In February 1895 Macbeth Gallery in New York gave him his first solo exhibition. Robinson died the next year during an acute asthma attack, an illness that had plagued him his entire life. Five of his paintings were lent posthumously to the 1913 Amory Show, in which he and Twachtman represented American impressionism.


Liberal Studies: Math/Science
Literacy in the sciences and mathematics is increasingly recognized as crucial for both the general public and success in various professions. The purpose of the Math/Science Specialization in Liberal Studies is to provide interested students with an interdisciplinary, yet substantive and programmed, course of study which emphasizes mathematical and scientific methods and knowledge. This degree program will train students for further study in areas where an understanding of science and math is important, such as (but not limited to) science and technology policy, law, information systems, science writing, and science education. Students pursuing such a major might intend to become elementary school teachers, journalists, information specialists, or paralegals in a technical field. This background in science and mathematics will prepare the major to contribute productively in any technical field by developing their understanding of the scientific enterprise, the use of technology, scientific ways of knowing, and a base of knowledge in the sciences and mathematics.
It is expected that this course of study will be especially attractive and useful as a coordinate major for Elementary Education majors. For Elementary Education students in particular, the major's emphasis on the command of mathematical and scientific methods, technology, along with a background in the biological sciences, chemistry, mathematics, and physics, is ideal for professional training and preparation. The program will provide an opportunity for students to develop substantial backgrounds in mathematics and the sciences, preparing them to teach an enhanced curriculum.


Use continent in a sentence
- The other continent was made, you had only to discover it, to uncover it.
- Iron carted across the American continent at luxurious railway rates would be valuable enough to be coined when it arrived.
- I have been on the continent of Europe for two and a half years.
- We sailed at last; and so ended a snail-paced march across the continent, which had lasted forty days.
- Thoughtful men must feel that the fate of civilization upon this continent is involved in the issue of our contest.
- Apparently this vast continent has a really good climate nowhere but around the edges.
- Yet a continent as dark, as unknown, exists.
- You have subdued a continent, and it stands in the daylight radiant with a material splendor of which the Pilgrims never dreamed.
- One of my Members is a Princess of a royal house, another is the daughter of a village book-seller on the continent of Europe.
This page helps answer: how do I use the word continent in a sentence? How do you use continent in a sentence? Can you give me a sentence for the word continent? It may also be related to preschool, montessori, school k-12 elementary education, online course, back to school, writing, universities, educate, and college.
Example sentences with the word continent, a sentence example for continent, and continent in sample sentence.


© 2001 – Routledge
The field of early childhood education and the science of psychology have a long and closely intertwined history. The study of young children's learning within school contexts provides a test of developmental theory while at the same time identifies the limits of psychology for informing practice. The purpose of this book, part of the Rutgers Invitational Symposium on Education Series, is to bring together the work of the leading researchers in the field of child development and early education to inform three issues facing the United States today:
* clarifying developmentally appropriate instruction from the perspective of cognitive developmental psychology;
* ensuring that young children's schooling adequately addresses content; and
* meeting cognitive goals while simultaneously supporting social and emotional development.
Throughout, the role of empirical inquiry in developmental psychology for the practice of early education is examined.
Contents: Foreword. Preface. S.L. Golbeck, Instructional Models for Early Childhood: In Search of a Child-Regulated/Teacher-Guided Pedagogy. Part I: Foundations for Instruction and Pedagogy. R. Case, S. Griffin, W.M. Kelly, Socioeconomic Differences in Children's Early Cognitive Development and Their Readiness for Schooling. D.J. Stipek, J.K. Greene, Achievement Motivation in Early Childhood: Cause for Concern or Celebration? L. McCune, M.B. Zanes, Learning: Attention and Play. M.C. Hyson, J. Molinaro, Learning Through Feeling: Children's Development, Teachers' Beliefs and Relationships, and Classroom Practices. E.L. Klein, Children's Perspectives on Their Experiences in Early Education and Child-Care Settings. Part II: Practice of Pedagogy in Early Education. R. DeVries, Constructivist Education in Preschool and Elementary School: The Sociomoral Atmosphere as the First Education Goal. H.P. Ginsburg, S. Pappas, K-H. Seo, Everyday Mathematical Knowledge: Asking Young Children What Is Developmentally Appropriate. L.S. Liben, R.M. Downs, Geography for Young Children: Maps as Tools for Learning Environments. L.M. Morrow, Literacy Development and Young Children: Research to Practice. H.S. Rosenberg, Imagination Styles of Four- and Five-Year Olds. E.C. Frede, W.S. Barnett, T. Lupo, Measuring Recommended Practices for Very Young Children With Disabilities.


WACHUSETT REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Holden-Paxton-Princeton-Rutland-Sterling
Core Curriculum in Our Schools
Our core academic curriculum is built on the following truths about learning:
- Writing is Decision-Making
To ensure these ideals are embedded in daily teaching and learning, the Wachusett Regional School District is a "workshop district." The workshop model allows a structured, comprehensive approach to learning that nurtures understanding, builds on foundational skills, and provides customized learning for all students.
21st Century Learning in Our Schools
The Wachusett Regional School District is committed to helping our students develop the college and career readiness skills they will need to find success beyond our schools. Given our challenges, we will need to innovate our approaches, find efficiencies where possible, and support the ongoing efforts of our teachers and administrators to embrace 21st century learning. To this end, the District embarked on a number of initiatives through our AIM21 campaign. In order to provide students with career competencies they will need, our schools are building 21st Century Skills into all curriculum areas. As we address the demand for digital literacy in the 21st century, classrooms are integrating digital Learning Tools as a vehicle for instruction. Digital Conversion and green school efforts are reducing waste and energy consumption to realize financial efficencies and protect our environment.
Response to Intervention in Our Schools
The goal of Response to Intervention (RTI) is to improve student learning through a collegial, team-based process. RTI validates ‘good teaching’ methods while providing for a sharing of more ideas to yield success. The RTI process results in a consistent problem-solving approach for struggling students. Intervention plans are developed around a three tiered-approach. FInd out more about our approach to RTI in the District.
Professional Development in Our Schools
Job-embedded instructional coaching is the primary mechanism for professional development in the District at the K-8 level. Instructional coaching allows teachers to bridge knowledge gathered in workshops and professional readings to classroom application. Find out more about instructional coaching in the District.


Sophia college courses cost up to 80% less than traditional courses. *
Psychologist Diana Deutsch has researched human perceptions and recollections of sounds. What we hear may not be what was actually said or sung, she writes, but, in fact, "The sounds as they appear to you are not only different from those that are really present, but they sometimes behave so strangely as to seem quite impossible."
Read this sentence out loud a few times. Five or six times should do it:
Did you hear anything unusual? If not, try reading it a few more times, this time with a few words omitted:
Although not frequently taught in the twenty-first century, one fascinating component of music education is the Solfege hand signs. The "Manual Signs of Tone in Key" was developed by John Curwen in the mid-nineteeth century.
In the Curwen model, each note has a specific hand shape. Each note also has a specific tone. In the PDF below, check out "doh," the strong or firm tone. Picture Homer Simpson singing the scale.
These manual signs are not to be confused with shape-note singing. Shape-note singing is a form of musical notation, while the Curwen hand signs are a form of musical instruction.
In this clip from the World Science Festival 2009, Bobby McFerrin leads the audience in melody. No sheet music, no pitch pipe.
In this clip, fifth graders from Atwater School in Shorewood, Wisconsin listen to Diana Deutsch speaking.
keep an ear out for the hidden musicality of day-to-day communications.


Social and historical African American literacy development
African American adolescent literacy
African American female literacies
Role of text in writing development
Gholnecsar Muhammad began her career as a reading, language arts, and social studies middle school teacher. After teaching in the classroom, she served as a literacy coach, school district curriculum supervisor and was responsible for K-12 literacy instruction and assessments, reading interventions, grant writing and professional development.
Her research interests are situated in the social and historical foundations of literacy development among African Americans and writing representations among African American adolescent girls. She explores intersections of students’ histories, identities and literacies. She also explores literacy collaboratives to understand how writing pedagogy and the roles of writing can be advanced and reconceptualized in middle level and secondary classrooms. Each summer she facilitates Black Girls W.R.I.T.E., a summer literacy program that helps to advance literacy development.
Muhammad strives to shape the national conversation for educating youth who have been historically underserved and support the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students who are seeking practical and intellectual pathways to meet some of the most pressing challenges encountered in urban schools.
She is the 2014 recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English, Promising New Researcher Award.
Muhammad, G. E. (in press-April 2015). “Inducing colored Sisters of other places to imitate their example”: Connecting historic literary societies to a contemporary writing group, English Education.
Muhammad, G. E. (in press). The role of literary mentors in writing development: How Black women’s literature supported the writings of African American adolescent girls, Journal of Education.
Muhammad, G. E. (2015). In search for a full vision: Writing representations of African American adolescent girls, Research in the Teaching of English, 49(3). 224-247.
Muhammad, G. E. (2015). Intellectual freedom: Examining print authority among early readers and writers. In S. Thompson (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice (pp. 417-418). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Muhammad, G. E. (2015). Islamic culture: Five pillars of practice and the quest toward literacy and intellectualism. In S. Thompson (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice (p. 444). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Muhammad, G. E. (2014). Black girls write! Literary benefits of a summer writing collaborative grounded in history. Childhood Education, 90(4), 323-326.
Muhammad, G. E. (2014). Are classroom practices teaching students to be independent thinkers?: Historical models for literacy as a tool of agency. In L. Reynolds (Ed.), Imagine It Better: Visions of What School Might Be. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Muhammad, G. E. (2014). Essay book review of Cultural Transformations: Youth and Pedagogies of Possibility. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 58(3), 260-262..
Muhammad, G. E. (2012). Creating spaces for Black adolescent girls to “write it out!” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 56(3), 203-211.
Tatum, A. W. & Muhammad, G. E. (2012). African American males and literacy development in contexts that are characteristically urban. Urban Education, 47(2), 434-463.
Muhammad, G. E. (2012). The literacy development and practices within 1800s African American literary societies. Black History Bulletin, 75(1), 6-13.


Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a systematic, one-on-one intervention, based on behavioral principles, that focuses on skill development. BTS of MN work with children and families to further develop skills in communication, socialization, and behavior regulation. Specifically, ABA therapy has been an effective intervention for teaching children to talk and to interact more effectively with peers and adults. Treatment objectives will be developed to help increase positive behaviors and skills, maintain and generalize behaviors, and reduce repetitive and restricted behaviors.
Treatment is individualized and is based on a comprehensive skills assessment. Services are provided in the child’s home, as well as in community and school settings to encourage generalization of skills. Early ABA researchers found that children with autism were not learning from their environment as effectively typically developing children. Therefore, it is up to ABA therapists, caregivers and teachers to develop a therapeutic environment in which children can learn most effectively. Our ultimate goal is to help each child develop skills that will enable him or her to be as independent and successful as possible.
In order to establish a consistent therapeutic environment for your child, we require on-going parent involvement, including weekly family skills session participation. Parents will learn how to facilitate the use of their child’s newly acquired skills at home and in the community.
ABA services are conducted within the home. Our program options include:
The Supervising Psychologist will work together with the family to determine which program will best suit each child’s individualized needs.
This program provides comprehensive one-to-one treatment for young children who have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Intensive Early Intervention Behavior Therapy Services (IEIBTS) are strongly supported by research as being the most effective treatment currently available for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research strongly indicates that best outcomes are accomplished when a child’s program is intensive. Therefore, we require a commitment of at least 30 to 40 hours per week of therapy to help your child reach their fullest potential. The number of therapy hours recommended for each child is based on the results of a comprehensive assessment.
Early programming typically focuses on the development of foundational skills, including the following: Establishing a broader range of reinforcing items and activities, responding to basic instructions, imitation skills, matching and sorting, communication skills (e.g. requesting, receptive labeling, expressive labeling), social interaction skills (e.g. responding name, eye contact, physical play), play skills, and reduction of restricted and repetitive behaviors.
Intensive behavior therapy services are provided to school-aged children on the autism spectrum. This service typically focuses on treating children who attend school on a ½ day basis. The level of service intensity will depend on the needs of the child and family. As with IEIBTS, services are provided in home, community, and school settings. Programming often focuses on further developing communication and socialization skills, as well as the reduction of repetitive or other problematic behaviors. The skills to be targeted depend on the need areas of the child. Therapeutic needs are identified through the assessment process.
If you are interested in ABA services, please contact our office to schedule an assessment to determine if your child would benefit from one of our programs.
*Funding: We are CTSS providers and accept medical assistance and Medica. Other plans may pay for services as well.


© 2013 – Routledge
Vygotsky’s legacy in education is enduring and prolific, influencing educational research and scholarship in areas as far ranging child development, language and literacy development, bilingual education, and learning disabilities to name but a few. In this accessible, introductory volume, renowned Vygtosky authority Luis C. Moll presents a summary of Vygtoskian core concepts, constituting a cultural-historical approach to the study of thinking and development. Moll emphasizes what he considers central tenets of Vygotsky’s scholarship --- the sociocultural genesis of human thinking, the consideration of active and dynamic individuals, a developmental approach to studying human thinking, and the power of cultural mediation in understanding and transforming educational practices, broadly considered. After an introduction to Vygotsky’s life, the historical context for his work, and his ideas, Moll provides examples from his educational research inspired by Vygotsky’s work. With both critical scrutiny of current interpretations of Vygotksian theory and clear deference for the theorist known as "The Mozart of Psychology," Moll stresses the many ways Vygotksy’s theory can offer a theory of possibilities for positive pedagogical change.
"Vygotsky was an important pioneering Russian psychologist. While he wrote on a variety of topics in psychology, education, philosophy, and science, he is most known for his emphasis on psychology, learning, and thinking as the sociocultural genesis on human thinking and learning. His writings still have a significant impact on psychology and education theory as well as on education praxis. Moll (Univ. of Arizona) is an internationally known scholar on Vygotsky, and this very well-written book is theoretical and practical. Moll's discussion of Vygotsky's theories and applications is lucid and easy to understand. This book is focused on the ideas and practical applications surrounding cultural mediation of thinking and learning and the profound impact that culture (environment) has on psychological development. Vygotsky's theories speak to the issue of diversity today. This excellent book will be of interest to upper-division and graduate students in psychology, educational psychology, curriculum theory, and philosophy as well as to faculty, researchers, and practitioners in those areas.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections." - W.C. Hine, Eastern Illinois University, in CHOICE, April 2014
Chapter 1: Situating Vygotsky Historically
Chapter 2: Reading in Two Languages: A Formative Experiment
Chapter 3: Bilingual Subjectivity in the Mediation of Thinking
Chapter 4: Living Knowledge in Practice
Much more than introductions alone, the short, virtuosic Routledge Key Ideas in Education series volumes look to shape ongoing discussions in the field of education by putting the field’s contemporary luminaries in dialogue with its foundational figures and critical topics. From new students to senior scholars, these volumes will spark the imaginations of a range of readers thinking through key ideas and education.


Published from the UNC Charlotte College of Education website:
Making learning fun is a consistent ambition for many educators, and starting this fall, resources developed by two College of Education students will make reaching that goal a little bit easier.
Elementary Education major Katrina Buchanan and Child and Family Development major Kierra Boyd built a set of online resources to supplement popular Scrabble Clubs at 12 Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Communities in Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CIS) launched the program last year. Scrabble in Schools pairs students up into teams to play the board game for 40 minutes a week. CIS aims to engage students in an activity that they enjoy while building important language and math skills.
This summer, Buchannan and Boyd put together a website with vocabulary tips and Scrabble strategies for students and evaluation tools for teachers. The site is meant to “provide an assessment with meaningful results for teachers and coordinators while still keeping the fun in it for the students,” Buchannan said. Boyd echoed Buchannan’s thoughts, saying she was drawn to the program to “help young children learn and grow through something fun”
The pair’s work was made possible through the Charlotte Community Scholars program, a new initiative that pays for students to spend the summer on community-based research projects.
The UNC Charlotte Center for Adolescent Literacies supported Buchannan and Boyd’s efforts on the website. Dr. Bruce Taylor, the Center’s director, said though students have many opportunities to be involved in schools, the community scholars program “takes that kind of involvement to a new level.”
“Kierra and Katrina have been agents of change to help improve the quality of this co-curricular program. They’ve not only brought value to the program, but also enhanced it through their own scholarship and creative work.”
Frederico Rios is Director of Elementary Schools and Immigrant Services at CIS. He said though it’s not yet clear how the Scrabble in Schools program will affect academic scores, there have been encouraging signs.
“We do consider it successful from the standpoint of seeing kids get enthusiastic about a game that involves vocabulary, word knowledge, team work, problem solving, math and that critical thinking piece, that is so crucial to learning.”
Katrina Buchanan also noticed that enthusiasm. She recalled meeting a little boy at Nathaniel Alexander Elementary who was particularly excited about playing Scrabble.
“He had downloaded the app on his phone to play when he isn’t at school,” she said, “The fact that these kids truly enjoyed the program inspired me to create these assessments in a way that they were not aware that they are being assessed.”
Dr. Taylor advised the COED students on the project, and said they exceeded his expectations in every way.
“It’s clear that these students have a passion for education and are already thinking about their work beyond graduation. They understand the impact that teaching and programs that foster community support can have on students.”
Buchannan and Boyd’s website makes it easier for CIS site supervisors at individual schools measure and standardize the program, which will help the organization improve Scrabble in Schools over time.
“Dr. Taylor, Kierra and Katrina’s work has really revamped the whole focus of the initiative. It answers so many of our implementation questions and helps us to make the most of our program by standardizing it and giving our staff the tools they need to be successful,” said Rios, the CIS director.
Communities in Schools is looking for volunteers for the upcoming academic year. If you’re interested, contact Federico Rios at email@example.com


|Select the desired Level or Schedule Type to find available classes for the course.|
|ED 677 - Literacy for Children with Special Needs|
Course Description: This course examines literacy development for children with diverse learning needs related to cognitive, behavioral, linguistic, cultural and gender factors. Issues explored include the identification/special assessment/intervention process, the impact of mandated state literacy assessments on compensatory literacy programs, and the role of the literacy specialist in supporting students both through inclusion and pull-out programs. There will be a focus on remedial reading/writing strategies to support students experiencing difficulty in decoding/encoding, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.
3.000 Credit hours
3.000 Lecture hours
Schedule Types: Lecture, Tutorial
Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels:
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By Wangechi Thuo and Andrew Carlson
The Community Eye Health Journal announced in November that the National Blindness Prevention Programme (PNLC) in Mali, established in 1998, is on track to eliminate trachoma as a cause of blindness by 2015.
Trachoma is a bacterial disease that is transmitted through flies that come into contact with infected people or person to person contact. In areas where people live in close proximity, the disease spreads at an alarming rate, and can quickly infect entire communities. Repeated infection causes eyelids to turn inward and scratch the cornea, leaving an infected individual one unbelievably painful step closer to blindness with every blink they take, a process called trachomatous trichiasis. In 2011 the WHO estimated that 7,260,960 people around the world had this form of trichiasis.
Just before PNLC’s inception, Mali bore a generous portion of the global burden: during a national survey conducted in February 1996-May 1997, an estimated 85,700 people needed trichiasis surgery.
Since then, thanks to a strong commitment by the government of Mali, the PNLC has consolidated support from various partners, including The Carter Center, Helen Keller International (HKI), the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID) managed by RTI international, The END Fund, and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). The PNLC has set a high standard in trachoma elimination that similar national initiatives throughout sub-Saharan Africa strive to emulate.
Three important benchmarks help explain how Mali has achieved this success:
- Distribution of antibiotics: Through district-level mass drug administration, the PNLC has reduced active disease well below the recommended threshold in 84% of the districts in which the disease is present
- Surgical Efficiency: Since 2009, the PNLC almost halved the surgical backlog throughout the country; in 2011 alone, 8,510 trichiasis surgeries were conducted by only a handful of surgeons
- Preventive sanitation: Since 2009, 53,090 latrines have been constructed allowing safer disposal of waste
To foster community awareness, the PNLC has developed a primary school curriculum on trachoma, trained community leaders in trachoma prevention and ensured the dissemination of health messages through radio broadcasts with help from HKI.
PNLC’s successes are even more laudable as they were achieved in spite of the military coup d’état in March 2012, which elicited a considerable decrease in financial support to the Malian government.
With support from partners, Mali is less than one year away from achieving the goal of trachoma elimination and is positioned to celebrate this achievement, five years ahead of the global elimination date. Mali’s success story and lessons learned can provide can also be example for more countries throughout the world.


Book Summary of Education In India : Dynamics Of Development
There was a massive turn of events in education in the late 1990s, particularly with the emergence of right wing BJP into power. We decided to take a fresh look at the dynamics of development of Indian education, based on our experience in Indian Education: Development since Independence.
Several major institutions like CABE, ACC etc. were adapted to suit political agenda of cultural nationalism during the NDA regime. There was no qualitative shift in the regime that succeeded. It resurrected CABE, but stuffed with 'one dimensional' intellectuals. Political and bureaucratic obedience was preferred over academic excellence for the leadership position in higher education institutions. School curriculum shuttled between the 'left' and 'right', leaving students' interest in the back burner. Anti-reservation agitation by the bright students, India's future, met with water cannons, 'lathis' and gunshots when traders' agitation met with 'tears' across party lines. A dangerous trend of 'utter politicalization' of education was set in motion. This dynamics needs to be captured.
This book comprises 15 chapters; a chapter each on to elementary education, adult education, education of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, secondary education, higher education, technical education, women's education, inclusive education, educational technology, teacher education, media in education, open and distance education, and educational financing. These 13 chapters has been preceded by a chapter each on an overview of development of education since independence, and evolution of educational policies in India. Each chapter coming from distinguished specialist in the respective field adds additional value to the book. Table of Contents :
Indian Education since Independence: An Overview;Marmar Mukhopadhyay
Evolution of Policies in Education;Kailash Khanna
Universal Elementary Education of Satisfactory Quality: An Assesment of Our
Adult Education in India after Independence: A Critical Historical Account;H.S. Bhola
Women's Education in Post-independent India;Manju Narula Gauri Srivastava
Secondary Education: The Victim of Perennial Neglect;Marmar Mukhopadhyay
Higher Education Story of the Past and Reconstituting the New;Sudhanshu Bhushan
Technical Education: Poised at a New Crossroad;C.R. Mitra
Education of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;Sachchidananda
Education of Children with Disabilities in India;Sudesh Mukhopadhyay
Teacher Education;Madhu Parhar
Educational Technology;Marmar Mukhopadhyay
Media in Education;Madhu Parhar
Open and Distance Education ;Madhu Parhar and Marmar Mukhopadhyay
Financing of Education in India;J.L. Azad About author :
Professor Marmar Mukhopadhyay former Joint Director and Director (i/c) of NIEPA was involved in educational policy making planning implementing and evaluating at the highest level. He is an articulate author with several books to his credit including Total Quality Management Story of EDUSAT and Educational Technology: Knowledge Assessment. Dr. Madhu Parhar is Reader in Distance Education in STRIDE of Indira Gandhi National Open University New Delhi. An established researcher and author has contributed to several Indian and International Journals; her book Satellite in Education is the most comprehensive research treatise on the subject.


> I am looking for Preschool Activity Ideas to teach
> young children an appreciation for the elements of
> design. Any Ideas? I would also be interested in
> anyone's insight on how to educate parents and
> co-workers on the value of art with young children,
> and the value of learning the elements of design in
> a preschool setting.
I know you and I are on the same wavelength here. I am
posting your question to Getty list and Art Education,
too. I have talked about this with folks - but mainly
off list. I don't have my posts on this machine.
The elements must be made meaninginful to the wee
ones. That will make the job of the elementary art
teacher so much easier. For line, take them on a "line
hunt" - really ham it up. Even get a pithe helmet. For
colors - have them act them out. How they make them
feel, etc - what kind of sounds?. For shapes - have
them hunt for shapes - then move their bodies to form
shapes. Make shapes hats (see Jeryl Hollingsworth's
site for her K hats -
They will wear their shapes hats all day! Get them
singing fun little songs about line- shape - color
The more you can involve movement the better. Learning
the language of art is like learning any kind of
language. If they learn it while they are young, they
will never forget it. Read books about the elements
and design an activity. Tammi posted Cat's Colors
(students collected color samples from magazines -
then glued on an orange and black stripe cat).
Folks - post your ideas on how to make the elements
and principles meaningful to pre-school and I will
compile for Early Childhood lesson plan page.


- Curriculum: Art, Science
- Age/Grade: Elementary 1, Elementary 2, Elementary 3
- Subject: Collage, Multi-Media, Sculpture
- Materials: Mixed Media
- Institution: School of Visual Arts
- Location: New York, New York
- Duration: 3 Classes
THIS LESSON USES THE NYC BLUEPRINT LEARNING STANDARDS.
Elementary students design their own mix and matched animals, using a lesson framework that emphasizes transformation, then they create an entire ecosystem for them using 3-dimensional collage materials.
This lesson accompanies the following additional lessons:
"Clay for Fun"
"Cranimals in 3D"
"Creating a Cranimal"
The students will develop skills in sculpture.
The students will learn that sculpture can be made in a variety of ways.
The students will learn about different ways paper can be manipulated.
The students will gain experience in collaboration.
Nature photographs of animals
Students' work from last week
Poster of Animal pictures with their names
Drawings that the students completed last week
Additional craft materials
To engage the students creatively through melding different animals into a new one of their design.
Imagination, animal names, combine
Students will gather on the carpet. We will talk about last week's lesson making Cranimals out of model magic. We will talk about where our Cranimals live, and what kinds of things the need to survive.
Key Questions: Who can tell me what we did last week? What could we do next with our Cranimals. We could make them a home. What things might they need where they live? What do you think could make them happy? Does anyone know what the word habitat means? How could we use paper to make them a habitat?
Demonstration: Ways that paper can be used. Making trees. Using pipe cleaners.
Students return to their seats: Each student will be given a piece of cardboard to use as a base. Each table will receive a big box of materials that can be used to create habitats. Students will work for the remainder of the period, with frequent stops so that ideas can be shared.
Students continue to work on their habitats. Class will begin with students are their seat. There will be a review about habitats and the types of things that would be good to put in them. It will be alluded to that these pieces might be all combined together. Students work for the remainder of the period, with frequents stops to share ideas and refocus.
Students come into class to find that all of their habitats are assembled together with their Cranimals in them. We gather around and spend 10-15 minutes talking about the Cranimal World. Each student will be given the opportunity to say something about their habitat.
Assessment: Students will be assessed during class time and by their work. Comprehension of ideas will also be checked for and noted. Assessment will strive to understand: How well the students understood and explored the idea of using push and pull etc. to create their Cranimal, and how they addressed their sculpture as a 3D object.
Enrichment & Reinforcement: Looking at all of the work together.
BLUEPRINT LEARNING STANDARDS FOR THE ARTS
1. Art Making: Students create paper sculptures.
2. Literacy in the Arts: Students discuss their artwork.
3. Making Connections: Students have to think about what they know about their world and the necessities for animal life.
5. Careers and Lifelong Learning: Students gain experiences working individually to create a piece of a greater whole.
NY STATE STANDARDS EMPLOYED
1. Creating, performing, participating
2. Knowing and using materials
3. Responding and analyzing works of art
The author of this lesson, Marie Antonelli, a Masters in Art Education student of the School of Visual Arts in NYC, is the 2005-2006 scholarship recipient of the Keith Haring Scholarship award. This project is a collaboration with The School of Visual Arts & a local NYC public high school.
To find out more about The Keith Haring Foundation Scholarship offered through the School of Visual Arts, please contact: Director, School of Visual Arts/Visual Arts Foundation, 15 Gramercy Park South, NYC 10003 or SVA's web site.


Since its inception more than four decades ago, Special Olympics has offered sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities who are 8 or older. More recently, the Young Athletes Program was created as a way to introduce children 2 to 7 with intellectual disabilities to the world of sports and the Special Olympics.
The program, which has been implemented worldwide, has six participating Orange County school districts, including Anaheim City, Orange Unified, Irvine Unified and Tustin Unified. Special Olympics Orange County hopes that in the next three to four years, the program will reach every district in the county.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to reach younger members of the community with this program,” said David Armendariz, director, Orange County Region, Special Olympics Southern California. “Special needs preschoolers frequently have physical challenges with balance, strength or motor skill development. Through Young Athletes, the students engage in fun activities that help them develop fundamental skills that typical kids take for granted, such as running, jumping, hopping or catching. Over time, students in the Young Athletes program go from being sedentary to playing and interacting with their peers, which helps them learn social skills and fosters cognitive development.”
Anaheim City School District has been implementing the program for five years, primarily with students who are 3 or 4 with a range of conditions including autism, Down syndrome, and speech and language impairment.
“When I was first introduced to the Young Athletes Program, I knew they were on to something,” said Scott Jensen, program specialist, Anaheim City School District. “Although the world of special academic and behavioral curriculum is somewhat abundant, the same can't be said about specifically designed physical education curriculum, especially for younger aged students.
“What Special Olympics has done is create an easy-to-use and appropriate curriculum to address the basic fundamental skills that our preschoolers need to advance in their development.”
Although the Young Athletes Program is designed to help children, family members are common beneficiaries of the program because it provides them with the opportunities to learn more about intellectual disabilities and teaches new methods to engage with the child.
“Since participating in the program, Gabriel has gained communication skills and become more vocal, allowing him to better express his needs,” said Pauline Orozco, whose 4-year-old son, Gabriel, participates in the program through Anaheim City School District.
“He seems to have found himself and has developed so much more independence. He has really taken an interest in baseball and would like to get into other team sports – with the continued support of Special Olympics; I hope that he will do so.”
– Jennifer Becker is a communications consultant in Orange County


A study of listening behavior and the effectiveness of aural modeling with undergraduate level singers
MetadataShow full item record
The efficacy of aural modeling in music education at the primary and secondary levels is well documented, and anecdotal evidence among university studio voice teachers abounds. However, this topic has not previously been explored with undergraduate level singers using acoustic analysis of the singing voice. This investigation utilized a survey on listening behaviors to examine undergraduate voice students’ use of recorded aural models. In addition, an empirical study measured the effect of repeated exposure to recorded aural models on participants’ vocal production. Research was conducted at Southwestern University, a private liberal arts institution in Georgetown, Texas. Study participants were divided into two groups. The control group performed a newly-composed melody after a recorded aural model of the melody was played a single time. The experimental group completed 10-minute listening assignments once a day for a five-day period before performing the same melody. Data between the non-listening and listening groups was compared. Using a second newly composed melody, the control group then completed a five-day listening assignment and performed the second melody. Pre- and post-listening data from this group of subjects was compared. Listening assignments were adapted from a speech pathology remediation technique known as auditory bombardment. They involved listening to multiple repetitions of the recorded aural model without attempting to practice singing the melody. The study measured four acoustic parameters: musical accuracy (pitch and rhythm), vowel/consonant articulation, use of vibrato, and ratio of power between overtones above and below 2 kHz. The listening behavior survey revealed that most students use recorded aural models in their practice time. However, results indicated that students would benefit from professional quality aural models and specific information about appropriate time parameters for listening activities. Results of the empirical study revealed a statistically significant 20-30% improvement in vocal production in both the experimental listening group and the control group post-listening. These data demonstrate that focused periods of listening to an aural model are effective in improving vocal production, even within a short period of time. The results of this study support the inclusion of aural modeling in the applied voice studio.


A Literacy Framework: Stages of Literacy Development
The broad continuum of reading and writing behaviors has been described as stages or phases of literacy development. Most children with and without disabilities tend to follow this same general path, though not always according to the same timeline. These stage descriptions are intended as a guide for teachers as observers, not as a skill sequence or prescriptive steps. The indicators offer information that helps us to notice and describe a student's current literacy knowledge and abilities (i.e., his/her literacy behaviors). Referencing this frame/ sequence can offer considerations for possible next steps for experiences and instruction--in order to support students' ongoing development. See descriptions of characteristics for each stage below. (Disregard typical chronological ages/ grade levels for each stage.)
- Stages of early literacy development www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/early.html (these links open in a new window)
- Emergent reader/writer characteristics www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/early2.html
- Early reader/writer characteristics www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/early3.html
- Early fluent reader/writer characteristics www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/early4.html
It's important to note that the chronological ages of literacy learners can vary widely for any stage. During these early stages, learners typically demonstrate some abilities from more than one stage. Some students may demonstrate many early reading and writing behaviors by age 5 or 6. There are also teenagers or adults who have had limited experiences and opportunities with literacy who demonstrate emergent reading and writing behaviors. Regardless of chronological age, it is possible to provide age appropriate developmental literacy experiences and instruction that match each learner's current reading and writing abilities. Respectful decisions involve carefully selecting materials and developing authentic literacy routines. Because many students with developmental disabilities demonstrate emergent and early characteristics, this site's examples and suggestions will focus on these early stages of literacy development. We will share ideas and examples for elementary and secondary age students who are demonstrating characteristics of emergent and early literacy learners.


Nonsense about Continents
Basic geographical education in the United States remains, in a word, pathetic. As students are required to learn virtually nothing about the world, we should not be surprised that few young Americans have any idea where Iraq or Afghanistan are located. And the one locational lesson in global geography that young students are required to master, that of the “seven continents,” is, in a word, nonsense. The absurdity of the continental framework is readily apparent in a lesson plan found on the My Schoolhouse website, a prominent educational resource. The page begins by informing students that, “the seven continents are North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.” But the map placed immediately below this assertion (see above) portrays Central America, the Middle East, and Greenland exactly as they do North America, Africa, and the other supposed continents. True irrationality comes with a question listed below the map: “What continent appears to be part of Asia?” But “Europe” and “Asia,” along with “Middle East,” appear on this map merely as labels attached to different areas of a single landmass. As such, students could just as easily deduce that “Asia appears to be part of Europe.”
Nonsense about the supposed continents extends well beyond elementary education. My favorite absurdity comes with the mountaineering quest to bag the “seven summits,” defined as the highest peaks on each of the world’s continents. The list includes some formidable peaks – but it also takes in Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko, a gentle rise that one could surmount on a bicycle, if only authorities would allow it. To be sure, Reinhold Messner proposed dropping Kosciuszko in favor of New Guinea’s Puncak Jaya, which is indeed a difficult climb. By any reasonable standard, Messner was absolutely correct: New Guinea is part of the same piece of continental crust as Australia (see map), and is thus by continental criteria as much part of Australia as Japan is part of Asia. But despite Messner’s fame – and demands of reason – Kosciuszko remains standard.
So what is the actual continental architecture of the world? That issue will be addressed in tomorrow’s post.
« Communist Insurgents and Ethnic Militias in...
How Many Continents Are There? »


Your support can play a vital role at all stages of your child's education.
Tips on supporting your child's literacy development and encouraging good reading habits at home.
Simple, everyday activities to help your child learn about health and wellbeing.
Tips on encouraging your child to study, helping them learn to manage their time and get ready for exams and assessments.
Suggestions on how you can build learning activities into everyday routines to support numeracy skills.
How to support your child in learning about the sciences through everyday activities.
Encouraging play is one of the best things you can do for your child, whatever their age.


Do you remember how you learned to read? Were you in a reading group? Did you use the SRA boxes? Plenty of research tells us what works best for learners who are learning to read and what the best method of reading instruction is.
What we should see in our children’s classrooms when it comes to reading instruction:
Real, authentic books not “decodable” books with controlled vocabulary.
The focus is on meaning not skills.
Kids talk about books and discuss with other readers.
Reader’s Workshop approach
1) Short direct instruction on something good readers do, usually a cognitive skill (5-10 minutes), 2) a long reading time (30 – 60 minutes) in which children read and apply the lesson to their own, self-selected books as well as a time for the teacher to confer with individual students, 3) ends with reading journal writing and a whole-group reflection time (5-10 minutes).
Watch a Reading Workshop in 1st grade. This is what you should want for your child!
Reading comprehension strategies explicitly modeled, taught and practiced.
Strategies that good readers use: use fix-up strategies when comprehension is interrupted, connect to background knowledge, determine importance, make inferences, visualize or make sensory images, ask questions, synthesize, be meta-cognitive about his or her own thinking. Reading strategies printable.
Phonics is a part of a balanced program but shouldn’t be overemphasized. Even in a kindergarten classroom, phonics should be no more than 20 minutes a day. (Phonics becomes unnecessary when children are reading fluently.)
Daily read aloud time.
Individual and partner work.
Whole group, small group and individual instruction.
Variety and quantity.
Lots of books in the room available to children, of different genres, topics.
Teacher models being a reader.
Teacher shares with students what he or she is thinking when she reads, books she or he likes, etc.
Variety of assessments including and especially conferring with students.
Watch an example of a teacher-student reading conference. Love this! This teacher can totally differentiate (individualize) for this reader because he’s assessing the reader and providing individualized instruction.
Reading and writing are connected and taught in cooperation with each other.
Flexible and fluid guided reading instruction.
“The Daily Five” (Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, Word Work)
What we don’t want to see — because it’s not good for learners:
Teacher selects the books for the children to read. Children do not get to choose.
“Decodable” leveled books.
No real books to be found. These books often don’t make sense and aren’t interesting to readers so can be much harder than real books.
Phonics emphasized over comprehension.
Grouping by ability exclusively.
Guided reading programs do this.
No comprehension happening here because students are either planning ahead what they’re supposed to read or worrying.
Assessments are tests only.
Reading does not include writing.
Whole group instruction and activities.
Teacher doesn’t model his or her own thinking out-loud for kids.
Everyone reads the same book or basal reader.
Paper and pencil activities (test prep, worksheets).
Rhodes, Lynn, and Curt Dudley-Marling. 1996 Readers and Writers with a Difference. A Holistic Approach to Teaching Struggling Readers and Writers.
Zimmerman, Susan, and Ellin Oliver Keene. 1997. Mosaic of Thought.
Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde. 1998 Best Practice New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools.
What reading instruction are you seeing at your child’s school?
Anything you’re wondering about you need me to explain?


Putting Pow into Art Instruction
Berkowitz, Jay, Packer, Todd, School Arts
How would you like to put some "Pow!" into your art instruction? A lesson in comic books--history, design, story, and production--can make your classes come alive. We present a new approach to using comics to build artistic skills and involve students in art appreciation.
Many art teachers have students who say, "I hate art!" or, "I can't draw!" Often, these same students arc reprimanded for drawing in other classes instead of paying attention. These students may have notebooks filled with drawings that were produced outside of art class.
Although comic books are a major presence in the lives of children and adults, little has been written about comics in art education literature. Comic book artist Scott McCloud (McCloud, 1993; McCloud, 2000) defines, comics as "images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." He suggests that students can learn about art history through comic books. Examples of entry points: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TM can be used to introduce the artists after whom they were named (Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo); Batman's costume was originally based on a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci; students can also research artists who use comics for inspiration, such as Roy Lichtenstein and Roger Shimomura.
In addition to art history, teachers can focus on line-drawing technique, history, aesthetics, and empowerment (i.e., student as superhero). Comic books present a low-cost, accessible, familiar, and highly engaging medium to guide, entertain, and inspire students.
The use of images for storytelling has existed throughout human history. While the first comic book ever published is in question, their popularity evolved from the dawn of the twentieth century. Since 1954, when Frederic Wertham (Seduction of the Innocent) claimed that comic books caused delinquency and the Comics Code Authority, with guidelines on acceptable content, began as a self-imposed regulation of the comic book industry, comics have been a source of both joy and controversy. Since the late 1980s, many new independent companies have been publishing comic books without the comic code seal of approval, leading to an increase in violent comic books.
Art instructors should be aware of the controversy and social consequences related to comic book content--especially related to rules and expectations about appropriate materials in specific schools. Instructors can spark student discussion about censorship and artist responsibility.
Comic Art Analysis
Teachers can present many art analysis principles via comic books and cartoons. Reviewing a single comic book with a class, the students can learn perspective, figure drawing, criteria for judging quality, portraits/faces (accuracy/creativity), standards for originality and composition on page (layout).
Comic art also offers unique aspects for learning graphic literacies, visual analysis, and skill building. Comic books tell stories through several pages of visual art. Concepts such as sequencing, relation of story to characters (thematically and visually) and consistency of character "look and feel" are critically important. Making comic books can also benefit interdisciplinary learning (e.g., language arts, desktop publishing).
Because of the popularity, variety, and graphic content of comic books, the authors offer the following cautions for instructors as they choose comic art. Always review any comics before they are used in class. As you review, you may want to:
1. Avoid comic art with nudity, inappropriate language, swearing, graphic/gory violence and/or offensive portrayals of principal, teachers or other groups known to students. …


Praxis II Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (0011) Exam Flashcard Study System uses repetitive methods of study to teach you how to break apart and quickly solve difficult test questions on the Praxis II: Subject Assessments.
Study after study has shown that spaced repetition is the most effective form of learning, and nothing beats flashcards when it comes to making repetitive learning fun and fast.
Our flashcards enable you to study small, digestible bits of information that are easy to learn and give you exposure to the different question types and concepts. Praxis II Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (0011) Exam Flashcard Study System covers all of the most important topics that you'll need to know to be successful on test day.
Disclaimer: Mometrix Media LLC, the publisher of this product, is not affiliated with or endorsed by any official testing organization. All organizational and test names are trademarks of their respective owners.
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Today, we have a special guest blogger, Philip Conrod! He is sharing with us an excerpt from their book for kids, Beginning Microsoft Small Basic by Philip Conrod and Lou Tylee. This section is available as part of Chapter 1 of "Beginning Microsoft Small Basic". You can find their books and other materials at the Computer Science For Kids web site. Thanks to Philip for sharing. Please enjoy!
To write and run programs using Small Basic, you need the Small Basic program. This is a free product that you can download from the Internet. This simply means we will copy a file onto our computer to allow installation of Small Basic.
Download Small Basic by clicking this button:
Here are general instructions for finding the download button: Start up your web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape or other). You can find Small Basic at the official web site:
Or on the official blog (this site):
This web sites have a lot of useful programming information. As you become more proficient in your programming skills, you will go to these sites often for answers to programming questions, interaction with other programmers, and lots of sample programs. Though it’s hosted at a ‘kid’ site, Small Basic is appropriate for all ages.
On the Small Basic web site or blog, you should see a button that allows to download Small Basic (it's in the upper right corner):
Click the download button. This window will appear:
Click Run and the download of the installer begins:
When complete, you should see:
Again, click Run to see the Setup Wizard:
Click Next to start the installation process. Accept the licensing agreement. Then, for each screen afterwards, accept the default choice by clicking Next. When done you should see a screen announcing a successful installation.
Excerpt © Copyright 2012-2013 By Kidware Software LLC All Rights Reserved. Philip Conrod & Lou Tylee have co-authored dozens of books and tutorials for beginning Microsoft Basic, Small Basic, Visual Basic, and Visual C# developers of all ages for over 25 years.


The 30,000 Upper Asaro people live in the Eastern Highlands Province in the Goroka District of Papua New Guinea. Their mother tongue is Dano (Ethnologue code ASO), and many of the people also speak Tok Pisin, one of the national languages of PNG. The Upper Asaro live above the Asaro River Valley at an elevation of 1500-2300 meters (5000-7500 ft) on a mountain slope grassland with scattered trees. Their home is within a few hours' travel of Goroka, a major urban area, and they have easy road access by public transportation into this town.
Marriage partners are chosen from among non-relative Dano speakers or from neighboring language groups. The Upper Asaro are welcoming to those that marry in, speaking Tok Pisin with those that have not learned Dano. They are for the most part subsistence farmers, raising animals and crops with occasional hunting and gathering. Some of the people are wage-earners in Goroka and others raise coffee as a cash crop or produce to sell in the Goroka market.
Weather is cool in the mornings and intensely hot in the afternoons, when the men gather to play cards together and others go to Goroka to sell. They live in houses with roofs thatched from Kunai grass. There are no wells in the area; they access water from springs, streams, and the Asaro River.
They have had a strong Christian influence in the area for over 50 years, and 80-90% of them claim Christianity as their religion. The New Testament was completed in Dano in 1989 and is being used in some of the churches. Portions of the Old Testament have also been translated. Some traditional religion still exists among the older generation.
Their needs include further strengthening and equipping of church leaders, literacy development, preschools, and community development, such as clean drinking water, better roads and bridges, better nutrition for children (especially 2-4 year old children), and more economic opportunity to pay for schooling and medical care.
|Profile Source: Anonymous|
|Expanded PDF Profile|
|Country||Papua New Guinea|
|Persecution Rank||Not ranked|
|Location in Country||Eastern Highlands Province, Goroka District. Source: Ethnologue 2010|
|Primary Language:||Dano (64,000 speakers)|
|Language Code:||aso Ethnologue Listing|
|For Primary Language:||Dano|
|Bible Translation ▲||Status (Years)|
|Bible Portions||Yes (1969-1994)|
|New Testament||Yes (1989)|
|Possible Print Bibles|
|Forum of Bible Agencies|
|World Bible Finder|
|Resource Type ▲||Resource Name|
|Audio Recordings||Audio Bible teaching (GRN)|
|Text / Printed Matter||Bible: Monoꞌ Godolo Gosohoꞌ|
|Text / Printed Matter||Online Bible text (Scripture Earth)|
|Text / Printed Matter||Scripture text - download|
|Major Religion ▲||Percent|
|Christianity (Evangelical 23.00 %)||
|Other / Small||
|Christian Segments ▲||Percent|


Welcome our guest blogger for this week… Tyler Hart! Tyler is an avid user of Voki and a total techie teacher! Here are 5 innovative ways that he has used Voki in the classroom!
Voki is a great website that allows you to create speaking avatars. You can embed these Voki characters into your blog page to play later for your students or use directly from the site. Voki has also expanded their brand to make the learning experience even more engaging with Voki Classroom, Voki Presenter, and Voki Teach. While these options are amazing in their own right, the free version of Voki can be utilized in many fun ways to help engage your students. Below are five innovative ways you can use Voki in your classroom right now. If you’re interested in other ways to integrate Voki into your lessons, check out Voki’s Lesson Plan Ideas Page!
1. Presenting on Researched Content
Having students research their own topics or content is great, but many times finding time to have them present their findings to the class can be hard. Using Voki can be a great way to post students’ research. Students can write up a script about the most important facts about their content, and record themselves reading their findings. This one was a particular favorite of mine because the partners created Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty to report the information!
To see Voki in action click here —–> http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/trhart/voki-research
2. Content Review Center Activity
Students don’t have to be the only ones to join in on the fun. I love making Voki Characters to help students review content or to give an assessment for me. Students would listen and pause the character when needed to either comment on our blog page for answer, or they would fill out an assessment sheet to turn in. This was a great time saver since I was able to use this as a center as well!
To see Voki in action click here —–> http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/trhart/content-review-activity
3. Historical Figures
Want to spice up history class when learning about historical figures? Have students identify important moments from the life of a historical figure. Using their research, have the students write a script in a first-person narrative and have them record themselves reading their scripts.
To see Voki in action click here —–> http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/trhart/historical-figures
4. Mystery Voki – Who am I?
Another fun idea to use with historical figures is a Who am I game. Have students create their script about their about person in a first-person narrative style. Instead of having the students record the information saying who the person is, they read their information and end with the question, “Who am I?” This could be a great review game do use with the class.
To see Voki in action click here —–> http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/trhart/mystery-voki-who-am-i
Have your students write an autobiography about themselves. We used a simple question starter template with the students to help them with certain things about their life to write down. After filling out the information, the students wrote their paragraph story about themselves, created their Voki, and recorded themselves. The students will have a blast learning about each other!
To see Voki in action click here —–> http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/trhart/autobiographies
Tyler Hart has worked and taught in elementary education for 13 years at Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia. This school year will be his second in an administrative role as a Resource Teacher at Sandston Elementary. Previously, he was an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher for two years, and before that, he was a 3rd grade teacher. In his last year as a classroom teacher, he was honored by being nominated and selected as one of the Henrico Citizen’s Top 20 Teachers in Henrico County.


This bon bon recipe will help you ring in the new year. In French, "bon" means “good," and these treats were named for their deliciousness! Small candies traditionally made for children to enjoy during special holidays and celebrations, bonbons often feature a thick rolled filling that's hand-dipped in chocolate or tossed in a coating. Make these sweet treats your own by creating a variety of coatings to satisfy every taste.
What You Do:
- Help your third grader get started by placing a small saucepan over medium heat. Have her add the sweetened condensed milk to the pot and give it a good stir. Add the cocoa to the milk using a ¼ cup measuring cup.
- Have her give her upper arms a good workout by gently stirring the milk mixture until it comes to a boil, up to 10 minutes.
- When the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat, add the butter and vanilla to the mixture, and stir well. Place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the coatings. Let chill for at least 30 minutes—the colder the filling, the easier it will be to roll.
- Help your child pulse several graham crackers in a blender or food processor until they are finely ground. Remove the crumbs to a dish and set aside.
- Have her measure ¼ cup powdered sugar and ¼ cup cocoa powder and place them each into their own dish.
- After your child has washed her hands, it’s time to get rolling! Use a small spoon to scoop out the cold filling and gently roll into a ball.
- Gently toss the ball of filling in one of the coatings and place it on a plate. Continue rolling and coating until all the filling is used up, alternating the coatings as you go.
Get creative with coatings! Try a cinnamon sugar mixture, coconut (chopped fine in a food processor), or toasted ground almonds or walnuts. Bonbons also make great gifts.
Sarah Lipoff has a K-12 Art Education degree and enjoys working with kids of all ages.


Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
<<Whatever happened to
school as a means of conveying legitimate social standards, such as respect
for others, politeness, appropriate ways to seek positive attention..?>>
Good question... but I wonder if you can define 'legitimate social standards'?
The 'social standards' I grew up with were those of a dominantly white,
European-based society which--clearly--did not and does not include
"everybody." In fact, I imagine that many of the students who are
"misbehaving" in your classrooms may be reacting to the very marginalization
of their identities and voices. Maybe if their individual cultural
perspectives were respected and included--and not just during their special
month--they would feel more apt to participate in "appropriate ways".
I appreciate that classes are overcrowded and time is limited. However, I
agree with earlier comments suggesting that educators' possible reactions
toward "inappropriate" behavior lead to the belittling and even demonization
of art education.
Elizabeth B. Reese
Pennsylvania State University


Squish, Splash, Splat!
based on The Umbrella
by Jan Brett
View and print the student activity sheet (PDF)
About the Book
Little Carlos takes a trip into the “cloud forest” with his umbrella. He has his sights set on seeing a few animal friends. What he doesn’t expect is while he laid the umbrella down to climb up a fig tree for a better look, his umbrella becomes the favorite resting place for those friends. Monkey, without thinking, flings the umbrella into the river. As they float downstream, it becomes apparent to the animals that they are taking on water. The umbrella becomes too crowded and full and it tumbles over releasing all the animals to go on their way. Carlos has no idea this all happens, retrieves his umbrella, and decides he will try to come back tomorrow.
Set the Stage
Try some of these items to get students ready to read:
- Show students the cover of the book and have them make predictions of what they think the story will be about.
- Bring an umbrella from home to compare with the one on the cover. Ask them to guess what they think the umbrella is made from. Ask why they think it is not like the umbrella you have.
- Talk about the animals shown-you may have to name some of them. Gather ideas from the students where they may think those types of animals live. They inhabit a rain forest. Record their responses on a piece of chart paper.
- Begin a picture walk and point out the things you see on each page. Go back and read the book to the students.
After enjoying the story and pictures, lead a discussion using these questions:
- Why do you think Carlos called the forest a “cloud forest” in the beginning of the story?
- How do you know that Carlos has been in the forest before?
- Why do you think all the animals want to be in the umbrella?
- How does the author use the smaller illustrations on each page?
- Do you think if you could not read any of the words, you still may understand what is happening in the story? Why or Why not?
- Go back to check the students’ recorded predictions.
This activity introduces students to onomatopoeia and how it can be used in writing.
To extend students’ enjoyment of the book, try these:
- Bring Story to Life: Gather pictures of the animals from the story and also have a picture of a boy who would be Carlos. Put a green sheet or large piece of paper on the floor. This will be the umbrella. Giving each child a chance to be one of the characters in the story, read the book to the class and have them re-enact the story as you read.
- Figgy Fun: Carlos climbs a fig tree to get a better view. On his way up the tree, a few figs fall to the ground. Buy some figs from the store or your local market and allow the students to taste them. You can also have other food items on hand such as fig-filled cookies to show the children different uses for figs.
- Comparing Brett Favorites: Compare and contrast The Umbrella with another Jan Brett book such as The Mitten. Record their responses using a Venn diagram, Double bubble map or another graphic organizer. Discuss the results.
- Art Exhibit: The Umbrella is beautifully illustrated. The art was done in watercolors and gouache. Allow the children to draw an animal from the story. Have them paint their animal and the setting using watercolors. After the paintings have dried, hang them up and create an art exhibit in the room.
- Foreign Language Fun: In this book, there are a few phrases in Spanish that are interpreted within the text. Read the phrases and the words that follow to share some Spanish language with the students. It may be fun to continue to use a few phrases such as “adios” or “hola” if the students don’t usually speak another language.
Lesson Developed by Kelley Raybon
Kelley Raybon has been teaching elementary school for 20 years. She is currently a curriculum resource teacher at an elementary school. She earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
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Developing Fine Motor Skills
The importance of developing fine motor skills is crucial. Without learning how to properly use these skills, everyday activities can be cumbersome for young children.
Fine motor development requires movement of the small muscles in the fingers (index, middle, and thumb) and wrists, usually in coordination with the eyes. Children are learning how to develop hand stability by building muscle strength. Adults often perform these skills routinely, but for young children it requires much concentration and effort. This article is to emphasize the importance of building proper fine motor development in young children.
Building the Foundation for the Future
Fine motor skills help build the foundation for a variety of skills for young children. As they advance through childhood they will begin to enhance these skills allowing them to perform activities such as:
- Buttoning/ unbuttoning clothes
- Lacing Shoes
- Tying/ untying
- Zipping/ unzipping
- Dressing/ undressing
One of the most essential reasons for developing fine motor skills is to help aid in the ability of self-help proficiency. In the beginning, young children need to learn how to dress themselves and use the toilet. Literacy and numeracy skills come later as they move into their pre-kinder years.
Fine Motor Development
Childhood is such a crucial time for the development of proper muscle strength and control within children’s hands and wrists. Although children develop at different times, they will display different strengths depending on their interests. For example, children who are interested in art tend to develop their writing and painting skills sooner than children who are interested in building.
As children grow older they reach a variety of milestones that demonstrate whether or not proper development is taking place. These indicators are a great way to know what steps need to be taken to assure that children's growth is moving in a continuous upwards motion. Some of these achievements include:
- Discovering arms, hands, feet, fingers, and toes
- Grasping of objects
- Feeding themselves
- Buttoning, tying knots, lacing
- Drawing and cutting
Mastery of these skills does take time. Daily usage of the fingers, wrists, and eye coordination will help enhance young children’s fine motor development.
Repercussions of Poor Fine Motor Development
There are many factors that can effect fine motor development. One that is most commonly found in young children is a lack of interest or desire in what they are doing. It is only logical that children learn better when they are interested in the activity they are performing. It is very important that parents, teachers, and caregivers engage children in activities that are fun and exciting. Unfortunately, there can be serious repercussions if children’s fine motor skills develop poorly.
Often children will experience low self-esteem and frustration as a result of inadequate fine motor development. These negative feelings will make children avoid participating in activities that require theses skills. The fear of failing prevents children from enhancing their fine motor skills which can become problematic for future development. Children who feel overwhelmed and challenged need to be encouraged. Positive reinforcement is an excellent way to motivate children when they are feeling discouraged about performing fine motor tasks.
Fine motor skills do not develop instantaneously. They require patience, understanding, time, and practice. Encouraging children to perform activities that help strengthen the muscles in their fingers and hands will enhance their fine motor development. Eventually difficult tasks such as buttoning, writing, and getting dressed will become easier and less stressful.
About the author:
Kelly Boyer is a freelance writer and former teacher, with Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education and an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. She has extensive experience in the educational field, where some of her specialties include helping needy families, working with children who have behavioral problems, and community outreach.
Click here to contact or read more articles by Kelly Boyer.
Tags : fine motor skills, development, children, impact of poor development, kids


any skill-sets worthwhile of earning employment for its graduates. Therefore, despite having undergone vocational training at fairly substantial costs, the Indian youth is still failing to garner skills for contributing to the growth of the economy; making both the youth and the economy eventual losers.
What, then, is India to do to give a facelift to its skills landscape?
Research has shown that it is a nation’s success or failure in realising the economic potential of young people during this ‘low dependency ratio’ period that can make the difference between sustained and faltering long-term development. Skill upgrade can no longer be ignored if we want to reap the demographic dividend of having a working population of 800 million.
The government is taking some initiatives. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) are surely steps in the right direction. However, for this effort to be successful and sustainable on a large scale, industry/corporate sector should own the skill enhancement/intervention programmes. Managing such a huge inflow of candidates across domains every year is a gargantuan task. It needs joint efforts from all entities of the skill ecosystem. An effective use of the new Companies Bill mandating corporate social responsibility (CSR) might come handy if only CSR initiatives are result oriented and measurable.
One way to train this deluge of unskilled population is to create a nationwide network of affordable community colleges with courses and diplomas closely tailored to the skilled labour market. In fact, it would be better if the courses in these ‘colleges’ are designed keeping in the mind the needs of the local markets. These would not only help in creating opportunities where people live, it would also check the unsustainable migration to big cities. In rural areas, where poor children are forced to drop out of the education system due to several socio-economic reasons at a very early age, vocational training can be incorporated into post-elementary education. In fact, the government can also consider an ICT-based long-term plan for addressing the skill requirements by involving key stakeholders.
Perhaps a mandate for the industry such as the ‘Companies Bill’ by the major industry bodies in India to work closely with NSDC, NVEQF, along with universities to encourage innovation, help improve skill levels and address employability challenges may solve the issue of skilled workforce in India. In fact, depending on demand, some vocational courses could be converted into full-fledged ITI/diploma