Roberts believes that playing chess, from as young as six or seven years of age, increases children's concentration levels, reading comprehension, boosts problem-solving skills, develops thought processes and increases numeracy skills.
It’s believed that only 1 in 10 pupils in state schools currently get access to the game of chess, whereas it is actively encouraged in the privately run schools.
One school that has hopped on board the chess express is Heycroft Primary School in Essex.
Their head teacher, Andrew Palmer, told BBC News that his pupil’s levels of performance in Math had improved as a result of the introduction of one hour of chess per week.
Some of the parents of the school children also chimed in with good news stories about improvements in their kids' levels of concentration.
But if chess is good for children I believe poker would be even better.
Luck Element Makes Poker Better than Chess for Kids
Chess introduces a competitive element based on skill. Poker also does this, but the difference with poker is the element of luck that exists in the game.
This evens the competitive playing field and allows children who may not be as intelligent as others to still continue to do well enough to retain an interest in the game.
Imagine if Vanessa Selbst had started playing poker when she was six years old.
I used to play chess with my son, but he soon got bored when I kept handing him his arse on a plate.
Yet when we play poker the element of luck means he is going to win more often than he would in chess games against me, and this keeps him interested.
It’s not the taking part that gets people interested. That’s the biggest lie ever told. It’s all about the winning. We're just wired that way.
If chess improves your numeracy skills, imagine what poker could do for you. Probability, variance, pot odds, ICM and all the other complicated stuff that I still don't fully understand.
Finally, it is another great way for introducing females into the game at a very young age.
During a recent radio interview with a chess expert, he said that there was relatively very little difference between the male and female brain; and that only psychological issues prevented females for being any better, or worse, than men when it comes to playing chess.
The same holds true in poker.


DID YOU EVER CONSIDER that in the 1970s and 1980s computer art was in the same position as photography was in the 19th century — not considered “fine art?” But things have changed in the 21st century — digital art and computer-generated art are accepted as fine art. Does your school teach the tools for producing digital art? Have you held any group shows?
Laurence Gartel has been a pioneer in the field of computer art. In the 1970s, he produced some of his first examples of electronic art using tools he had built and modified himself. At the age of twenty-nine he had learned 42 different electronic systems for creating art. Combining actual painting and photo-manipulation, he produced a unique art form a decade before corporate-produced software allowed the general public to emulate his technique. He started working with video synthesizers in 1976, ten years before the introduction of Paintbox, and Amiga. Gartel is unique for having entered the paintbox style of work so early, and having persisted through the evolution of this technology to the present day.
By the age of seventeen Gartel had trained himself in the skills of computer graphics. This interest led him to the Media Study/Buffalo center where he met Nam June Paik. Paik virtually invented the medium known as “video art.” While Paik was concentrating on presenting things in motion, Gartel is interested in creating complex combinations of still images.
Gartel taught alternative processes at the School of Visual Arts upon earning a degree and was a founding instructor of the school’s computer graphics lab in 1982. The revolutionary Commodore Computer’s Amiga series was the most advanced system for graphics and video. As an Amiga guru, Gartel taught Andy Warhol how to use graphics technology. Apple Computer hired Gartel to experiment with their first color screen prototype. By 1985, Gartel’s work was used to illustrate magazines, record covers, calendars, and posters. In 2004, Gartel was given a thirty-year retrospective at the Coral Springs Museum of Art in Florida. His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Long Island Museum, Princeton Art Museum, and the Norton Simon Museum of Art. Gartel has also given workshops around the world.
For more about Gartel visit his website.
Connections Across Curriculum - Just over thirty years after Gartel started producing digital art, it is hard to imagine creating digital art from the ground up. The artroom can now be a key contributor to not only developing creative thinking skills, but also learning a number of computer systems and programs. From understanding computer basics to working with animation, the artroom is more connected to a well-rounded education than ever. Not surprisingly, there are many websites on this subject. Art Education 2.0 is a social networking site that allows educators using new technologies to connect. The blog Digital Art Education is also very informative and provides a lot of interesting links.


AUTHORS: Cooper/Kiger - ©2011
This popular resource distinguishes itself by placing literacy assessment within the context of mainstream classroom reading instruction. Using developmental reading stages as a framework, LITERACY ASSESSMENT puts teachers' instructional needs at its core and considers assessment as a natural part of the instructional cycle. The authors' mission is to show that, with appropriate instruction, success in literacy development is achievable for every student. By presenting the right balance of concept and demonstration, along with a dynamic, positive outlook on learning in both children and teachers, this book equips you to help children reach their potential.
CengageBrain offers two types of free content:
The amount and type of free content available will depend on whether the book comes with a companion web site or CourseMate. To get started accessing your content, click the "access now" button. You can either access your content immediately or save it to My Home.


So, I'm taking a moment to brag about my sweet four-year-old's artwork... As a teacher, I tend to be a little judgemental about his "skills."
I worry that he can't write his name too well, I worry that he still confuses W and L sounds when speaking, but after talking to him about this doozy of a drawing, I'm NOT worried about his creativity!
Talking about art is one of the four main components of Art Education. Being able to talk about how art makes you feel and what the artist is trying to say through his work, makes appreciating art easy!
Take a look.... and here is my son's explaination.
The two main subjects are Black beard (left) and Jack Sparrow (with the green braids on right) fighting with swords. In the background in black marker, you'll see a large ship, anchored by a shark fin, and cave with large orange rocks....On the right side background, you'll see footprints in the sand and gold that fell out of Jack Sparrow's pocket. Yep. That's right. A four year old came up with this.
So my advice?Throw away your coloring books, give your kid a marker and blank piece of paper and have them TALK about what's there. You'll be amazed.
Enjoy your Summer and Make art.


Creating an Australian Curriculum for English
Product Code: 978-1-921586-53-8
This book cuts through the rhetoric about a national curriculum in order to raise important questions about the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: English. The aim is to inquire into the claims made on behalf of this curriculum through critical accounts generated by people working within a range of educational sectors and jurisdictions across the country.
Key questions posed by this book are:
How can the Australian Curriculum be implemented in a principled, ethical, research-informed way for the benefit of all Australian students?
- How are teachers, educators and professional groups across the country anticipating, engaging with and planning for the new curriculum? How will it connect with the lived experience of teachers and students in Australian schools?
- What challenges does it pose for developing and implementing curriculum at a school and classroom level
- How might the three strands – Language, Literature, Literacy – be integrated in a meaningful way?
- How will educators be able to ensure that young people in schools engage with the curriculum on terms that are relevant to them?
- How might a single national curriculum that privileges the use of ‘Standard Australian English’ meet the particular needs of Australian students within diverse communities?
- How does the new national English curriculum, compare with existing state-based curriculums?
- The book seeks to productively engage with issues that are likely to emerge as systems and schools implement the curriculum, re-envisioning curriculum as something that teachers and their students create within their local school communities.
- The new curriculum for English in Australia and student achievement
- ‘Australia, you’re standing in it’: curriculum in its place classrooms, creativity and everyday life
- Literature, hospitality and wreading
- ‘The visitor, the learner, the guest’: an Australian teaching in England
- Reimagining poetry: innovative literacies, national agendas and digital landscapes
- From literature to literary practice:teaching texts in the Australian English curriculum
- Literature teaching in The Australian Curriculum:retaining key practices
- What happened to the education revolution? new media technologies and The Australian Curriculum
- Youth literacy development through applied learning and the national curriculum
- As if they could be otherwise… : Finding spaces for creativity in the enacted curriculum
- Making sense of The Australian Curriculum: one school’s journey Creative writing and/in/beyond The Australian curriculum The future of diversity and difference: Can the national curriculum for English be hospitable?
- Grammar, Standard Australian English and The Australian Curriculum:English: what could principled implementation look like?
- Castaways, aliens and colleagues in a new curriculum world:reading and implementing The Australian Curriculum: English
Abstracts - see Related Downloads
Review -' English in Australia', Vol 47 No 2 2012 - see Related Downloads


Workers in Spain and Italy are the least skilled among 24 developed countries surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a deficit that is likely to impede the ability of those two countries to boost their competitiveness as part of efforts to overcome the euro-zone fiscal crisis.
In a report that covered a wide range of countries, the OECD also concluded that in both the U.S. and the U.K., younger people are significantly less-skilled relative to their peers than older people, while Japan and Finland boast the most-skilled workers.
Most assessments of the quality of human capital available to national economies have focused on time spent in education. The OECD's study is the most extensive effort to date to measure the skills acquired during education.
For Spain and Italy, its conclusions are chastening. Both economies have suffered from a loss of competitiveness over the past decade, resulting in large trade deficits and high levels of borrowing. To return to strong growth, generate trade surpluses and pay off their debts, their competitive position will have to improve.
But according to the OECD, Italy ranks bottom, and Spain second-to-last among the 24 countries in literacy skills. Over one in five adults in both countries can't read as well as a 10-year-old child would be expected to in most education systems.
In a ranking of numeracy skills, the positions are reversed, with Spain bottom, and Italy second-to-last. That means one in three adults have only the most basic numeracy skills—a fate shared by their U.S. counterparts.
"If you measure Spain by the number of university degrees, it looks good," said Andreas Schleicher, deputy director for education and skills at the OECD. "But that doesn't tell the truth. The skill base will limit the capacity to grow."
Spain's government said the report's results underscore the need for broad educational changes that improve student performance, making workers more employable.
Percentage of adults, age 16-65, scoring above average in the study
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey conducted between August 2011 and March 2012
"Over the last decades all the emphasis has been placed on schooling students from an early age through university, but not enough attention has been paid to the quality of education," said Montserrat Gomendio, deputy education minister.
Italy faces an even greater challenge. Not only does it have fewer highly skilled workers than most other economies, it also uses them badly—or in the case of many highly skilled women, not at all.
"Even the highly skilled are not well used," said Mr. Schleicher.
The economies of Italy and Spain both contracted last year, and are forecast by the European Commission to shrink again this year, before returning to modest growth in 2014.
There is some encouragement for Spain in that younger people are more skilled relatively to their peer group than older people. Indeed, in terms of literacy, Spain is second only to South Korea to have registered the greatest improvement over time.
The U.K. and the U.S. have made the least progress in improving skills over time, an indication that their economies may grow more slowly in the future than those of other countries.
According to the OECD study, in both countries skills are below the average of the 24. In the U.K., people aged 16 to 24 have exactly the same level of literacy as their grandparents, while in the U.S., there has been only a modest improvement over the generations.
As a result, the U.S. share of highly skilled workers has fallen to 28% in the 16-24 age group from 42% in the 55-65 age group.
"In the U.S., the older generation was one of the most highly skilled, but the younger generation does worse than average," said Mr. Schleicher.
However, both the U.S. and the U.K. are exceptionally good at ensuring that workers' skills are fully exploited, ensuring that their respective skills deficits don't translate into a growth gap with other leading economies.
"The U.S. and England are very good at extracting the maximum out of their higher skilled worker force," said Mr. Schleicher.
By contrast, Japanese workers are the most skilled in the 24-nation survey, but don't fully employ many of those skills, particularly because they are denied the opportunity to use their problem-solving abilities in what the OECD calls a "technology environment."
The OECD attributes that to the relative inflexibility of Japan's job markets. It does suggest that if Japan were able to fully use its workers' skills, it could generate higher rates of economic growth, having long stagnated.
The OECD surveyed 166,000 adults between August 2011 and March 2012.
—Ilan Brat contributed to this article.
Write to Paul Hannon at email@example.com


Bringing out musical talent is also a matter of encouraging your child to enjoy and be interested in the tunes so they're inspired to participate. Here's a selection of familiar, easy-to-access, printable sheet music pieces your child can get started with right away - from classical to easy-to-play, one-hand children's pieces. For toy pianos or any musical instrument.
- Described as the "easiest music in the world to play on the piano or any keyboard" these pieces come with worksheets that aid learning. "When the Saints Go Matching In," "Old MacDonald" and more. http://www.sheetmusic1.com/CHILDRENS.SONGS.HTML
- Dozens of simple traditional, classical and familiar pieces - ranked by level of complexity. A special feature is an audio version of the piece that you can listen to. http://www.easybyte.org/
-Popular National songs from around the world including Oh! Susannah, Scarborough Fair, Alouette!, O sole mio, Bananaman, Hava nagila, El Condor Passa and more. Plus a selection of classical pieces, operas, boogies, blues and originals. http://www.easysheetmusic.com/
- There are nursery rhymes on this page, plus lots of classical and some traditional and ragtime pieces.
Free Sheet Music.net
Dozens of Classical pieces in this collection. And a few folk tunes, too.
More advance arrangements of dozens of popular Christmas songs.
Several Classical pieces, some with practice notes and pages.
The Music Rack.
Free sheet music downloads, staff paper, music teacher resources and more.
Free Sheet Music - MakingMusicFun.net
Creative resources for music education including free printable sheet music for piano, woodwinds, brass, guitar and children's songs, composer biographies and worksheets, and music theory worksheets and arcade games. http://www.makingmusicfun.net/
-Beginner piano music in a wide range of styles: http://www.music-for-music-teachers.com/beginner-piano-music.html
-Familiar songs and sound files for most so a child can get familiar: http://www.8notes.com/childrens/
-This subscription service has several free pieces you can download, too: http://kiboomukidssongs.com/category/song-sheet-music/
Links are updated regularly, so check back soon.
Here's a collection of articles about the importance of music in child development:
About music lessons and learning how to play the piano
And here's a link to our toy pianos at The Creativity Institute


Chiming fork science experiment
Science for kids is always fun and the chiming fork brings sound science experiments to a new level. Kids enjoy science and sounds, so combine the two in this fun activity and see if they can record what happens without you letting them know what will happen.
Number of Players:1+
What You Need:
- piece of thread
Step 1. Cut a piece of thread that is about as long as your arm.
Step 2. Tie the middle of the thread to the bottom end of the fork.
Step 3. Wind the ends of the thread around your index fingers.
Step 4. Using your fingers, swing the fork so that it knocks against the edge of the table. Notice the sound you hear.
Step 5. Now touch the flaps just in front of your ear holes with your index fingers and repeat Step 3.
What did you notice?
The sound of the clunk should sound different. Why? Because when your fingers near your ears, you bring the thread closer to your sounds sensors which allows you to hear the vibrations much more clearly.
Find more paper craft ideas:
- Easy origami for kids
- Video tutorials on how to make paper planes
- Make your own Christmas cards
- 5 adorable Mother's Day cards to make
- 5 fun things to print and make
- 5 ways to display kids' art
Find more inspiring kids' craft ideas
- How-to videos for kids' crafts
- Make a melted crayon masterpiece
- Easter crafts
- Christmas crafts
- Fun kids craft ideas
- 30 fun things to do with kids (including craft)
- Dress up ideas kids can make
- Crafts to make from the recycling bin
- Fairy-inspired craft ideas
- Great ideas for paper crafts
Browse all activities, games and crafts for 10-12 year olds:


It is a shame that children do not come with instruction manuals when they are born.
Although, most parents figure out how to raise their children quickly, using advice from books and magazines, grandparents, and good old common sense there are some parents who just do not have a clue. Possibly, they were a product of bad parenting themselves, so they do not have a good model to base their parenting skills on with their child. Whatever the reason, it seems that these parents and their children have the ability to upset any unsuspecting person in their immediate range.
Case and Point:
Calvin, an unruly child, comes to school in kindergarten. This child does not share, talks back to the teacher, and bullies other students. A meeting between the parents and the teacher is set up, and the teacher explains the problem to the parents. Rather than supporting the teacher, who is trying to help Calvin, the parents blame the teacher for not giving Calvin enough attention.
This scenario continues with Calvin and his parents all through his elementary education. Each time Calvin’s transgressions are revealed to the parents, they deny that it is Calvin’s fault. The denial becomes quite ridiculous; however, there is no amount of documentation can convince them that Calvin is a terror in the classroom.
Calvin is suspended, receives detentions, other students fear him, and teachers tremble when they find out he is in their class. Every time Calvin’s parents come to school to save him, they reinforce his bad behavior. According to Calvin, the teachers are just mean. They do not like him. They just pick on him. It is never Calvin’s fault.
In high school, the same pattern continues. Calvin’s parents fight about Calvin’s treatment at the school board meeting, they write nasty letters to the editor of the local newspaper, and they even accuse a teacher of abusing Calvin. The school asks him to leave. His parents register Calvin in a new high school, but it is not long before the same behaviors become evident. Poor, poor Calvin.
The story of Calvin is one that could have been avoided, had his parents taken the advice of his kindergarten teacher and all the other adults who tried to tell them there was a problem. If Calvin’s parents had used common sense and taught Calvin to be responsible for his actions, he probably would have stopped the behavior.
Children are not born knowing right from wrong. It is up to the adults in their lives, generally their parents, to teach them these lessons. A child, who never receives consequences for his or her actions, has no measure of what is good behavior or bad. It is a free for all in the child’s mind.
Carolyn Turner states in her article entitled, How to Help Children Learn from Experience, that “…everyone learns from their mistakes, even adults. It’s often called “learning the hard way” and usually the most effective lessons come from bitter experience.” Giving Calvin some “hard loving” would have afforded Calvin’s parents more time to enjoy his experiences and less time fighting his battles for him. For Calvin, learning from his mistakes would have made him a happier, better-adjusted child who could be independent and successful.
When parents fail to parent their children by allowing them to escape the consequences of their actions, they set the child up for failure. Sometimes, not only in childhood, but also in life. Someone will have to pay for mistakes made, and if it is not the child, then it will be the parents. The probability that Calvin will be going to mom and dad to get him out of jams later in his life is very large. Therefore, it will not be his fault he wrecked the car, failed at his marriage, or worse yet, that his child is a monster.
Making good choices and being responsible for one’s actions are characteristics that human beings do not arrive in this world possessing. Every incident in a child’s life is an opportunity for a lesson. It is up to the child’s parents to grasp those opportunities and use them to raise a happy, responsible child that is a joy.
Copyright © Jamie Nowinski and Grandmother Wisdom/ Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.


The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) covers the stage of learning for children from birth to 5 years old. It is not a formal curriculum but a series of guidelines to ensure that children are making the progress appropriate for their age and stage. Children are encouraged to develop in ways appropriate for each child, according to their individual learning styles.
We provide the children with a broad and balanced range of learning experiences, enabling them to learn through structured activities and open-ended play. They are also gradually introduced to the more formal aspects of learning and begin to learn to read and write with our very successful phonics scheme: Read, Write Inc. Mathematics is very practically-based, with written number formation and recording becoming part of our learning as the year progresses.
The Reception teachers and assistants all have specialist Early Years qualifications. The children in the Reception class also have lessons with specialist teachers for French, music and singing, PE and Games and for swimming. There is a specialist yoga teacher for our weekly sessions.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
The principles which guide the work of all early years' practitioners are grouped into four themes:
The new, updated EYFS Framework has seven areas of learning. It places emphasis on the 3 Prime Areas of Learning, which are fundamental and support development in all other areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development. These basic skills help to promote a child’s development and ability to learn.
In addition, there are 4 Specific Areas of Learning, which include essential skills and knowledge for children to participate successfully in society : Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
All areas are, of course, interrelated and the EYFS Framework contains outlines to assist in planning stimulating and challenging activities to promote children’s learning at different stages. These activities are as open-ended as possible, encouraging deeper-level thinking and experiential learning, which in turn aids children’s ability to problem solve and become independent, resilient people.
It builds upon a child’s own interests and curiosity about the world around them. It is a very exciting way of learning and maintains the child’s innate desire to investigate and to learn.
Our carefully planned learning journeys take place both indoors and out. The outdoor curriculum includes our weekly trips to our Woodland School which enables the children to be active and independent, with their skills and learning supported and extended by their teachers and teaching assistants.
Our learning is enriched by special visitors or trips which support our topics and learning journies. Previous visits have included trips to museums, farms and the beach. We also visit the theatre and work with writers and artists in school.
The Areas of Learning and Development in the EYFS
• Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
• Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
• Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others, to form positive relationships and develop respect for others, to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings, to understand appropriate behaviour in groups and to have confidence in their own abilities.
• Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Through books, poems, and other written materials children are helped to discover a wide range of reading materials.
• Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating using simple addition and subtraction. They learn skills of problem solving and reasoning. They also describe and explore shape, space, and measures.
• Understanding the world involves helping children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
• Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, roleplay and design and technology.


WHOOs Making Music
By Luke Bartolomeo
Open iTunes to buy and download apps.
In a far-away forest, the Whoo family of musical owls are getting ready for the big concert. Your child is invited for a front row seat!
But first- do you know what all of the instruments of the orchestra sound like?
From behind the curtain, you hear a short little melody. Can you guess which instrument is playing? Tap the curtain to raise it and reveal who is making music now. Because you hear the sound of the instrument before you see it or hear its name, children have time to imagine what the instrument might look like. Remember- low sounds usually come from bigger instruments, while higher sounds come from smaller instruments. Before long, children are able to tell which instrument is playing from the sound alone.
Enjoy this app with your child as you both become familiar with a variety of instruments.
"Whoos Making Music" was created by a twenty-year veteran in the field of music education and faculty member of the Sherwood Community Music School in Chicago. It was inspired by his own three-year-old daughter's love for music and different sounds (as well as for owls!) The audio examples were painstakingly selected for their quality and diversity of style. All of the sounds you hear are authentic recordings of the actual instruments, not computer generated imitations. Classical, jazz, blues, folk, and rock styles are all represented.
Get the free version of the app now with five different instruments (piano, violin, guitar, clarinet, and tuba) and two mini-concerts to enjoy. Upgrade to the premium version for 13 additional instruments (cello, drums, electric guitar, flute, harp, harpsichord, french horn, oboe, pipe organ, saxophone, string bass, trombone, and trumpet), six new concert finales, and multiple audio examples of each instrument. Help your young child discover what a 'hoot' learning about musical instruments can be!
Recommended Ages: 1 - 5 years. Parents too!
This game could be really great for the little ones. But it takes so long to go between instruments that even for the little ones it's too slow. It also seems like you should be able to choose which instrument you want to hear so you can teach the students about the instruments before you test them on the instruments.
- Category: Education
- Released: Oct 12, 2012
- Version: 1.0
- Size: 46.6 MB
- Languages: English, Japanese
- Seller: Luke Bartolomeo
- © 2012 Luke D. Bartolomeo
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Top In-App Purchases
- Premium Upgrade- More instruments, more audio clips!$1.99


“Just an Art Teacher” Isn’t Doing Us Any Justice!
Have you ever been at a dinner party, a baby shower, or at book club when a conversation erupts concerning occupations? One guest talks about being a financial planner, another details the daily grind of some medical profession and then the spot light turns to you. Caught, like a deer in the headlights, you mutter something along the lines of “I am just an art teacher.” You get the standard responses “Isn’t that fun/cute/precious!” “I bet the kids love coming to play/finger-paint/make macaroni necklaces with you!” “Summers off! Must be nice! What do you do with all your free time?” Or, even worse, the conversation segues into you helping pick out a paint chip for the bathroom. Ugh!
When you arrive home later that evening, your mind is reeling with a thousand things you should have said.
You do SO much more than “just teach art!” Art teaches creativity, problem solving and application of real-life skills! Art class combines visual literacy with cross-curricular connections in every field while also teaching life skills like empathy and meaning. Students design and create self-portraits, paint landscapes, and draw from direct observation (and that is just in Kindergarten!). Millions of employees in this country work in a creative field. Want to talk about job development? Creative minds are the future of this nation! By the way, I rarely (if ever) use finger-paint and have not once made a macaroni necklace! Ahhh!
As art teachers, we are VERY passionate about the arts. We have to be. This field is unlike any other in that it constantly needs to be advocated for, especially in the current economic downturn. As budgets are thinning and spending is cut we, now more than ever, need to unite to keep the value of our programs clear and support strong. You can help this cause. I am not asking that you run for office, create a picket sign or burn your bra, I am asking that you take a few simple steps to advocate for Art Education.
3 Simple Steps to Start Advocating Today!
Step 1: Create a goal. Why are you teaching art? What do you believe in?
Step 2: Stay informed. What current research supports your goal?
Step 3: Spread the word. Write down 2-3 sentences that sum up your goals and beliefs, with a sprinkling of hard facts and MEMORIZE IT! The next time you are asked what you do, you will be prepared to share your insight and dazzle your peers. We can all help to spread the world and together, we will be heard! To learn more about advocacy check out AOE’s new Advocating for the Arts class this November.
How do you respond when you get comments about your profession as an art teacher?
Share with us your 2-3 sentence advocacy plug in the comments!


Chacha Nehru Scholarship for Artistic and Innovative Excellence
Primacy to Art Education:
The importance of arts in the education system has been repeatedly discussed and recommended over the decades. Rather than encouraging the pursuit of arts the education system in the country tends to relegate arts to be ‘useful hobbies’ and ‘leisure activities’. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) – 2005 reiterates the importance of Art Education at all stages of school education so that ‘we retain our unique cultural identity in all its diversity’. NCF – 2005 recommends four major areas of Art Education at the Secondary and Senior Secondary stages. These include Music, Dance, Visual Arts and Theatre. NCF – 2005 also stipulates that students must be introduced to the rich and varied art traditions in the country with due emphasis on learning rather than teaching. The approach should be participatory, interactive and experiential, rather than instructive. Such an approach should foster self-expression and self-awareness among children. It should create aesthetic awareness and develop imagination, enhance confidence in movement and speech, promote tolerance and sensitivity.
National Bal Bhawan: Bal Shree programme:
The National Bal Bhawan has played a vital role in the promotion of Arts throughout the length and breadth of the country. Currently there are 73 state and district Bal Bhawans in the country. The National Bal Bhawan has instituted a system of honouring talented children in different age groups in the year 1995 through the Bal Shree scheme.
The Bal Shree programme recognizes talent in the following areas:
1. Creative Performance
2. Creative Arts
3. Creative Scientific Innovations
4. Creative Writing
The National Bal Bhawan makes a selection of creative children through activities conducted at three levels, viz:
Local level by organizing 2-day camps in which 8 children (2 in each stream) are identified at the local level 2.
Zonal Levels by organizing 3 days camps in which local experts, specialists from six zones, namely North, East, West, Central, South-I and South -II participate for selection of children
National Levels by organizing 4 day camps from the six zones in the country. A panel of experts and resource persons representing the four streams are identified to observe and assess the creativity of children. On an average 150 children participate in the National level camp and approximately 50 children are chosen for the Bal Shree honour.
The criteria for selection of children for the Bal Shree award includes :-
(b) innovative approach,
(e) divergent thinking,
(f) elaboration of ideas,
(g) creative processes culminating into meaningful products,
(h) effective functioning in the group,
(i) analytical and critical approach.
The National Bal Bhawan has developed a comprehensive activities’ bank in order to identify the creative skills of the children. During the selection process children are provided a barrier free environment and an interactive and supportive environment aimed at bringing out the best in children. Children thus selected are honoured by the President of India and presented a Bal Shree certificate.
Chacha Nehru Scholarships for Artistic and Innovative Excellence:
With a view to further encouraging and nurturing talent NCERT
will support the children who participate in the National Camp organised by the National Bal Bhawan through a scheme of Chacha Nehru Scholarships for Artistic and Innovative Excellence. The Chacha Nehru Scholarships for Artistic and Innovative Excellence will be available to children pursuing secondary and senior secondary education in classes IX – XII.
The salient features of the scholarship scheme will be as follows:
Children participating in the National Camps of the National Bal Bhawan and pursuing studies in Classes IX – XII will be awarded an scholarship of Rs 500 per month for a period of four year till they complete Class XII.
The National Bal Bhawan will continue to independently design and evolve its testing tools and evaluation/ assessment schemes for identification of Bal Shree awardees. The National Bal Bhawan will also independently administer the activities/ tests for identification of Bal Shree awardees.
The National Bal Bhawan will submit to NCERT a list of children studying in classes IX – XII who have been selected for participation in the National Bal Bhawan Camp for award of the Chacha Nehru Scholarships for Artistic and Innovative Excellence. This list will be accompanied by detailed information on each child as per proforma developed by NCERT.


Students of Elementary Education and Social Work take this course to help teach their prospective students and clients that conflict is not negative, but a natural part of life. The lessons learned from this class help these soon to be practitioners teach productive communication skills, affirmation skills, appreciation of diversity, empathy and creative solutions to problems. The text books used in the course are CRC publications: The Friendly Classroom for a Small Planet and the Friendly Classroom Mediation Manual.
Some of the objectives of the course:
- Examine our own attitudes and values regarding conflict (intellectual growth).
- Study the rationale for conflict resolution in schools and examine a variety of approaches and skills for dealing with those conflicts (inquiry, intellectual growth, professionalism, democratic citizenship).
- Explore peer mediation programs and develop understanding of how to implement them (diversity, democratic citizenship).
- Examine the implications of nonviolent conflict resolution for both educational and social change.
Currently this course is taught at SUNY New Paltz. If you are interested in bringing this course to your university or college, please contact Priscilla Prutzman at: 845-353-1796, or firstname.lastname@example.org.


WHAT IS PHONICS?
The relationship between how we speak and spell words. The individual speech sounds in oral language are represented in writing by individual letters and by combinations of letters. For example, boy has the sounds /b/ and /0i/ and therefore is spelled /b-oy/.
HOW IS PHONICS INFORMATION BEST TAUGHT?
Directly, systematically, and intensively. Students should be explicitly taught there relationships between letters and sounds and not left to "infer" them on their own, or to memorize whole words by sight. They should be provided regular and adequate practice in order to ensure they develop fluency.
WHAT IS PHONEMIC AWARENESS?
The knowledge that all words are a combination of the 44 sounds of spoken English, and the ability to hear those sounds and blend them together.
HOW DOES LEARNING PHONICS HELP STUDENTS READ?
By learning the relationship between letters and letter combinations and the sounds they represent, a student can use this information to decode any word. As their vocabulary increases, words in print can be read accurately with increasing fluency and comprehension.
WHAT IS A PHONOGRAM?
A phonogram is a written representation of a sound made with one or more letters. For example, /B/ says /buh/, SH says /sh/, IGH says /i/.
WHAT IS FLUENCY? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The ability to apply phonetic skills with such automaticity and ease that it appears the student is reading words and not sounds. This allows the student to focus his or her attention on the meaning of the text.
ISN’T THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH TOO UNPREDICTABLE/ IRREGULAR FOR PHONICS TO WORK WELL?
No. Thorough, systematic phonics programs minimize the number of exceptions and explain logical and consistent patterns in English spelling. In addition, the widespread success of direct and systematic phonics programs demonstrates the benefit of this approach.
SHOULD “SIGHT” WORDS BE LEARNED AS “WHOLES” BEFORE PHONICS INSTRUCTION?
No. The assumption that children recognize words by "sight" without understanding how the letters represent sounds is not supported by evidence-based research. Strong readers decode the sounds so quickly that it appears they are reading whole words, but in fact brain research shows that they blending sounds into words.
No. The Assumption that children recognize words by "sight," without using their letters as cues to their recognition, is not supported by the experimental research. Individual letters are the cues all readers use to recognize words.
WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN WHO CAN RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL WORDS, BUT HAVE POOR COMPREHENSION?
Some children have memorized a large number of sight words but have not mastered the fundamental skills of reading and therefore struggle to comprehend. If the child is able to phonetically read words, and still struggles with comprehension, he/she may be lacking in one or more or all of the following:
- Background knowledge in the topics they attempt to read
- Knowledge of the meanings of words in these topics
- Ability to make inferences about the content being read
- Ability to follow the organization or structure of the text that is pursued.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHONICS KNOWLEDGE AND READING COMPREHENSION?
Nothing develops the automatic recognition of written words better than proper phonics instruction. This automatic word recognition allows children to then direct their focus when reading toward the comprehension of written material.
MY SCHOOL SAYS PHONICS INFORMATION IS BEING APPLIED, BUT MY CHILD STILL DOESN'T RECOGNIZE WORDS WELL?
It is highly probable that your school actually teaches phonics information in only an indirect, unsystematic, and non-intensive manner. Since many of today’s schools do not teach phonics skills sufficiently nor suitably, home instruction often becomes necessary.
WHAT DO CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN IN ORDER TO READ WELL?
FIVE MAIN THINGS:
- Phonemic awareness, a recognition that letters represent sounds.
- Knowledge of all the sound symbol relationships in English.
- The ability to read fluently to the point of automaticity.
- Steady growth in vocabulary development.
- Comprehension of what a student can talk about and understand.
WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO TEST MY CHILD’S READING ABILITY?
WHAT ARE THE BEST TOOLS AVAILABLE TO TEACH MY CHILD HOW TO READ?
Find out more about how to get involved and resources that can be used to help your child become a successful reader.


Special Education, Disabilities Studies, and Contemporary Art
Examines the history of special education in the American public education system as it relates to the field of art education. Explores what it means to be a student with a disability today. Helps students understand the ways society represents, constructs, or challenges ideas about disabilities through popular culture & contemporary art. Students study legal, social & cultural implications of having a disability in American schools today. Course covers how to 1) effectively integrate all students into the classroom, 2) identify the nature of their student’s disabilities as well as a range of strategies to help every student succeed in the art classroom. Students will look at current research into multiple intelligences & learning styles to discover how the arts (music, visual arts & dance), can allow access points for many students into the world of learning. Additional topics will include collaborating with general education teachers & use of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) as a teaching tool in the art classroom. Students will also learn to partner with the family, community, colleagues & students as create a differentiated & welcoming classroom environment for all students.
- Old Course Number: E92.2081


The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the USC Brain and Creativity Institute and Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) are delighted to announce a longitudinal research collaboration to investigate the emotional, social and cognitive effects of musical training on childhood brain development.
The five-year research project, Effects of Early Childhood Musical Training on Brain and Cognitive Development, will offer USC researchers an important opportunity to provide new insights and add rigorous data to an emerging discussion about the role of early music engagement in learning and brain function.
Through a collaboration with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles at Heart of Los Angeles (YOLA at HOLA) program, a partnership between the LA Phil and HOLA which provides free instruments and musical training to children from the Rampart District of Los Angeles, researchers with the USC Brain and Creativity Institute — led by acclaimed neuroscientists Hanna Damasio and Antonio Damasio — will track how children respond to music from the very onset of their exposure to systematic, high intensity music education.
Starting when the children are between the age of 6 and 7, to ages 11 and 12, the researchers will use standard psychological assessments and advanced brain imaging techniques to track brain, emotional and social development. The group of children involved in the YOLA at HOLA program will be compared to a control group of children matched in age, socio-economic status and cognitive abilities, but with no musical training.
All children will be followed for five consecutive years, providing a rare chance for researchers to discover the effects of musical training on emotional, social and cognitive aspects of development as they actually occur, rather than inferring later-life effects. The USC Brain and Creativity Institute team began working with YOLA at HOLA students in September 2012.


Teaching and learning in the 21st century
Technology is changing how we live and work and educators have been grappling with how to prepare students to work in a digital society for some time. Now, an ambitious international initiative led by the University of Melbourne is making a major contribution.
Sponsored by Microsoft, Cisco and Intel, The Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills project has brought together over 200 academics worldwide.
According to project director Professor Patrick Griffin, the initiative addresses the gap between what students are taught, and what they will need to know in the future.
“Technology is changing and education needs to prepare students for the future. Communication, collaboration and problem-solving are vital skills in the 21st century workforce, and yet we’re not teaching them to our children in schools,” he says.
The project has identified 10 specific skills students will need for 21st century employment, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaborative problem-solving, information literacy and personal and social responsibility.
Professor Griffin says the 21st century skills identified in the program are just as important as the more familiar skills of literacy and numeracy, but because they have until now been unmeasured they risk appearing ‘soft’ and can be easily dismissed.
The team designed a series of complex online tasks, which operate like social media games, to assess students in each of the 10 skills. The tasks are truly groundbreaking – not only do they provide a way to assess 21st century skills for the first time, they also assess how students reach their conclusions, not just whether their answers are correct.
“Being able to assess students’ thought processes is a really important step forward,” Professor Griffin says. “It means we can truly assess complex skills and get a full picture of things like collaborative problem-solving.”
In all tasks, students must work with a partner who is on another computer, but unable to see their partner’s screen.
“The system is set up so a student in Melbourne could perhaps work with a student in Singapore,” Professor Griffin says. “This simulates the idea that you can be physically working alone, but actually working in collaboration with other people in different parts of the globe.”
In ‘Hot Chocolate’, a collaborative problem-solving task, students must select the recipe that makes the biggest profit in Europe. Each student can see different pieces of information, and they have to work together, using the chat screen, to solve the problem.
“The pseudo-game nature of the tasks really engages students,” says Professor Griffin. “And they are challenged on a number of levels. Not only do they need literacy and numeracy skills to solve the problems, they also need good communication and problem-solving skills.”
The tasks will be made freely available online from July. Already, the project team has received hundreds of enquiries from educators around the world. The OECD, though its PISA project, has also taken note, and decided to include collaborative problem-solving as part of their global assessment activities in 2015.


Getting in the Groove
Drumming in the Classroom
By Christine Sipes
General Music and Classroom Publications
Book & CD
Getting in the Groove is the easy, up-to-date, multicultural, non-threatening, timely, and fun way to teach creating and improvising through drumming. This exciting curriculum covers drumming across the globe, from West African to Taiko styles. You do not have to be a drummer to teach this book. All rhythms and examples are on the CD for easy teaching and use in the classroom. Getting in the Groove addresses all types of learning styles and aligns with current teaching methodologies, as well as the National Standards for Music Education. Reproducible worksheets, quizzes, and assessments are included. Intended for late elementary to middle school.
"Sipes reminds readers that music is for everyone, and Getting in the Groove supports this claim with a step-by-step drumming curriculum to teach students easily grasped rhythms in group settings."


San Rafael City Schools is set to receive $1.5 million to boost its STEM curriculum through a collaborative training program for teachers.
The money, allotted by the state through the California Mathematics and Science Partnership, will be used to train to integrate math, science and related fields in a manner that fits with the new Common Core State Standards teaching method. It applies to third through eighth grades.
"The state is really emphasizing the connection between math, science and engineering," said Eric Hsu, professor of mathematics at San Francisco State University who will oversee the training. "It's a really healthy challenge for us to explore the connections between the disciplines."
County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke said the training will prepare teachers to do more "real-world application" in their classrooms.
"When we can engage students in project-based opportunities, we can be sure they will be engaged, learning, and having fun all at the same time," Burke said.
San Rafael, one of 10 districts in the state to receive the grant this year, will get $500,000 a year for three years to put their teachers through the training, which will be provided by various professionals in the science and technology fields.
While San Rafael is the principal beneficiary of the grant, teachers from Ross Valley and Dixie school districts, as well as the County Office of Education, also will receive training.
Because the state requires that 50 teachers participate in the training program, and San Rafael didn't have enough STEM-related teachers in the targeted grade levels to meet that total, the other districts were brought in to take part in the training.
STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering, math," and in some cases is referred to as STEAM, which incorporates art — mostly digitally generated art — into the curriculum.
Burke said the training program will include teachers from the county office's alternative education, special education and juvenile hall programs.
Administrators said they are excited about the collaboration the project involves — both in terms of bringing teachers from different districts into the fold, as well as the work with the greater community.
"It is a great opportunity for our teachers," said Patty Thompson, coordinator of academic programs for San Rafael City Schools. "It promotes a lot of collaboration, not just with the business community and the higher learning institutions, but also the neighboring communities here in Marin."
The collaborative effort includes partnerships with San Francisco State, which will serve as the "institute of higher education" overseeing the professional development plan, as well as the Exploratorium, the Romberg Tiburon Center, Autodesk, California Academy of Sciences, the Marin Community Foundation, and the San Rafael's Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce.
Participating teachers go through 60 hours of training each year of the grant, over five days during the summer and three days throughout the school year. They will be trained by representatives from the collaborating partners, the lessons from which will be incorporated into their classrooms: applying math, science and technology to the real world.
"It's very hands on, very project-oriented," Thompson said. "With the shift to Common Core, this is the kind of opportunity that lends itself perfectly. It embodies all the best practices that Common Core stands to bring."
Hsu, who oversees San Francisco State's Center for Science and Math Education, said the program is intended to "deepen the teachers' raw content knowledge" of math and science. How that will be done is still being determined, since the training will be tailored to the participating school districts' needs, Hsu said.
Two other San Francisco State professors, Larry Horvath, who is an assistant professor of secondary education and Stephanie Sisk-Hilton, an associate professor of elementary education, also will be involved in the professional development.
Hsu said he worked with San Rafael on a similar project several years ago, and he is just finishing up a six-year program with San Francisco Unified School District that appears to be having a positive impact in the classroom.
"Students have been doing better on state tests, so there is some promise," Hsu said.
Contact Laith Agha via email at firstname.lastname@example.org


Pringle’s preferred subjects were found in his local area, from scenes of streets and tenement buildings to portraits of his friends and family. Although the identity of the sitter in this portrait is unknown, he is most likely a boy from the east-end of Glasgow, where Pringle ran a shop. Smartly dressed in his Sunday best, the boy’s expression suggests discomfort at his role as subject of the portrait. This may have led to the painting being known as 'A Reluctant Subject'. Pringle’s use of square brushstrokes shows the influence of French Neo-Impressionism, although his art education was gained primarily through taking classes at Glasgow School of Art and visiting exhibitions in Scotland. He did travel abroad once, to Normandy in 1910, the year this portrait was painted.


You've probably scaled back your children's screen time this summer, and we applaud your efforts to encourage kids to put down their tablets in favor of outdoor play. Still, when youngsters are allowed online, there is no reason their Internet activities can't be educational as well as entertaining.
Kimberly Probert Grad, a senior librarian and children's specialist with the Brooklyn Public Library, is the 2012 co-chairwoman of the American Library Association's Great Websites for Kids committee. The group evaluates websites using established selection criteria, reviewing all the sites in the database twice a year to ensure they remain relevant, accessible and appropriate for children up to age 14. Sites are chosen, she says, "because we believe they have the potential to enrich a child's experience and help them expand their imaginations."
For parents and caregivers who want to prevent the dreaded "summer slide," which can occur when kids are not engaged in reading and academic enrichment, Probert Grad suggests a healthy balance of outdoor play and indoor enrichment. "Kids today are going to be exposed to technology in ways we weren't," she says, "and the whole way of finding information has changed."
Rob Townsend, a high school science and social science teacher at a National Education Association Priority School in Clinton Township, Mich., said that sorting through the plethora of websites for children can be vexing for parents and educators. "But over the summer, if you can spend just five minutes a day with your child looking at an educational website, watching a video, reading a book or asking them math questions, they are learning and using what they are learning," Townsend says.
The ALA's Great Websites for Kids website (gws.ala.org) is a terrific starting point. Here are a few recommended by the experts, as well as some that struck our fancy:
Brightstorm.com: Townsend says this website, which features instructional videos, will enhance math and science skills for elementary- and high school-age children, as well as improving test preparation skills.
Studystack.com: Townsend appreciates that the user creates the content. For example, parents can craft virtual flashcards to hone multiplication factor skills or create educational and fun word search and hangman games and even crossword puzzles.
Dsokids.com: Probert Grad is enthusiastic about this interactive website affiliated with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which provides music education, including the history of famous composers, through lively games and activities.
Generationon.org: This website was recently featured as the ALA's site of the month, and with good reason. On this altruistic website sponsored by the GenerationOn Youth Advisory Council, teens and tweens will discover ideas for fulfilling service requirements and "the inspiration to change the world around you." Other highlights include a search feature to help kids secure a volunteer position, blogs brimming with personal stories and plenty of project tips.
Poptropica.com: The mastermind behind this delightful website is Jeff Kinney, author of the "Wimpy Kid" series. This virtual world engages younger children with games that allow them to create a character and embark on age-appropriate quests to more than a dozen "islands," weaving themes from history, nature and human culture.
Scratch.mit.edu: This website, developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, is wildly popular with kids and adults, who can create and share their own interactive stories, games, music and art.Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune


Second Grade Standards, Second Grade Reading Standards, Second Grade Foundational Skills Standards, Second Grade Reading, Second Grade Skills, Reading Standards Second Grade
Second Grade Reading: Foundational Skills Standards
Phonics and Word Recognition
- RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
- Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.
- Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.
- Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.
- Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.
- Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.
- Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
- RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
- Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
- Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression.
- Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
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Environmental art often causes us to stop, think and question. It can make the viewer connect to the past, question the present or inspire change for the future.
So when Craig Roland posed the question on Art Education 2.0, “How might we use art or design to promote a healthy environment and a peaceful, sustainable world?” the work of environmental artists came to our mind.
In response to Craig’s question, we at The Teaching Palette created a Google Earth application that highlights environmental art on every continent. The art and artists featured were chosen based on environmental impact at various locations around the world.
The Environmental Art Around Google Earth application is not a direct answer to the question; instead it is a compilation of many answers as a global tour of environmental artists with Google Earth.
So explore art and artists from around the world as they show you how to use art/design to promote a healthy environment and a peaceful, sustainable world.
Below is a video to help introduce you to the Environmental Artists Around Google Earth application and explains how to use it.
If you do not have Google Earth on your computer or need to upgrade to the newest version of Google Earth, click here.
Now that you’ve explored the environmental artist globe on Google Earth how can you utilize it in your classroom?
- Use Google Earth to introduce a specific artist, environmental art movement or culture.
- Use as an extension for early finishers to introduce them to artists from around the world.
- Introduce a specific artist such as Andy Goldsworthy. Give a group of students a digital camera, have them collect a variety of natural objects, arrange them in an interesting composition and then photograph their Goldsworthy-inspired art.
- Print images and have students write about their experience.
Explore the blogs participating in “Green Friday” by clicking on the links below.


Tags: Enrichment, Featured Article, Featured Article, In This Issue
Do you play CDs during car rides or allow your toddler to bang pots and pans together while you cook? You may be doing more for your child than you think. Read on to learn about some of the benefits of music education and discover ways to incorporate more music into your family's days.
Why music education?
Lisa Colleen, Activities Director at Bongo Boy Recreational Music Center located inside Bongo Boy Music School, believes music is a valuable tool for cross-brain training. She explains that drumming while speaking or singing engages both the left and right hemispheres, translating to an increased ability to focus. Indeed, a 2006 study entitled "Examination of Relationships between Participation in School Music Programs of Differing Quality and Standardized Test Results" shows a relationship between schools offering superior music education programs and higher standardized test scores. In an interview for the University of Kansas's "Research Matters" program, study author Christopher Johnson theorizes this may be because the attentiveness used for music is similar to that required for test taking.
Music education also helps students develop listening skills, says Sally Eppert, teacher at Eppert Piano Studio. "Whether in my small group classes or while practicing, students are always playing and then analyzing what they've heard," explains Eppert. "This process of discovery helps develop every child's musical ear."
While listening to music or playing a piano can be enjoyed as solo activities, music need not be a solitary pursuit. Eppert reports that in her group classes, students are routinely paired off to review concepts. Similarly, Colleen says that in drum circles, children must learn to watch and read each other. Colleen also sees positive impacts on the parent-child relationship when the parties participate in musical activities together. "Parents come up and say, 'Thank you so much, I had so much fun with my child tonight,'" she says.
Finally, Colleen notes that students who drum may actually see an increase in their fitness levels. "It's a very physical activity."
Incorporating music into daily life
Eppert says parents know instinctually what studies have been proving over the last 20 years: "Children thrive on musical learning." Colleen suggests engaging kids in activities such as banging on pots and pans, making music with spoons or pounding out a "call and response" on the table. She encourages parents to be silly and laugh with their children. "Don't make it about whether or not they're hitting the pan on beat two and beat four."
Colleen also suggests parents go to the library and take out ten CDs at time, then listen to them at home. She recommends Greg & Steve music as a good choice for children. However, she says, "[Your child] might have a real feel for Mozart. Some kids absolutely love classical music, so play it."
Making more music
Looking for some outside help in introducing your child to the benefits of music education? Eppert Piano in Fishers offers private and small group piano lessons. "My philosophy is music making is so important to your soul, your very being that everyone should have a chance to take lessons," says Eppert.
Bongo Boy Recreational Music Center and Bongo Boy Music School provide many ways for children to get in touch with their inner musicians. The recreation center hosts a Kids Rhythm Club each Saturday morning and a free family drum circle each Thursday night. At the music school, private lessons are available for everything from guitar to flute to marimba.
Whether you're a parent who moonlights as a church pianist or one who can't carry a tune in a bucket, you can still help instill a love of music in your children. Start making music with your family today!


The Single Subject Credential Program strives to provide opportunities for candidates to address and attain the following Student Learning Outcomes:
- Demonstrate a high level of professional responsibility for and involvement in their own professional development.
- Explain a personal philosophy of teaching and learning that is grounded in theory and standards of professional practice.
- Articulate conceptual frameworks relating to culture, power, and equity and how these influence teaching and learning.
- Discuss legal issues and ethical choices that influence education.
- Discuss interrelationships among family, community, student learning, and success in school.
- Discuss and critique various theories and practices of language acquisition and literacy development (e.g. reading, writing, speaking, listening) across content areas.
- Design standards-based instructional objectives and activities that are developmentally appropriate, sequential and integrated, and actively engage all students.
- Design, critique, and utilize a variety of formal and informal standards-based assessments that inform teaching and provide feedback on student learning.
- Demonstrate teaching methodologies that reflect an effective use of standards, objectives, and strategies including technology for working with a diverse student population.
- Critically reflect upon the relationship between their own teaching and student learning.


Tuesday, April 24th
Join us for desserts, live music, and view HUNDREDS of pieces
of student artwork, filling
EVERY E.G. Ross student will have
artwork on display!
E.G Ross Students have been doing GREAT THINGS in ART! Thank You Miss Sasha!!
•••Importance of the Visual Arts in Education•••
(Compiled by M. LoParco)
Today more than ever the arts are needed by our young people as a forum for safe expression, communication, exploration, imagination, and cultural and historical understanding. Below are a list of reasons why the visual arts are so important at each grade level:
· Brain research confirms that Arts education strengthens student problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement, school success, and preparation for the work world.
· Art classes provide students a chance to develop cognitive and creative skills, and to develop their imaginations.
· For some students Art is their motivation for coming to school and an area where they have success or excel, providing an important balance in their total educational experience.
· The arts teach our students to be more tolerant and open through multicultural and historical perspectives and through their involvement in the creative process itself.
· Due to the collaborative nature of art, students develop crucial skills in cooperative decision-making, leadership, clear communication, and complex problem solving while working with others.
· Regular participation in the arts develops self-confidence, self-discipline, persistence, and the knowledge of how to make multiple revisions to create high quality work.
· The skills and experience that students develop by learning to perform, create, and respond to works of art provides a foundation for the kinds of literacy students must have to communicate and work successfully in our ever-changing media, technology, and information age.
· Art Education supports not only the adolescent¹s intellectual and educational development but also their personal and social development.
· Arts education helps develop a positive work ethic, flexibility, and pride in a job well done.


Perhaps you have thought about knowing music and learning about it deeply. World you like to reserve lessons for your kid or else for yourself? If yes then you should comprise a list of questions and there are not all the time willingly accessible reply to them. Below is few things mention that will help you out in preparing your mind before determining to opt for music education.
What are your goals?
Do you wish to acquire knowledge about new talent, manage a music equipment or turn out to be an expert musician that teaches guitar lessons? At the start of any assignment, you need to understand where you want to get. Aims will encourage and connect you towards completion. Keep in mind the underneath things to learn music as an art form.
- Understand your aims.
- Do not to fall back
- Discuss with your professor if there are any kind of doubts
- Always be prepared to enjoy yourself while learning music.
What is your own timetable like?
To gain music expertise, you will need some serenity and time. Our spirit is normally a drum tool moreover as long as we are living it constantly beats in us. Nevertheless, at the same time, nobody was born capable of understanding music! It is significant to understand that you are going to require time for your music teaching themselves although above all, time for practicing by yourself. This needs huge amounts of discipline that is one of the greatest advantages of being engaged in gaining knowledge regarding the instrument. Have a look at your schedule, plan your music lessons accordingly and practice.
Decide earlier what exactly your learning style is moreover type of coach you want?
Do you recognize exactly how your education style is like? Everyone has its individual method of learning things; furthermore, music is not exclusion at all. Do you understand everything immediately? On the other hand, do you frequently require more time as well as repetition? Even If you cannot discover out your way, a good teacher will always get it done for you as they understand music as an art form.
Loads of surveys have projected that people respond more speedily to creative educators who are lively, young furthermore of the same-sex. Consequently, it is a value getting to an association or arts school that appoints not just highly capable. However, young teachers who are full of eagerness, which once pass through severe interviews, they get a careful training. If you are an adult and you are by now mastering few aspects of music, you most likely understand by now what learning pattern you comprise and what is the finest you can practice with. Nevertheless, professors make a decision to give you criticism moreover recommend you further on gaining knowledge to obtain the best results.
How will you keep organized?
It is important to organize your devices towards your chase. Mainly music activities might require particular tools such as music instrument, books, and scores and so on. That is the prime cause why expert suggests maintaining everything jointly and taking into account where to keep music gear.


Pupils share their joy of reading on World Book Day
Pupils in schools across Aberdeen are taking part in fun and educational activities to celebrate World Book Day today [Thursday 07 March].
Children shared 'a text' from 11am for up to 30 minutes which saw them reading favourite stories, looking at film clips, listening to an author podcast, paired reading across the school - anything that involved children engaging and sharing text.
Aberdeen Grammar held a 'Big Read' at 11am for 15 minutes across the whole school with staff and children enjoying a text of their own choosing.
This simple activity aims to raise the profile of literacy and encourage a lifelong interest of reading across all schools which are key objectives of educators in the city.
A 'decorate a door' challenge was organised to get children to discuss their favourite books and authors and to use the stories as inspiration along with art materials to create a very special door.
Pupils at Aberdeen Grammar School have decorated a door to show the literacy journey pupils have made from 'early years' picture books such as 'The Hungry Caterpillar' through to literature for young adults from Harry Potter to Dickens.
At Quarryhill School, each class has chosen a book title to decorate their door. The nursery class has created a 'sweetie' door (with real sweets) to illustrate Hansel and Gretel while a P7 class has been inspired by the novel 'The Dark Isle'.
One door at Cults Academy has been altered to look like shelves in a library with each year group contributing by creating a 'spine' of a favourite novel.
Winners of the best dressed door will receive gift vouchers donated by retailers John Lewis and Waterstone's.
Other activities include a visit by reading champions to Middleton Park School while pupils and staff at Kaimhill School will dress up as characters from children's books.
Aberdeen City Council's Convener of Education, Culture and Sport Councillor Jenny Laing said: "World Book Day is a fabulous way to get children of all ages to think about reading and talk to each other about their favourite books. Literacy is a key skill which everyone needs and I hope that by taking part in this initiative children will develop a lifelong interest in literature."
Lynne Giles, literacy development officer, Aberdeen City Council, added: "Good reading starts early and children who share books with others are more likely to develop language skills and advanced reading levels. World Book Day is a fun way to get pupils imaginations fired up and encourage them to become avid readers."
World Book Day aims to help children explore the pleasure of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. To mark the day, all school children are entitled to receive a World Book Day £1 Book Token. It can be exchanged for one of eight specially published World Book Day £1 books or is redeemable against any book or audio book of their choice costing £2.99 or more at a participating bookshop or book club. For more information visit www.worldbookday.com


Nearly 6% of students have some degree of DCD, including up to 50% of students with speech-language disorders. The disability is in the motor domain as these students have average to above average intelligence.
* Presents the basic principles associated with motor skill development
* Examines the possible causes of motor difficulties by examining symptoms such as:
o speech delays
o poor handwriting
o weak gross and fine motor skills
o clumsiness and awkwardness
* Thoroughly explains developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and its link to speech and language disorders
* Identifies the speech-language pathologist’s role in the diagnosis and treatment of DCD
* Explains how motor problems impact functioning in other domains of behavior
* Identifies the types of behaviors associated with poor motor skills
* Explains the types of problems children with DCD may exhibit
* Describes the effect of poor motor coordination on psychosocial development and academic performance
* Supports a metacognitive approach to intervention
* Outlines therapy strategies to help children with DCD
o the four criteria for diagnosing DCD from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text revision, 2000, from the American Psychiatric Association
o the developmental motor skill milestones to help parents, colleagues, and physicians understand the long-term effects of DCD
o a glossary of terms with examples to clarify meanings
o 24 factors that can influence the acquisition of motor skills and the impact of each one
o valuable summary and list of references at the end of each chapter
o checklists of common motor skill behaviors
o two case studies that demonstrate the importance of an accurate, timely diagnosis of motor difficulties
o description of DCD and AD/HD, learning disorders, nonverbal learning disorders (NLD), Asperger’s syndrome, and the slow learner
o easy-to-read, non-technical presentation with the latest practical information
o various treatment approaches based on the child’s environments including:
+ 3 motor skill training approaches
+ questions to consider before beginning training
+ general recommendations for parents/caregivers
+ strategies for school personnel
+ strategies within the community
+ specific teaching strategies and tips for the professional
My son was slow to learn to stand and walk, and his speech was very delayed. He learned to run, but he can’t yet throw or catch a ball properly.
My student has a poor self-concept. He is clumsy and avoids physical activities. He has very few friends and I’m concerned about him.
My daughter prefers to wear sweatpants and T-shirts because they are easier for her to slip on rather than having to deal with clothes that have zippers or buttons. She writes slowly and awkwardly, and she is having trouble using a keyboard.
These children are exhibiting Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), a serious difficulty in motor skill development that affects the whole child. Associated conditions can include apraxia, NLD, specific language impairment, sensory integration disorder, and mixed expressive-receptive language disorder.
Students on your speech-language caseload may be struggling with DCD, especially those who were late talkers or exhibit dysfluent speech, oral-motor articulation deficits, problems pronouncing word syllables in the correct order, specific problems with word retrieval, or difficulty planning and constructing sentences. Learn how to help these students with the excellent information provided in this Source.
This Source provides you with the latest practical intervention for DCD. Chapters cover basic information on the motor skills development and difficulties, along with intervention approaches and strategies. You’ll be the instant expert on this challenging disorder.
187 pages, references, checklists, CD-ROM
Note: The free CD is NOT software and is not interactive. Instead, the CD contains reproducible pages from the book in PDF Format, allowing you to open pages from the book, view them on screen, and print them from your own printer. You cannot modify or edit the text on the pages.


|Purchase at Future Horizons|
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- Your mental attitude and the importance of taking care of yourself
- Making time for your marriage
- How to help your child with their sensory issues in their room. (Types of sheets to buy, clothing, how to adjust their surroundings for comfort).
- Behavior and Communication
- Diets that may help and how to learn what foods possibly might affect them negatively. How to find out yourself.
- Hygiene (I loved how it suggested to relax about toilet training. Chaz did not learn till he was over 4 years old how to potty in the toilet).
- Tips for keeping your possessions clean and protected
- Tips on teaching manners
- Protecting your "escape artist". (I still remember when Chaz escaped when he was two. He was furiously peddling on his tricycle to 'grandma's house' which was about a mile away. I was scared out of my mind)
- Social outings and interacting with their peers. What places help teach typical play with their peers.
- Tips for eating out with your ASD child
Kathy continues to work on additional books in The Child with Autism series, including The Child with Autism Learns about Faith (2011), The Child with Autism Goes to Florida (2011), and The Child with Autism Learns MORE about Faith (in progress).
LaNita Miller is the author of beginning textbooks, and received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Early Childhood Education from Austin Peay State University, and her master’s degree in Special Education from George Peabody College, which is part of Vanderbilt University. She is currently completing her certification in behavioral analysis. She has over twenty years’ experience in the special education classroom.


Viewpoint: Western Massachusetts pediatricians prescribe a big dose of reading
Last week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation reported the shocking news that 68 percent of America’s fourth-graders scored below proficient on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test. Massachusetts may have ranked first in the nation, but still fewer than half of our state’s fourth- graders are able to read proficiently. Studies show that many of these children will never catch up, putting them at greater risk for absenteeism, dropping out, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. The stakes could not be higher: we must close this gap in achievement. To do so, we must first close the school readiness gap, by ensuring that every child in our state enters school prepared to excel. Thirty-five percent of American children arrive at kindergarten without the basic skills they need to succeed. The single most effective thing parents can do to help their children develop those critical skills is to read aloud to them every day. Unfortunately, fewer than half of all U.S. children 5 and under are read to every day. In Massachusetts we fare only marginally better. Many parents weren’t read to as children, they don’t have access to books, or they are unaware of the incredible impact that a simple daily dose of reading aloud can have on the arc of their child’s development. But how can we effectively communicate the importance of promoting early literacy to parents before their children enter school? Since 96 percent of children from birth to age five visit their doctors at least once a year, it turns out that pediatricians are the ideal messenger. Parents trust their doctor’s advice. Pediatricians can guide parents to promote their children’s early language and literacy development during these critical when language is developing rapidly and good habits and routines can be shaped. That’s why I am so proud that every one of Springfield’s pediatricians and pediatric providers now promotes school readiness as an integral component of regular pediatric checkups for their youngest patients, through the Reach Out and Read program. Because of our city’s medical community’s universal support of this program, Springfield was just named a Reach Out and Read Bookend City earlier this month. In fact, Springfield is now America’s largest Bookend City, with 19 participating medical practices and hospitals that together serve 13,800 of Springfield’s youngest children. Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model is simple and very effective. Each child receives a brand-new, age-appropriate book at every checkup, and their medical provider speaks with the parents about the importance of reading aloud every day. Reach Out and Read was founded in 1989 by pediatricians and early child educators, and it has since been proven to work by 14 published research studies. The 181,000 families in Massachusetts served annually by Reach Out and Read read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills. The City of Springfield has taken a giant leap forward in ensuring that the next generation will arrive on the first day of school with the tools they need to excel in school, and in life. This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the enthusiastic participation of our city’s medical centers and doctors, the strong support of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and the leadership of Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, the City Council, and our state and federal legislators. Together, through Reach Out and Read, pediatricians and parents can help reduce the proficiency gap, by ensuring that every child arrives at school ready to read and prepared to succeed. Nancy Miller, M.D., is a pediatrician at Baystate Children’s Hospital and Reach Out and Read’s Medical Champion in Western Massachusetts. Find out more about Reach Out and Read at www.reachoutandread.org.


With an interdisciplinary degree and a teacher education certification, you’ll be prepared for the classroom.
But, remember, if apples and chalk aren’t your calling, this program prepares you for a lot of careers (but, a teacher education certification is never a bad idea). Here are a few career options this degree prepares you for:
A degree and teacher certification is sufficient to prepare applicants for teaching positions in pre-school, elementary, middle, or secondary education in both public and private schools. Build your résumé and increase your employability by obtaining a master’s degree.
Should you decide that an administrative position would be a better fit, a Ph.D. and certificate in school administration may be necessary.
Special service positions, such as guidance counselor, school psychologist and special education teacher, require graduate study. Requirements for certification and/or accreditation vary by state.
Higher education offers many promising job opportunities at four-year or two-year institutions, technical schools or medical and professional schools. Jobs include teaching, research, administration, student affairs and information/library services. To gain experience as an undergraduate student, seek student leadership positions, such as Residential Assistant or Orientation Leader.
Professorial positions at a Four-year institution require a Ph.D, while many two-year institutions require only a Master’s degree. To obtain an upper-level administrative position, attain a Ph. D. in higher education administration.
To attain a career in adult and continuing education, obtain teaching and instructional experience in conjunction with a Master’s or Ph. D. degree in adult education or another area of specialization. Some institutions may require certification or accreditation.
Positions in adult and continuing education include inservice education, staff development, professional development, leisure-oriented education, GED preparation, literacy development and English as a second language education. Common employers include K-12 school systems, boards of education, colleges and universities, two-year and technical schools, community organizations, correctional institutions, hospitals, museums, professional associations, nursing homes/adult day care and vocational services.
If the business world beckons you, enroll in a few general business and computer courses and become familiar with desktop publishing and other software packages. Depending on the position, consider a graduate degree in human resource development.
Positions are often available in the following departments: training and development, human resources, sales, customer service, publishing, technical writing and consulting. Common employers include public and private corporations, consulting firms, marketing companies, bookstores, publishers, test-preparation companies, software companies, and staffing agencies.
Many government positions are available in administration, planning, evaluation, management, research and writing, teaching and social work. To obtain a position, research federal, state, and local job application procedures. For top positions in government, gain experience and an advanced degree (typically Ph. D.).
Applicants interested in a position in government should consider applying to one of the following federal government agencies: Department of Education, Department of Defense, Overseas schools for military dependents, Department of Labor, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), Health and Human Services, Library of Congress, National Archives, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Peace Corps, Social service agencies, Vista, State and local government.
Give back to your community while starting a great career by working in the nonprofit sector. Before graduation, gain experience through volunteer work or internships. Develop writing and public speaking skills and learn to work with people of different ages and backgrounds. Certification in special education produces greater employability.
Common jobs include teaching or training, programming, public relations, administration, or fundraising. Employers include adoption agencies, scouts, camps, united way agencies, YMCA/YWCA, group homes, mental health clinics and community recreation centers.
*This information was prepared by the Career Planning staff of Career Services at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. (2005)


‘KARTAVYA’ Paper Presentation : ‘KARTAVYA’ Paper Presentation On “Lack Of Child Education In India” By Anurag Sharma B.Tech In IT Branch 2 nd Year Shri Balwant Institute Of Technology Sonipat (Haryana) What is Education?: What is Education? An educated child should be:- Able to established in goodness outwardly and inwardly. Discovering lasting values to breakdown social barriers. Presently we are unable to suffice the students. Guiding factors of Education: Guiding factors of Education It should be more on grooming to be better humans and able gentleman. Education is not only knowledge oriented but acquiring wisdom. Holistic approach of education. As Mr. Einstein said(technique existence and action knowledge should be the ultimate for the student to be educated). Effect of education on poverty: Effect of education on poverty 40% of the population in India is living below poverty line. This has a great effect on the children. Adequate education given will enable them to lead a decent life. They will also be able to improve the economic status of there family and nation. What is Quality Education?: What is Quality Education? It speaks of complete education not the three R’s only. As three R’s are Reading Writing and Arithmetic. As per Ms. Dana S Watts “Quality education should have programs set up for Intensive Studies (IS) and English. Information Technology (IT) and the use of web 2.0 tools exist in every grade but we have nothing in place to aid our new students a smooth integration into a curriculum which expects a certain level of literacy”. Education In India: Education In India The education in India has improved a lot but still a large number of children are uneducated. The land of ‘The Vedas’ is one of the countries with the highest illiteracy levels. Yet Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and NLM(National Literacy Mission) are existing. It is to be noted then, where are we failing to educate the minor population. Education Vs Development of India: Education Vs Development of India The proper and good education can help India to become a developed country. With good education our youth could be able to remove corruption from the country. The technological advancement of the country is possible with good education of children. Why there is lack of child education in India?: Why there is lack of child education in India? The main hurdles in between a child and education are:- Poverty. Lack of awareness. Lack of opportunities. Slavery. Government Education plans: Government Education plans Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Right To Education Act. Ladli Yojna . Mid-day meal. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education For All) : Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education For All) Indian government program aimed at the universalization of elementary education. It is mandated by the 86 th amendment to the constitution of India. It aims to provide free and compulsory education to children of age group 6-14. In 2001 the number of benefited children was 205 million. Goal of “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” for year 2011: Goal of “ Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ” for year 2011 Open new schools in backward areas and expand existing school infrastructure. Increase the number of qualified teachers and provide training and development for existing teachers. Provide quality elementary education including life skills with the special focus on the education of girls and children with the special needs. Benefits of RTE act: Benefits of RTE act Because of RTE act people are now aware about the importance of education for there children. Number of school going children has increased. SC, ST And OBC’s children are getting financial help form the government. Scholarship is provided by the govt. to the poor students and brilliant students. Now there are schools like Pratibha Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas . Delusions of India’s Iconic Growth: Delusions of India’s Iconic Growth Iconic growth of India can not be the parameters of child education. A paradigm shift is required to improve the standards of education at primary and secondary level. India becoming a developed nation, we need to plan child education. Our Brand Ambassadors can contribute. Suggestions: Suggestions Mother tongue can be the medium of instruction . English as (ESL) could be imparted. As technique existence action knowledge. Promising a holistic approach is the need of the hour. Inspiration of students with regular appraisals are required. THANK YOU! FOR LISTNING ME: THANK YOU! FOR LISTNING ME Questions?


The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Turner, Nat
TURNER, Nat, negro slave, preacher and leader of the “Southampton Insurrection”; b. Southampton County, Va., 1800; executed at Jerusalem, Va., 11 Nov. 1831. A man of elementary education, but a preacher of natural ability and influence among the negroes, his mystical claims of hearing voices and seeing visions from childhood culminated in 1828 when he announced that a voice from heaven had declared that “the last shall be first”; that the negroes should rise and slay their enemies and gain freedom and control, when a sign should appear. The solar eclipse of February 1831 and subsequent unusual atmospheric conditions were accepted as the signal, and on Sunday night, 21 Aug. 1831, Turner and seven companions murdered his master and five members of the family in their beds. With their band increased to 53 members, the negroes massacred 24 children, 18 women and 13 men of white blood before noon of the following day, when they were dispersed by a party of white men who had hastily gathered for defense. The criminals were subsequently hunted down and Turner escaped capture until 30 October. Tried and condemned, 17 of the band, including Turner, were hanged. The remainder received other sentences, as evidence showed that they acted under life or death compulsion. In other instances, at the risk of their lives, faithful slaves successfully defended their masters and families from slaughter. Pro-slavery advocates irrationally attributed the insurrection to the work of the abolitionists. Stricter slave codes were enacted, and the liberation movement received a serious setback. Consult Drewry, W. L., ‘The Southampton Insurrection’ (Washington 1900).