Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world as it measures 120 km by 15 km. It covers a total area of 1840 square kilometers. It is also the only place in the entire world where the rainforest grows on sand. It was formed during the Ice Age from sand drifting off the east coast of mainland Australia.
The island has a maximum elevation of 244 meters. It has more than 100 freshwater lakes that you can swim in. In 1992, it was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Quick Facts: –
- Fraser Island was named after a Scottish woman named Eliza Fraser who survived a famous shipwreck of the coast of Queensland back in 1836.
- This island is home to several other attractions including Champagne Pools, Eli Creek and Lake Birabeen.
- There are massive sand dunes spread out all over this island. The biggest of all of them is 244 meters high.
- This island has many perched lakes. Lake Boomanjin is the largest of lake and it covers over 200 hectares.
- The indigenous name of the island is K’gari which means paradise.
- It is home to more than 230 species of bird including pelicans, ospreys, kingfishers, peregrine falcons and the ground parrot.
- The island has plenty of Eucalyptus trees that also make it very smelling but in a nice way.
- The island has been inhabited for at least 5,000 years. Currently, less than 400 people live here.
- It has also served as a secret training base for allied soldiers during World War II.
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Challenges to implementing the food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary school curriculum: a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of principals and curriculum advisors
Keywords: Food-based dietary guidelines, school curriculum, implementation, barriers, South Africa
AbstractObjectives: The South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) were developed and implemented to promote healthy lifestyles in the population along with preventing non-communicable diseases and other forms of diet-related illness. The FBDG were recommended for implementation within the national school curriculum. The objective of this study was to explore perceived challenges to successful implementation of these guidelines in the primary school curriculum. Design: This qualitative study gathered data via semi-structured individual interviews. Data were transcribed and analysed with ATLAS.ti software, using a thematic approach. Setting: Public primary schools located in three education districts in the Western Cape, South Africa. Subjects: Principals at twelve schools from communities with different socioeconomic statuses, and five curriculum advisors of relevant subjects from provincial and district levels. Outcomes measures: Perceived barriers to implementing FBDG in the primary school curriculum. Results: A lack of knowledge and/or expertise related to the FBDG by educators, time constraints within the teaching programme and lifestyle related factors of educators, parents and learners emerged as the three main challenge themes from the interviews. A lack of resources was identified as an additional theme. Conclusions: The principals and curriculum advisors anticipated many barriers to the success of implementing nutrition education using the FBDG in the primary school curriculum. Adequately addressing such barriers through improved awareness and knowledge of the FBDG by school staff could improve the potential of using the FBDG as a nutrition education tool in primary schools in South Africa. (Full text available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojcn) South Afr J Clin Nutr 2017; DOI: 10.1080/16070658.2016.1230971
How to Cite
Nguyen, K., De Villiers, A., Fourie, J., & Hendricks, M. (2017). Challenges to implementing the food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary school curriculum: a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of principals and curriculum advisors. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 30(1), 10-15. Retrieved from http://sajcn.co.za/index.php/SAJCN/article/view/1114
Material submitted for publication in the South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition (SAJCN) is accepted provided it has not been published elsewhere. Copyright forms will be sent with acknowledgement of receipt and the SAJCN reserves copyright of the material published.
The SAJCN does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.


With the influx of technology, accessing information has become easier and faster. Nowadays, it has become a typical sight to see students taking full responsibility as regards what they learn and how they learn. This approach is known as self-guided learning. This means that individuals take responsibility for their own learning and are deeply committed to it. Students are taught about learning how to learn; how to set goals; how to create a plan of action to achieve those goals; how to establish feedback loops and check progress and how to look for the people, resources and experiences that are vital to meet a learning goal. This approach aims to help people achieve independence and personal responsibility – values that are needed in the real world.
Self-guided learning encourages the development of confidence, resourcefulness, diligence and contentment. Once we have become of age, we are in control for making the choices that help create our own paths. When the stakes are high, this greatly increases a person’s ability to make thorough, smart, and sound choices. The more practice learners have with making their own decisions when they are young, the more likely they are to develop into mature, practical, strong, dynamic and considerate adults.
Moreover, self-guided learning nurtures teamwork, inside and outside the family. Parents and their children are able to form, engage, discuss, develop and discover what they agree will best serve their aims, beliefs and personal needs. Students become more confident of themselves and are deeply sensitive to the needs of others. Collaboration and empowerment are more prevalent than superiority among others.
Since self-guided learning promotes personal responsibility, success not only in academics but also in real life is guaranteed. Students will learn to perform better in ways they never thought possible when they learn how to take responsibility of their own actions. In many circumstances, future learners will need to become focused, responsible and goal-oriented throughout their lives just to cope with the abundance of information available to them. Thus, their reading and writing skills will be enhanced because authentic and purposeful literacy development occurs in this type of inquiry-based setting.


Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality”
- In addition, students will be able to explain culture preferences through social stratification perspective, understand the link between cultural production cultural consumption, generate research hypothesis, develop academic skills in reading, writing, and presentation.
- be able to understand and discuss topics related to culture and inequality and improve skills in developing research design in the framework of culture and inequality studies
- Culture and Inequality (Course introduction)Why does art and cultural consumption matters. Status symbols and status groups. Schools, labour market and marriage markets as spaces of exclusion.
- Taste culturesArt perception as decoding process (Bourdieu original thesis). Code and legitimate culture. Abstract and contemporary art as specific objects for decoding. Upper classes as main consumers of legitimate art. Disinterested vs. Interested involvement: decoding or decorative qualities of art objects.
- Art as a professionDevelopment of artistic educational institutions & art museums. Art academies and challengers in art education. Dominating and competing groups: curators, trustees, managers. Conflict between curatorial and educational functions inside museums. Neoliberal turn and stimuli for marketization.
- Cultural production and urban milieusDistinction and reproduction of symbolic boundaries. Consumer “sets” or repertoires. Symbolic boundaries and negative choices (dislikes). Symbolic exclusion and musical taste. Contradiction between Bourdieu statements and contemporary political cultures. Preferences for democracy and tolerance. Race VS. status intolerance.
- Сultural production as labourConcept of creative labour. Creative careers. Cultural and creative industries. Inequality and precariat in creative industries.
- Art-world structure: producers, consumers, prosumersH. Backer’s circular model of art world. Professionals vs. mavericks. Professionals, art institutions and definition of creativity. Conventions. Who creates genius? Prosumers as recent phenomenon.
- Networks and creativityArt-production as two-mode data. Core-periphery structure of cultural industries. Advantages and disadvantages of periphery positions. Weakness and strength of core positions. Team position and composition. Small-world phenomenon in creative industries. Legitimacy vs. innovation dilemma.
- Class cultures and inequality reproductionClass cultures and cultural capital. How to measure cultural capital. How cultural capital influence educational attainment and chances on marriage markets.
- Interim assessment (3 module)0.4 * Class participation + 0.4 * Homework assignments + 0.2 * Oral exam
- Alexander, V. D., & Bowler, A. E. (2014). Art at the Crossroads: The Arts in Society and the Sociology of Art. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.25367D5F
- Tanner, J. (2003). Sociology of Art : A Reader. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=111300


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“Go Figure at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum” is a Mathematics Encouragement Program for Wabash Valley Area students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Students with varying ranges of mathematics experience and achievement will be accepted to participate in the enrichment activities planned for this “Experiential Mathematics” program. Go Figure is not a tutoring program. Go Figure lessons are not designed to not replicate the rigor of the skill and drill activities in a classroom setting.
The program goals are threefold: (1) to create a sense of excitement about being math savvy in everyday life, (2) to encourage students to pursue more challenging math classes as they enter middle school and high school, and (3) to inspire students to begin thinking about the importance of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The program is a collaborative effort of Indiana State University’s (ISU’s) Center for Mathematics Education (Math Center), ISU students, and the Terre Haute Children’s Museum.
ISU student volunteers (elementary education/mathematics education/other majors) serve as “activity designers” and docents for the program while ISU College of Education faculty, ISU Mathematics faculty, and volunteer teaching professionals from the Wabash Valley provide subject matter expertise, classroom management hints, educational strategy coaching and general mentorship to insure that the program is effective and that it meets curriculum standards for the targeted grade levels.
The program takes place at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum in a “math laboratory” setting.
ISU’s Center for Public Service and Community Engagement provides leadership coordination for the ISU volunteer docent cadre to insure adherence to the University’s mission and vision for Community Engagement.


Many teacher preparation programs can be completed during undergraduate study, although some are designed for students who are returning to school after earning a degree. Most programs require that applicants have a 2.5 grade point average or higher, and some also have a required introductory course. Undergraduates must be enrolled in a bachelor's degree program, and previous graduates must be re-admitted to the school.
Students admitted to teacher prep programs learn educational pedagogy and participate in student-teaching experiences. Graduates are eligible for teacher licensure in early childhood, elementary, or secondary education. Many specializations are available, including art education, math, physics, or foreign languages.
Teacher Preparation Certification Program
A teacher preparation program is designed to prepare both undergraduate and graduate students to become licensed teachers. Programs can offer students specialized coursework in the grade level and subjects they are interested in teaching. The teacher preparation program also includes a hands-on student teaching experience, which is required in most states for licensing. Typical coursework covers:
- Issues in education
- Child or adolescent development
- Student assessment
- Early childhood methods
- Language and literacy
- Educational psychology
Employment Outlook and Salary Information
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), the employment of kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and high school teachers is predicted to grow 6%, or about as fast of average, over the 2014-2024 decade. The best prospects will be in underserved areas such as urban school districts or rural areas. In May 2015, elementary school teachers earned a median salary of $54,890, while secondary school teachers earned a median salary of $57,200.
Licensing, Certification and Continuing Education
All states require public school teachers to become licensed. Teachers in private schools may not need a license. Teacher preparation programs are designed to prepare students to meet most licensing requirements. In addition to earning a degree and completing the teacher preparation program, prospective teachers must pass a basic skills test. Continuing education is required to maintain licensure. Teachers can find opportunities for continuing education through professional organizations, such as the National Education Association. Teachers might also consider voluntary board certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Students who want a career in teaching can enroll in a teacher preparation certification program, which can be completed alongside - or after - a bachelor's degree. Along with normal coursework, students will be expected to complete a student teaching experience.


The Technology Department has maintained high standards and results for many years successfully enabling pupils to reach their potential.
The Design Technology team put pupils first and work very hard to help all pupils succeed. We believe in encouraging pupils to become independent learners who are able to think through problem solving tasks. Our curriculum integrates the use of ICT skills along with Literacy and Numeracy skills. We offer a comprehensive programme of after school clubs to support teaching and learning as well as e-learning through our Frog VLE.
GCSE Catering pupils will have the opportunity to take part in a National Cooking Competition.
Key Stage 3
We operate a 'circus' system in which groups move between Resistant Materials, Food, Graphics and Textile projects.
Projects covered: Ugly doll, Steady Hand Game, Aerosol Can Design and Licence to Cook Food projects.
Projects covered: Bird box, Money Box, Apron Design and Licence to Cook Food projects
Projects covered: Graphic Skills, Gadget Tidy and Licence to Cook Food projects.
Key Stage 4
We work to the AQA specifications for Resistant Materials and Graphics. We also now offer the Welsh Board Catering course which is a more practical based cooking course.


Assessment of Health Related Physical Fitness and Motor Skill Ability of 9-11 Year Old School Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
Odindo, Francis Okinda
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Physical activity (PA) is recognized as an important determinant for chronic lifestyle diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) PA is one of the major underlying causes of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) leading to significant global burden of death, disease and disability among children and adults. There are many factors that influence PA among school children, including physical fitness and motor skill development. Health-related physical fitness includes cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition. Motor skills include elements of locomotor and object-control movements. The aim of the study was to assess health-related physical fitness components and motor skill ability among 9-11 year old school children in Nairobi County, Kenya. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. A total of 199 (106 female and 93 male) school children were tested. The following variables were measured using standardized procedures, children’s height and weight, low back flexibility, muscular strength, static abdominal muscular endurance, aerobic fitness and motor skill ability. These factors are thought to influence the quantity and quality of PA thus justifying their inclusion. The study targeted school children in both public (n=104) and private schools (n=95). Ethical clearance was obtained from the Kenyatta University Ethics Review Board. Research permits were obtained from the Ministry of Education and Nairobi City Council. Consent was sought from the parents of children who took part in the study, the children also provided assent to participate. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using SPSS version 17.0. Independent T-tests were used to compare differences in the means of variables. Chi-square tests were used to establish the relationship between categorical variables. BMI cut-offs were based on the recommended 2010 WHO international cut-offs. The results have been presented in tables. A p-value of 0.05 was considered significant. The average age was 9.9 years. Aerobic endurance was significantly associated with sex (p=0.004 [χ 2 = 13.396]) with boys performing better than girls. Flexibility was significantly associated with sex p<0.0001 (χ 2 = 25.33), girls were more flexible than boys. Children with good motor skill ability were the more physically fit compared to their counterparts. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 24.2%. Males showed a better motor performance than females. Regarding motor skills, 28.6% of the children were at the beginning level, 55.3% progressing, only 4% and 3% were achieving and excelling respectively. 38.2% had very low cardiovascular fitness, 31.7% progressing, 11.6% were achieving and 9.5% excelled, 46.2% had low torso muscular endurance while only 2.5% were excelling. Overall, the children had average scores in motor skill ability, aerobic endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, and body composition. Their performance in flexibility was above average. Improving children's motor skill ability may be a good target for increasing PA in youth. A longitudinal study exploring the relationship between changes in health-related fitness and motor skill ability should be carried out so as to establish the effect of time on the variables. Also, a similar study targeting rural children and peri-urban kids could also be interesting.


Hobbies Playing Music Musical Symbols in Piano Music Common Commands of Keyboard Sheet Music Share PINTEREST Email Print Playing Music Playing Piano Tutorials Piano Chords Buying Advice Music Education Playing Guitar Home Recording By Brandy Kraemer Updated January 06, 2019 Playing the piano can be an enjoyable experience, no matter your level of expertise. When playing the piano, several different pieces of information come together to create the music that you hear. Muscle coordination and dexterity allow pianists to play with different dynamics, articulations, and speeds. Music symbols are helpful tools in music notation that allow the composer to express how the music should sound. Note pitch, rhythm, articulation and dynamic are a few of the many symbols used in a composition that indicate how to play the music. Music Note Lengths Brandy Kraemer The vertical position of note heads on the staff denotes pitch, while the duration of a note’s sound is expressed with note color, note stems, and stem flags. Music Rests Brandy Kraemer In music, notes indicate sound. But sometimes, silence is a part of music too. A music rest is a symbol that represents silence or the absence of a music note. Similar to music notes, music rests are written in various styles to show their different rhythmic lengths. Accidentals and Double-Accidentals Brandy Kraemer An accidental is a musical symbol placed beside a note that creates a change in the note's pitch. Accidentals include sharps, flats, and naturals. Double-accidentals include the double-sharp and double-flat. Learn about the different types of music accidentals in order to identify them correctly. Key Signatures Brandy Kraemer The key signature is a series of accidentals written at the beginning of a music staff and is used to express the key in which a song is written. In other words, it tells you which notes will have sharps or flats throughout a musical composition. Key signatures can have single or multiple sharps or flats. Time Signatures and Meter Brandy Kraemer The time signature looks like a fraction and appears at the beginning of a piece of music. Time signatures organize beats into measures and work alongside the tempo to create the rhythm of a song. Sometimes, a single piece of music can contain several time signatures, indicating a change in the beat structure. Tempo and BPM Brandy Kraemer The tempo defines the speed of the music and is measured by the beats per minute (BPM). The BPM of a song may be written using metronome marks or Italian tempo terms that are closely associated with a metronome range. Some music pieces detail a precise metronome marking, while others use a broad command. An understanding of both tempo and BPM is helpful in music performance. Note Accents and Articulation Brandy Kraemer Symbols and lines placed around noteheads and note groups change the way they sound and create a relationship with the surrounding notes. This concept is called “articulation,” and is modified in piano music using a variety of articulation marks. Note Ornaments Brandy Kraemer Note ornaments are used to simplify the notation of certain techniques, which would otherwise complicate and crowd the sheet music. For example, a glissando is when you run your finger across the entire keyboard, hitting every note along the way. To write this out in notation would be tedious for the composer and the pianist. Instead, note ornaments and embellishments help abbreviate the notation of the desired effect. Volume and Dynamics Brandy Kraemer Musical dynamics control the volume of a song and may be signified by words, symbols or both. Dynamics mark the relative changes in intensity and do not express precise decibel levels. Understanding the various dynamic and volume commands help bring expressive volume elements to the music. Repeat Barlines Brandy Kraemer A repeat bar is a musical symbol that resembles a final barline with two dots in the middle staff spaces. A passage written between two repeat bars will be played at least two times, and any variant of this will be explained using volta brackets, or “time bars.” Repeat signs and volta brackets are common commands in music composition. Segno and Coda Repeats Brandy Kraemer Segno and coda marks belong to a system used to express complex repetitions which cannot be expressed using simple repeat barlines. They may seem tricky at first, but rest assured, they make sheet music much simpler and at times can help avoid several page-turns. Navigating segno and coda marks becomes simple once they are familiar. 8va and Octave Commands Brandy Kraemer Musical symbols such as 8va and 15ma indicate that a note or passage will be played in a different octave than in the one they are written. These commands make it easier to read very high or low notes that would otherwise be written using ledger lines. Learn to recognize these common octave commands.


The Grimm of Old
Historically, the Brothers Grimm collected folklore and published these stories in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. With fairy tales acting as an oral tradition, the Grimm brothers met with people to write down their stories.
“When the wedding with the prince was to be held, the two false sisters came, wanting to gain favor with Cinderella and to share her good fortune. When the bridal couple walked into the church, the older sister walked on their right side and the younger on their left side, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards, as they came out of the church, the older one was on the left side, and the younger one on the right side, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each of them. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.”
However, in versions of The Little Glass Slipper, specifically the version by Charles Perrault, Cinderella forgives her wicked step sisters and allows them to live with her in the palace.
“And now her two sisters found her to be that fine, beautiful lady whom they had seen at the ball. They threw themselves at her feet to beg pardon for all the ill treatment they had made her undergo. Cinderella took them up, and, as she embraced them, said that she forgave them with all her heart, and wanted them always to love her.”
The Grimm of New
“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
Furthermore, Chesterton also states that fairy tales are a way to escape from this world much in the same way that a prisoner seeks to escape his prison cell. Such imagination is a noble pursuit – to escape to a place where good always does triumph over evil.
Andrew Jacobson is the director of Choral Studies at Bellevue Christian School in Bellevue, WA. He holds an M.M. in Music Education from Boston University, as well as a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Washington. He loves wine, food, reading, music, and movies. You can reach him via email at firstname.lastname@example.org.


My girls have been fascinated by Australia lately – the wildlife, the landscape and (of course) the mythical mermaids. This interest has launched us into a study of the land down under, including the history and art of the Aborigines.
I wanted to add a hands-on art project to our study. My friend Cyndi, at the Sharpie Artist, inspired me to give sharpies a try. I love her work and I thought it would be a fun, easy medium to use to create abstract and aboriginal art with my little women.
We viewed page after page of aboriginal art for inspiration, but decided to make it our own and create freely. We used some of the symbols, animals and lots of dots. This was our first time working with Sharpies. We played around with swirly lines, sharp edges and tons of colors.
What You Will Need to Create Sharpie Art:
- Thick paper.
- Sharpies in your favorite colors.
- Cardboard to go under the paper (just in case the color bleeds through).
Find something to inspire you (like we did) or start with simple shapes and lines on paper.
Begin with an outline first and then fill in, layer, add color and expand on your design.
You’ll notice that we strayed a bit at times from traditional aboriginal art.
No rules are necessary! Our one goal was to enjoy the process.
My youngest (age 6) loved this project. She spent the next two days making all different kind of pictures with Sharpies. We’re still working on washing the colors off of her fingers!
Resources and lessons about Aboriginal Art:
- Aboriginal Art Education for Kids
- Sticky Dot Map of Australia Craft
- Aboriginal Art Lessons on Pinterest
This post is part of my series 5 Days of Summer Homeschool Art Projects.


Teaching and Learning
At St Joseph's we are committed to:
- Providing a learning environment in which students are able to understand the world through a faith perspective
- Providing a curriculum to which is based on the Victorian Curriculum and which promotes high expectations for every student
- Determining the needs and interests of the students and using these to personalise learning
- Providing an environment that promotes learning
- Embracing collaborative partnerships between home, school and the wider community to enhance student learning and wellbeing
We believe that the study of English – Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening is an ongoing process that is fundamental to all areas of the curriculum. Therefore literacy learning should be engaging, child-centred, developmental and informed by data. We believe we should enable students to become contemporary literate learners to achieve diverse life goals.
A key part of the program is the focused teaching of all aspects of English as outlined in the Victorian Curriculum (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) through the use of spoken, written and multimodal texts. There is a specific focus on oral language and phonological development in the Prep to Year 2 area and the development of key comprehension strategies in Years 3 to 6.
We encourage an interest in and love for literature. We support children to become proficient readers who are able to use reading as a tool for lifelong learning and enjoyment.
Our program is based on the belief that improvements are achievable through a whole school approach that ensures all students make progress and achieve success. Intervention and acceleration programs are offered to students who require additional support in reading and comprehension skills. These include Reading Recovery and Levelled Literacy Intervention
All students are given opportunities to discover mathematical understandings for themselves through hands on approach. Teachers differentiate their content to cater for a range of learning needs. There is a strong emphasis on Number in the junior school in order to develop strong foundational skills and understandings required for further mathematics.
Learning Mathematics at St Joseph's is based on the Victorian Curriculum and provides students with essential mathematical skills and knowledge in the three strands of: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability.
At St Joseph’s School our aim is for our students to become mathematically proficient, to know and use mathematics successfully enabling them to solve the new kinds of problems they will face in their future.
At St. Joseph’s School we use an Inquiry approach to learning across a broad curriculum. Inquiry based learning is a process that draws on a range of tools and strategies to develop thinking and research skills, collaboration, communication, independence and ownership of learning.
The context, content, skills and dispositions incorporated provide a balance between curriculum standards, real life contexts, current local and global affairs, as well as student interest.
Our Inquiry units aim to ignite curiosity and develop deep understandings about our world, how it works and our involvement in this world.
In the Prep, Years 1 and 2 children take part in play based and investigative learning. Literacy and Numeracy are embedded within investigations as well as explicitly taught throughout the rest of the day. The nature of play-based experiences promotes creativity, imagination and scope for children to invent, explore, create and problem solve.
The children’s interests are the predominant means for learning experiences during investigations. The teacher works with focus children each day using their interests to extend, scaffold and support them with their investigation to ensure ongoing engagement in all areas of learning. Observation and documentation by teachers identifies key skills, needs, strengths and interests of individual children and is used to further plan and implement appropriate experiences and set further learning and developmental objectives.
Students are encouraged to search for answers to questions, create community links beyond the classroom, use technologies and develop deep understandings of the ideas embedded within the curriculum. Each term, teachers plan and implement Inquiry Unit/s, centred around broad concepts and understandings so that students will have the opportunity to develop deep questioning skills, articulation techniques and higher order thinking.


Phonics Advanced First Grade is a comprehensive, educational, low-cost app based on the Common Core Foundational Skills. It is written by teachers, for teachers, and can used in the classroom, integrating easily into lesson preparation. Parents can use the app to help a child keep up or catch up with their peers. The Check Yourself section will identify a student’s individual needs.
The Common Core Foundational Skills for 1st Grade includes:
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
a. Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
b. Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
c. Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel
d. Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
e. Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.
f. Read words with inflectional endings.
g. Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
All of these skills are taught and practiced in the Phonics Advanced App. The check yourself section allows the parent or teacher to see the child’s progress on these skills.
|Phonics Advanced, 1st Grade|
|2nd Grade BugbrainED apps|
|3rd Grade BugbrainED Apps|
|8 Great Word Patterns|
|Kindergarten BugbrainED Apps|
|Student Reading Analysis 2|
|Using a Number Line|
|Add & Subtract by 10s|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 1b|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 1a|
|Meaning of Multiplication|
|Addition Thinking 1 Advanced|
|Addition Thinking 1|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 8|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 7b|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 7a|
|8 Great Word Patterns Level 6|


Ada Lovelace was one of the influential mathematicians and English writers of her time. She has written instructions for the first computer program in the mid 1800s. She also wrote the program for Charles Babbage’s mechanical computer, the analytical engine.
She was born on December 10, 1815 to the poet Lord Byron and Anne Isabella Milbanke. She was also the only legitimate child of her father but had no relationship with her father. Lord Byron left his wife and daughter continuing his affair with a stage actress and died when Ada was just nine years old.
Quick Facts: –
- Ada Lovelace is credited with writing the first algorithm that was meant to be processed by a machine.
- She was the first one to realize that a computer would be able to do more than just performing mathematical calculations.
- She conceptualized a flying machine after studying the anatomy of birds at the age of 12 years.
- Her mother Anne Isabella Milbanke was also a mathematics wiz. She was also known as the Princess of Parallelograms.
- Ada married William King-Noel, the first Earl of Lovelace. She is also known as the ‘Countess of Computing’.
- There is also a computer programming language which is named in Ada Lovelace’s honour. It was developed during the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Defense.
- Lovelace died on November 27, 1852 due to uterine cancer. She was 36 years old at that time.
- She was buried next to her father at her request who also passed away at the age of 36 years.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Amazing Facts for Kids about Ada Lovelace ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 17 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/ada-lovelace/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Amazing Facts for Kids about Ada Lovelace. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/ada-lovelace/
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Most refugee families make the difficult decision to resettle in a strange country for the sake of their children, seeking safety, security and opportunity. Like American parents, they hope for their children’s lives to be better than their own. Yet, the realities of raising children in a new country can be daunting as parents navigate the challenges of language acquisition, employment, family role changes, and the more rapid acculturation of their children.
Refugee parents arrive in the U.S. with experience and dedication to raising their children, but sometimes these skills must be contextualized according to U.S. parenting norms.
Supervision expectations, discipline methods, parent-school interactions, matters of safety, health and nutrition can all have differing interpretations in varied cultures. Newcomer mothers and fathers rely on the parenting skills with which they are most familiar: those from their home country. A commonplace discipline or supervision method in West Africa or Southeast Asia could be interpreted differently in the U.S., resulting in child welfare intervention in the most extreme situations.
Definitions of appropriate parenting behavior vary by culture, and by community, necessitating education for refugee and immigrants about U.S. parenting norms and requiring cultural sensitivity by American human service workers.
Other family strengthening services may assist refugees with integration and daily functioning, such as literacy development, culturally relevant child care, family preservation services, marriage development, and parent-child programming. Since most refugee families experience some form of family separation, the following services also support overall family functioning and resilience: helping families deal with the changes wrought by separation; aiding relatives in establishing legal guardianship for non-biological children in their care; and assisting families in reuniting with relatives, support overall family functioning.
BRYCS’ family strengthening resources can be used to aid newcomer parents in understanding U.S. childrearing expectations, to build and support refugee family stability, and to promote collaboration with ethnic community organizations, in order to support and strengthen refugee family relationships as they integrate into American society.


True blue: A narrative inquiry exploring instructional practices used during reading instruction in a Title I 2010 National Blue Ribbon School in New Mexico
Over the past 32 years, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, a trademark of excellence and success in academics, has recognized nearly 7,000 American schools in which students have demonstrated high academic performance and achievement (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Previous studies of National Blue Ribbon Schools have largely centered upon leadership characteristics (Carney-Dalton, 2001; Copeland, 2003; Kushner, 2000; Lyles, 2009; Maslyk, 2012;Sapone, 2001), but studies have not focused on the particular instructional practices that are used within these schools. Since 1982, 36 out of 862 New Mexico schools (NCES, 2013) have achieved National Blue Ribbon status (United States Department of Education, 2012). These schools have achieved National Blue Ribbon status, contradicting reports of the state's history of its schools' low academic performance (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2011, 2012). This Deweyian-influenced narrative inquiry tells the story of one of New Mexico's 2010, Title I, National Blue Ribbon Schools in order to address the research puzzle concerning whether and how the use of particular instructional practices used during reading instruction contributed to student success in one such school. As opposed to research problems which carry with them qualities of definability and the expectation of a solution, narrative inquiries are composed around a particular wonder or research puzzle (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Using Dewey's (1938) criteria of experience as a theoretical frame for interaction (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), instructional practices were identified as exogenous and endogenous tensions. Instructional practices characterized by exogenous tensions included accountability structures, parental and community involvement, and building relationships. Those characterized by endogenous tensions included teacher-coaching, leveled instruction, classroom discourse, active monitoring of student learning, and fidelity, all pertaining to the Balanced Literacy Framework. Teachers and principals may find that what was learned through this inquiry may have transferability in other locales and implications for policy and practice.
Elementary education|Teacher education|Literacy|Reading instruction
Kerney, Debra Yvonne, "True blue: A narrative inquiry exploring instructional practices used during reading instruction in a Title I 2010 National Blue Ribbon School in New Mexico" (2014). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI3636272.


At Superkidz theatre education stimulate children to use words, manipulate tools and media, and solve problems in ways that simultaneously convey meaning and are aesthetically pleasing. Theatre has been an influential factor in children’s lives, creativity can flourish, academics can improve and means of self-expression can be developed.
By Theatre education @ Superkidz we teach valuable skills that can be used in the professional world. Staging and performing in a show can promote teamwork. Learning lines for a play may seem tedious and can be tough but even the smallest of lines encourages the student to use public speaking. Speaking in front of audiences develops confidence and improved communication skills. These skills are utilized in Superkidz school reports. The more confident a child becomes, the more their self-esteem will grow. Children and youth with high self-esteem have a tendency to perform better scholastically and have a better outlook on life. Such students will give positive contribution to society.
Kids also learn about their world by forming visual pictures or little movies in their heads. Each thought they’re thinking is like a frame of the movie. They construct these visual movies in their minds as they play. At Superkidz children not only enjoy fun movies but also watch educational movies and movies on moral values. These mental movies help them get familiar with a process and improve their personality as a whole.
Sand is one of the most easily available resources to aid the early childhood learning process. It provides therapy for an upset child. It lends itself to group or lone activity. It can be piled, shaped, scraped, dumped, poked, measured, and sifted. Children learn new vocabulary and apply descriptive phrases to the activity being played out in the sand. As such, the sandbox should be an integral part of the play area. The Sandpit Corner @ Superkidz will keep our little explorers, builders and scientists busy enjoying experimenting and mixing the sand. Children are naturally drawn to Sandpit Corner @ Superkidz where they can build roads, play with their friends, or just relax.


|Name of the song||Artist||Link suggested by|
Chung Donald H.
Spivey Kristen P.
Parrott Patsy A.
Bolton Lillian O.
Holt Rosemary O.
Piano sheets artist Frederic Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, also phonetically Szopen; 1 March or 22 February 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is widely considered one of the greatest Romantic composers. Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, a village in the then Duchy of Warsaw. A renowned child-prodigy pianist and composer, he grew up in Warsaw and completed his music education there; he composed many mature works in Warsaw before leaving Poland in 1830 at age 20, shortly before the November 1830 Uprising.
Top viewed piano sheets!
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man
Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah
Justin Bieber - Beauty and a Beat
Les Miserables - On My Own
Macklemore - Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz)
The Beatles - Let It Be
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther Theme Song
Emeli Sande - Read All About It (Part III)
Labrinth - Beneath Your Beautiful
James Bond 007 - James Bond Theme Song
Alladin - A Whole New World
Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
Rihanna - Stay
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Les Miserables - Castle on a Cloud
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
The Basics of Playing Piano and Reading Sheet Music For beginners, musical sheets may look really foreign, with all the notes and symbols printed in it. And for those without musical background to start with, it may seem all overwhelming. The good thing is, there are lots of ways to start understanding music notes from tutorial videos to reading how to articles like this one. A first step is finding sites with quality free sheet music for piano for popular songs. Let me walk you through the basics of reading music sheets. The first step is to familiarize yourself with the staff. The staff is composed of horizontal lines where the notes and the symbols are usually written there are also the vertical lines called the bar which divides the staff into sections. The space between the bars are ...Continue reading The Basics of Playing Piano and Reading Sheet Music


The Haiku Stairs
The Haiku Stairs are also known as the Stairway to Heaven. These stairs are actually a steep hiking trail on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. It is one of the Oahu‘s most popular forbidden trails. This 2,120 feet long difficult hike trail has a total of 3,992 steps. The stairs had became worn and dangerous and they were officially closed to the public in 1987. It is one of the most famous man-made wonders of the USA.
Facts you didn’t know: –
- This stairway was originally built for the US Coast Guard to allow access to the LORAN radio antenna on the top of the mountain.
- They needed a radio receiver to be very high for reception. This is the main reason why they chose this peak.
- This step ladder was built in 1943, during the World War II.
- In 2003, the Haiku Stairs were repaired completely. The total cost of the repairs was $875,000.
- Although the hike has been illegal for more than 25 years it has not stopped people.
- There are points in the hike where the peaks rise above the clouds.
- At some points the hike is so steep that it becomes a ladder more than stairs.
- A volunteer group “The Friends of Haiku Stairs” offers legal tours to this stairway to heaven.
- In these tours, you are required to clean up the trash and help to eradicate invasive species while climbing.
- The stairs are divided into 4 or 5 sections. Each section has a platform to rest during the hike.
- The top of the stairway offers extremely beautiful panoramic views.
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- Curriculum links:
- Early Years
- Reading (incl. phonics & spelling)
- Art and Design
- Physical Education
- Religious Education
- Modern Foreign Language
- Design Technology
learning experiences of the highest quality are planned and resourced to consider children’s interests, needs and achievements.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum is followed throughout the Reception year and sets the standards that all Early Years’ providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life. Through self-initiated learning, short taught inputs and purposeful play, pupils develop the prime skills, confidence, independence and a love of learning to prepare them for their journey through Downsbrook Primary School.
Within the Reception Year, learning experiences of the highest quality are planned and resourced to consider children’s interests, needs and achievements. Both child-initiated and teacher-led activities provide opportunities for all children to succeed in an atmosphere of care and of feeling valued. Well-planned play is a key way in which children learn with enjoyment and challenge, both within the indoor and outdoor learning environments. The curriculum for the Foundation Stage is designed to ignite children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and to build their capacity to learn,
form relationships, thrive and prepare for later learning. The curriculum is planned in seven areas of learning and development; all areas are important and inter-connected.
There are three prime areas in the Early Years Curriculum:
Communication and Language Development - 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 - providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive and to develop their movement, co-ordination and fine and gross motor control. 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 - 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.
There are four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. These specific areas are:
Literacy Development - encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
Mathematics - providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems and to describe shapes, spaces and measures.
Understanding the World - guiding 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 - enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.


My son joined me and the three girls today. Here, three of the kids are starting to help sort out all of my number cards. I have many sets of cards (some are 0-10, others are 0-30, 0-50 and a few sets are 0-120). These can be used in lots of different ways - but it helps when all of the numbers are there! Unfortunately,
For anyone who is interested in the reading strategies resource my daughter prepared for me, I am using Reading Comprehension Strategies by A Teachable Teacher. She has turned each strategy into a cute animal (for example, we have 'Picturing Peacock', who reminds us that when we visualise our story, that helps us to remember it). The resource I bought also includes classroom sized posters, graphic organisers for each of the strategies, and photocopiables to use in an interactive literacy notebook. I'm looking forward to trying this out next year with my class - I'll let you know how I get on!


How and why does phonics and comprehension skill instruction impact on spelling, reading and self-efficacy for struggling adolescent learners? : a case-study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education (Educational Psychology) at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
The ability to read and write is important to learning; there is a reciprocal relationship between reading and cognitive development, and academic achievement. Adolescents who experience difficulties in spelling and reading have been found to display avoidance behaviour, and low self-efficacy, or over inflated self-efficacy that is incongruent to capability. This case study investigated how and why spelling, reading, comprehension and self-efficacy for four struggling adolescent spellers and readers was impacted by a phonological based and comprehension skills intervention. The intervention implemented was Agility with Sound. The children received eight weeks of intervention aimed at improving their spelling, word decoding and comprehension. Pre and post-intervention measures of spelling, decoding, word decoding, and comprehension were taken. Measures of pre and post-intervention self-efficacy, to investigate the influences of phonic knowledge and comprehension skill development on self-efficacy, were also taken. Infield observations and post-intervention student interviews were used to provide an in-depth investigation. There were meaningful increases in word decoding and spelling. Participants reported phonological-based instruction simplified and reduced the ambiguity of word spellings and decoding. The impact on self-efficacy was that judgements were recalibrated to more accurate judgements of capability; although the adolescent learners reported their improved skill knowledge increased their belief they could improve their spelling and reading comprehension overtime. Struggling adolescent children do benefit from explicit phonics instruction. Time constraints reduced the opportunity for the consolidation of skills which impacted on comprehension development for two students, and self-efficacy growth.


ARCT2030 Materials and Small Constructions
- 6 points
|Semester 1||UWA (Perth)||Face to face|
- Details for undergraduate courses
- Level 2 core unit in the Architecture B major sequence
- The area of knowledge for this unit is Design and Creative Arts
- Category B broadening unit for students
- Level 2 elective
- Through studies of the relationship between technology and design, this unit presents various construction systems and building materials. By using a methodological analysis based on analytical drawings/diagrams, the unit teaches the act of drawing by hand as a way of thinking as well as a mode of representation. The analytical drawings aim to reveal the underlying patterns of organisation that exist within buildings (e.g. structure, services, envelope) in order to highlight the relationship between architectural design and construction systems. Through highly selective drawings and written analysis, students break down and clarify the different constructional, services and cladding systems which define a building.
- Students are able to (1) analyse building constructional systems, components and construction sequences; (2) identify and examine a range of materials and technologies; (3) demonstrate a developing understanding of structural characteristics and limitations of building materials, and thus be able to critically apply general structural and servicing principles to specific architectural case studies; and (4) demonstrate developing skills in graphical and written analysis of building assemblies.
- Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) A4 Booklet (2/4): steel and concrete construction case study and (2) A4 Booklet (4/4): Masonry and Timber case studies (steel and concrete have to be added from the previous submission in order to submit a complete booklet). Further information is available in the unit outline.
Supplementary assessment is not available in this unit except in the case of a bachelor's pass degree student who has obtained a mark of 45 to 49 overall and is currently enrolled in this unit, and it is the only remaining unit that the student must pass in order to complete their course.
- Unit Coordinator(s)
- Emiliano Roia
- Unit rules
- ARLA1030 Structures and Natural Systems (formerly ARCT1030 Structures and Natural Systems)
ARLA1040 Techniques of Visualisation (formerly IDES1040 Techniques of Visualisation).
- Contact hours
- lectures and tutorials: 34 hours for 10 weeks
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Books and other material wherever listed may be subject to change. Book lists relating to 'Preliminary reading', 'Recommended reading' and 'Textbooks' are, in most cases, available via the Booktopia Textbook Finder, which has the functionality to search by course code, course, ISBN and title, and may also be posted or available at the appropriate school's administrative offices. Where texts are listed in the unit description above, an asterisk (*) indicates that the book is available in paperback.


Want the Right Kind of Thinking About RTI? Ask the Right Questions!
(This blog is a crosspost from the Solution Tree Blog)
A few years ago, we wrote an article that appeared in Educational Leadership called “The Why Behind RTI.” In this article, we asserted that many schools were struggling with RTI because they had asked the wrong questions to guide and shape their thinking. Questions like “How do we raise our test scores?” which all too often leads to a singular focus on the “bubble kids”; “How do we implement RTI?” which reduces this life-saving process to a checklist of actions to accomplish; and “How do we stay legal?” which often leads to byzantine paperwork and mere compliance.
We then suggested a different set of questions to guide a school’s or district’s thinking: What is the fundamental purpose of this school? What knowledge and skills will our children need to be successful adults? What must we do to make this a reality for every student? These questions focused more on the why of RTI than the what and the how. In our latest book, It’s About Time (elementary and secondary versions), we have suggested questions to guide a school’s thinking about RTI that deal more with the what and the how.
Once schools are clear on the moral imperative behind this work, we suggest the following questions be asked and answered, because achieving high levels of learning for all students will require more than a new bell schedule:
- How do we successfully use this time to support student learning?
- How do we determine what interventions to offer?
- How do we assign staff?
- How do we transition students to the correct help sessions?
- How do we hold students accountable to attend?
- How do we move beyond a study hall approach and actually provide targeted instruction?
- How do we efficiently monitor student progress?
- What do we do with students who don’t need extra help?
- How do we provide intensive interventions to students who lack the foundational skills of reading, writing, number sense, or the English language and still give them access to grade-level curriculum?
- What if students need help in multiple academic areas?
- What if students’ needs are not academic, but motivational?
- How do we keep the process from becoming a paperwork nightmare? If we shave minutes off regular classes, how will teachers be able to cover the required curriculum?
- How can we achieve these outcomes with our current resources and without asking teachers to work beyond their contractual obligations?
- Where does special education fit into this process?
The good news for schools and districts is the old Chinese proverb that says, “To understand the road ahead, ask those coming back.” Our new anthologies provide answers to all of these questions from 24 contributors. It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Elementary School provides the reader with 12 different examples from 12 different elementary schools. It’s About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Secondary School does the same with 12 different examples from 12 different secondary schools. Best of all, almost every example in both anthologies was achieved with the school’s existing resources, in accordance with teacher contractual agreements, and in compliance with district, state, and federal regulations. While you many not be able to recreate the exact interventions described in each chapter, you can recreate the process, tailoring these examples to your unique resources and needs.


After a shift in upper elementary reading instruction that emphasized complex learning using nonfiction text, Texas schools showed low reading comprehension scores among upper elementary students. The purpose of this exploratory single case study was to examine the pedagogical content knowledge of Texas upper elementary teachers who teach nonfiction reading comprehension strategies to at-risk students who do not qualify for special education services. The central research question focused on how teachers view their pedagogical content knowledge while instructing students. The conceptual framework for this study was a combined Shulman's (1986) pedagogical content knowledge model and Thomlinson's (2000) differentiated instruction learning model. Data sources included online questionnaires (N = 161), open-ended scenario-based phone or Skype interviews (N = 10), and public documents on reading professional development in the state of Texas. Findings from open coding and inductive analysis indicated that the paradigm shift from reading to learn to learning to read is a challenge in the upper elementary classroom, teachers are relying on inadequate professional development to develop their pedagogy and content knowledge, and teachers may be rescuing struggling students rather than differentiating them. Findings may help Texas educators make more informed decisions on pedagogy to promote expository reading comprehension among upper elementary at-risk students and to increase their opportunities for success.
|Commitee:||Marrapodi, Michael, Hyder, Narjis|
|School Location:||United States -- Minnesota|
|Source:||DAI-A 81/2(E), Dissertation Abstracts International|
|Subjects:||Reading instruction, Elementary education|
|Keywords:||At-risk, Late-emerging reading difficulties, Upper elementary|
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There is a great deal of evidence to support the benefits of offering quality STEM experiences to young learners. But due to a combination of stagnant and vacillating policies, pre-K and primary school classrooms have not yet found the support to implement strong programs.
Recent advancements in STEM teaching and learning research and new efforts to fill knowledge gaps must become better aligned to exert more influence on policies and practices throughout the pre-K-3rd grade years. With more awareness of the significance of STEM education in children’s earliest years, policymakers can build new constituencies for investing in early childhood education (ECE) and strengthening the teaching workforce.
With 42 states adopting the Common Core State Standards and another 14 embracing the Next Generation Science Standards, there is no better time to strengthen connections between early childhood education research, policy, and practice. These connections will point to the urgency for injecting STEM findings into new workforce preparation systems and building a more robust cradle-to-career STEM pipeline. To address these national opportunities and concerns, the Cooney Center and New America worked together with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to bring forth new ideas on how to integrate STEM into early learning settings and spotlight contributions from NSF-funded research an in effort to broker increased communication and sustained collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and ECE program leaders.
Fostering STEM Trajectories: Bridging ECE Research, Practice, & Policy will include a series of commissioned papers aimed at surfacing the most critical issues in early childhood learning and teaching, and stimulating action-oriented, intersectoral conversations around them. A forum was held at New America in Spring 2016 to gather input and ideas from researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts who focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in early learning settings and the early elementary grades.
STEM Starts Early: Grounding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Early Childhood was published in February 2017.


Why is fine motor skill development important? Little hands need to develop control and strength over the years. We, as parents or caregivers, can help this process by encouraging children to play, explore and interact with all sorts of items used in daily life.
Over time these types of “play” activities and manipulation skills will help prepare a child to hold and use a crayon which will lead to colouring, drawing and ultimately writing.
Some children need a little extra help with developing these skills, which is where a Paediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) fits in. Paediatric OT’s can identify tasks your child needs extra attention and practice by using OT assessments and observation. They are then able to develop family goals followed by interventions that target the child’s difficulties. Depending on the complexity, interventions can be in the form of; practising tasks that build on control, strength and coordination and/or prescription of OT equipment.
There are also activities that children can be doing at home to help develop their hand control and strength. It could be as simple as fastening clothes, pegging clothes on the washing line, using safety scissors and moulding playdough. Even doing safe tasks in the kitchen are great ways to help build fine motor skills. Below are some activities from infancy to 3 years of age, that you could help with your child’s fine motor development:
Pushing up, shifting from side to side and swiping at objects in front of them are ways children build on shoulder, neck, back and core muscles. These are essential for sitting. Please only encourage when the baby is awake and being supervised.
Feel free to let your little one finger feed as much as possible. Picking up food with their fingers develops a pincer grasp (thumb and first finger together), which is needed when they want to hold a crayon in future.
Play with Small Items
Encourage your toddler to stack blocks, string beads and use puzzles because it is an opportunity for both their hands to work together. The more they practice, the smoother the movements become, which will help with their participation in games and sports in future. Please supervise when your child is playing with beads as they may be a choking hazard.
Play with Play Dough
One of the common ways to build hand strength is to play with play dough, play foam or a similar nontoxic and squishy substance. Think resistance!
Be sure to encourage finger painting, either with paint, pudding or shaving cream. Practicing this helps the brain tell apart between moving one-finger vs the whole hand. This is important for smooth finger movements needed for writing in future.
Simple puzzles can help children learn about moving objects in their hand through turning, placing and flipping pieces. This also trains the brain, as mentioned above.
Any activity that encourages your child to coordinate both hands together is an excellent tool for development. An example is rolling a ball of playdough into a long “snake” and then cutting it with a plastic knife.
Buttoning and Tying
Practice buttoning, unbuttoning, zippering, hooking fasteners or tying laces helps to build strength and control.
Practice with Clothes Pins
Have your child hang pictures, colouring pages or clothes on a clothesline with spring-loaded clothes pins as this activity builds on their pincer grip strength. As mentioned above, pincer grip strength helps with holding a crayon in future.
Your child might show interest in colouring around 2.5-3 years of age, be sure to provide small crayons that fit their little hands. This practice will lead to their ability to write in future.


Games that Teach Multiplication
Making Camp Series
Making Camp Ojibwe is our free version. Players practice multiplication and division skills while learning math problem-solving strategies. They’ll also be introduced to Native American history. Earn points by solving math problems and answering social studies questions in the village-building simulation game.
Making Camp Bilingual includes the same content as Making Camp Ojibwe but allows you to switch between Spanish and English.
Making Camp Premium includes dozens more videos and activities, along with a Words section that teaches English/Language Arts. Runs on Android, Chromebook, iPad, Mac or Windows computers.
Spirit Lake: The Game – 3D Adventure Game
Spirit Lake: The Game – Players learn how to solve multiplication, division and geometry through word problems set in the context of a stories based on the history and culture of the Dakota people. Runs on Mac and Windows computers.
Build a model – that’s one way to solve a multiplication problem, whether filling carts with buffalo robes or boxes with books. This short video also emphasizes the relationship between multiplication and division.
Long Multiplication Multiplying two-digit numbers? Multiplying three-digit numbers? It’s not that hard. Let Grandma show you how with these examples.
Long Multiplication – multiplication of 2-digit and 3-digit numbers – As this video shows, you can take the difficulty out of multiplication of large numbers by breaking it down into two or three easier problems. Can you multiply 10 by 300 ? Then you’re half-way there!
Also, check out the video, Perimeter And Polygons for using multiplication to find the perimeter in squares and rectangles.


Impact of Attention on Learning Abilities
Learning difficulties are often classified as difficulties in reading, writing and arithmetic. Learning disabilities are more severe cases of long lasting impairments which affect roughly 4% of Australians.
Research shows that attention skills are a predictor of academic success. Children who had strong attention in their early school years were 60% more likely to graduate from high school than their peers.
By fifth grade, kids with even a few attention problems had lower reading scores and grades than their peers. Improving attention early can have a huge impact on the ability to learn, and has direct impact on later academic outcomes.
TALi Train: Making a Difference to Learning and Education
Improving attention can help kids learn
Often, kids who experience learning difficulties or disabilities also have attention difficulties. Strong attention means that a child is able to absorb information. Attention facilitates listening and filtering out distraction. Learning requires the ability to focus on tasks for extended periods and to switch attention from one task to another. For kids with attention difficulties or disorders, these seemingly simple tasks can be difficult. Improving attention can improve your child’s ability to learn.
Improving attention in kids with learning difficulties
Kids need strong attention to excel in school. They must focus on teachers’ instructions and filter out distractions. Training a child’s attention early will help ensure the child is best equipped to tackle a classroom environment.
TALi Train follows the principles of neuroplasticity, one of which is repetition. Research shows that repeated practice within a specific area (e.g. attention) will result in gains within that area as well as associated areas (e.g. learning and academics).
Benefits of TALi Train for Learning Difficulties
Paying attention is the first step in the learning process. TALi Train is the first program designed to directly target attention skills in kids aged 3-8. Research by Monash shows that TALi Train is capable of promoting gains in both attention and numeracy skills in kids with attention difficulties.
Improving attention in kids with learning difficulties changes how they feel and how they learn.
Attention supports positive emotional and social development of kids.
Attentive kids are better for families, schools and communities everywhere.
TALi Train was designed to help your child focus better in every aspect of life, get started today.
Help tackle your child’s learning difficulties.
Improved attention means stronger learning abilities. Kids who learn more easily are proven to be happier. Join TALi and give your child the gift of attention.


The music program of study at NWCCD is designed to provide basic core courses that will prepare students for upper-level study in applied music, music theory, music history, music education, music composition, or music production.
Students electing to major in music are expected to become proficient in written and aural theory, acquire an historical perspective of music, and develop instrumental and/or vocal performance skills in solo and ensemble settings. Music majors must participate in at least one ensemble during each semester, subject to audition when required.
Upon completion of the program, students may choose to transfer to a four-year institution, or to pursue a career in music.
Music AFA Program Outcomes
- Perform varied repertoire associated with the student’s primary instrument.
- Summarize musical styles, genres, and major composers from different cultures and historical periods.
- Analyze notated and aural music examples.
- Use basic music technology tools.
- Demonstrate competency in basic piano keyboard skills.


by Yurino Kawamura
The digital divide is creating a huge loss of opportunities for those without Internet access. As we have learned in class, or in fact, as we have been currently enjoying benefits from our PCs and mobile phones, access to the Internet enables people to stay in touch with the latest information throughout the world. Exposure to cultures from other countries would affect peoples’ lives and ways of living.
As we have learned, Internet access tends to be available only for residents of affluent countries, or to limited rich people in developing countries. The average citizen would be located on “the lower side” of the digital divide, unable to reach for latest news or cultures. To ensure all citizens high-speed Internet access, countries must possess enough budgets for investment. However, data indicate that the countries with a high percentage of Internet popularity tend to be affluent.
Figure 1. Relationship between percentage of individuals using the Internet and Gross Domestic Product per capita
Figures 1 shows the relationship between the percentage of individuals using the Internet (ICT, 2009) and the gross domestic product per capita (World Bank, 2009) of 204 countries worldwide. As seen in the figure, the more residents have access to the Internet, the higher GDP per capita a country holds. The correlation factor between them, which shows the relationship between the two factors, was 70.8%. This means that there is a strong relationship between the Internet access and GDP per capita. It is said that same kind of link exists between the literacy rate and GDP per capita, but according to a calculation, its correlation factor is only 36.6%. This indicated that the effect of the digital divide is stronger than that of illiteracy.
Establishing high-speed Internet access throughout a country is not an easy task. Developed skills and much investment would be required, which would be a tough burden for developing countries. What I am concerned about is that would lead to an even larger gap between the affluent countries and poor countries. Difference in economic power of the countries would enlarge the digital divide, which would make rich countries even richer.
It is easy to predict that this relationship will lead to very unfair opportunity for people within developing countries. Supports to build high-speed Internet infrastructure and teaching Internet literacy would be very important. The data indicates that its importance is equal to or even higher than that of elementary education. Although relatively high cost will be required for technology investments, strong support is required to maintain equal opportunity for people on the other side of the digital divide.
ICT (2009). Free Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/
World Bank (2009). World Databank. Retrieved from http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=12&id=4&CNO=2


Introduction to English and Basic Mathematics:
Using Animation to Help Improve Literacy and Basic Understanding of Mathematics in Young Africa Students
Introduction to English
As part of Impact(Ed)'s commitment to increase literacy gains in its Girls’ Education Challenge partner schools, I designed a new video series aimed at developing foundational English literacy. In the series, which consists of 28 video segments, students follow along as the brother-sister duo of Khadija and Yasin stumble on a magical notebook that introduces them to a whole new animated world. Together with their new animal friends, Khadija and Yasin uncover exciting adventures while solving challenges that help them develop skills in areas such as phonemic awareness and phonics, vocabulary development, and fluency and comprehension. The videos, which are used in both classrooms and after-school reading clubs, are designed to not only develop specific reading skills, but also to present reading as a whole and to foster a love of and motivation to read.
Students are encouraged to actively participate in helping Yasin and Khadija navigate their adventures and teachers are trained to foster high student engagement by pausing for reflection and incorporating supplementary classroom literacy and reading activities. As the segments progress, the content increasingly provides an avenue for problem solving, imagining new ways of doing things, and critical thinking among learners.
Introduction to Mathematics
Similarly, as part of Impact(Ed)'s commitment to increase numeracy gains in its Girls’ Education Challenge partner schools, I designed a new video series aimed at developing foundational aspects of numeracy learning for use in both the classroom and after-school math clubs. In the series, which consists of 32 video segments, students follow along as Khadija and Yasin uncover exciting adventures while solving challenges that help them develop skills in areas such as numbers and number patterns, counting, place value, basic operations, geometry, and more.
The videos are designed to not just develop specific numeracy skills, but also to help students develop an appreciation for the wide applicability of math skills in their daily lives and make a connection between math and the world around them. They help learners foster an interest in math through engaging content that is culturally relevant, and hone in on foundational skills that tend to be most challenging, such as problem solving through story-word problems.


Science study at Long Stratton High School aims to prepare students for the ever-changing scientific and highly technological world in which we live.
At all levels, pupils are encouraged to reflect on the wonder of the natural world and to have a greater awareness of the ways in which Science can impact on both our local and global environments. Pupils contribute to discussions about the moral dilemmas which can result from scientific advancement and consider how some opinions are influenced by different spiritual and cultural traditions.
Pupils are challenged to take greater responsibility and independence for their learning and develop their thinking, literacy and numeracy skills in a scientific context.
More importantly, we strive to develop a curiosity in Science which extends beyond the classroom and will hopefully be maintained throughout life!
Key Stage Three
Years 7 and 8
A KS3 Scheme of work has been developed which implements the new KS3 curriculum across Biology, Physics and Chemistry for Science.
The Activate Scheme of work also provides pupils with an online platform to support their progress with clear steps to secure and extend learning. Frequent practical work stimulates and maintains their interest.
Key Stage Four
Pupils start their GCSE courses in year 9 helping to embed the increased content required for their final exams in Year 11. At the end of Year 9, they will have the chance to follow one of two routes in years 10 and 11.
AQA Triple Science
Triple Science gives pupils the opportunity to gain separate GCSEs in all three Sciences. The course is linear with all exams being taken at the end of Year 11.
AQA Combined Science (Trilogy).
All pupils who are not doing separate Sciences will take this qualification. The course includes a range of topics across the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The course is linear and all exams are taken at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework element in the course with class required practical content being examined within the final papers. Pupils will achieve two GCSE qualifications in Combined Science on the 9-1 scale.


CX 1 (Citizen Explorer 1) [CSGC]
Citizen Explorer 1 (CX 1) was a small satellite mission by the Colorado Space Grant College. It was designed to provide:
During its misssion, the project will bring K-12 students as the ground observers and the virtual mission operators. By doing so, Citizen Explorer mission brings the excitement of space into the K-12 classroom, at the same time opens up a new possibility in satellite operations. Students from all disciplines, elementary education through aerospace engineering, are working between busy class schedules to make this project comes to life.
The Citizen explorer project combines the remote sensing devices on board a satellite and ground observers using hand held instruments to measure long and short term atmospheric events, especially changes in the ozone layers. The satellite has a spectrophotometer capable of observing 280-350 nm wavelengths, and a photometer that measures 365 nm visible wavelengths.
The first of the CX series, CX-1 satellite is currently awaiting a launch date. CX-1 has a preliminary mission life of about one year. During this time students from around the world will be given the opportunity to be a part of a spaceflight mission and help expand the knowledge of the world.
|Type / Application:||Science, Education|
|Operator:||Colorado Space Grant College, Boulder|
|Contractors:||Colorado Space Grant College, Boulder|
|Power:||Solar cells, batteries|
|CX 1 (Citizen Explorer 1)||-||not launched||with ?|


Going off track: Music studies not striking a chord with Dubai pupils
Educators turning to technology to boost participation
Dubai schools are putting new emphasis on music lessons, as the focus on science and technology threatens to leave the subject lagging.
A report from Dubai's education regulator the Knowledge and Human Development Authority found that 20 per cent of pupils play a musical instrument at least three times a week. That compares to 34 per cent in the UK, according to the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London.
As with much of the developed world, the UAE is urging more young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects but educators are determined to keep music in the classroom.
Andi Price, English lead teacher at Ranches Primary School in Dubai, said that balancing music and the arts with Stem subjects is a challenge. His school is turning to technology to address the issue.
“It is hard having that emphasis on all the arts, not just one specific one,” Mr Price said.
“The school is trying to get a balance. Music is affected the most but we are trying to integrate music on devices.”
The school is teaching children to compose music on electronic devices. It also has a music section and holds recitals with parents invited to watch.
Using music as a foundation to teach subjects may help raise its profile of the activity, Mr Price said.
“If you use music as a stimulus to teach, you can teach lots of things through rhythm and sequencing and maths,” he said. “It’s how you use those subjects to make sure you teach basic skills.”
Marc Starr, high school principal at Dubai American Academy, said it recently started a course in electronic music because children were more interested in developing their music in that medium.
“Our fine arts and music programme has grown,” Mr Starr said.
He said that with the growth in technology, the interest in traditional musical instruments such as the trumpet or violin had diminished globally.
“It’s not a challenge to get them involved in the arts,” Mr Starr said. “Once children get to Grades 10 and 11, we offer the International Baccalaureate diploma, which is more academic. We may see some drop in the arts in our IB pupils.”
He said that as pupils went through high school there was a move towards academic subjects as their parents wanted them in the best universities.
“However, top universities want pupils who are well-rounded and not just focused on academics,” Mr Starr said. “Getting involved in extracurricular activities helps to build positive self-esteem in children.”
Dr Efthymios Papatzikis, an expert in the educational neuroscience of music and sound at Canadian University Dubai, said: “Children and adults don’t know they can study music in UAE. We don’t have a structured environment for certifications, programmes or teacher training.
“A greater awareness is required. We have to discuss this at a societal and ministerial level. These are the reasons for the low numbers taking up music education.
“Music is part of Emirati culture as well. I see a lot of activity in dance and music in the tradition here. It’s a matter of advertisement. More people need to know about the wider benefits of music to the community. We already have it, we live with it.”
The university organised a music conference this month.
This year, a BBC survey of 1,200 schools in the UK found that creative arts subjects such as music, art and drama were being cut back.
Nine in every 10 schools that took part said they had reduced lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one arts subject.
Their reasons included more pressure on academics and funding. One in 10 schools said they relied on donations from parents for art and music.
Updated: July 29, 2018 04:12 PM


This study is based on a theoretical model that embeds engineering design within social, cultural, and linguistic activity, seeking to understand (a) how adolescent English learners draw from various linguistic, representational, and social resources as they work toward solving community-based engineering design challenges; (b) the problems they face in working on the challenges and how they seek to overcome those problems; and (c) adolescents' willingness to conceptualize themselves as future engineers.
In this project, over 500 elementary education majors will team with engineering majors to teach engineering design to over 1,600 students from underrepresented groups. These standards-based lessons will emphasize student questioning, constructive student-to-student interactions, and engineering design processes, and they will be tailored to build from students' interests and strengths.
This Engineering Teacher Pedagogy project implements and assesses the promise of an extended professional development model coupled with curriculum enactment to develop teacher pedagogical skills for integrating engineering design into high school biology and technology education classrooms.
In this project, high school engineering teachers will spend five weeks in a research lab devoted to biologically-inspired design, as they partner with cutting-edge engineers and scientists to study animal features and behavior and their applications to engineering designs. After this lab experience, the high school teachers will receive three six- to ten-week curricular units, tailored for tenth- through twelfth-grade students, which teach biologically-inspired design in the context of problems that are relevant to youth.


Plant Blindness Is A Thing
Environmentalist and educator, Paul Hawken teaches us young people, how we can recognize over 1000 corporate logos but can’t name 10 garden plants or animals native to their region. I’m sure this is not exclusive to young people. My guess is many adults have the same ability. I also believe most are not be able to identify just 10 plants. This is a condition known as plant blindness.
Plant Blindness Is The Inability To See Or Notice Plants In Your Environment
According to the Botanical Society of America, plant blindness leads to the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere and in human affairs. It also leads to the failure to appreciate the aesthetic and unique biological features of the life forms belonging to the Plant Kingdom. This leads to the incorrect conclusion plants are unworthy of human consideration.
What Causes Plant Blindness?
The human mind is not a camera. The photographic memory doesn’t really exist. We are challenged with remembering much of what we see regularly. Think about your drive to work, the one you take every day for years. Can you recall the names of the stores on the intersections you frequently stop? Do you remember for sure whose face is on a penny, a nickel, a twenty-dollar bill? Your mind remembers objects, events, and experiences better when they are important to us, and we pay attention to them. What the object means to us is crucial. A very small percentage of the population in the U.S. is involved with growing crops or the green industry.
Why We Need To Overcome Plant Blindness
People who see plants, grow them and nurture them are the people who understand the impacts of the changing environment on plants. It’s easier to deny the climate is changing if you can’t see the plants impacted by the change. Horticulturist might be the only people able to stop the impending environmental disaster. Seeing plants, knowing their common and scientific names helps connect us to the environment. This also helps us understand their water requirements. In this article about saving 85% of the water used in a landscape the fifth step in saving water was in the plants you select.
The Best Ways To Learn About Plants
People making a living in the green industry or by farming naturally pay closer attention to the environment around them because plants have more meaning in their lives. As a society, we need to place a greater emphasis on plants. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through elementary education. Another great place to start (always) is with ourselves. Find a plant mentor you can walk your neighborhood with and start learning the names of the plants and their water requirements. There are so many great books on plants available today. One of my favorites is California Plants by Dr. Matt Ritter from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. You can visit botanical gardens where the majority of the plants have identification labels. Finally, weekly trips to the nursery are helpful. Nurseries are filled with plant lovers who are thrilled to teach you about plants.
Overcoming plant blindness is one of the critical success factors in our quest to reduce water use while growing more food. All the tools to overcome plant blindness are readily available to us. Like many other environmental challenges, the key to overcoming plant blindness will be teaching the importance of the change. Explaining why the need for the change is more important than how to change. Often the best way to show the need for change is focusing on the positive impacts down the road.


In English Language Arts 5, students solidify their foundational skills in reading, writing, spelling, speaking, and listening. Students read a variety of texts this year, including fiction, nonfiction, and informational texts. They identify the author’s purpose in multiple forms of writing, such as descriptive, expository, technical, persuasive, and narrative passages. Through these texts, they learn to make inferences and analyze multiple accounts of the same event. They also identify, interpret, and compare similes, metaphors, and idioms used in writing and learn to draw a plot diagram and to identify common themes in literature. This year, students write a five-paragraph essay and an effective thesis statement. They follow the writing process to develop essays, create outlines to organize their ideas, and revise and improve their original draft. Students also write a persuasive letter, a speech, and a script. This course teaches and reinforces spelling rules, such as i before e, while also focusing on the spelling of words ending in a silent e, commonly misspelled words, and words with multiple syllables. Students sharpen their research skills by learning to use notecards for research, gathering information about the same topic from multiple sources, and understanding plagiarism and the importance of writing in their own words. They also practice citing sources by creating a bibliography. Students enhance their presentation skills by reporting on a text or topic, telling a story, retelling an experience, or presenting an opinion in an organized way while using facts and details to support the main idea. This course includes a printed Parent and Teacher Guide that will help you support your student’s learning.


5 Origami Activities Fold’Em Then Hold’Em
Below we share 5 Origami activities that you can watch and experience. You can then share your new found knowledge to your friends, colleagues or students and build on their mindfulness & fine motor skill development.
Mini Shirt and Tie
This mini shirt and tie is a perfect Father’s Day present. Be sure to make your folds tight, especially for the collar of the shirt.
5 Pointed Star: Use a range of colours and decorate your artroom/classroom to create a colourful starry night.
Bird: Make a display filled with a range of colourful birds.
Multicoloured Cube: Use a variety of colours and mimic the folds on each colour to assemble a cube.
Jumping Frog: Combine maths and art together by measuring how far these frogs can jump!
If you are feeling inspired and want to explore our “Origami Paper” you can buy it now in both plain and patterned options.
VIEW ORIGAMI PAPER RANGE